Research and Evaluation

NDTi has a varied portfolio of research and evaluation work designed to inform and influence the nature of services and wider community supports to promote inclusive lives.  These activities span short, medium and long term projects for government departments, grant giving bodies, local authorities, NHS organisations, third sector organisations, and strategic partnerships.

Research – we undertake primary and secondary research to find out:

  • how people feel about their lives, experiences of work, family and community life, opportunities to learn and contribute in different ways, and importantly whether the services and support work for them;
  • how services respond to the needs and aspirations of local communities and individuals who use them;
  • whether strategies and policies reflect the things that work at an individual and community/population level.

Sometimes the research we do is in response to a local issue or concern, or to assist the development of a new service (e.g. to find out what’s missing and what may help to fill these gaps). We use tried and tested research methods e.g. surveys, interviews, documentation/data analysis, focus groups, observations (etc.) and engage all stakeholders at every stage of this work to ensure our methods are robust, ethically sound and effective.   

 

Evaluation – we have a track record in undertaking complex evaluations of national, regional and local initiatives to find out what works for people, organisations, teams and the system as a whole.  Our evaluation approach is based on the ‘realist evaluation’ design described by Pawson and Tilley (Pawson R. & Tilley N. (Realistic Evaluation 1997, London: Sage Publications). This approach is favoured over other evaluation designs because the outcomes of change programmes are usually long-term and are likely to be influenced by a range of external variables for which it is not possible, or necessarily desirable, to control. Although traditional evaluation designs can shed light on what is or is not effective, they are often unable to answer the crucial questions of why something works, who it worked for, and the circumstances in which it was made to work. This is what a realist style of evaluation does, by examining the mechanisms through which particular initiatives achieve particular outcomes for different populations in certain contexts (insert link).

 

Reviews – we also undertake a range of local service and strategy reviews for example, to find out how well a team, service or model is working to meet the needs, aspirations and personal goals of the people who use them; to find out why something isn’t working; or if there are concerns about standards, capacity or capabilities in delivering inclusive and cost effective services and supports.

Specific examples of research and evaluation programmes currently being undertaken by NDTi include:

  • A two year qualitative research programme (2008-2010) as part of the South East Regional Initiative on independent living and older people with high support needs
  • An independent evaluation of the Changing Ageing Partnership (CAP) of Northern Ireland, running from April 2009 until October 2011. Funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, this partnership involves Age Concern NI, the Institute of Governance at Queens University, Help the Aged, the Workers Educational Authority, and the NI network of older people’s forums and groups, known as the Age Sector Platform. The evaluation has 3 primary aims:  to identify what relevant changes have occurred as a result of CAP; to establish whether these changes have occurred as expected; and to develop a shared understanding of what these changes mean for the future
  • Ongoing evaluation of the Dorset POPP programme: following a highly successful two year pilot, Dorset partners are continuing their work on strengthening communities and older people’s leadership in order to promote healthy ageing and responsive public services. We are working alongside this partnership to continue to map and evaluation what’s working for different older people and partner organisations in enabling a strategic shift towards early intervention and prevention across the whole system of services and support 
  • Evaluation of telecare developments in Hampshire in order to inform future provision and wider access for a diverse population of people who need support to go about their everyday lives
  • Designing an evaluation framework to support the ongoing development of wellbeing activities and services across Hampshire
  • Research commissioned by Housing 21 to engage a range of stakeholders currently living in extra care housing schemes in Oldham and West Sussex to capture their current understanding of personal budgets and wider options for support; and to gather intelligence on how specialist housing services are changing in the two localities to deliver the wider personalisation agenda
  • Testing and evaluating different strategies for achieving PSA 16 indicator on inclusion through a Department of Health grant on housing rights and community inclusion for adults with learning disabilities
  • Day services reviews 
  • Using the Inclusion Web to evaluate whether people’s lives are changing and improving as a result of the different kinds of support they are accessing, and in particular from developing organisational and staff focus on community inclusion as the desired outcome.

For more information contact Helen Bowers or Anita Wilkins.