Research Monitoring and Evaluation (RME)

This paper was produced by the RME Sub-Group of Solva Care Management Committee for those interested inworking with us on research and evaluation.

Contact: Sue Denman tel 07817 410782

1. Background

Solva Care is a user led social enterprise, the aim of which is to improve the health and wellbeing of Solva community. As such it is totally in line with current Wales policy imperatives in health and social care. Solva Care was launched and shaped in response to the results of a survey of local residents. The plan is to establish a non profit making Care ‘Company’ which will provide care packages at a number of levels to meet the needs of individuals and households in the villages of Solva and Whitchurch. Solva Care will employ and train people from the local community to act as paid carers. The work of the paid carers will be coordinated with that of local volunteers, who are already providing a coordinated voluntary service in the village. The two services, voluntary and hands on care will constitute the full Solva Care Service.

The key focus of the full Solva Care Service will be the integration of health and social care services locally. This will prevent people from being admitted unnecessarily, or being discharged late from hospital, and decrease the time spent by carers on travel.

The piloting and implementation of the full Solva Care Service are intended to achieve the following:

  • Improved health and well being of the community of Solva and outlying areas
  • The piloting and development of a model of care that is ground breaking and unique in the UK and in a community where there is a strong likelihood of success
  • The development of a model of care - the effectiveness of which can be measured for process, impact and health economics
  • The testing of an approach to service integration – a key aspect of Wales policy in health and social care, and
  • The capturing of success and good practice for sharing with other communities.

Financial support for planning and implementation is being provided by a number of organisations. Social Firms Wales is the source of business planning advice. The Welsh Government and the Sustainable Development Fund have provided financial support for the pilot phase. This has enabled Solva Care to employ a paid person to coordinate the Voluntary Service and to start preparations for the full Solva Care Service. The Community Council iscurrently the accountable body and a community

based Management Committee oversees planning and implementation. The RME Sub-Group was recently set up to take forward research, monitoring and evaluation in Solva Care.

2. Phases and Stage of Development of Solva Care

Phase 1 Sept 2013- March2014 (COMPLETED)

Consultation phase

Actions: community survey to identify need, liaison with key agencies, development of the social enterprise model.

Phase 2 April 2014 –May 2015 (COMPLETED)

Planning

Actions: development of business plan, liaison with Social Firms Wales and other agencies with relevant experience and expertise, governance arrangements put in place, two successful grant applications secured to run the Voluntary ServicePilot Project, recruitment of Voluntary Service Pilot Project Coordinator commenced, outcome measures developed, contact with case study researchers.

Phase 3 June 2015- June 2017 (VOLUNTARY SERVICE OPERATIONAL)

Voluntary Service Pilot Project

Actions:Voluntary Service Coordinator recruited.

Commence recruitment of full Solva Care Service Manager during this period; develop the final details of the full Solva Care Service Plan; build liaison and partnership work with key stakeholders, in particular the Local Authority and Health Board;establish the volunteer framework; arrange and deliver the training of volunteers; network with other initiatives; establish system of regular communication with community and external partners , consolidate governance structures and processes, continue work on grant applications for start up funding of the full Solva Care Service ; and monitor and evaluate process and outcomes against milestones,

Phase 4 (PLANNING UNDERWAY)

Implement hands on care part and coordinate full Solva Care Service

Actions: expand from voluntary service pilot to full Solva Care Service, develop total model of care and implement it, appoint carers, coordinate paid carer and voluntary activities.

Review, monitor and evaluate throughout all phases.

3. Monitoring and Evaluation

3.1 The purpose of Evaluation

Solva Care is committed to monitoring and evaluating activities, outputs and impacts in order to:

  • make Solva Care more effective and of high quality
  • enable Solva Care to meet the expressed needs of the people in need
  • enable Solva Care to tell funders what works well and what doesn’t through reporting and other forms of communication
  • make fund raising for Solva Care faster and easier, and
  • enable the sharing of experience with similar initiatives.

3.2Monitoring and evaluation questions

The following interlinking research and evaluation questions are of interest to Solva Care, the unique selling point of which is that it is a local scheme, largely run by volunteers and focused on practical implementation to make a difference to the wellbeing of the community:

  1. What are/were the barriers and enablers to the setting up and running of the full Solva Care Service?
  2. How is Solva Care resourced and do the resources match requirements?
  3. What are the outputs of the Voluntary Service component, in terms of: coordination , the number of volunteers involved, number of volunteers trained, type and amount of training received, number of hours used to help people, type of help provided, and number and type of referrals.
  4. Does Solva Care communicate effectively?
  5. Are the needs of the users of the Voluntary Service being met effectively, compassionately and in a timely way?
  6. Has the experience of the coordinator and volunteers been positive and in what way? Have there been gains for them on a personal level, and, if so, what are those gains?
  7. In terms of impact, has the Voluntary Service and full Solva Care Service changed the number and types of visits to the GP surgery, and reduced hospital admissions and late discharge?
  8. Is Solva Care cost effective?
  9. Has Solva Care improved the self reported wellbeing of those involved?
  10. Has Solva Care added value compared with other community initiatives and if so in what way(s)?
  11. What are the characteristics of Solva community that has enabled it to progress the initiative?
  12. Does Solva Care network with key groups and organisations and what, if anything, has been the outcome of networking ?
  13. Was the business plan appropriate and effective?

3.3 Research Monitoring and Evaluation underway

3.3.1 Phase 1- 3 is being independently evaluated for process by Cardiff University (PI Prof Ian Rees Jones). The funding came from the Academic Social Care Collaboration, Health and Care Research Wales. Face to face interviews with the Solva Care Management Committee and documentation research are being used to record the steps taken to set up and run the Pilot Project and to identify the barriers and enablers to progress. Solva data will be used to compile a case study which will be compared to one other Wales based initiative. The report is due in March. This study should be an ongoing independent study to evaluate the initiative but there is no funding to continue with it.

3.3.2 Building on the initial community consultation questionnaire (findings available on request ) , RME Sub-Group is developing a survey tool to gauge reactions of the community to the voluntary service which is already operational.

3.4Data Collection

- The following registration and risk assessment data are collected by Solva Care on a routine basis: contact and personal health information about the clients, whether referred, sources of support, how they heard about Solva Care, home circumstances

and physical space lived in. These are filled in by the coordinator on a needs basis and stored as hard copies.

- There is also a form for the volunteers to record the time spent on each visit and mileage if appropriate.

- The coordinator maintains a monthly spread sheet on which each service is listed and the time allocated for each service is totalled. The categories are: date; service user; volunteer; request: respite, transport, dog walking, shopping pop in visit, other; mileage; paid by service user?; and details.

The above data have been examined by the Team to feed into development and the reports to funders

- Quarterly reports are submitted to funders

- Records are kept of Committee meetings

4Future Plans

  • The RME Team is in the process of developing a follow up survey of the community to gauge initial reactions to the voluntary service.
  • There is an urgent need to find the resources and partners to continue the independent process evaluation.
  • RME team has started to discuss the measurement of impact, again where a study undertaken by independent researchers may have more weight with funders. There are insufficient clients in the system to conduct a case control study although a control community has already come forward and there may be some value in a feasibility study to enhance knowledge in the area. The tracking of individuals through the services would be a more practical alternative. Other alternative designs are being discussed.
  • Funders are being identified, and partners sought to collaborate with, on this important area of work in this flagship project of Wales.
  • We would like to share experiences with other local groups and work together to deliver a model for evaluating social enterprises.

Date: February 2016

RME Sub-Group

Sue Denman (Chair and Solva Care Management Committee)

Fran Barker (Solva Care Management Committee )

Lena Dixon ( Coordinator of Solva Care Voluntary Service, and Solva Care Management Committee)

Sarah Morgan ( Community member )

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