Intimate Partner Violence and Rural Older Women

1. Intimate Partner Violence and Rural Older Women • Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech • Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley Funded by grant # R03HD059478 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD and the NIH Office of the Director (OD)

2. Community Professionals’ Response

3. Professionals Likely to Come in Contact with Older Victims of IPV Emergency Medical Staff Dept Social Services Primary Health Care Providers Legal System Victim Mental Health Clinicians Domestic Violence Services Aging Service Providers Clergy and Lay Clergy

4. Professional Awareness Professional awareness of IPV is limited

5. Sometimes you speculate that abuse is going on, but that’s not the concern that is typically presented. ~ Social Worker

6. Women’s Resource Center Adult Protective Services Professional Silos of Support Police LTC/Home Provider Clergy & Lay Clergy Primary Healthcare Provider Mental Health Counselor

7. Community Network of Support Clergy & Lay Clergy LTC/Home Provider EmergencyHealthcare Primary Healthcare Provider Mental Health Counselor

8. Challenges Affecting Professional Awareness of IPV • Limited data to suggest late life IPV is a problem • Lack of routine screening • Limited disclosure among providers • Limited IPV training opportunities • Assumption that clients seek help from primary care providers and faith leaders

9. Unlike the protocols in place for [a] medical condition, there is no standardization as to how we proceed when we see signs of abuse. We don’t know how to respond. ~ Emergency Medical Technician

10. Enhancing Professional Response to IPV Provide trainings on • IPV in late life • Screening protocols & tools • Referral services in community Support • Outreach activities targeting older women • Establishing professional response protocols • Communications and collaborations among professionals • Normalizing client conversations about IPV