Iowa Governor's Conference on Public Health

Iowa was one of four states that participated in Project Catalyst: Statewide Transformation on Health and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). The project was aimed at state-level system change to support an integrated and improved response to IPV and human trafficking in community health centers and domestic violence programs. Iowa’s leadership team from the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Primary Care Association, and Department of Public Health conducted trainings at five DV agencies and five health centers across Iowa. Trainings covered the intersection of health and IPV and trafficking, and a universal education model that offers information to clients regardless of a positive disclosure of violence. This model comes from recognition of the pervasiveness of IPV and trafficking. According to the NISVS 2010-2012 State Report, 35.3% of Iowa women over 18 reported a lifetime experience of IPV. National Human Trafficking Hotline data show that between 2012-2016 calls to the hotline from Iowa rose from 63 to 202 respectively. Healthcare providers are in a unique position to identify and support survivors given their increased presence in the healthcare system due to the negative health outcomes associated with these types of violence. In this workshop participants will receive an overview of the training curricula, hear lessons learned and next steps taken to create an integrated response, and learn how they can utilize the information for similar system transformation.