Follow-up of rape victims in a family practice setting

Abstract

Health care for rape victims traditionally has been crisis oriented, focused solely upon the victim, and provided either by a gynecologist or psychiatrist. A family practice health team, working in a county hospital, offered rape victims and their families crisis counseling in the emergency room, and follow-up care in a family practice clinic. Follow-up of victims markedly increased from 8% before initiation of the program to 86% afterward. Family members of more than half of the victims seen on follow-up received treatment. A wide range of health needs of both victims and their families, not identified in the emergency room, was identified on follow-up visits. In this way emergency care of the rape victim often became an entry point into the health care system. Rape must be viewed as a family's as well as victim's health problem, often demanding a broader service than can be offered by a gynecologist or psychiatrist alone.