Mental Health Outcomes in Abused Women (Polaris DV-MH)

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed system, Polaris-DV-MH aims to address one of the most destructive social problems for women and families: domestic violence and the co-morbidity of mental health problems. Abuse significantly impacts women's physical and mental health, contributing to a sense of hopelessness as well as an acceptance of the abuse among its victims and the woman's family. As the abuse perpetuates, the likelihood of abused women turning to overburdened adult welfare programs for help increases. Polaris-DV-MH represents an innovative departure from domestic violence and global mental health assessments that are not designed for use with abused women. Polaris-DV-MH will enable treatment team members (nurses, medical advocates, physicians, social workers) to provide and access case information useful in monitoring women's recovery from abuse, including their mental health status. Women will complete computerized assessments at regular intervals. Real-time reports will be created based on their responses and given to medical providers at women's health centers and domestic violence agencies. These reports will help medical, social work and domestic violence personnel identify women whom need immediate mental health or domestic violence interventions to improve safety and well- being for themselves and their children. Phase I goals include: (1) Develop the DV-MH assessment; (2) Automate administration of the assessment; (3) Design and automate generation of the assessment report; (4) Establish psychometric properties of the Adult Domestic Violence Recovery scale; (5) Evaluate acceptance of product. Completion of the development of the Polaris DV-MH during Phase II will include derivation of predictive models which will help hospitals, medical, mental health, and domestic violence personnel determine which women are likely to be involved in abuse that could escalate and result in serious injury/death or require child welfare agency intervention. ? Polaris DV-MH The proposed system, Polaris-DV-MH aims to address one of the most destructive social problems for women and families; domestic violence and the co-morbidity of mental health problems. Abuse significantly impacts the incidence of serious physical and mental health illness, contributing to a sense of hopelessness as well as an acceptance of the abuse among its victims and the woman's family. Polaris-DV-MH is designed to assist all members of the domestic violence case team through computerized and standardized assessment. Polaris- DV-MH reports will be actionable to help treatment team members: (1) determine whether mental health intervention should be recommended; (2) determine women's strengths that may help mediate the effects of the abuse, such as the development of PTSD; (3) coordinate with medical, mental health, domestic violence and other agencies to document and provide care; and (4) (in Phase II) monitor and document the progress of the woman as she moves towards recovery.