There is no available literature on interventions which might be practical in the time-constrained, low volume private office setting. There is suggestion, however, that even the initial screening, along with a pocket reference card containing a list of emergency numbers, might reduce abuse prevalence. And Intervention Many clinicians fail to apply universal domestic violence screening based on one of three major barriers. The first is time-intensiveness. Because of the above-cited need for direct patient interview, universal screening would add time to the patient encounter.
Positive answers require further time.
Many practices are designed in such a way that it is difficult to incorporate this step into the flow of patient care. The second major barrier is the perception that intervention is unlikely to change patient behavior. The highly publicized tendency of abused women to return to the environment of abuse discourages many clinicians from investing what they perceive as wasted time. The third, and closely related, barrier to universal screening is clinician lack of understanding regarding what resources are available for intervention and how to best apply these resources for any individual patient. Few private clinicians have the resources or inclination to launch the kind of intensive education and intervention programs described in the literature, and no practical alternative has been proposed.