Domestic Violence for Kentucky Physicians

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Differentiate intimate partner violence, dating violence, child abuse and neglect, and the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults according to the Kentucky legal categories that determine a physician’s obligations.

2. Recognize clinical, behavioral, and injury indicators of intimate partner violence and elder abuse, including in pregnant patients, children, older adults, and other populations at increased risk.

3. Apply trauma-informed, evidence-based screening, inquiry, and documentation practices during the clinical encounter.

4. Assess immediate danger and lethality risk, including nonfatal strangulation, firearm access, and escalating violence.

5. Determine the Kentucky reporting, education-and-referral, and protective-order information duties that apply to a given patient encounter.

Domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse may present during routine, urgent, preventive, reproductive, pediatric, behavioral-health, and emergency encounters. Kentucky physicians need to distinguish clinical signs of abuse, evaluate immediate medical and safety concerns, respond using trauma-informed practices, document findings objectively, and understand when Kentucky law requires education, referral, protective-order information, or reporting.

This three-hour activity addresses gaps in recognition of abuse, consistent trauma-informed response, and differentiation of Kentucky education, referral, and reporting duties. Clinical examples support application of private inquiry, medical and danger assessment, objective documentation, and safe referral for patients experiencing domestic or dating violence, child maltreatment, or abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults.