IRISi National Report: As of March 2023, IRIS and ADViSE programmes received 36,352 referrals!

Although we are a little delayed in sharing this publication, IRISi is pleased to launch our latest National Report, encompassing all the data and insights gathered from sites running the IRIS Programme and the ADViSE Programme across England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland up to March 2023.

We are proud to highlight that, through our collaborative efforts, we have received 36,352 referrals – signifying that 36,352 service users were identified during consultations with IRIS trained GPs or ADViSE sexual health trained clinicians, and subsequently referred to an Advocate Educator, a domestic abuse specialist embedded in clinical settings to provide support.

Since its establishment in 2017, IRISi has been at the forefront of developing and implementing evidence-based programmes to improve the healthcare response to gender-based violence. We aim to foster awareness within healthcare settings and provide a clear pathway for healthcare professionals to better identify and refer their patients to specialist services.

Our flagship intervention, IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety), offers training and support to improve the response to domestic abuse in general practice, proving to be cost-effective and sustainable over time. In 2021, IRISi introduced its second intervention, ADViSE, designed to assist sexual health clinicians in identifying and referring patients affected by domestic and sexual violence and abuse (D&SVA). We are delighted that this report, the IRISi National Report, now encompasses data analysis for both the IRIS and ADViSE programmes.

Here are some key findings highlighted in our latest National Report

From April 2022 to March 2023, IRIS and ADViSE were commissioned and operational in 40 areas across the UK. During this period:

Our network received a total of 6,333 referrals.
Our network ran 728 training sessions, with over 3,450 individuals participating in one or more sessions.
Data on abuse were collected from 4,487 service users, with 87% experiencing multiple types of abuse concurrently.
44% of the service users referred faced mental health challenges or problematic substance use.
245 service users were recorded as having experienced non-fatal strangulation.
Over 3,300 service users referred to the IRIS or ADViSE programmes received emotional support from their Advocate Educator.
The majority of service users indicated they had not accessed support from domestic abuse/sexual violence specialist organisations before, underscoring that IRIS and ADViSE may be reaching people who otherwise would not have received the assistance they needed.
Nearly 1,500 service users sought one-time assistance, while for others support lasted an average of about 2 months, though some received assistance for over a year.
A total of 34 different specialist services collaborated with IRISi in delivering IRIS and/or ADViSE.
97% of service users agreed or strongly agreed that they were pleased to be asked about domestic abuse and/or sexual violence during consultations.

>> To read the National Report in full, please click here!

To comment or ask questions, please message us, info@irisi.org

Partners

AVA

AVA is an expert, groundbreaking and independent charity working across the UK.

Their vision is a world without gender based violence and abuse. They aim to inspire innovation and collaboration and encourage and enable direct service providers to help end gender based violence and abuse particularly against women and girls.AVA’s work is focused around those areas where they can make the best contribution to ending violence and abuse. They do this by making sure that survivors get the help and support they need in the here and now, through providing innovative training that has a proven direct impact on the professional practice of people supporting survivors of violence and abuse

developing a range of toolkits, e-learning and other material that supports professionals to provide effective and appropriate support to survivors of violence and abuse

using our influence and networks to ensure survivors voices are heard. We work closely with AVA in many areas including the Pathfinder project

https://avaproject.org.uk

SafeLives

SafeLives are a national charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, for good. We combine insight from services, survivors and statistics to support people to become safe, well and rebuild their lives. Since 2005, SafeLives has worked with organisations across the country to transform the response to domestic abuse, with over 60,000 victims at highest risk of murder or serious harm now receiving co-ordinated support annually. SafeLives are members of the Pathfinder consortium.

http://www.safelives.org.uk/about-us

IMKAAN

Imkaan is a UK-based, Black feminist organisation. We are the only national second-tier women’s organisation dedicated to addressing violence against Black and minoritised women and girls i.e. women and girls which are defined in policy terms as Black and ‘Minority Ethnic’ (BME). The organisation holds nearly two decades of experience of working around issues such as domestic violence, forced marriage and ‘honour-based’ violence.

They work at local, national and international level, and in partnership with a range of organisations, to improve policy and practice responses to Black and minoritised women and girls. Imkaan works with it’s members to represent the expertise and perspectives of frontline, specialist and dedicated Black and minoritised women’s organisations that work to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Imkaan delivers a unique package of support which includes: quality assurance; accredited training and peer education; sustainability support to frontline Black and minoritised organisations; and facilitation of space for community engagement and development. They are a part of the Pathfinder Consortium.

https://www.imkaan.org.uk

The University of Bristol CAPC

The Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) is a leading centre for primary care research in the UK, one of nine forming the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. It is part of Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health research and teaching.

A dedicated team of researchers at the Centre work on domestic abuse projects and IRISi is a co-collaborator and partner on some of these projects including ReProvide, HERA and DRiDVA.

The Health Foundation

The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK. The Health Foundation’s Exploring Social Franchising programme aims to generate a deeper understanding of the potential of social franchising models for scaling effective health and social care interventions within the NHS.

We are one of four project teams participating in the programme to develop a social franchise to enable the sustainable spread of our intervention, the IRIS Programme. We receive funding and support from the Health Foundation, including technical expertise on social franchising, and attend programme learning events. The Health Foundation has also commissioned a programme-wide evaluation to support understanding of the use of social franchising in the UK health and care system. We and our franchisees will support the evaluation through co-designing data collection requirements, providing access to data as requested, hosting site visits and attending learning events.

https://www.health.org.uk

STADV

Standing Together Against Domestic Violence is a UK charity bringing communities together to end domestic abuse. They bring local services together to keep people safe

Most public services weren’t designed with domestic abuse in mind, and they often struggle to keep people safe. Poor communication and gaps between services put survivors at risk.

STADV aim to end domestic abuse by changing the way that local services respond to it. They do this through an approach that they pioneered, called the Coordinated Community Response. The Coordinated Community Response brings services together to ensure local systems truly keep survivors safe, hold abusers to account, and prevent domestic abuse.

Their model of a coordinated local partnership to tackle and ultimately prevent domestic violence is now widely accepted as best practice. They are also a part of the Pathfinder consortium.

http://www.standingtogether.org.uk

Spring Impact

Spring Impact is a not-for-profit social enterprise born out of the frustration of seeing social organisations constantly reinventing the wheel and wasting scarce resources. Spring Impact uses a combination of tested commercial and social principles and extensive practical expertise to support organisations to identify, design and implement the right social replication model to scale their social impact.