Occasionally I compile some of the odds and ends that have been stacking up in my inbox for FHO readers. I figured if you are stuck working a shift during this holiday and have some downtime (as if) here’s a good way to use some time. Click through for details:
There’s a new website, See the Signs that focuses on recognizing and responding to domestic and sexual violence. There are three online courses offered on the site: one about intervening to prevent domestic and sexual violence (created by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence); one about having conversations with teens about healthy dating relationships (created by Jewish Women International); and one on protecting children from domestic violence (created by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). I haven’t worked my way through the site or the courses yet, but I hope to at least spend some time with it over the holiday. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
(h/t VAWnet)
The Institute of Medicine has an upcoming workshop, Means of Violence. It will be held December 18th and 19th in Washington, DC, beginning at 8:30 am. Although this will be a live workshop, there will also be a simultaneous webcast that will be available globally. Click through for details:
Today is Veteran’s Day in the US, and as the spouse of a veteran (Iraq); daughter of a veteran (Vietnam); daughter-in-law of veterans (Desert Storm); and granddaughter of veterans (World War II), not to mention the friend and colleague of many who have deployed or are currently deployed (like our dear friend, Candace), I try each year to think about the best way to reflect on the day. Our plan for this morning was to pay our respects at Arlington, but with this happening in DC today, the crowds and traffic are too daunting, so we will go one evening this week.
A good Monday morning to you all–I trust you had a fine weekend? This was really the 1st actual weekend Sasha and I had together in quite sometime, uninterrupted by travel or Reserve duty. We really got a chance to enjoy ourselves, too: spent a little time getting fancy and heading into the District for SANE In the City, the DC SANE program’s fundraiser (they’re finally building their own exam room). Congrats on a successful event!
I’m actually home this week, but gearing up for our next IPV course in Phoenix on the 17th (hope to see many of you there, since we have a pretty big group registered); that’s where most of my efforts will be spent over the next several days. But before I get too immersed in all of that, here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
I didn’t post this in real time, because I got it on the day it was actually happening; happily Futures Without Violence archived the event, and now we can all check it out (US readers, at least). On October 30th they held a webinar with new updates about how the Affordable Care Act can help patients experiencing domestic and interpersonal violence. Click through for details:
Man, it is so nice to be home. Two weeks in strange beds (even when they’re nice beds) is too much. And now I have two glorious weeks at home, with my spouse (and the kiddo, who will be here in 10 days). Whatever will I do with myself? Oh, that’s right–all of the things. That’s how it feels when I look at my schedule. There are last minute touches to add to a new curriculum, multiple courses to teach, and one more court martial before things (allegedly) quiet down. So I will definitely take these two weeks–busy or not, at least it’s busy at home.
I have finally acclimated to my current time zone, but this weekend I saw many middle of the night hours–what I learned the Scots call the wee sma’s*–so in order to bide my time until I could sleep again, I caught up on the interwebs in all their glory. Here’s what I’ve been checking out since last we spoke:
A couple weeks ago I posted about the recently released report, Connecting the Dots. It looks like the CDC and Prevention Institute will be hosting a related Twitter Q&A, Links Among Forms of Violence. The chat will take place November 4th from 2-3pm ET, using #ViolenceLinks. Looking forward to the conversation.
(h/t VAWnet)
The CDC and the Prevention Institute published Connecting the Dots: An Overview of the Links Among Multiple Forms of Violence recently, but it didn’t seem to get much in the way of fanfare when it was released. That being said, I think it’s an important read. Our patients frequently experience multiple forms of violence in their lives, and understanding the overlap allows for more trauma-informed care and more targeted assistance. What’s nice about this report is that it also comes with its own slide deck for teaching purposes, so this is a great resource to bookmark for future use.
(Image via)
Time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly look at what’s new in the peer reviewed literature. What is it about some months that make them so much better than others? I don’t know, but I have to tell you, this is one of those. First off, there’s a lot to wade through. And second, there’s a lot of breadth to the research, meaning that this month’s list should be relevant to a wide variety of practices. As always, the review isn’t exhaustive, just what’s caught my eye in the September/October/November journals (and the online releases). Contact me for the word doc; click through for a printable PDF and the hyperlinks, all of which go to PubMed unless otherwise indicated.
Greetings from Montgomery, AL, from where I am currently trying to escape after a brief lecture at Maxwell AFB. If you’ve been playing along at home, you know that I have managed to hit all 4 time zones in the continental US over the past week, and I’m on day 8 of travel, which is making me cranky. Assuming the weather holds I’ll be home tonight and for the next couple weeks. Let’s not talk about October right now; I’m going to pretend it’s simply not happening. My failed attempt to get an earlier flight home means I am sitting at the airport with all kinds of time to catch up on the interwebs; here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
I woke up this morning at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, very far from home and decidedly still on east coast time. I’ll be here for a hot minute before I move on to Billings, MT where we are rolling out a brand new IPV curriculum (super excited about that), so this week is a long one. I will attempt regular posts, but forgive me if they’re a bit light this week. You just never know how a new course will go. This weekend consisted of a lot of prep, but there was still plenty of distraction–here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
Futures Without Violence and the American Academy of Pediatrics have a free, online learning module, Addressing the Bigger Picture in Pediatric Settings: Adverse Childhood Experiences. The session is available for CEU/CME credit. Click through for details:
Time once again for Articles of Note, my list of the things that have caught my attention in the latest round of peer-reviewed journals. This month has quite a lot to explore, but as always, this list isn’t comprehensive (and it’s subject to my specific interests). The majority of links take you to the PubMed abstract, except where indicated. Click through for the PDF and active links; contact me for the list as a Word doc.
Ironically, I am in South Carolina today, teaching at a course focusing in part on investigating and prosecuting domestic violence. I tell you this because the Charleston, SC Post and Courier has just published an expose on domestic violence in the state, Till Death Do Us Part. The series, a result of an 8-month investigation, specifically looks at how the state is failing victims (the murder rate for women in South Carolina is twice that of the nation), examining issues related to patriarchy, access to guns, religion, legislation and more. Even if you don’t live in South Carolina, it’s a worthwhile and powerful read; the online site includes videos featuring survivors and their families, timelines, and more. Take some time out for this one.
I’m on my way to the NAC (for the 2nd of 3 trips down there in a month)–we’re kicking off the inaugural run of a fantastic (I hope) interactive testimony course for SANEs and prosecutors. Considering we started working on this about 18 months ago, it’s exciting to finally see it come to fruition. And a bit nerve-wracking, as all 1st time courses can be. I was pretty focused on prep this weekend and didn’t spend a lot of time surfing the interwebs, but there were still a few things that caught my eye since last we spoke:
VAWnet has updated their special collection on intimate partner homicide prevention. You should range around the site a bit–there’s a lot here for clinicians and for the collaborative teams in which we participate.
After yesterday’s post I received a request from an FHO reader for more resources on caring for patients who have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting (literature seems to be divided on the proper terminology so I am using both here). Not surprisingly, there isn’t a huge amount of clinically-focused information out there, and much of it is specific to obstetrics. I rounded up what appeared to be the best and most current articles and clinical guidelines (mostly free full-text) and included links to previous FHO posts addressing the same topic. As always, it’s not exhaustive (I opted to leave most of the obstetric-specific information out), but hopefully it’s useful.
Today is my sweet kid’s 13th birthday, so I am officially the parent of a teenager. I have no idea how that happened. A minute ago she was a newborn and now she’s this funny, interesting, incredibly smart kid who makes me proud every day. Naturally we spent the weekend celebrating (ziplining and dim sum, anyone?) and gorging on homemade Hostess-type treats (my spouse whipped up Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Cupcakes complete with squiggly frosting). Pretty much the only thing I could do after the weekend calorie bombardment was to loll around last night and surf my social media sites. Which is what I did. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
Surveillance data is extremely useful for us; the CDC guidelines are one resource for making decisions about how we treat our patients, but the actual information about what STDs are being seen in our communities, what problems may exists regarding things like antibiotic resistance, and other considerations, are also part of the calculus. For instance, if you have a high rate of syphilis in your community, you may choose to test as a part of your patient care.