Abusive behavior cascades through family
generations, impacting the health of the abused, both children and adults, and
is a major social issue. The cost to our health care system is greater than
that of breast and cervical cancer,
and yet only 2% of domestic abuse cases are diagnosed by physicians.
We have only begun to realize how serious this
issue is. It costs society up to $50 billion in health care costs alone,
and causes injuries, chronic illnesses, and undiagnosed mental illnesses which
could be prevented. Unfortunately, it is a difficult task to diagnose a
phenomenon that patients are only too willing to deny.
Though in the last few years more educational material has become available, a
significant amount of work remains to be done in advocating the need to train
physicians to identify and treat domestic abuse.
GetWell is putting its efforts into:
American
Cancer Society (2003).
.
National Institute for Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2000.
