Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise

This course examines the complex relationships between domestic violence, health, healthcare, and poverty. Understand the available resources and discover how to incorporate what you learn into your work with survivors.

Completing this course constitutes 8 self-study hours.

Part I: The connections between domestic violence, health, and healthcare

In this lesson, you will learn about the impact of domestic violence on healthcare, explore how healthcare reform impacts survivors, assess advocacy issues in light of health and healthcare issues, learn about programs for accessing healthcare, and review the basics of medical and child support. 

• Domestic violence is a healthcare issue. Read these slides to learn about the ways that healthcare impacts survivors and how domestic violence impacts healthcare.
• Read this summary of how the Affordable Care Act impacts survivors of abuse.
• What percentage of hospital emergency room visits are the result of domestic violence? Find out this and more about the connection between domestic violence, health, and healthcare.
• Learn about the importance of talking about health and access to healthcare as a part of your advocacy practice.
• Review this information and learn about resources for accessing healthcare in Washington State.
• Learn the basics around accessing child support and medical support, and explore safety considerations for survivors of abuse accessing these programs.

Part II: Healthcare provider responses to domestic violence

This lesson explores how healthcare personnel are encouraged to address domestic violence.

• Read the National Consensus Guidelines on Identifying and Responding to Domestic Violence Victimization in Healthcare Settings, published by the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
• Journal exercise:
  • Think about the national guidelines you just read. Spend 10 minutes writing down what was most interesting to you.
  • Think about some ways that you could convey the information included in the guidelines to local healthcare providers. How could you engage doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals in your community to respond to domestic violence? Spend 10 minutes writing down your thoughts.

Part III: Experiential exercise

Apply your knowledge in a hands-on way in this lesson. 

• Explore domestic violence, health, and healthcare issues and opportunities in your community with these activities.
• Spend some time reflecting on your experiences by journaling what you learned during each of the exercises you completed.