5th July 2013

Preventing Domestic Abuse for All Children (PEAACH) - A Scoping Study

The Research

The study aims to find out what is known about different ways of preventing domestic abuse through interventions for children and young people under 18 in the general population. Such interventions include programmes delivered in school, and media and community campaigns and initiatives specifically targeting children and young people. Although a wide range of such programmes are currently delivered in the UK, few have been rigorously evaluated so little is known about what works in what setting and for whom.

While there is increasing interest in the potential of the media and new and emerging methods of communication for delivering community and media campaigns to young people, there is little evidence available to support such interventions. Most large-scale evidence of effectiveness is from North America; the extent to which these findings are relevant for the UK is unknown. The findings will be used to make recommendations for future policy and research.

The study is funded by the Public Health Research Programme, NIHR, and will last for 18 months from January 2013.

Research Methods

This study will combine different forms and types of information to develop a picture of what is known about preventive interventions and to consider what directions research should take to develop this knowledge further. The research will have three overlapping phases:

1. A systematic review of the existing international literature including quantitative and qualitative perspectives and ‘grey’ literature such as independent project evaluations as well as peer reviewed papers. The literature on cost and cost effectiveness will also be identified and reviewed.

2. A survey to identify current provision undertaken in 18 local authorities across the UK to capture knowledge about local provision from practitioners.

3. Consultation with key stakeholders through three groups; one for education; one for media and community initiatives and a young people’s group. Along with individual interviews with identified experts in the field, these groups will allow a wide range of perspectives to feed into the study. This mixed knowledge approach will allow for different sources of evidence to feed into the review’s final recommendations. The final report will provide evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of preventive interventions in domestic abuse, and on which approaches are likely to be most acceptable to young people, practitioners, policy makers and funders in the UK.

The Research Team

Professor Nicky Stanley, Professor Soo Downe, Dr Jane Ellis and Nicola Farrelly, University of Central Lancashire; Dr Sandra Hollinghurst, University of Bristol and Professor Sue Bailey, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The team includes expertise on domestic abuse prevention and experience of conducting systematic reviews, skills in undertaking economic evaluations in domestic abuse and established links with policy and practice networks addressing violence against women and children. The study is being conducted in partnership with Women's Aid and the PSHE Association.

For further information, contact Jane Ellis at: JEllis2@uclan.ac.uk or Nicola Farrelly at NJFarrelly@uclan.ac.uk Or telephone 01772 894362