Answered Questions is a monthly resource for the Spanish language Disability Community that fills an information need. This month’s question is I am a healthcare professional who provides services to people with disabilities. Several of the clients with disabilities to whom I provide care and services have expressed that they are or have experienced intimate partner violence. What resources, research, and information are available so that I can be of better help to them? This edition of Answered Questions includes items that discuss research on an evidence-informed intimate partner violence (IPV) intervention; discuss IPV, reproductive coercion, and unintended pregnancy; and discuss access to services and care, among others. More about Answered Questions.
NIDILRR-Funded Projects:
The primary research objective of the NIDILRR-funded project, Advancing Evidence-Informed Responses to Intimate Partner Violence Among Women with Disabilities (in English), is to refine and pilot test The Empowerment Focused Intervention, a novel intervention for female and female-presenting survivors of IPV with disabilities. The project’s goal is to develop an evidence-informed IPV intervention that has the potential to reach many women with disabilities, is cost efficient, and can be replicated at domestic violence agencies.
From the NARIC Collection:
The article, Intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion, and unintended pregnancy in women with disabilities (in English), discusses a study that explored the perspectives of women with disabilities who had experienced an unintended pregnancy as a result of reproductive coercion. Analysis revealed three broad themes (inadequate healthcare provider or system response, disability-related risks for IPV, and resource needs to optimize safety) related to the ways in which physical violence and reproductive elevated women’s risk of an unintended pregnancy. The findings of this study suggest that healthcare providers must screen for IPV and reproductive coercion and provide the necessary supports and resources for women with disabilities experiencing an unintended pregnancy because of violence.
The article, Occupational deprivation among female survivors of intimate partner violence who have physical disabilities (in English), discusses a study that examined the impact of occupational deprivation on survivors of IPV who have physical disabilities. The study found that the occupational deprivation experienced by IPV survivors with disabilities can entrap them in abusive relationships, preventing them from independently supporting themselves and their children. The authors suggested that occupational therapy practitioners can provide education and interventions that increase independence and resilience among IPV survivors with disabilities.
Technology:
The article, Technology-Based Intimate Partner Intervention Services for Generation Z Victims of Violence (in English), reviews technology’s role in advocacy and the provision of services for young adults with and without disabilities who are victims of IPV. The article looks at preferences and patterns of access and utilization of digitally mediated communication among young adults to explore optimal IPV services and shares mitigation strategies for providing crisis counseling and offering support over time. The authors suggest that an understanding of technology’s role in providing support can help to design best practices and offer recommendations that best serve the needs of young adult victims of violence with and without disabilities.
Raise Awareness:
The article, Intimate Partner Violence and Women with Disabilities: The Role of Speech-Language Pathologists (in English), raises awareness about the higher rates of IPV in women with communication disorders and other disabilities in comparison to women without disabilities. The article provides background information on communication disorders and IPV and delineates the role that speech-language pathologists can play in identifying abuse and assisting patients to disclose IPV. The article provides practice recommendations, including enhanced IPV assessment for women with communication disorders, best practices for interventions that emphasize a trauma-informed approach, and the importance of collaboration and appropriate referrals.
Improving Access to Care:
The report, Disability and domestic abuse: Risk, impacts, and response (in English), highlights how people with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience IPV and how that experience is likely to be more severe, long-lasting, and include particular forms of abuse, such as ridicule of the person’s disability or withholding personal care. The report recommends improving access to health and social care and domestic abuse services, addressing barriers to care, and further training for professionals. The report suggests integration between health and social care services and disability and domestic abuse services to improve knowledge and referral pathways. Finally, the report aims to create a conversation about the experiences and needs of people with disabilities who have or are experiencing IPV and to provide guidance for the public health system.
Attitudes in Healthcare:
The article, Intimate partner violence in women with disabilities: Perceptions of healthcare and attitudes of health professionals (abstract in English), discusses a study to understand the experiences of women with disabilities who are or have been abused by their partners to improve the knowledge, views, and training requirements of primary care professionals. The study found that healthcare staff find it difficult to notice that women with disabilities are experiencing abuse and that their lack of training about disabilities and gender-based violence makes them less sure of their ability to identify and deal with any possible cases of abuse. The authors provide suggestions for improvement based on the results of the study.
Resources:
- The National Domestic Violence Hotline (in English) provides safe access to tools and support for adult and youth victims of domestic violence with disabilities, their family members, and the public. The Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provides free and confidential services related to crisis intervention, domestic violence education, safety, planning, and caller connection directly to service providers, among others.
- NARIC’s Consumer Resources share a group of hotlines and centers (in English) that healthcare providers and other professional can share with people with disabilities experiencing IPV or other forms of abuse and violence.
- The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation created Domestic Violence and Disabilities, a guide that provides information on intimate partner violence and adults with disabilities. The guide also provides information on organizations throughout the US that provide support to IPV survivors with disabilities in English and Spanish.
Further Research:
REHABDATA:
PubMed:
International:
Each month, we look through the searches on our blog and through the information requests made by our patrons who speak Spanish and pick a topic that fills the largest need. Each resource mentioned above is associated with this month’s information need. We search the various Spanish language news sources and feeds throughout the month to bring you these articles. With the exception of the NIDILRR Projects, From the NARIC Collection, and Further Investigation, all the linked articles and resources are in Spanish – any that are in English will be clearly marked.