title: Follow-up of rape victims in a family practice setting.
abstract: Health care for rape victims traditionally has been crisis oriented, focused solely upon the victim, and provided either by a gynecologist or psychiatrist. A family practice health team, working in a county hospital, offered rape victims and their families crisis counseling in the emergency room, and follow-up care in a family practice clinic. Follow-up of victims markedly increased from 8% before initiation of the program to 86% afterward. Family members of more than half of the victims seen on follow-up received treatment. A wide range of health needs of both victims and their families, not identified in the emergency room, was identified on follow-up visits. In this way emergency care of the rape victim often became an entry point into the health care system. Rape must be viewed as a family's as well as victim's health problem, often demanding a broader service than can be offered by a gynecologist or psychiatrist alone.
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005194:Family Practice; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011902:Rape; D013587:Syphilis / Q000517:prevention & control