Comparing hospital Emergency presentations of Family Domestic Violence referred to Social Work during the Covid lock down, to presentations referred during the non Covid period

Ms Mary Joyce¹, Mrs Alison Maclean¹, Mrs Sue Jordan¹

¹Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group, Perth, Australia

The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of any differences for hospital emergency presentations of Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) between the Western Australian March 2020 Covid lockdown period compared to the May 2021 period, post the  Covid lockdown. This study is based on a review of hospital social work data from the Allied Health System (AHS) and from entries in identified medical records. All emergency department referrals to social work will be reviewed  to ascertain what percentage was FDV and what was non FDV cases.  We will report on patient demographics, source of referral and reason for referral to social work for both FDV and non FDV cases during each period.  For FDV cases,  we will also report on additional variables relevant to FDV and social work  interventions provided. It is anticipated that the study results will highlight differences for this patient cohort, between covid lockdown and non Covid conditions, provide lessons learned, and inform potential for service improvements that could be implemented.

Biography:

Mary Joyce

Mary Joyce is the Head of Department of Social Work, for the Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group in Western Australia.

She holds a Masters of Business Administration and has held clinical, strategic planning and management roles in the health sector. Mary has a strong commitment to optimising the delivery of social work services, particularly to the most vulnerable, by research, advanced learning and supervision.

Mary has a keen interest in Information technology and is a representative on state and national bodies regarding allied health data collection.

Alison MacLean

Alison MacLean is a Social Work Manager at Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Health Care Group in Perth.  She manages a team of Social Workers in clinical areas that include the Emergency Department, Intensive Care and Surgical areas.

Alison’s area of specialist clinical practice is with patients, families and donors in the work up for liver and renal transplants.

In addition, Alison’s passion is meeting the needs of Carer’s as well as Aboriginal patients from remote communities. Another interest for Alison is Family Domestic Violence, which she has been researching, as well as being the health services representative on Family Domestic Violence Committees and Steering Groups.

Sue Jordan

Sue Jordan is a Social work manager at SIr Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group. She has had extensive clinical and managerial experience in social work during a career over 42 years. Her involvement in the area of Family and Domestic Violence at SIr Charles Gairdner Hospital has included clinical work, staff consultation and supervision, involvement in quality improvement activities, implementing service improvements, developing a research poster, and representation on WA Health and Area committees.