Developing outcome measures: Domestic abuse core outcome set

Developing outcome measures: Domestic abuse core outcome set

Summary

This protocol summarises plans to identify and agree appropriate measurement tools for domestic abuse evaluations, building on previous work conducted to identify outcomes that researchers, service providers, and survivors of domestic abuse agree are the most important to measure.

Who, what, why and how?

It is widely recognised that domestic abuse can have long term health and wellbeing consequences for children. To address this, a range of targeted interventions have been developed. However, high-quality evidence for these interventions is limited, because evaluations vary widely in both what and how they measure. In other words, the outcomes measured to demonstrate a programme’s effectiveness, such as ‘feelings of self-esteem’ or ‘knowledge of safety strategies,’ differ across programmes. To compare programmes effectively, we need to measure some of the same outcomes in the same way.

Over two years, a ‘core outcome set’ was developed — a small number of outcomes that researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and survivors of domestic abuse agree are the most important to measure. This helps service commissioners identify the best programmes to fund and helps survivors understand the possible benefits of one programme over another.

We have commissioned the University of Sussex to build on previous work to agree on how to measure these outcomes consistently. They will search academic literature for potential measurement tools and consult experts. They will then conduct a consensus process with researchers, practitioners, and domestic abuse survivors. They will also collect feedback on the tools to consider adaptations for domestic abuse programmes or individuals with additional needs.

Research Questions

This project is divided into the following work packages:

Work Package 1: Identifying outcome measures

The aim of Work Package 1 is to identify, appraise, and build consensus among relevant stakeholders on outcome measurement instruments. These outcome measurement instruments relate to those identified in previous work to develop a core outcome set on domestic abuse.

Work Package 2: Psychometric assessment of the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS)  for use with children and young people who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.

The aim of Work Package 2 is to validate a measure of mental wellbeing (SWEMWBS) for use with children and young people who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.

Evaluation partners

Due Date

This project is due to be completed by June 2025.
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