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In our eighth blog for the 16 days, second year student Sophie Lloyd looks into the feedback given by IRIS service users and the effect that studying them has had on her personally.

I am a second-year medical student at the University of Bristol who recently completed a research project about women’s experiences of IRIS. I chose the placement as part of my ‘Student Choice’, which is an opportunity to explore a field of medicine that interested me in further depth.

My research project involved analysing quotations from a feedback form complied as part of routine data collection by IRISi in order to determine the main themes in women’s experiences of the service. 

There were over 160 comments included in the analysis, and each had to be read carefully before being manually coded. This involved identifying recurring words and topics in order to group similar codes together under subthemes and themes. Reading and subsequently coding such emotional quotes about the impacts of IRIS was a very powerful, moving experience. So many women had benefitted from the support they received from their advocate-educator and were making positive changes in their lives as a result. 

Although my research paper focussed on women’s experiences of IRIS, I also learnt a lot about impacts of domestic violence and abuse, particularly on mental health and wellbeing. 

My analysis identified the following four main themes in service users’ experiences of IRIS: 

  • Women felt supported by IRIS service 
  • Women felt empowered as a result of IRIS 
  • Women had improved mental and/or physical health as a result of IRIS 
  • Women felt that they and their children were safer as a result of IRIS 

Many women expressed their thanks or gratitude for the support they received, and specifically mentioned their IRIS advocate-educator in the comments. It was clear that having a good relationship with available support helped women to feel more confident, and also increased access to services such as support groups and refuges. 

The changes that women described as a result of IRIS taught me a lot about the reality of how domestic violence and abuse affects women’s lives. In particular, women reported feeling more confident as a result of IRIS advocacy, which really highlighted the isolation and low self-esteem which many women feel as a result of domestic abuse. 

Many victims of domestic violence feel that they and their children (if relevant) are unsafe or directly in danger because of the perpetrator. This was addressed in numerous comments, with women stating they felt safer following support. For example, IRIS advocate-educators were able to help women to get improved security in their homes or move to a different location such as a refuge. 

Empowering victims of domestic abuse is an important role for advocate-educators and the theme of empowerment was discussed in various quotations from service users. An example of this included education, such as teaching women to recognise different forms of abuse, as well as aiding in learning through referral to courses or therapy. Another example was women describing newfound assertiveness and confidence, particularly associated with a sense of optimism for the future. 

Being affected by domestic violence and abuse is undoubtedly a highly stressful, potentially traumatic experience which can have major effects on both mental and physical health. Women described their improved mood and positivity following interaction with the IRIS service, which is undoubtedly a success of the programme. 

Reading the comments provided by women about their experience of the IRIS service was very thought provoking and I had to take breaks from the analysis to process and appreciate the stories behind the comments. It was often difficult to view the data objectively when the content was so emotional, and I managed this by speaking to representatives at IRISi and writing notes of my experiences to include in a reflection at the end of my report. 

I certainly found it upsetting to learn about how many women are affected by domestic violence and abuse, as well as the lack of appropriate response to this in many healthcare settings. I feel that after completing this project I have a greater awareness of the importance of doctors and other healthcare professionals in improving outcomes for victims of domestic violence and abuse. I hope that this will positively influence my future practise throughout my medical training and beyond. 

I was awed by the bravery and strength of the women behind the quotations, and despite the quotations being anonymised for use in my research project, I felt that I was interacting with the comments on a very personal level. I am incredibly grateful to IRISi for the opportunity to complete this project, and also to the women who provided information about their experiences. 

Sophie Lloyd is a second-year medical student at the University of Bristol.

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Partners

AVA
AVA
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
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
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 University of Bristol CAPC
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
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
STADV
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
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.

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