Health Cares About Domestic Violence (HCADV) Day is an annual, nationally recognized day that takes place on the second Wednesday of October. Sponsored by FUTURES, HCADV Day raises awareness that domestic violence is a healthcare issue, and promotes partnerships between healthcare and domestic violence programs to support survivor health and work together to prevent domestic violence.
For 25 years, HCADV Day has engaged leaders from health care, advocacy, policy, public health and research to organize events and activities across the country. We invite you to get involved! Whether you host an event, share resources, host a staff training, or spread the word through social media, your participation makes a difference. Looking for ideas? See our action kit and examples of past activities linked below:
HCADV Day Action Kit
Activities You Can Organize
- Share these videos created with IPV survivors with guidance for healthcare clinicians on how to better support patients/caregivers to disclose and receive support around IPV.
- Introduce the subject of domestic violence by sending an e-mail to colleagues about the day.
- Post information on your company, community or school’s website about the day.
- Collaborate with a local domestic violence agency to hold a community awareness forum or DV101 training at the health center. Find your state & U.S territory DV coalitions here and your local health center here.
- Organize a resource table and distribute facts sheets, patient educational materials, and a local resource list with phone numbers of local shelters, hotlines and community resources.
- Organize a training session or webinar for health care staff on our universal education approach (CUES) at ipvhealth.org.
- Invite an advocate or survivor to speak at a brown bag lunch. Download the NRCDV’s From the Front of the Room: A Survivor’s Guide to Public Speaking.
- Engage your staff, community and local DV agencies in a conversation about screening for IPV in healthcare settings using social media with the hashtags #HCADV, #DVAM and others! View sample social media posts below.
- Hang posters and place safety cards in waiting areas and patient rooms to give patients the message that support is available. Check out our store to order safety cards and posters.
HCADV Day Past Activities
2024
- 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.
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.
- 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 2nd 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 19th, this includes all members of their community.
- 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.
For questions about HCADV Day and support, contact us at health@futureswithoutviolence.org.
