Trauma Teams Provide Care For Domestic Abuse Victims

One probable consequence of increased inflation and unemployment will be more domestic violence, experts say. Two Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals are ready with special "Trauma Teams" to aid victims.

Although other Boston hospitals provide crisis units for victims of rape, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the Children's Hospital have the only specially trained staffs in the Boston area to deal specifically with cases of domestic abuse.

Children's Hospital specializes in child abuse cases, and Peter Bent Brigham aids mostly women and an occasional "battered husband," Phillis S. Schultz, chairman of the social service trauma team at Brigham Hospital, said recently.

Dr. Eli H. Newberger, assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Medical School said recently the programs meet a pressing need for a "coherent system incorporating the social, clinical, and familial aspects of child abuse."

Hospital staff volunteering additional time initiated the Brigham program in 1978, Elizabeth Kuzia, a senior social worker in the Brigham emergency unit, said recently. But she added that the volunteers "burned out" from the hectic pace of holding a regular job while being on 24-hour call for crisis counseling and referral.

Kuzia said professional, full-time staff now provide "on-stage coverage."

Staff members undergo "desensitization" programs--training staff to respond by following established hospital protocol in dealing with alleged cases of domestic abuse. After providing necessary medical attention, the staff also provides counseling services and channels for immediate legal action.

Interdisciplinary teams incorporate hospital administrative staff, nurses and doctors with social workers, laywers, and psychiatrists in an effort to coordinate social and medical services.

Precipitating factors in domestic violence may include alcohol, jealousy, or financial problems, but these may only be the "tip of the iceburg," Kuzia said.

Schultz said the need for financial support often keeps women in abusive situations. She recently testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Child and Human Development in support of a bill to provide federal funds for domestic violence programs.