Primary care professionals (PCPs) are increasingly being expected to identify and respond to family and sexual violence as the chronic nature and severity of the long-term health impacts are increasingly recognized. This discussion paper reports the authors’ expert opinion from their experiences running international workshops to prevent trauma among those who work and research sexual violence. It describes the burnout and secondary traumatic stress literature which provides the evidence supporting their work. Implications for practicing basic training in response to trauma and ongoing education are a key area for responding to family violence and preventing professional stress. A professional culture that supports and values caring well for those who have experienced family violence as well as “caring for the carer” is needed. Working in teams and having more support systems in place are likely to protect PCPs from secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Undergraduate and postgraduate training of PCPs to develop trauma knowledge and the skills to ask about and respond to family violence safely are essential. In addition, the healthcare system, workplace, and the individual practitioner support structures need to be in place to enable PCPs to provide safe and effective long-term care and access to other appropriate services for those who have experienced family violence. 1. Introduction Being a primary care professional (PCP) means being at the forefront of managing chronic, complex, and difficult areas of health. Working with patients who have cancer, those who are dying and those who experience or have experienced family and/or sexual violence can be difficult and emotionally confronting. In a day’s work, PCPs see many complicated and complex patients, but those who experience family violence can be particularly demanding and challenging because of chronic health issues, psychological distress, relationship and authority issues, and coping strategies such as denial or somatization [1]. If we then add to the potential emotional impact of survivor stories on PCPs, the mental and emotional work of caring for these patients, the patient-professional interaction and boundary issues, and the long-term nature of the care required [1], we will have the perfect recipe for increased PCP stress. Work-related stress is already experienced by family physicians and nurses, with burnout being the most investigated area [4–7]. Prevalence rates of burnout for medical residents (including family medicine residents) have been reported between 18 and 82% [7] and between
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