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Blue Cross Blue Shield partners with JDI to release Health Care Provider Took Kit

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a national public health crisis. IPV causes not only immediate injury and trauma, but also physical and mental health problems that can last for years and even a lifetime. Health care providers play a VITAL role, because, perhaps more than any other sector in our society, health care holds the capacity to be the link between survivors health and the healing process. Health care providers see many potential survivors, across the life span, in health settings every day with opportunities for improving their health. Women, men and children seek health care services for both routine and sick visits throughout their lives, giving health care providers multiple opportunities for support, intervention and assistance. Through routine screening for partner abuse and providing information about support services, health care providers can support survivors in the healing process and work towards ending intimate partner violence.

Jane Doe Inc. has partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield New England and our sister coalitions to develop “Reaching Out in New England: Health Care Response to Intimate Partner Violence,” a new health care provider toolkit that features screening, intervention, and referral recommendations. Helping health care providers to learn the warning signs of abuse and to know what resources are available in the community can be a life-saver for their patients in unhealthy and unsafe relationships.

If you are a health care provider or would like to share this guide with your health care provider, click here to download a free copy. Please click here for the related safety card. Before implementing screening, intervention and referrals for IPV as part of your practice, we recommend that all health care providers receive education and training on these issues. We encourage you to contact your local domestic violence program for more information. For more information about Jane Doe Inc. member organization and to find your local program, please click here.

If you would like to know more about Jane Doe Inc.'s health initiatives, please contact Liza Sirota White at lsirotawhite@janedoe.org.

For more information on sexual and domestic violence as matters of public health, visit The Family Violence Prevention Fund at www.endabuse.org/health.