PROSPER study

This is the first national study of voluntary sector services for survivors in England. It will take three years and look at how to improve the delivery and funding of these services. This will have benefits for survivors by helping to meet their needs and identify any gaps in provision. It will help funders to improve how they go about working together to fund these services.

Chief Investigator

Professor Caroline Bradbury-Jones
Professor of Gender Based Violence and Health
Staff profile for Dr Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Professor of Gender Based Violence and Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Birmingham

Project Description

Background

Over half a million people experience sexual violence each year and the number who report this to police or come forward for help is increasing every year. Sexual violence can affect peoples’ health, relationships, confidence, work and family life for many years. Most parts of the country have voluntary sector services to help survivors, offering counselling, therapy, independent advice, peer support and helplines. There has been very little research into what survivors want from and value about these services, how these services link with other important services for survivors, and how they are funded by councils, the police and health services.

PROSPER was the first national study of voluntary sector services for survivors in England. It lasted three years and looked at how to improve the delivery and funding of these services. This will have benefits for survivors by helping to meet their needs and identify any gaps in provision. It will also help funders to improve how they go about working together to fund these services. The high cost to the NHS of treating the long-term impacts of sexual violence for survivors may also be reduced if more survivors can access support. Survivors were essential to the project and were consulted in planning the study. Survivors’ experiences fed into all stages of the work through an independent panel run by the Survivors’ Trust. Two survivors were on the research team and 4 co-researchers who were survivors worked with the research team, helping to plan the study, interview survivors and interpret findings. An Advisory Group of national experts guided the study.

Stages

There were two stages to the project:

Stage 1

Stage 1 consisted of two national surveys to identify what services are provided in England and how they are planned and funded. Focus groups with survivors, providers and funders tested out what should be in the surveys. National policy leads and national organisations supporting survivors were also interviewed.

Stage 2

Stage 2 studied four parts of the country in more detail. The results from stage 1 were used to pick four locations that offer different types of service. In these four areas, there were interviews with survivors, staff and funders to find out: which services exist; how survivors find their way to different services; what is valued about these services; what gaps there are; and how well funders work together to fund the services.

We used the results from Stages 1 and 2 to provide knowledge about how services are planned and provided across the country. We made recommendations about how the planning, funding and provision of services can be improved in future. Results were publicised through good practice guides, regional events, a webinar, plain English summaries, a policy briefing and academic articles.

Co-production with survivors

This study placed survivors centrally to the process and outcomes. Survivors’ experiences fed into all stages of the work through an independent panel run by the Survivors’ Trust. Survivors were members of the research team and four co-researchers were employed as part of the research team, helping to plan the study, interview survivors and interpret findings. As a result of this approach, all the outputs from the project were co-produced with survivors. In addition to survivors, the study also received input from an Advisory Group of national experts that guided the study.

Meet the team

Principal Investigator

Professor Caroline Bradbury-Jones

Carrie is a nurse, midwife and health visitor whose research interests are concerned with addressing gender based violence. Carrie led the PROSPER study

Co-applicants

Dr Sarah Damery: Sarah is mixed methods researcher with research experience in the organisation and delivery of health, social care and community services. Sarah led the survey phase of the study.

Kirsten Fruin: Kirsten is a Commissioning Manager within the office of Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner. She is responsible for commissioning local victim services and has the lead around sexual violence work. Kirsten provided advice and guidance about the commissioning of sexual violence services.

Dr Jenny Harlock: Jenny has experience both working in and conducting research with voluntary and community sector organisations, and is interested in personalised approaches to health and care. Jenny led a case study phase of the PROSPER study.

Alice Jones: Alice is the Senior Policy and Commissioning Manager at the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner's Office. She holds an MA in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham.

Fay Maxtead OBE: Fay is CEO of The Survivors Trust, the national membership organisation for voluntary sector rape and sexual abuse services. She provided specialist advice to assist with planning, design and results interpretation.

Priti Parmar: Priti is a Research and Innovation Manager, has experience in setting up research within the NHS and is an advocate of patient and public involvement in health research. Priti focused on Public Patient Involvement.

Dr Jason Schaub: Jason is a social worker, and has a particular interest in LGBT young people. Jason led one of the case sites.

Deb Smith: Deb is a survivor of sexual violence and brought that lived experience to the Prosper study as one of the two patient and public co-applicants and over 8 years experience in working as a lay person in health and social care research.

Professor Julie Taylor: Julie is a nurse with significant experience of research with survivors of abuse and violence. Julie was the mentor to the Principal Investigator and the study lead on child protection issues.

Research fellows

Dr Clare Gunby: Clare has been researching sexual violence for over 15 years and volunteers for a specialist voluntary sector sexual violence service. Now based at Manchester Metropolitan University, she managed the day-to-day running of PROSPER.

Dr Louise Isham: Louise has worked as a social worker and crisis worker in statutory and voluntary sector services. Her research focuses on care relationships and family and sexual violence. Louise was a research fellow on the study.

Study manager

Pamela Nayyar: With over 20 years’ experience in health sciences research, Pam’s role on the study was to provide structured project management and monitoring to ensure project timelines were adhered to.

Publications

A summary report from the first phase of PROSPER: a qualitative study, exploring the unique features of specialist voluntary sector sexual violence (SVSSV) services and the funding and commissioning landscape in which they operate.

PROSPER short report docx. 100KB

PROSPER short report PDF. 768KB

Sexual violence and COVID-19: all silent on the home front - Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 2020
Health Services Research protocol - BMJ Open, 2019 - a full description of the research study, acting as a ‘manual’ for members of the research team to ensure everyone adhered to the methods outlined. It was then used to monitor the study’s progress and evaluate its outcomes. 2019.