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Systems analysis of service coordination in domestic abuse, primary care and child mental health services

    The impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on parental and child mental health is well documented, as is the associated increased use of healthcare services by survivors of IPV. UK policy emphasises the importance of partnership working between health services and domestic abuse agencies, along with clear referral pathways for victims of violence and abuse and co-ordinated local responses. However, in general, current policy and guidance is focused on the response to adult victims with more limited advice as to how this should be operationalised for working with children.

    With first author Dr Claire Powell (University College of London), VISION researchers Dr Olumide Adisa and Professor Gene Feder and others explored how services work together to support parents and children experiencing both parental IPV and parental or child mental health problems by drawing on the perspectives of professionals working in primary care, children and young people’s mental health services (CYPMHS), and domestic abuse services.

    The team conducted a qualitative study, interviewing professionals in geographically contrasting local authority areas in England. They carried out framework analysis using a systems approach and mapping techniques to understand the service interrelationships and boundary judgements of professionals.

    Results showed that

    • The relationships between domestic abuse services, CYPMHS, and primary care were complex, involving funders and commissioners, local authority strategic groups, and wider services such as schools and children’s centres.
    • Participants consistently identified a gap in the relationship between statutory CYPMHS and domestic abuse services.
    • There were mental health service gaps were for children living with ongoing or intermittent IPV and for children and parents with needs falling below or between service thresholds.
    • There was a gap in services for users of abusive behaviour to prevent future IPV.
    • Staff perspectives revealed differing views on treating the effects of trauma, and the co-ordination and sequencing of care.

    Improving the response to children and adults experiencing mental health problems in the wake of IPV requires a systems perspective to understand the barriers to service co-ordination. The findings indicate a particular need to address the gap between CYPMHS and domestic abuse services.

    To download the paper: Domestic abuse, primary care and child mental health services: A systems analysis of service coordination from professionals’ perspectives – ScienceDirect

    To cite the paper:  Claire Powell, Olumide Adisa, Lauren Herlitz, Shivi Bains, Sigrún Eyrúnardóttir Clark, Jessica Deighton, Shabeer Syed, Ruth Gilbert, Gene Feder, Emma Howarth, Domestic abuse, primary care and child mental health services: A systems analysis of service coordination from professionals’ perspectives, Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 169, 2025, 108076, ISSN 0190-7409, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.108076

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    VISION/VASC Webinar Series: Into the Light Index

      We are pleased to announce our next webinar for the VISION and Violence & Society Centre (VASC) Webinar Series on Tuesday, 21 January, 1100 – 1150.

      Deborah Fry, Director of Data at Childlight – Global Child Safety Institute and Professor of International Child Protection Research at University of Edinburgh, will present on the Into the Light Index, published last year on the prevalence of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse. She will also discuss some of the measurement challenges in this field and how they are documenting and exploring those challenges.

      Professor Fry undertakes primary research to measure the magnitude, drivers and consequences of violence against children, barriers and enablers to appropriate prevention and response systems including in school settings and the effectiveness of existing interventions.

      She leads the data division at Childlight – Global Child Safety Institute. The Data Institute, funded by the Human Dignity Foundation, aims to take a data driven, evidence-based approach to understanding the prevalence of child sexual exploitation and abuse across the globe and translating that data into sustainable action that safeguards children. The mission is to establish a world leading independent institute that gathers, translates and visualises the prevalence of child sexual exploitation and abuse across the world.  

      To register for the event in order to receive the Teams invitation, please contact: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

      The purpose of the VISION/VASC webinar series is to provide a platform for academia, government and the voluntary and community sector that work to reduce and prevent violence to present their work / research to a wider audience. This is a multidisciplinary platform and we welcome speakers from across a variety of fields such as health, crime, policing, ethnicity, migration, sociology, social work, primary care, front line services, etc. If interested in presenting at a future Series webinar, please contact: VISION_Management_Team@city.ac.uk

      This webinar series is sponsored by the UK Prevention and Research Partnership consortium, Violence, Health and Society (VISION; MR-V049879) and the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s, University of London.