What is IRIS+?
The IRIS+ training and advocacy intervention is extending the successful IRIS project. IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) is a specialist domestic violence and abuse training, support and referral programme for general practices that has been positively evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. Success in identifying women through IRIS is growing, but men and children and young people who either witness or experience domestic abuse are rarely identified in primary care and referred for specialist support.
While continuing to address the needs of women, IRIS+ broadens the scope of support to include children and young people living with domestic abuse and/or experiencing it in their own relationships, and men experiencing or perpetrating domestic violence and abuse.
The feasibility study of IRIS+ has demonstrated feasibility and gains in health-related quality of life. Further research is needed to establish the effectiveness and actual, rather than modelled, cost-effectiveness of the intervention.
Aim of the IRIS+ Trial
The IRIS+ Trial will assess whether IRIS+ is effective, whether it provides good value for money, and whether it is possible to deliver it at scale in different areas in England and Wales.
About the IRIS+ trial
The study, a cluster-randomised controlled trial, will compare outcomes in IRIS+ practices with outcomes in IRIS practices.
We will recruit general practices in different areas in England and Wales. Areas will have a different prior engagement in the IRIS Programme. We will randomly assign practices by chance to either take part in the IRIS+ or IRIS Programme and will deliver IRIS+ to those assigned to IRIS+. We will then test whether IRIS+, compared to IRIS, is effective and cost-effective for men, young people and children, and whether delivering it on a large scale and in different implementation contexts is possible.
Impact
If found to be effective and cost-effective, IRIS+ will be a commissionable new program, significantly improving the safety, wellbeing, and health of domestic violence survivors and their children. This could create large downstream economic benefits for the NHS and society.
Funding
The IRIS+ trial is multi-sectoral collaborative project led by the University of Bristol. It is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research Programme (NIHR153788).