PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Christina Nicolaidis
AU  - MaryAnn Curry
AU  - Martha Gerrity
TI  - Health Care Workers’ Expectations and Empathy toward Patients in Abusive Relationships
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.18.3.159
DP  - 2005 May 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice
PG  - 159--165
VI  - 18
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/18/3/159.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/18/3/159.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2005 May 01; 18
AB  - Purpose: To understand attitudes that may affect health care workers’ ability to provide appropriate long-term care for patients who stay with abusive partners.Methods: We surveyed 278 health care workers in 31 primary care practices before their participation in an educational intervention.Results: More than half of participants (51% to 60%) found it easy to empathize with a patient who decided to remain in an abusive relationship if the patient was described as poor or disabled, but few (25% to 39%) could empathize if the patient was described as educated or financially secure. A majority (57% to 59%) agreed with a statement meant to assess unrealistic expectations. (“A provider’s responsibility includes making sure a patient gets to a shelter right away if he or she discloses abuse.”) Participants who agreed with this statement had more difficulty empathizing with patients who decided to stay with an abusive partner (P = .0045).Conclusions: Training efforts must focus on screening and on helping providers develop more realistic expectations about the complex nature of leaving an abusive relationship. Health care workers need a better understanding of the barriers patients face and why patients may choose to remain in abusive relationships, even in the absence of economic or health limitations.