Resources Library: Healthcare System & Response
Start a Search:
Trauma-Informed Birth Support: Survivor + Doula + Advocate
This pamphlet reviews the connections between pregnancy, childbirth, and trauma, and offers information, resources, and tips for advocates and birth doulas to support trauma-informed birth experiences for survivors of domestic violence. Published by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
Understanding PERK Exams and Your Options After a Sexual Assault
This brochure provides information and guidance for obtaining, understanding, and tracking a PERK (Physical Evidence Recovery Kit) Exam in the state of Virginia. Included in this resource are sections on receiving support and information, what a PERK exam is and how it is performed, PERK exams and reporting to law enforcement, victims’ rights and options, and more.
Virginia’s Healthcare Response to Sexual Assault:
Guidelines for the Acute Care of Adult and Post-Pubertal Adolescent Sexual Assault Patients
The document incorporates recommendations from professionals across Virginia, as well as information from current guidelines from relevant state and national resources on the management of sexual assault patients and the collection of forensic evidence. The guidelines provide a framework for the critical role of the healthcare sector in meeting the needs of sexual assault patients and the criminal justice system. They are organized around four fundamental criteria and were developed to address the healthcare response at the community, facility, and individual levels.
While these guidelines were developed specifically for healthcare professionals and facilities, the healthcare sector is just one component of a comprehensive response to sexual violence. These guidelines will also be a valuable component of statewide efforts to establish coordinated, collaborative, and compassionate responses to sexual violence in every community in Virginia. Published by Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and Virginia Chapter of the International Association of Forensic Nurses December 2009. 127 pages.
On July 1, 2013, Virginia enacted legislation that provides a procedure health care providers may use to evaluate incapacitated patients who may have been sexually assaulted (see § 54.1-2970.1 below). The legislation is intended to be used when a sexual assault examination and physical evidence recovery is prudent, but the adult patient is unable to consent and timeliness of evidence collection is crucial prior to destruction by medical interventions or bodily functions. The law outlines specific procedures and criteria that must be met in order to allow the examination and evidence recovery without the patient’s consent. In November, an addendum to the Healthcare Guidelines was released to provide guidance to healthcare professionals on the use of this new process. It is expected that the new consent process will be infrequently used, as consent for the sexual assault examination and physical evidence recovery may be obtained from next of kin, guardians, or from the patient after the patient regains the capacity to consent following temporary incapacity.
What Psychology Professional Should Know About Polyamory
The booklet is the result of collaboration among a small but dedicated group of activists and professionals – some polyamorous, some not – who believe that polyamory represents a serious relationship option deserving of respect and understanding among helping professionals and the broader public alike. The independent work of Dr. Geri Weitzman, Dr. Robert Phillips and [Dr. Joy Davidson], woven here into a single integrated text, provides a great introduction for the helping professional to begin educating her/himself on this form of relationship configuration.
