Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a significant public health problem, with devastating impacts on the women affected, and substantial associated health and societal costs. Some 1.3 million women aged 16-59 years (7.9% of the population) in England and Wales are affected by DVA (Office for National Statistics).
IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) is a primary-care-delivered, evidence-based intervention to improve the health, safety and experience of women affected by domestic violence and abuse.
IRIS encapsulates a training, support and referral programme that encourages clinicians to ask about DVA when clinically relevant; recognise DVA in a woman’s life; discuss its impact on her health/wellbeing; and offer referral to a specialist DVA service within that clinical setting.
Our Phase IV implementation study, using interrupted time series design across 205 east London general practices, determined the real-life impact of rolling out IRIS training in general practice on identification and referral of women experiencing DVA.