Domestic violence and abuse: multi-agency working

Why has this guidance been produced?

In 2008, the Department of Health (DH) asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce guidance on how to identify, prevent and reduce domestic violence and abuse. (See the scope.)

The PDG felt that the review did not find sufficient evidence for them to make recommendations on primary and secondary prevention programmes. This was partly because it looked only at health and social care settings and most primary prevention interventions are delivered in education settings.

There were other measures and interventions for which no evidence, or insufficient evidence, was identified. Their absence from the recommendations is a result of this lack of evidence and should not be taken as a judgement on whether they are effective.

Violence and abuse can be perpetrated on children by adults ('child abuse'), but that is not dealt with in this guidance. See the NICE guideline on child maltreatment.

What evidence is the guidance based on?

The evidence the PDG considered included:

In some cases the evidence was insufficient and the PDG has made recommendations for future research. See Recommendations for research and Gaps in the evidence respectively.