Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day Archive

Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day (HCADV Day) is a nationally-recognized day that takes place annually on the second Wednesday of October. Sponsored by FUTURES, the awareness-raising day aims to reach members of the healthcare and advocacy communities to offer education about the critical importance of universal education to promote healthy relationships, address the health impact of abuse and offer warm referrals to domestic violence advocates.

Visit our HCADV Day Action Kit for event/activity ideas and sample social media posts.

HCADV Day Years Past

2023

• National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and Health Partners on IPV + Exploitation co-authored a blog post focusing on safety and health of individuals experiencing DV at health centers for HCADV day.
• National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence hosted a webinar titled Building Partnerships to Support Survivors where speakers shared strategies to create and sustain partnerships between health programs (including behavioral health) and domestic violence programs, as well as health policies that increase access to care for survivors.

2022

• The Texas Advocacy Project shared a HCADV Day video with a safety tip about talking with your doctor about abuse.
• Rutgers Health organized a “Put On Your Purple Day” for HCADV Day to raise awareness about how healthcare providers can better support survivors of IPV.
• Reproductive Justice is Survivor Justice: Bodily Autonomy, Health, and Safety Panel
• In recognition of HCADV Day, Health Partners on IPV + Exploitation and National Health Care for the Homeless Council released a toolkit, Intimate Partner Violence, Homelessness and Behavioral Health: A Toolkit for Health Center and Community Partners, and hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the toolkit. You can find the webinar recording here.

2021

• Union Community Care and Domestic Violence Services, a program of Community Action Partnership of Lancaster County, made an informational video for HCADV Day providing insight on what they have done in their medical practice to support victims and survivors of domestic violence.
• Staff at the Medical Advocacy Partnership Program at Safe Berks created a video expressing their gratitude for health care providers as well as highlighting the importance of partnerships between DV advocates & healthcare workers.
• The Texas Council on Family Violence held a webinar titled Advocacy Response to SB8 and Reproductive Coercion: Empowering Conversations and Resources to address the high incidences of reproductive coercion among survivors of IPV, and to educate advocates about SB8, a bill which went into effect on September 1st that significantly truncates the time frame medical providers have to lawfully provide abortion care, severely limiting this health care option.

2019

• Partners for Peace, a member of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, will be setting up informational booths at medical offices and organizing presentations and training for healthcare providers on this day and throughout the month. They are also offering to coordinate screenings of the documentary, Finding Jenn’s Voice, the heartbreaking story of a woman killed by her boyfriend when he found out she was pregnant.
• The city of Philadelphia celebrated the day on our traditional 2^nd Wednesday of the month. The Dept. of Public Health and Health Federation hosted this event by partnering their city health centers with DV agencies to offer information about IPV, sharing local resources and providing confidential services.
• The Lake Family Resource Center has planned their annual “Power of the Purple Walk” this Saturday October 19^th, this includes all members of their community.
• The Good Samaritan Hospital, and Health Connection in Indiana are partnering with Pace Community Action Agency to provide free educational information to the public.
• RACMonitor, an online news and information source produced to help healthcare providers make informed decisions for their organizations on the activities of third party contract auditors, updated their Blog post about Community and Provider Resources to Address Violence and Abuse in Rural America, originally published in October 2017 by Janelle Ali-Dinar, PhD.
• AVA Project in the UK, Office of Head Start, and CalSWEC (CA social work education center) has been utilizing social media to spread awareness and resources about Trauma-informed care utilizing the hashtag #HCADVday and #HCADV
• NC Coalition Against DV is hosting a HCADV day giveaway with Create Consent Culture by posting trivia on their social media @NCCoalitionADV
• Nevada Primary Care Association hosted a training on Integrating Family Planning Services into the Federally Qualified Health Centers with the Georgia Family Planning System.
• Community Health Alliance in Nevada is hosting their Family Health Festival on October 16th, 2019. This is a free event, where they distributed health resources, flu shots, a mobile food pantry and more.

2018

• University of California Santa Barbara’s Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education (CARE) Advocate Office hosted a tabling event for HCADV Day to educate those in healthcare about the importance of screening and counseling for domestic violence as a means of better supporting survivors. The event was interactive with a whiteboard for messages of support for survivors as well as a game with provoking questions.
• The Lake Family Resource Center encouraged health care providers and community members to wear purple, the symbolic hue for domestic violence. They will also host other events during the month like their annual “Power of the Purple Walk”.
• Lakeport City Council, Clearlake City Council, and the Board of Supervisors issued proclamations to increase involvement in efforts to prevent further violence.
• Partners for Peace, the domestic violence resource center serving Piscataquis and Penobscot counties in Maine, hosted three End Domestic Violence Days during the month of October: a color fun run/walk, a vigil/remembrance community gathering BBQ, and their Knowledge Empowers Campaign.
• Multiple viewing parties of FUTURES’ “How are Health Care Providers and DV Advocates Working Together? A #HCADVDay #DVAM Webinar” were hosted by advocates and healthcare providers including one organized by Passages in Richland Center, WI with hospital staff; and one in Marin County, South Florida organized by a DNP student at the clinic where they are conducting their doctoral project.
• Health advocacy group, Health Imperatives, shared a social post on their Facebook site.

2017

• The Santa Clara Public Health Department in California adapted several safety cards by localizing their community referrals and translating into Vietnamese and Chinese to increase outreach and improve health and safety outcomes for more of their county’s residents.
• The Social Services Division at Eastland Memorial Hospital in Texas kicked off a hospital-wide toiletries drive on HCADV Day to benefit their local domestic violence community partner, Crime Victim Assistance Center (pictured above). The drive will run for the remainder of the month.
• The Jacobi Medical Center, a Trauma I medical facility in New York, held a month-long donation drive for local domestic violence shelters. The Center additionally implemented the Clothesline Project. Patients and staff created t-shirts expressing their ideas on relationship abuse, which are available for viewing during the month of October.
  The New Jersey Health Cares About Domestic and Sexual Violence Collaborative obtained a Joint Legislative Resolution recognizing HCADV Day as “New Jersey Health Cares About Domestic and Sexual Violence Day”.
• The Jersey Battered Women’s Services developed posters and a toolkit featuring content on HCADV Day.
• The Texas Council on Family Violence developed sharable graphics to raise awareness that domestic violence is a healthcare issue as part of HCADV Day.
• The Center for Community Solutions shared a blog post about HCADV Day.
  

2016

• In 2016 the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence hosted a Domestic Violence Awareness Roundtable, Every Patient Every Time, co-sponsored by the Senate Chair of the Connecticut’s Public Health Committee. This awareness-raising event highlighted the importance of screening and referrals, particularly among pregnant and parenting women.
• CHI Mercy Health, along with seven other Catholic Health Initiative hospitals and medical centers in North Dakota, recognized HCADV Day by connecting with local professionals and community members through trainings and education sessions. CHI St. Alexius honored HCADV Day by encouraging staff to wear purple in honor of survivors and victims.
• The University of Virginia and the Crisis Center for South Suburbia featured blog posts announcing information tables, set up to connect the public with advocates and resources.
• Grace Smith House encouraged providers to wear stickers that ask, “Do you feel safe in your relationship?”
• The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence recognized the day by publishing an online post on their website.
• Check out the Alliance Against Family Violence’s Facebook post about HCADV Day.

2015

• The New Jersey Legislature designated the second Wednesday of October as “Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day”.

2013

• In October 2013, the Texas Council on Family Violence hosted a Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day public forum and provided training from leaders in domestic violence and women’s health care on the health effects of intimate partner violence. The discussion explored how health care professionals can assist people they come in contact with people whom they believe are survivors of domestic violence. The panel also discussed the implications of intimate partner violence on teen pregnancy prevention, HIV/AIDS Services, and Maternal/Child Health.
• The Woman Abuse Council of Toronto developed the “Health Cares About Woman Abuse” campaign targeting health care providers in Toronto-area hospitals, public health offices, and community health centers. Information booths and specially developed campaign materials were available to reflect the needs of the diverse population of women in the city of Toronto.
• Dr. Liliana Hamlett in San Jose, CA organized a “Grand Rounds on Domestic Violence” screening for faculty, medical residents and community guests at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The panelists were: Police Captain Alana Forrest; Supervising Attorney for Family Violence in the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office Daniel Nishigaya; and Dr. Amy Laws, who specializes in internal medicine, diabetes, preventive cardiology and geriatrics. The event began with a basic introduction addressing the importance of screening and the prevalence of domestic violence. Panelists with criminal justice backgrounds explained law enforcement protocol and how health care professionals can strengthen the prosecution of domestic violence cases with better documentation.
• The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) released a media advisory to its community to increase awareness and to promote routine health screening of abuse. SEARHC’s Domestic Violence Task Force has participated in awareness events in Sitka for several years. On HCADV Day, they organized a resource table in the main lobby to provide information and general resources to both staff and the public.
• A Charlotte AmeriCorps volunteer has recruited seven Michigan State University nursing students to distribute domestic violence literature to doctors, hospitals and clinics in the community on Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day. The literature includes information on local resources, a patient education safety card, a poster and guidelines for identifying and responding to abuse.This activity was highly successful in reaching health care providers in rural communities.
• The Kaw Nation Domestic Violence Project hosted a two-hour presentation at the Kanza Clinic on Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day. It addressed domestic violence and health care workers, and issues regarding full faith and credit. Staff members from the project distribute information for health care practitioners at two health fairs to spread the word about the Kaw Nation’s Domestic Violence Project.
• Look to End Abuse Permanently (LEAP) and the San Francisco Department of Public Health co-sponsored a training on childhood exposure to domestic violence. The speakers included Patricia Van Horn, PhD, JD Division Director, SFGH Division of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry; Chris Stewart, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UCSF; Jamie Cox, MSW, Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, La Casa de las Madres; and Blia Moua, MSW, provided excellent information concerning the issue of childhood exposure to domestic violence. The training was a huge success with 130 health care and community-based staff in attendance.
• The West Virginia Hospital Association (WVHA) hosted a press conference to announce the WVHA’s support for the Governor’s Family Violence Coordinated Council recommendations regarding health care’s response to domestic violence. The attendees included the Secretary of Health and Deputy Insurance Commissioner, among others. Two television stations and the Charleston newspaper covered the event.