RESUMEN
Most domestic and family violence (DFV) research has focused on establishing prevalence and screening rates in public health and community samples. This study sought to address a gap in the literature by evaluating DFV screening and response practices in a private mental healthcare inpatient service and determining if clients of the service had unmet DFV needs. A prospective, convenience sample, mixed methods, cross-sectional survey of adult inpatient mental health consumers was employed. Sixty-two participants completed the Royal Melbourne Hospital Patient Family Violence Survey. Quantitative Likert-type and categorical responses were collated and analysed descriptively (count and percentage). Free-text responses were analysed using qualitative description within a content analysis framework. Sixty-five percent of participants had been screened for at least one DFV issue, on at least one occasion, with 35% not being screened, to their recall. Twenty-three percent reported disclosing DFV concerns, 82% felt very supported by the clinician's response to their disclosure, and 86% were provided with information they found helpful. Unmet needs were identified in 13% of participants, who had wanted to disclose DFV concerns but not feel comfortable to do so. No unscreened respondents disclosed DFV concerns, highlighting the need to uphold best practice guidelines for direct enquiry. Most disclosing clients were positive about the support they received. Indicated areas for improvement were screening rates, active follow-up, increasing psychology support levels and safety planning.
RESUMEN
Mental healthcare services have an important role to play in recognizing and responding to domestic and family violence (DFV). This study aimed to evaluate staff knowledge, confidence, and clinical skills in family violence in an Australian private mental healthcare service. The methodology utilized was a cross-sectional, online survey of clinical staff. In total, 93 clinical staff participated (51 nursing, 37 allied health, and 5 medical), with a 29% response rate. Most clinicians reported working with patients who had disclosed experiencing family violence, but the majority of clinicians (63%) had received no training in the area, with nurses reporting the lowest training levels. Less than 20% reported definitive knowledge of important clinical skills including key family violence indicators, asking about family violence, and responding to disclosures. However, qualitative text response data indicated that many clinicians would provide responses that encompassed best-practice recommendations. Overall, the results indicated suboptimal clinician family violence knowledge, with further training needed, particularly in nursing staff. Stronger knowledge and skills in social workers and psychologists, relative to nurses, paralleled existing research in a medical hospital sample. The data from the study will be utilized to inform the implementation of a hospital-wide quality and service improvement project in the area of DFV clinical response.