15th September 2016
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) are highlighting the need for domestic violence and abuse (DVA) to be treated as a public health priority, at a conference on the issue being held today (Thursday 15 September 2016). The call comes as a survey of health visitors by the iHV reveals that more than two in five (42%) think services to support families affected by DVA in their area have got worse in the past two years, with less than a third (32%) say they had not got worse.
There are more than 11,000 health visitors in England – specialist community public health nurses who work closely with families with children under five, particularly from vulnerable or deprived groups, to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent illness. The iHV survey of health visitors in England also found:
- Almost half (47%) of health visitors believe a challenged couple relationship between parents is impacting on their children in more than one in five (20%) of the families they work with.
- Almost two thirds (62%) of health visitors say the families they work with affected by DVA are not empowered to do anything about the situation.
With the country having recently been gripped by the story of Helen Titchener in BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers, awareness of DVA in the UK is at an all-time high. Today’s conference will help policy makers and health professionals do more to support affected families and reduce the associated health and wellbeing risks for children.
Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive of RSPH, said:
“Domestic violence and abuse often underpins a wide range of other health and wellbeing issues, especially mental health problems, not just for partners but also for children in affected families. Tackling DVA and its effects should therefore be a major public health priority at both a local and national level. Domestic abuse extends beyond physical violence to controlling and manipulative behaviour, and is far more common than is generally acknowledged – with the recent Archers storyline having raised awareness of the plight of real life Helens, this is a good time to be considering how both the core and wider public health workforce can do their bit to tackle the issue.”
Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:
“It is of no surprise to us that health visitors see so much domestic abuse in families. Tolerance of this will reduce if it becomes a much more conspicuous public issue, as has happened with the Archers storyline. Domestic violence and abuse impacts not only on the recipient but on her/his ability to parent, so hence on children, which will ultimately have a societal impact, so addressing the scale of this must be seen as a public health priority.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
About the survey
- The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) surveyed 397 practising health visitors in England in September 2016.
The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV)
- The Institute of Health Visiting is a UK Centre of Excellence supporting the development of universally high-quality health visiting practice. It was launched on 28 November 2012 to promote excellence in health visiting practice to benefit all children, families and communities.
- The aim for the iHV is to raise standards in health visiting practice, so improving public health outcomes for all children, families and communities.
- For more information visit the IHV website.
- Follow the Institute of Health Visiting on Twitter @iHealthVisiting and Facebook.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)
- The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is an independent health education charity, dedicated to protecting and promoting the public’s health and wellbeing;
- We are the world’s longest-established public health body with over 6000 members drawn from the public health community both in the UK and internationally;
- Our operations include an Ofqual recognised awarding organisation, a training and development arm, and health and wellbeing accreditation.
- We also produce a wide-variety of public health conferences; our publishing division includes the internationally renowned journal Public Health; and we are developing policy and campaigns to promote better health and wellbeing.
- For more information visit the RSPH website or follow us on Twitter: @R_S_P_H
