Domestic Homicide Oversight Mechanism for Health (Physical and Mental Health): Summary Report

Chantler, Khatidja ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9129-2560, Baker, Victoria, Heyes, Kim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9029-545X and Gunby, Clare ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8428-6621 (2023) Domestic Homicide Oversight Mechanism for Health (Physical and Mental Health): Summary Report. In: Domestic Homicide Oversight Mechanism: HALT study briefings. Research Report. Domestic Abuse Commissioner, London.

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Abstract

Introduction Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) can have a significant impact on a person's physical and mental health. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) have a responsibility to respond appropriately to disclosures of DVA, and to follow relevant escalation pathways to ensure a multi-professional approach where necessary. It is a frequent complaint of healthcare professionals that documentation is not shared correctly (or at all), that information recorded within these documents is not accurate (Dheensa and Feder, 2022) or always acted upon. Several national policies and guidelines have been developed to support HCPs to identify and respond to DVA (e.g. DoH, 2017; NICE, 2014). The purpose of this work is to better understand the types of recommendations made in Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) for physical and mental health, relating both to intimate partner homicide and adult family homicide. The study will help to inform the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Domestic Homicide Oversight Mechanism for Health.