Engage: Reflective Questions
WOMEN
For women, essential characteristics of engagement are appropriate timing, privacy, partner/family involvement in care (if safe to do so) and cultural fit, including provision of bilingual services.
Ask Yourself…
How do you engage women from the first moment you meet?
Do you ask alone?
Do you ask when the time is right by taking opportunities that present from your professional judgement?
Do you ask what would help the most right now and later?
Do you revisit screening on subsequent occasions?
Do you think about how to engage with the partner or other family members if safe to do so?
What referral pathways and strategies are in place for a partner to stop use of violence?
PRACTITIONERS
Health practitioners value having scripts and tools, skill building, having clear pathways to guide clinical decisions, and acknowledgement of their range of experience.
Do I have the words to be able to ask and respond?
How do you feel if you suspect domestic violence but she doesn’t acknowledge it?
Are scripts and tools available if I need them?
Do I have tools, resources or strategies I can offer the woman in the interim?
What strategies do I use to develop trust and rapport?
How do I build confidence to ask and respond to disclosures?
Do I know:
what to say if a woman discloses?
what to do if a woman discloses?
what safety strategies are available to the woman?
the available supports and referral pathways?
Do I have clear immediate pathways for women in crises or at serious or high risk?