Engaging and responding to patients who use family violence – when caring for the whole family

This workshop will enhance skills and confidence to identify when violence is occurring and to respond safely and sensitively to disclosures. It will also cover how to consider care for the whole family when the person who uses violence and the survivor are patients of the same practice, and how to identify and encourage access appropriate referral pathways.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence recognised that GPs play a significant role in potentially saving the lives of individuals experiencing family violence, and were declared the most trusted person outside of family members or close friends. In accordance with these findings, changes have been made to the Information Sharing Act and Family Violence Information Sharing to enable GPs and Practice Nurses who identify family violence to respond and participate in a multidisciplinary approach to better support their patients. 

GPs are in a unique position to help individuals who have used family violence to identify and reflect on their behaviour and to support early intervention before violence escalates. This session will enhance skills and confidence to identify when someone is using violence and to respond safely and sensitively to disclosures. Resources to support providers to care for victim-survivors will also be discussed, including the NWMPHN Family Violence advice line for GPs. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of the expert panelists and learn how to consider the whole family when the person who uses violence and the survivor are patients of the same practice. How to identify and encourage access appropriate referral pathways will also be discussed.

Speaker: Wei-May Su

Dr Wei-May Su, is an academic GP and supervisor with specific interests in mental health, complexity, and abuse and violence. She continues part-time clinical alongside academic roles. She is Academic Lead (GP), facilitating the multidisciplinary Master of Psychiatric Medicine and the Master of Applied Mental Health Studies at HETI Higher Education, Australia. She is co-author of the Royal Australian College of General Practice (RACGP) Guideline of Abuse and Violence (White Book) and is Chair of the RACGP Abuse and Violence in Families Specific Interest Group. She is doing a higher degree in research on identifying and engaging people who use interpersonal violence who present in general practice.

Speaker: Tori Cooke

Tori Cooke is a Senior Social Work Practitioner and a well-known specialist trainer in working with women experiencing domestic and family violence, suicide bereavement counselling, AOD counselling and working directly with men using violence and abuse. Tori has developed and implemented women’s healing and recovery programs as well as programs responding to men using family violence in Western Australia and Victoria.

Speaker: Specialist familiy violence workers.

One of the activities of the primary care pathways to safety expansion program is secondary consultation and service navigation. GPs and practice nurses can now contact a secondary consult service to seek information and expert advice from a specialist family violence provider. This service will connect primary care practitioners in the NWMPHN catchment with specialist by phone or email. Specialist family violence workers from Berry Street and GenWest will speak to explain this service.

Learning outcomes:

1. Identify patient presentations, narratives and behaviours that may be indicative of use of domestic violence.
2. How to respond sensitively and appropriately to disclosures of using domestic or family violence, using motivational interviewing and strengths-based principles to explore behaviours and attitudinal change.
3. Discuss care of the whole family when a perpetrator and survivor are patients of the same practice.
4. Identify how to access appropriate referral pathways for patients who have used domestic or family violence.