Abuse and violence
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Unit 591
March 2022
This edition of check considers the investigation and management of abuse and violence.
Interpersonal abuse and violence, which includes physical, emotional, sexual, economic and social abuse, is common in Australia.
For people over the age of 15 years, one in 16 men and one in six women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a past or current cohabiting partner. Emotional abuse is even more common, affecting one in four women and one in six men in Australia.
Intimate partner abuse is also present in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual and questioning (LGBTIQA+) relationships, although prevalence data are currently limited. One Victorian population-based survey showed that 13.4% of LGBTIQA+ adults had experienced family violence in the past two years, compared with 5.1% of non-LGBTIQA+ adults.
Children often witness intimate partner violence when it occurrs in their homes – data indicate that, when they were children, one in eight women and one in 10 men witnessed violence towards their mother by a partner.
Abuse and violence can also occur among children. Sibling bullying generally starts between the ages of two and five years and is common between the ages of six and nine years. According to Abuse and violence: Working with our patients in general practice, ‘sibling bullying prevalence estimates vary from 15–50% for victimisation and 10–40% for perpetrating’.
In the older population, the prevalence of abuse is estimated to be between 2% and 14%. When abuse occurrs within a residential aged care facility, staff are required to decide whether these incidents are reportable to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, as per Serious Incident Response Scheme requirements.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
Below is a list of the case studies found in this month's edition of check. To see how these case studies unfold and gain valuable insights into this months topic, log into gplearning to complete the course.
Carmelita, aged 32 years, lives with her partner, John, and their two young children aged five years (Sammy) and three years (Matilda). Carmelita has presented to your clinic multiple times in the past few years for herself and her children, who have had minor complaints. Carmelita was diagnosed with depression one year ago and has been treated with both psychotherapy and 20 mg escitalopram but has had no improvement in her mood. She presents today with her two young children for review of her depression.
Mina, aged 45 years, presents with a history of persisting headaches most days for the past two months. The headaches develop late in the day and are across the whole head. She is very tired but has no neurological symptoms or nausea associated with the headaches. She tells you in passing that she only sleeps well when her partner, Jen, is not at home.
Mavis, aged 82 years, lives in a residential aged care facility (RACF). On one of your regular visits to the home, she discloses to you that a strange man tried to climb into bed with her the previous night.
Donna, aged 12 years, is brought to you by her mother, Jane. Jane reports that Donna is becoming aggressive at school, and her grades have started to drop. Donna’s teachers contacted her parents to say they are concerned about her learning, and her behaviour cannot continue to be tolerated. Donna is in grade six at primary school. She is of normal height and weight and has no history of illness or surgery. She lives at home with her mother, her father (Tom) and brother (Michael). She had no developmental difficulties as a child and has not had behaviour problems previously.
Ernie brings in his son Sean, aged six years, who injured his wrist yesterday afternoon while playing soccer in the backyard with his brother Bruce, aged eight years. Sean looks distressed and is supporting his left wrist with his right hand. Sean pipes up saying Bruce had come up from behind and pushed him hard. He has been reluctant to move his wrist since.
This unit of check is approved for 10 hours of CPD activity (two hours per case). The 10 hours, when completed, including the online questions, comprise five hours’ 鲍鱼视频al Activities and five hours’ Reviewing Performance.
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Each unit of check comprises approximately five clinical cases, and the choice of cases will cover the broad spectrum of the unit’s topic. Each unit will be led by a GP with an interest and capability in the topic, and they will scope the five different cases for that unit in collaboration with the check team.