A range of industry-leading tools developed by James Cook University (JCU) will help dentistry students and practitioners across the country respond to patients affected by sexual and family violence.
Experts from JCU’s Dentistry and Social Work fields officially launched the educational videos and related documents at the start of August. The innovative approach covers several role-playing scenarios, as well as information about trauma-informed care, legal and ethical considerations, support and tips around working with First Nations Australians, and advice on how to avoid unintended consequences when providing assistance to victim-survivors.
The JCU resource suite was funded by a Keeping Women Safe from Violence grant from the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
JCU Dentistry Adjunct Associate Professor Felicity Croker says that, because a significant number of JCU dentistry students treat patients showing indicators of domestic and sexual violence (DSV), helping them to deal with those scenarios with extra training and resources is important for everyone involved.
“One of the things we hope has come out of the launch of these resources is that we’ll also be able to bring on board the clinical supervisors, dentists in practice and make it available to other dental schools,” she says.
“JCU had the first embedded domestic and sexual violence program in a dentistry course in Australia because students found that when they went on placement, they were seeing patients who had experienced DSV and were unsure how to respond.”
Responding to DSV can save lives
The JCU program has now extended to include third-year Dentistry students onwards and it is also utilised by JCU-affiliated dental practitioners. The Australian Dental Council has made it a graduate requirement that all students gain competency in recognising, assessing, and responding to DSV.
Dentists are in a unique position and had to manage what could be an awkward environment for victim-survivors to speak up and seek support, says JCU Social Work Senior Lecturer Dr Ann Carrington.
“We want students and practitioners to be able to listen in, make some risk assessments, and build the perfect tools to address DSV where necessary, but dentistry can be a really triggering experience for survivors of trauma,” Carrington says.
“Once they’ve made the appropriate referrals that the patient may ask for, the next step is then considering what that does for their practice with the patient and how can all parties work together in a way that minimises the possibility of further traumatisation. It’s really about helping students and practitioners see how they can do that.”
Delivering trauma-informed care
The resources cover trauma-informed practice, which Carrington says takes into account the potentially triggering nature of victim-survivors having to recount their experience and gives advice on how students and practitioners can move forward and address the matter sensitively.
JCU Dentistry graduate Dr Alex Dancyger calls the resources were “a game-changer”.
“As a JCU Dental student I learnt the content but had limited exposure to patients who had experienced DSV,” Dancyger says.
“However, after graduating, without a supervisor to turn to and working rurally and with more clinical experience, I really value the resources.
“You see a variety of things, which can include DSV. Having resources to help navigate these delicate situations gives me confidence in helping my patients, especially as a new graduate when everything is new.”
