Study 4:Nested qualitative study in PATH to explore perceptions of advocates and clients

A purposive sample of around 30 trial participants, recruited across both arms of the study, were interviewed at three time points, at the beginning of the intervention (or usual care), towards the end and several months after completion of the intervention. The aim was to explore women’s experiences of the intervention, their wider experiences of seeking and receiving support for domestic violence and any areas of un-met need. Their views will be sought on the mode of delivery of the intervention, such as the dual role of the advocates and their ideas about ‘meaningful change’, ‘readiness for change’ and ‘stages of change’.

A ‘think aloud’ sub-study with a small number of participants assessed the extent to which the Composite Abuse Scale (one of the outcome measures) reflects women’s experiences of domestic abuse and assess how ‘meaningful’ the scale questions were to participants.