A powerful theatrical performance will today (October 24) give Aberdeen medical students an emotion charged insight into domestic abuse.
The University of Aberdeen has organised the production in the hope that it provides the audience of tomorrow's doctors with a harrowing insight into a problem so prevalent it affects one in four women and one in six men.
Birmingham based Geese Theatre Company – which is renowned for its theatre and drama work with offenders and youths at risk – is putting on a play called Stay which charts the collapse of a relationship between a couple with a young child and another on the way.
Domestic abuse is to blame for the breakdown and the man's controlling behaviour, emotional abuse and physical violence is explored by the two performers who will also ask the audience to interact as the improvised play progresses.
Dr Helen Galley, Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care and Programme Co-ordintator of the Intercalated BSc for medical students course, said: "We invited Geese Theatre Company up to Aberdeen because we thought this would be an innovative way to teach our medical students about domestic abuse which is such an acute problem that police in the UK receive 1,300 phone calls each day about it.
"Around 1% of Accident and Emergency visits involve domestic abuse. Healthcare workers need to be aware of the possibility of domestic abuse in their patients and be able to create the environment and atmosphere for patients to be able to disclose. They also need to be informed about the different kinds of abuse – physical, sexual, psychological and financial - that takes place in all kinds of domestic settings. It can and does happen in any home."
Professor Mike Greaves, Head of the University's School of Medicine, added: "It is imperative that we offer comprehensive and holistic training to the next generation of doctors. This requires innovative training methods of which this is an outstanding example."
Andy Watson is Artistic Director of Geese Theatre which has performed all over Scotland. He said: "I hope that our performance of this play will enable medical students to keep domestic abuse at the forefront of their minds when they enter their future careers."
The play – which takes place in the afternoon at Harlaw Academy in Aberdeen - will be preceded by a half hour presentation by WPC Helen Cowie from the Domestic Abuse Liaison Unit at Grampian Police.
She said: "This is a great example of multi agency working. Healthcare workers are inevitably going to encounter victims of domestic abuse by either physical signs or disclosures. It is very important that we know how to act on the information as the victim may only try to disclose once."
Earlier this year the British Medical Association – the major professional body representing doctors in the UK – announced it aimed to lead the way in encouraging healthcare professionals to raise awareness of domestic abuse when it published a lengthy report into the problem.
The report contains a series of statistics which include:
- Nearly one third of violent incidents against women are domestic abuse
- Around 30% of domestic abuse begins during pregnancy
- Partner abuse is as common and prevalent among same sex couples
- It's estimated that as many as half a million older people are victims of domestic abuse in the UK