Domestic Violence:
...Screening Your Employee EAP Clients

Do you have an employee assistance program working for your company that routinely screens for domestic violence when it meets with employees?

 

If you are an EAP provider, do you routinely screen for domestic violence and steer victims to helpful resources?

 

You may want to consider asking your EAP to consider this activity or doing so if you are a counseling provider.

 

Domestic violence has enormous costs that affect victims, employers, employees, and entire communities.

 

The most dramatic cost is homicide in the workplace, a not uncommon occurrence that can transpire when domestic violence comes to the job site. A domestic violence screening session could be a life saver.

 

Domestic violence screening benefits the primary victim and family members. This includes reduction in the number of domestic violence incidents following a screening session.

 

Women screened for domestic violence show fewer incidents when interviewed again in the future, and newborns of women screened for domestic violence appear to be healthier. Simply doing a screening for domestic violence has its own preventative effect because it increases awareness about solutions and options.

 

Most articles on screening for domestic violence discuss the role of the primary care physician, but there is also documented resistance with this group because interruption of the physician's practice and time consumption in referring patients to proper help can be difficult. 

RESOURCES

You can view and print a domestic violence screening instrument here.

 

If you are an employee assistance provider or other trained professional, and wish to learn more about the economic and workforce management benefits of screening for domestic violence that you can reference in a presentation to host companies, this article lays it out nicely.

 

Daniel Feerst, LISW-CP, Publisher

1-800-626-4327 - WorkExcel.com