Project at Hospital District to Address Domestic Violence

An interdisciplinary team at the Harris County Hospital District has launched the VIVA (Volunteer Initiative versus Violent Acts) Project to develop a hospital-based domestic violence protocol.

The project grew out of a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the Family Violence Prevention Fund in San Francisco to increase awareness among medical professionals about domestic violence and the potential for intervention. Texas was one of 10 states chosen to pilot the initiative. Ben Taub General Hospital/Harris County Hospital District was one of 15 sites selected within the state and the only one in Houston.

According to VIVA project team leader Dr. Joey Weiner, the team is working to develop screening and intervention protocols, to create an educational component for patients and health care providers within the Harris County Hospital District, and to establish a system of evaluating the programs.

As part of the project, a domestic violence response team is now accessible by pager 24-hours a day, seven days a week to consult with those health care providers in the Harris County Hospital District who have identified survivors of domestic abuse. In addition, beginning this month, the team will hold an interdisciplinary follow-up clinic for these patients on Thursday afternoons.

The team for the Texas Health Initiative on Domestic Violence at the Harris County Hospital District is composed of administrative representatives, physicians, social workers, nurses and community advocates. The group has also been working with community organizations including the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, La Rosa, the Houston Area Women's Center, HPD Family Violence Unit and The Bridge, among others.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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