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Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a serious public health concern in the United States. Despite recommendations that physicians should routinely screen their patients, research has shown that lack of specific training has resulted in many health care professionals feeling unable to adequately perform this difficult but vital task. Though many educational resources exist to teach intimate partner violence screening, they often lack specific guidance on how to navigate this difficult conversation. In addition, they often lack formal teaching on how to counsel and refer patients who are victims of intimate partner violence. Methods: This unique module, intended for a small-group setting of four to eight students, contains an intimate partner violence checklist with sample language that covers both screening and counseling using a motivational interviewing framework. Additional materials include a checklist companion for tips on how to navigate the conversation, two cases for role-play, a facilitator guide, and an objective structured clinical encounter case and assessment rubric. Results: This module was given to 260 second-year medical students at the Warren Alpert Medical School between 2015 and 2017 and was rated highly by almost 90% of students. Discussion: After completing this module, learners will be able to appropriately screen for intimate partner violence as well as counsel and refer patients who have screened positive. By implementing this module, educators can increase the number of health care professionals able to broach this difficult conversation with patients who may be in need of help and may otherwise go unaided.

PURPOSE We aimed to identify the strategies used to support patient behavior change by clinicians whose patients had an increase in patient activation.METHODS This mixed methods study was conducted in collaboration with Fairview Health Services, a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization. We aggregated data on the change in patient activation measure (PAM) score for 7,144 patients to the primary care clinician level. We conducted in-depth interviews with 10 clinicians whose patients' score increases were among the highest and 10 whose patients' score changes were among the lowest. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed to identify key strategies that differentiated the clinicians whose patients had top PAM change scores. RESULTSClinicians whose patients had relatively large activation increases reported using 5 key strategies to support patient behavior change (mean = 3.9 strategies): emphasizing patient ownership; partnering with patients; identifying small steps; scheduling frequent follow-up visits to cheer successes, problem solve, or both; and showing caring and concern for patients. Clinicians whose patients had lesser change in activation were far less likely to describe using these approaches (mean = 1.3 strategies). Most clinicians, regardless of group, reported developing their own approach to support patient behavior change. Those whose patients showed high activation change reported spending more time with patients on counseling and education than did those whose patients showed less improvement in activation.CONCLUSIONS Clinicians vary in the strategies they use to promote behavior change and in the time spent with patients on such activities. The 5 key strategies used by clinicians with high patient activation change are promising approaches to supporting patient behavior change that should be tested in a larger sample of clinicians to validate their effectiveness. 2016;14:148-154. doi:10.1370/afm.1904. Ann Fam Med INTRODUCTIONT hrough policies such as pay for performance and public reporting of clinicians' quality of care, clinicians are increasingly responsible for their patients' care outcomes. [1][2][3][4] Yet, for health outcomes to improve, patients must do their part, following through on treatment regimens and making recommended lifestyle changes.5-7 Given the key role that patients play in determining health outcomes, policy makers have made patient engagement and patient activation a major focus, including embedding approaches for increasing engagement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 8,9 Patient activation, which is defined as having the knowledge, confidence, and skills to take care of one's health and health care, has been shown to be associated with a broad range of health-related outcomes, including better self-management and clinical indicators, fewer hospitalizations, and lower health care costs. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] [34][35][36] Also, patients' assessment of clinician support of the chronic care model has been associated with hig...

Immigrant and refugee women are at high risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) and intimate partner homicide (IPH). Given the growing number of immigrants and refugees in the US and the concerns about IPV and IPH among immigrant and refugee groups, this paper aims to identify survivors and practitioners’ perceptions of a) common and culturally specific risk and protective factors for IPV and IPH for immigrant and refugee women and b) areas of safety planning interventions for survivors who are at risk for severe or lethal violence by an intimate partner. Qualitative data for this multi-site study were collected from women and practitioners residing in seven geographically diverse US locations. Eighty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with adult immigrant and refugee survivors of IPV, who identified as Asian (n=30), Latina (n=30), and African (n=23). Additionally, nine focus groups and five key informant interviews were conducted with practitioners (n=62) who serve immigrant and refugee survivors of IPV. Results revealed multilevel risk and protective factors for IPV/IPH found at the societal-level (e.g., patriarchal cultural norms), relationship-level (e.g., partner abusive behaviors), and individual-level (e.g., acculturation in the US). These findings can inform the development of culturally responsive risk assessment and safety planning interventions across legal, social service, and healthcare settings.

Latina women, especially those who are immigrants, have an increased vulnerability to intimate partner violence, yet they also have a low rate of using formal services (i.e. health care and legal services). Existing research focused on Latina women's help seeking for intimate partner violence has identified multiple factors, such as the presence of children, cultural values, and type of victimization, that influence women's formal help seeking. Immigrant Latina women in particular commonly report many barriers to formal services; however, heterogeneity and nuanced patterns of help seeking exist across Latina survivors. While research has focused mainly on understanding factors that are barriers to help seeking by Latina women, there is an overwhelming dearth of research about interventions and factors that facilitate effective help-seeking experiences for Latina IPV survivors. In an effort to improve Latina IPV survivors' access to services, we examine the gaps in research across dimensions of access to care (i.e. availability, affordability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability of services). Research within each of these facets of access to services for Latina survivors is lacking. This brief commentary illustrates the sparse data to inform evidence based interventions for Latina IPV survivors and is a call for research in order to determine best practices and to move the knowledge base from the vast descriptive base to evidence-based, culturally appropriate and acceptable interventions.

The objective of this study was to examine differences in change over time in health and safety outcomes among female college students randomized to myPlan, a tailored safety planning app, or usual web-based safety planning resources. Three hundred forty-six women (175 intervention, 171 control) from 41 colleges/universities in Oregon and Maryland completed surveys at baseline, 6- and 12-months from July 2015 to October 2017. Generalized estimating equations were used to test group differences across time. Both groups improved on four measure of intimate partner violence (IPV; Composite Abuse Scale [CAS], TBI-related IPV, digital abuse, reproductive coercion [RC]) and depression. Reduction in RC and improvement in suicide risk were significantly greater in the myPlan group relative to controls ( p = .019 and p = .46, respectively). Increases in the percent of safety behaviors tried that were helpful significantly reduced CAS scores, indicating a reduction in IPV over time in the myPlan group compared to controls ( p = .006). Findings support the feasibility and importance of technology-based IPV safety planning for college women. myPlan achieved a number of its objectives related to safety planning and decision-making, the use of helpful safety behaviors, mental health, and reductions in some forms of IPV.

We have evaluated a real-time PCR procedure based on the LightCycler technology for rapid detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in genital lesions. Two sets of primers, corresponding to the thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase regions, were used for the amplification reactions in separate capillaries containing the SYBR Green I dye as detection signal. In 28 of 118 samples (24%), HSV was isolated by conventional cell culture. All cell culture-positive samples were also positive by real-time PCR. Six additional cell culture-negative samples were positive by PCR with both sets of primers. Total processing time was less than 3 h. Real-time PCR using SYBR Green I as detection signal is a sensitive procedure for the rapid diagnosis of HSV in genital lesions.Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is frequently detected in mucocutaneous lesions in the clinical virology laboratory (2, 13). Conventional cell culture still remains the diagnostic method of choice, although enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunofluorescence techniques are available (3). Nucleic acid technology based on PCR has shown an interesting role in detection of HSV DNA (8, 10), and several protocols, adapted to clinical laboratories, have been reported (6,14). However, conventional PCR techniques have been so far relatively cumbersome, difficult to interpret, and prone to contamination. Very recently, real-time PCR has started to demonstrate its potential utility in the field of clinical virology and, specifically, in the detection of herpesvirus DNA (1, 2, 9, 11, 12). The main features making this new technology so attractively suitable for these applications, in comparison with conventional PCR, are rapidness, possibility of accurate quantification and, very important, reduction of likelihood of contamination, since no postamplification analysis of the tubes is required. Nevertheless, the value of this technology for specific applications and the development of protocols to be included in clinical laboratory routines remain to be established through well-controlled clinical studies.We have used a real-time PCR strategy, based on the Light Cycler technology, to detect HSV DNA in genital lesions from patients attending the sexually transmitted disease clinics of our institution, and the results were compared to those obtained by conventional cell culture. Swabs, taken from the surfaces of genital lesions and sent to the virology laboratory in 2 ml of viral transport medium (ViralPack; Biomedics S.L., Madrid, Spain), were inoculated to monolayers of A-549 and MRC-5 cells in tubes. These tubes were inoculated with 0.2 ml, incubated at 37°C in stationary phase, and scored daily for cytopathic effect (CPE) for 7 days or until CPE developed. When a characteristic HSV CPE was observed, a passage was done to two homologous monolayers in shell vials. These shell vials were incubated 24 h at 37°C and stained with specific fluorescent reagents to HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 (MicroTrak HSV 1-2 culture identification/typing test; DadeBehring, Marburg, Germany). For ...

BackgroundThe increasing burden of chronic illness highlights the importance of self-care and shifts from hierarchical and patriarchal models to partnerships. Primary care providers (PCPs) play an important role in supporting patients in self-management, enabling activation and supporting chronic care. We explored the extent to which PCPs’ beliefs about the importance of the patients’ role relate to the frequency in which they report engaging in collaborative and partnership-building behaviors with patients.MethodsPCPs’ beliefs were measured using the Clinician Support for Patient Activation Measure (CS-PAM). We also assessed whether PCPs’ CS-PAM scores were positively associated with changes in their patients’ Patient Activation Measure (PAM) scores. Participants included 181 PCPs from a single accountable care organization in Minnesota who completed an online survey. We conducted bivariate analyses and multivariate regression models to examine relationships between CS-PAM and PCP self-management support behaviors and changes in level of patient activation.ResultsPCPs with high CS-PAM scores were much more likely to engage in supportive self-management and patient behavior change approaches, such as involving the patient in agenda-setting, problem-solving, and collaboratively setting behavioral goals, than were PCPs with low CS-PAM scores. More positive PCPs’ belief in the patients’ role in self-management was positively correlated with improvements in their patients’ level of patient activation.ConclusionsMore positive PCP beliefs about the patients’ role in self-management was strongly related to PCP behaviors geared towards increasing patient activation.