The girlchild was in town this weekend, so there was a lot of parenting time, and less hanging out and surfing. We entertained at the house, Sasha baked, and we ate, and we just generally enjoyed having the kid home. Still, there was a little time to catch up on some reading, particularly as the evenings wound down. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

A new tool for documenting elder abuse is in the testing phase. Looking forward to seeing results.

Why being estranged from your family can be the healthy thing. Judge less.

I always enjoy writer Ashley Ford, and her take on asking for help (and self-care) is a good one

No surprise–LGBTQ+ youth are over-represented, have poorer outcomes in the child welfare system

Can you identify all of these humanitarian icons? I could not.

He says you can’t ignore emails, but maybe you can. I’m torn on this. For your own sanity, I could easily argue it’s okay to make your priorities more important than other folks’ priorities (which is generally what emails are)

This was a gut punch, but I understand their point, and who’s to say what I would do in that situation?

Women helping women is good business. This might be a whole post soon. I have a lot to say about this.

How the Justice Department’s definition of IPV could leave victims at risk

North Caroline A&T students fight back against sexual assault

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

Today marks one year since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This past summer, 200 teen journalists began the work of telling the stories of youth gun deaths in the US–spanning the year between the day of the shooting and this week. The remarkable piece of journalism that resulted puts an incredibly human face on the wholly preventable tragedy that is gun violence in America.

I encourage you to read the stories of those who died, but also get to know the journalists who wrote their stories. Read also how they identified their subjects, and why suicides with firearms didn’t end up being represented in this piece. There’s a lot of insight (and data) there.

Definitely worth your time.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

I have a confession: Sasha was at Ft Bragg all weekend doing soldier things, so I did nothing. Seriously, nothing. No work of any variety. I barely got myself fed if we’re going to be honest. I had a weekend of such spectacular sloth, it would be embarrassing if I didn’t know how much I had already worked in 2019, and how much work I will still do this month. That level of laying about lends oneself to a pretty decent amount of web surfing and generally catching up on the news of the day. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

An idea we should all get behind–a sensible holiday swap.

This investigative series on sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist church–whew (1st of 3 parts)

Lest we forget, the Catholic church is also in the news for some horrific behavior right now...

When teens are smarter than their parents on vaccinations

“Chief Kent spoke a half-dozen Arabic dialects and four other languages. She was one of the first women to complete the rigorous course required for other troops to accompany Navy SEALs on raids. She could run a 3:30 marathon, do a dozen full-arm-hang pull-ups and march for miles with a 50-pound rucksack.” A life lived in service, rest in peace.

Speaking of a life lived in service, we remember former Rep. John Dingell and his many contributions to health policy

Ugh, Virginia, it’s all problematic. Also, this.

BTW, all of this takes a toll

Why so many people ignore LGBTQ+ dating violence

In honor of Black History Month, 5 pioneering nurses you should know

This year’s Gun Law Score Card is now available from the Giffords Law Center

And finally, something to feel good about:

This immigrant-owned restaurant feeds the homeless and poor for free every single day no questions asked. He treats them as if they were full paying customers! @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/0ERZ7jJKPi— Caroline Patrickis (@Cpatrickis) February 8, 2019

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

I cannot describe how happy I am to look at my calendar and see no travel for 3 weeks. I’m delirious at the prospect of being home that long. I spent most of the weekend doing mundane things like grocery shopping, catching up on bad tv, and reminding my wife I live here, so I have nothing profound to report. But I did get a chance to read a bit. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

A new blog post from NSVRC that’s an important read

This survey out of the military academies…”a cultural rot”

We’re just beginning to fully understand the impact of witnessing domestic violence

How Planned Parenthood became a safe haven for queer women

Women: how to be the perfect victim of sexual violence

We don’t know the entire Lorena Bobbitt story

Humanity at its best

And finally 🙂 She ran 19 miles of a marathon carrying a lost puppy

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

Drumroll please…

Aimee Falkenberg you are our winner! I am super pleased to offer you one registration to this year’s IAFN conference in New Orleans. And your resolution: My professional goal for 2019 is to push for and assist in the creation of a strangulation protocol that can be used within our emergency departments. I also aspire to find a wee bit of wellness time for me-maybe explore some restorative yoga…I say this every year but 2019 is the year 

Perhaps some of that time for yourself will be spent in the Big Easy this Fall? Email me so we can chat details. Congratulations, Aimee! And for all FHO readers, don’t forget there’s still a few days left to take advantage of the 10% code (FHOIS10) for the research digests in the store. It will be good through January 31st.

First, thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway. I randomized the responses and had the generator choose a winner for me. Come back tomorrow for the big announcement.

I’m at Ft. Bragg this week and then [carefully looks around to make sure no one is listening] I am home for 3 entire, glorious weeks. I am beyond thrilled and am very much looking forward to seeing many of you for the IAFN Advocacy Day.

I worked most of the weekend after sneaking back to the CLE to see the girlchild, so I haven’t had much time to read. But there were a few things that caught my eye since last we spoke:

Her school banned her from writing about a classmate’s sexual assault arrest

Turns out, if you love research, academia might not be the place for you

Yoga mats in the squad room

Speaking black dialect in courtrooms can have dire consequences: “Beyond negative stereotypes or lack of familiarity, a court reporter’s own discomfort with some of the terminology used in black dialect could also lead to incorrect transcriptions…”

How to manage your fear of public speaking–some good tips in here, some of which I employ myself

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

(Have you entered our giveaway yet for IAFN conference registration?)

BMJ has a new full-text article available, How to get started in quality improvement. If you’ve spent any time on this site you know I’m a big fan of any type of programming that affirmatively identifies issues and ideally, makes system-level changes to reduce or eliminate those issues (as opposed to catching the same problems over and over and correcting them once they’ve already been made on a case by case, clinician by clinician basis). It’s the difference between quality assurance (QA) programs and quality improvement (QI) ones. Jen Pierce-Weeks and I tackled that issue in the Sustainability app, here. Since launching the Sustainability app, OVC published the SANE Program Development and Operation Guide, and they addressed the issue of quality improvement, as well.

This BMJ piece is a good follow-on. It’s obviously not tailored to forensic clinical programs, but there’s no reason the information wouldn’t apply to a variety of programs, regardless of location or structure. And this provides much more instruction for taking the plunge into QI. Program managers, in particular, should consider spending some time with this article, especially as you consider the major challenges you may have in providing the best possible care to patients in your community.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

(Have you entered our giveaway yet for IAFN conference registration?)

The windchill in the DC area is -3, but it’s better than the ground temp of -14 in E Lansing where I’m headed later today. I finally made it home after 15 days on the road, so it was a glorious weekend here. We did nothing but cook, watch old episodes of British Bakeoff and keep the fireplace going around the clock–heaven. However, that’s done, and now I will be gone the remainder of the month. Particularly with the shutdown appearing to have no end in sight, I am not complaining. If ever there was a time to be (extra) grateful for work it is when your spouse is not getting paid to go to the job that she shows up at daily.

Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:

I didn’t go to the women’s march this year since I had just gotten back to town, but this was an excellent take on why we shouldn’t give up on it

A powerful look at mental illness: Yale will not save you

If you didn’t see this UCLA gymnast’s floor routine a few weeks back, it’s a must watch. You can check it out and her inspiring plans post-graduation here.

Kill or be killed shouldn’t be the only option for battered women

Also: how the shutdown is impacting domestic violence shelters

No surprise sex ed fails teens regularly, but particularly around the issue of sexting

An aspirational online list for 2019

The gay penguins of Australia–this is delightful

Finally: I’ve been lucky enough to see Kamala Harris in action during Judiciary Committee hearings, so I am very interested to watch her campaign unfold. As with all the candidates, there are some things about her that concern me, but she is one of a few Dems that has a clear track record on issues important to me as both a woman and as a forensic clinician.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.

(Have you entered our giveaway yet for IAFN conference registration?)

Well, I have to tell you, 2019 has started out with a bang. Last week was Hawaii, this week is Tacoma, and I still have E. Lansing, Cleveland and Ft. Bragg before January is over. Never have I been so happy to see holes open up in my calendar–February is going to be bliss since it looks like I have only one trip scheduled now for the entire month. Whew–I need to get reacquainted with the other human in my household before March hits and we get right back at it.

Like last week, my time won’t be my own this week. I’ll try and keep posts as regular as possible, but it may be tricky. I did have some downtime over the weekend to catch up on some reading, though. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

A little news about me 🙂

The end of likability politics

“Their strength comes from collaborative, generational efforts to move toward the good.”

This incredible interactive site mapping violence against black women

Related

Currently one of my favorite Insta accounts

Traditional masculinity is officially labeled harmful by the APA

A Dreamer and a Rhodes scholar

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find our newest research brief, Aging Bruises Based On Color, plus our original guide, Injury Following Consensual Sex. Both available now for electronic download.