Developing the components of a peer mentoring intervention
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing the components of a peer mentoring intervention to support individuals accessing secondary mental health service who have a history of domestic violence
IRAS ID
171515
Contact name
Ruth Allen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Current or past experience of being a victim of domestic violence is more common amongst people using psychiatric services than amongst the general population. Considering that men and women with mental disorders are more likely to be victims of domestic violence, the response from Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) is often inadequate in picking up and providing specific support for the mental health consequences of this trauma. While adult safeguarding processes may have become more effective at identifying current risks of domestic violence, routine screening occurs only in a minority of Trusts. Past experiences of domestic violence and their impact on mental health are even more rarely recognised within routine assessment and case history compilation.
Even when past experience of being a victim of domestic violence is recognised within mental health services, there is insufficient evidence of effective interventions to guide improvement in service responses.
This research project aims to explore the potential of a ‘peer mentoring’ approach to supporting people who have been a victim of domestic violence in the past. This approach – where trained people who have had similar experiences act as ‘mentors’ – has been tried with other needs groups. Research has shown that there are benefits to people when they are supported (or mentored) by other people who have experienced the same health or social problems.
We propose to set up a pilot ‘peer mentoring’ project through establishing a partnership between South West London Mental Health NHS Trust and community specialist domestic violence services in the London Borough of Wandsworth with the aim of working together to offer peer mentoring. The beneficiaries of this intervention would be men and women who have, in the past, been victims of domestic abuse that have had an impact on their mental health and are using (or who have used) secondary mental health services.
This research project is developmental in nature. The first phase is to hold a series of consultations with people using services, staff of the Trust and people working in domestic violence organisations in order to: a) explore the acceptability of introducing routine screening for current and past domestic violence amongst service users at the South West London Mental Health Trust; b) to explore the acceptability of introducing a peer mentoring service to improve the health and wellbeing of service users who have in the past been victims of domestic violence which have impacted on their mental health; and c) to identify the component parts of the proposed peer mentoring intervention.
We will hold separate focus groups with men and women who use services and who have been past victims of domestic violence, and with staff of the Trust and the community domestic violence organisations. We will also undertake additional information gathering within the Trust to investigate the level of need amongst service users and we will undertake searches of the literature and research.
This study in Wandsworth will provide the information needed to submit a full funding proposal in 2015/16 for a larger scale study investigating the feasibility of implementing the peer mentoring intervention within secondary mental health services and measuring its effectiveness compared with other approaches to support and intervention.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0340
Date of REC Opinion
16 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion