Curriculum for General Practice - The Royal New Zealand College ...

F
Family Violence
In 2006 the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families 2
stated, ‘All families and whānau should have healthy, respectful,
stable relationships, free from violence.’ The Taskforce is taking
action on four fronts to achieve its vision:
• Leadership – we need leadership at all levels if we are going
to transform our society into one that does not tolerate
family violence
• Changing attitudes and behaviour – we have to reduce
society’s tolerance of violence and change people’s damaging
behaviour within families
• Safety and accountability – swift and unambiguous action
by safe family members and the justice sector increases
the chances of people being safe and of holding perpetrators
to account
• Effective support services – individuals and families affected
by family violence need help and support from all of us so
they can recover and thrive
There are certain population groups in society who are more
vulnerable than others, for example:
• between 33 and 39 percent of New Zealand women
experience physical or sexual violence from an intimate
partner in their lifetime 3
• Māori are substantially over-represented as both victims and
perpetrators of domestic violence 4
• 47,374 children aged 0–16 were present, or usually residing
with the victim, at an incident of family violence reported to
the police in 2010.
There is a significant health and social cost to family
violence – the cost of domestic violence in New Zealand
has been estimated to be between $1.2 and $5.8 billion
per annum. 6 Transforming and reducing domestic violence
statistics in a community takes the whole community,
and the general practitioner, as a leader in their practice
population, has a vital role to play.
Communication
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• use appropriate communication skills to safely
screen for family violence in the context of a general
practice consultation
• acknowledge patient concerns when discussing
removal of a child/children from a situation of
family violence
• use appropriate communication skills to clearly
describe power and control aspects of family violence
• adopt a non-judgemental approach when dealing
with disclosure of family violence.
Clinical Expertise
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• describe common injury patterns associated with
family violence
• understand the need for safety planning, and the risks
and dangers associated with partner violence
• recognise child abuse and help manage and prevent it
• take a history and perform a physical examination
relevant to the presenting problem with particular
attention to accurate documentation
• recognise the influence of the family/whānau on
prevention, presentation and management of childhood
and adult injury
• make valid and timely decisions about treatment,
referral and follow-up of child abuse and neglect, and
options for management referral and follow-up of partner
or family/whānau abuse.
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Curriculum for General Practice