title: Violence and abuse: core competencies for identification and access to care.
abstract: Violence and abuse (V/A) is recognized as a significant public health problem, especially in females. Injuries to the head, neck, and/or mouth are clearly visible to the dental team during examination. This article provides compelling evidence that supports the pivotal position occupied by oral health care professionals within the arena of detection, intervention, and prevention of V/A. This article reviews the epidemiology of orofacial risk factors for V/A, diagnostic tools and surveys for identifying victims of all ages, and suggests interdisciplinary educational curricula/specific algorithms to provide the necessary core competencies for identifying victims in the oral health care environment.
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA. lisa_thompson@hsdm.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferguson-Young
authors.forename: Orrett
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ogle
authors.forename: Leslie R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Halpern
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008446:Maxillofacial Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology