Family Centered Health Promotion: Identifying Abuse in Healthcare

This report focuses on family-centered health promotion, specifically addressing the identification and reporting of domestic violence, child abuse, and elderly abuse within a healthcare setting. The report highlights the physical and emotional signs of abuse, including bruises, injuries, and psychological distress. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing these signs to provide appropriate care and intervention. The report also outlines the specific protocols for reporting suspected cases of abuse, including contacting social work offices and relevant legal departments. Furthermore, the report highlights the healthcare facility's policy of immediate reporting to the social work office when abuse is suspected, which then involves contacting the appropriate agency and legal department for further action. The report references relevant literature to support its claims and provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and responsibilities faced by healthcare providers in addressing abuse.

Running header: FAMILY CENTERED HEALTH PROMOTION 1
Family centered health promotion
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

FAMILY CENTERED HEALTH PROMOTION 2
Domestic violence is regarded as any abusive, violent or intimidating behavior
experienced in a relationship either between spouses or a boyfriend and girlfriend. Domestic
violence can be expressed either through physical, emotional, economic, social and spiritual
abuse (Berns, 2017). However, the most recognizable form of abuse is physical abuse.
Healthcare providers can identify domestic violence through the following signs. They include;
injuries and bruises from punching, chocking or being thrown down. Besides, victims of
domestic violence may have sprained wrists, purple or red-purple marks on the neck, as well as
black eyes. The victims of domestic violence may also tend to hide bruises through clothing,
makeup or make excuses, such as being in an accident.
Child abuse, on the other hand, refers to any psychological, sexual or physical
maltreatment or neglect against a child. Children don’t tend to lie or hide any maltreatment and
therefore, healthcare providers can notice the signs through their emotions or physical abuse such
as bruises or injuries. Lastly, elderly abuse may take various forms such as neglect, threats and
intimidations, or financial trickery. Most elders are abused while still in their homes, facilities
responsible for their care or their relative’s homes (Van der Kolk, 2017). Physical abuse can take
the form of physical assaults, confinement, or restraints. The elderly can also be emotionally
abused through humiliation, ridicule or threats. These are possible characteristics that healthcare
providers can identify in order to assist them.
In the facility I am based in, the policy that is adhered to when we suspect child abuse,
domestic violence or any form of elderly abuse is making immediate reports to our social work
office. After the reports are made, the social workers then contact the relevant agency with
jurisdiction as well as notify the legal department so that appropriate actions can be taken.

FAMILY CENTERED HEALTH PROMOTION 3
References
Berns, N. S. (2017). Framing the victim: Domestic violence, media, and social problems.
Routledge.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2017). This issue: child abuse & victimization. Psychiatric Annals, 35(5),
374-378.