The East of England Population Health Research Hub (EoE PHResH) Evaluation Working Group is hosting online webinars designed for Local Authority practitioners to enhance their evaluation knowledge on a series of topics.
Webinars are recorded, with videos and slides available on a range of topics:
Online Zoom Webinar, Tuesday 29th November 2022, 11.00 – 12.00
Speaker: Jo Mackenzie is the Strategic Research and Evaluation Lead in the Public Health team at Hertfordshire County Council. She leads a team of 12 Research and Evaluation Officers of various levels of expertise. Jo has been carrying out evaluations in HCC for nearly six years and is very familiar with the challenges that can be faced when working in a real world environment.
In this webinar we looked at some of the typical challenges faced while carrying out the intervention and service evaluations in a local authority.
The evaluation process may look straight forward on paper. However, evaluations in local authorities often don’t tend to go the way you originally planned due to the nature of the working environment. Therefore, this webinar helps you to think about the challenges you might face so that you can work these into your plans and consider the best approach for your tasks.
Webinar slides from this session:
Evaluation Challenges in Local Authorities
Video Recording from this session is now available. Watch Here
Online Zoom Webinar, Tuesday 7th November 2023, 12.00 – 13.00
Speaker: Professor Katherine Brown, Professor of Behaviour Change in Health, Department of Psychology, Sport and Geography, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire.
In this seminar Katherine explained the approach taken to evaluability assessment at PHIRST Connect; one of six current academic teams funded by NIHR PHR to evaluate real-world public health interventions across the UK. As well as drawing on published guidance, PHIRST Connect works collaboratively with local authority or public health agency partners to understand ‘what the intervention is’, what their priorities for evaluation are, and what type of evaluation is needed, if indeed it is appropriate to evaluate now. Now in its fourth year of operation, the process has led the team in number of different methodological directions as Katherine discusses. The presentation covers their methodological approach as well as considering more widely the challenges inherent in the evaluation of complex public health services and interventions.
Check out the video here.
Online Zoom Webinar, Thursday 23rd November 12:00-13:00
Speaker: Dr John Ford, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University
Realist approaches to primary research and evidence review have grown in popularity over the past few years. This Webinar considered what realist research is, why it is important and what it looks like in practice. The Webinar will be of particular interest to anyone wanting to find out more about realist approaches to research and to understand if they might be beneficial to adopt in their own work. John has undertaken several realist studies, including access to primary care, healthcare for people who are homeless, financial incentives for smoking cessation and anchor institutions. Attendees were invited to join us to discuss the challenges of undertaking Realist work in an applied setting such as local government or the NHS, and to reflect on our shared learning together.
Check out the video here.
Online Zoom Webinar, Monday 22nd November 2021, 13:00 – 14:30
This webinar introduced colleagues in local authorities to the new Evaluation Working Group, covered core evaluation concepts through a series of short talks and provided opportunities for input into upcoming evaluation training topics.
Thank you to our EoE PHResH partners from the University of Bedfordshire, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire County Council, Norfolk County Council, NHSEI and the DHSC for making this event possible.
Webinar slides from this Session:
Evaluation in Population Health: What is it and how do we go about it?
Video Recordings from the Session:
Introduction to EoE PHResH and the Evaluation Working Group
Dr Helen Green
NHSEI Healthcare Public Health/DHSC Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
(hosted by East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust)
Watch here | 11 mins
Introduction to EoE PHResH and the Evaluation Working Group - YouTube
Deciding on evaluation:
Why do we evaluate and when should we do it?
Prof Andy Jones
Norfolk County Council
Watch here | 31 mins
Why do we evaluate and when should we do it? Andy Jones - YouTube
Planning an evaluation:
In Conversation: Embedding evaluation in local authority work
Prof Wendy Wills, University of Hertfordshire
Dr Jo Mackenzie, Hertfordshire County Council
Watch here | 15 mins
In Conversation: Embedding evaluation in local authority work - YouTube
What are the key stages of evaluation?
Dr Yannis Pappas
University of Bedfordshire
Watch here | 11 mins
What are the key stages of evaluation? Yannis Pappas - YouTube
Collaborative approaches to planning evaluations
Dr Judith Fynn
NHSEI Healthcare Public Health
Watch here | 5 mins
Collaborative approaches to planning evaluations Judith Fynn - YouTube
Next Steps:
What’s next?: Resources, funding and future training and support opportunities through the East of England PHResH Evaluation Working Group
Dr Helen Green
NHSEI Healthcare Public Health/DHSC Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
(hosted by East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust)
Watch here | 3 mins
Online Zoom Webinar, Friday 25th March 2022, 11:00 – 12:00
This webinar introduced logic models as a tool for programme planning, implementation, and evaluation. The webinar explored the key elements of logic models and provided guidance on when and how they can be developed and used.
Speakers: Dr Judith Fynn and Sophie Castle-Clarke, Eastern Academic Health Science Network.
Webinar slides from the Session:
Video Recording from the Session:
Using logic models for project planning, implementation and evaluation
Sophie Castle-Clarke and Judith Fynn
Eastern Academic Health Science Network
Watch here | 1 hour
Online Zoom Webinar, Tuesday 26th April 2022, 12.30 – 1.30
Speakers:
Dr John Ford, Clinical Lecturer in Public Health, Cambridge University
Dr Helen Green, Consultant in Public Health, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and NHSE/I East of England
Reducing health inequalities is a key priority for those working in population health and there is an increasing amount of timely data available to support reviewing progress. This webinar discussed evaluation of population health approaches addressing health inequalities, with examples of the types of questions to ask and methods to consider.
Webinar slides from this Session:
Evaluation-of-population-health-approaches-addressing-health-inequalities
Video Recording from this Session:
Evaluation of population health approaches addressing health inequalities
Dr John Ford, Cambridge Public Health and NHS England
Dr Helen Green, DHSC OHID & NHSEI East of England (hosted by East Suffolk & North Essex NHS FT)
Watch here | 1 hour
Evaluation of population health approaches addressing health inequalities - YouTube
Links to References:
Skivington K, Matthews L, Simpson S A, Craig P, Baird J, Blazeby J M et al. A new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions: update of Medical Research Council
guidance BMJ 2021; 374 :n2061 doi:10.1136/bmj.n2061
Public Health England Guidance: Health inequalities: place-based approaches to reduce inequalities
Health inequalities: place-based approaches to reduce inequalities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Public Health England Evaluation Toolkit for Local Areas: Place-based approaches to reducing
health inequalities – Evaluation toolkit for local areas
Public Health England: A guide to using national and local data to address
health inequalities
ICS Slide Pack (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Public Health England: Health Inequalities Dashboard
Health Inequalities Dashboard (phe.gov.uk)
Scottish Public Health Observatory: Measuring Inequalities – ScotPHO
Measuring Inequalities - ScotPHO
Association of Public Health Observatories and NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement: The good indicators guide
Online Zoom Webinar, Tuesday 24th May 2022, 10.00 – 11.00
Speakers:
Dr Yannis Pappas, Reader & Director of Research Centre for Health Service Organisation and Delivery, Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire
Amanda Burke, Senior Research Associate, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia
This workshop gave an overview of two main types of evaluation – process evaluation and impact evaluation. Process evaluations enable you to examine how an intervention has been implemented, for example, what worked well, and what worked less well. Impact evaluations focus on the difference an intervention has made.
The workshop consisted of two sessions:
Impact evaluation: what is the right approach for me
What process evaluation can do for you: a real-life approach
Webinar slides from this Session:
An Overview to Evaluations in Health and Social Care: Understanding the impact of your work
Online Zoom Webinar, Tuesday 28th June 2022, 10.00 – 11.00
Speakers:
Professor Wendy Wills, Joint Chief-Investigator, NIHR Central PHIRST; Director, Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care (CRIPACC); Associate Dean of School (Research), School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire
Amander Wellings, Public Co-Applicant, NIHR Central PHIRST Chair PHIRST PIRG; Consultant for NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination
In this seminar we presented details of how the NIHR-funded Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team (PHIRST) approaches the co-production of evaluations for local authorities, particularly in relation to knowledge mobilisation of research for diverse groups of stakeholders, considering ‘which key message needs to reach which audience, and how’.
We went on to describe different processes and ways of including service users and other under-heard experts of experience, drawing on examples from the PHIRST, to show how impact can be generated, creatively, to ensure the public are at the heart of public health. The challenges of public involvement, including the basic requirement to budget for this, will be discussed. We drew on our broader experience to discuss how to measure impact, how to ensure research is accessible and how to balance coproduction and public involvement principles with the requirements of local authority-commissioned services and outcomes.
Webinar slides from this session:
Generating-Evaluation-Findings-to-Create-Impact-Amander-Wellings-and-Wendy-Wills-June2022
Video recording from the session:
Developing evaluation findings to create impact
Professor Wendy Wills, Joint Chief-Investigator, NIHR Central PHIRST; Director, Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care (CRIPACC); Associate Dean of School (Research), School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire
Amander Wellings, Public Co-Applicant, NIHR Central PHIRST Chair PHIRST PIRG; Consultant for NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination
Watch here | 1 hour
Online Zoom Webinar, Monday 10th October 2022, 11.00 – 12.00
Speaker: Dr Emily Budzynski-Seymour, Research Associate, Norwich Medical School, UEA and Associate Lecturer, University of Chichester
In this seminar we presented how to interview children online or in-person. We went on to discuss approaching children in their own language to be able to include their valuable input in research.
Interviewing children online or in-person includes a variety of challenges that could be tackled in an interesting way to help children produce a valuable input and enhance research as well. We discussed those challenges and introduce new ways to approach them. The seminar included the premeeting preparation of consent forms and how to approach their guardians, how to initiate the meeting and build rapport with children, how to be creative in grasping children’s short attention span, and how to close the interview and give value to the child’s input.
Webinar slides from this session:
Focus-Group- with-Children Slides
Video Recording from this session is now available. Watch Here
Online Zoom Webinar, Wednesday 26th October 2022, 10.00 – 11.00AM
Speaker: Amanda Burke is a mixed-methods researcher at the University of East Anglia (UEA) evaluating public health interventions; recent research includes the evaluation of a complex intervention around mental wellbeing in schools. Amanda has previously worked as an independent evaluator, and in local authorities managing and evaluating funding streams within the cultural sector and neighbourhood renewal. Amanda’s key area of interest is pragmatic research methods.
Based in Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Alice Dalton is interested in understanding the health implications of our interactions with natural and built environments, to inform how we might encourage healthier behaviours. Since 2017, Alice has been commissioned by Norfolk County Council to evaluate various complex interventions designed to increase walking and cycling levels in the county.
In this seminar we discussed some of the challenges of evaluating programmes that involve many projects and players including questions such as:
What should I be measuring, why and for whom?
How will I gather data from different types of projects?
Where will I focus my evaluation resources when there are many projects?
How can I draw conclusion about the ‘whole’ when there are so many ‘parts’?
How do I produce results that make a difference?
Video Recording from this session is now available. Watch Here
Evaluating programmes involving many projects and players — where do I start? - YouTube