By Leigh Kimberg, MD
Each day, an overwhelming majority of our patients arrive in
clinic wishing that their healthcare providers would ask them questions about
how their personal relationships affect their health and, more specifically,
whether an intimate partner, family member or other person has hurt or threatened
them. And, despite the requirement by
the Affordable
Care Act that all women and girls be offered interpersonal violence (IPV)
(intimate partner violence and sexual assault) screening, brief counseling and
referral, healthcare providers and healthcare systems have not institutionalized
this practice. “Aspire to Realize
Improved Safety and Empowerment” (ARISE), a partnership program newly funded by
the Office
of Women’s Health in the US Department of Health and Human Services, will
fully institutionalize these life-saving practices in the San Francisco Health
Network primary care system.
