Using the stages of change model to counsel victims of intimate partner violence.
Medical expenses from intimate partner violence (IPV) total between $3 and $5 billion annually. Many abuse victims are exposed to serious injuries, and are likely to see their physicians more frequently than other patients. Practitioners must have a reliable and realistic approach to counseling patients who are victims of IPV. This paper presents the stages of change model as a practical guide for counseling victims. Through patients' responses to a series of questions, the practitioner can identify which of five stages of change (precontemplation, preparation, contemplation, action, maintenance) the patient is in. The practitioner can then employ stage-specific strategies for counseling the patient. Using this model shifts the definition of successful outcome from the traditional focus of trying to 'fix the problem' to a patient-centered focus, working with the patient to explore the most effective strategies given his/her stage of change.
Frasier
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PY
Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7595, USA. pfrasier@med.unc.edu
Slatt
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L
Kowlowitz
V
V
Glowa
P T
PT
D003479:Curriculum; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009657:North Carolina; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology