Family violence prevention program: another way to save a life.

Domestic violence, now often referred to as intimate partner violence, is a common, costly, complex health problem. An estimated 5% to 14% of US women are currently living in abusive situations, and 22% report assault by a domestic partner during their lifetime. But addressing domestic violence in the health care setting is very complex— disclosure, seeking services, and recovery are all challenging. Despite recommendations from most professional organizations and clinical practice guidelines, screening for domestic violence in the health care setting remains infrequent. To address the complexities of domestic violence for patients as well as for health care providers, an innovative systems-model approach was developed and tested at a Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) facility in Richmond, California and is currently being implemented at all facilities in the KPNC Region.