Quality standard

Quality statement 2: Evaluation

Quality statement 2: Evaluation

Quality statement

Members of the local community are involved in monitoring and evaluating health and wellbeing initiatives as soon as the priorities are agreed.

Rationale

It is important for communities and commissioners to work together to agree the measures of success. Planning regular evaluation and feedback will encourage partnership work between communities and commissioners. Different evaluation approaches will be needed for different initiatives, but building monitoring and evaluation into the process from the start will help to ensure the agreed outcomes are achieved.

Quality measures

The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.

Structure

a) Evidence of local arrangements for involving members of the local community in monitoring and evaluating local health and wellbeing initiatives as soon as the priorities are agreed.

Data source: Local data collection.

b) Evidence of local arrangements for involving members of the local community in agreeing what to measure to illustrate the impact of the initiative once the priorities are agreed.

Data source: Local data collection.

Process

a) Proportion of local health and wellbeing initiatives monitored against measures agreed within the evaluation plan.

Numerator – number in the denominator monitored against measures agreed within the plan.

Denominator – number of local health and wellbeing initiatives with an evaluation plan.

Data source: Local data collection.

b) Proportion of local health and wellbeing initiatives with an evaluation plan that provide feedback to the engaged members of the local communities.

Numerator – number in the denominator that provide feedback to the engaged members of the local communities.

Denominator – number of local health and wellbeing initiatives with an evaluation plan.

Data source: Local data collection.

Outcome

a) Evaluation providing information as identified within the evaluation plan.

Data source: Local data collection.

b) Increased social engagement within local communities.

Data source: Local data collection.

c) Empowered members of local communities that understand the impact of the initiatives they are involved in.

Data source: Local data collection.

What the quality statement means for different audiences

Health, public health and social care practitioners ensure that they support the monitoring and evaluation of health and wellbeing initiatives by collecting and supplying the information needed to assess their impact and to measure outcomes.

Commissioners (community and voluntary sector organisations and statutory services) ensure that monitoring and evaluation of health and wellbeing initiatives is built in from the start and that they involve members of local communities to decide how to measure their success. They ensure that members of the local community are involved in monitoring and evaluating initiatives and that they feed back the results to members of the wider local community.

Members of local communities decide what a successful health and wellbeing initiative would look like and what they want it to achieve. As soon as the priorities are agreed, they work jointly with the commissioners to agree how to measure its success and are involved in doing this. Being part of this process helps people understand the effect of the work they are involved in and how it benefits their community.

Definitions of terms used in this quality statement

Community

A community is a group of people who have common characteristics or interests. Communities can be defined by: geographical location, race, ethnicity, age, occupation, a shared interest or affinity (such as religion and faith) or other common bonds, such as health need or disadvantage. People who are socially isolated are also considered to be a community group. [NICE's guideline on community engagement]

Evaluation

Different evaluation approaches are needed for different initiatives. Some existing evaluation tools are available, for example the School for Public Health Research's Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme and HM Treasury's Magenta Book – guidance on evaluation. A range of indicators can be used to evaluate not only what works but in what context, as well as the costs and the experiences of those involved. For example, indicators might include measures of social capital, health and wellbeing, in addition to those identified by local communities. [Adapted from NICE's guideline on community engagement]

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Health and wellbeing initiatives cover all strategies, programmes, services, activities, projects or research that aim to improve health (physical and mental) and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. [NICE's guideline on community engagement]

Equality and diversity considerations

People in local communities who could be engaged in evaluating health and wellbeing initiatives may experience a range of barriers such as language, literacy, numeracy, low income, access to transport, childcare, digital exclusion and many others. These barriers need to be addressed to support people to engage in evaluating the initiative effectively.