1 Ruth Jepson, 2 Garth Reid, 1 John McAteer, 3 Sarah Currie, 2 Andrew McAuley

Transcription

1 (S7) PUTTING PRACTITIONERS AT THE HEART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS: EXPERIENCES OF THE SCOTTISH COLLABORATION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY (SCPHRP) Purpose The purpose of the symposium is to share our experiences of engaging practitioners in the research process. We will describe and discuss four innovative initiatives, two national and two local. Contributions 1) An innovative national project to build the evidence base and research capacity in public health settings: evaluating alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) in wider settings. One of the main objectives of this collaborative project is to increase the research capacity in the workforce, and empower public health practitioners to undertake robust evaluations. 2) The Young STAND awards scheme: A national initiative to engage third sector alcohol and substance misuse prevention projects in research and evaluation This project aims to provide a forum for sharing practices, to promote a culture of research and evaluation, and to develop a collaborative network across Scottish alcohol and substance misuse prevention projects for young people. 3) A RCT of indoor versus outdoor activity delivered through an Exercise Referral Scheme. This project has practitioners at the heart of the design, implementation and evaluation process. 4) Community Use of Child Development Data: the Early Development Instrument Pilot (EDI) in Scotland We piloted the EDI to assess global development in Scottish children at school entry in one local authority to provide the community with information about children s strengths and vulnerabilities. This project aims to explore how the EDI results can be used by local stakeholders, and the conditions which enable or obstruct effective intervention. Interactive or other alternative learning methods Each of the presenters will briefly describe their project and methods. We will then have an interactive discussion about the relative merits or drawbacks of the approaches. The audience will be encouraged to discuss methods they have used, and/or how they think the approaches we use may be adapted or adopted for their own local contexts.

2 1. An innovative project to build the evidence base and research capacity in public health settings: evaluating alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) in wider settings 1 Ruth Jepson, 2 Garth Reid, 1 John McAteer, 3 Sarah Currie, 2 Andrew McAuley 1 *Corresponding and presenting author, ruth.jepson@ed.ac.uk telephone: Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, Medical Research Council, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, 2 NHS Health Scotland, Public Health Science Directorate, Glasgow, UK, G2 2 AF 3 Public Health Division, The Scottish Government, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG Background and Objectives Over the last 4 years, health services in Scotland have established projects to deliver Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABIs) in health care settings. Some areas are now expanding delivery to wider healthcare and non-healthcare settings (including social work, young people, further education, and mental health). There is currently limited evidence of either the feasibility or effectiveness of ABIs in these wider settings. The objective of this collaborative project is to develop and deliver robust, well evaluated projects that improve outcomes and add to the evidence base. Another objective is to increase the research capacity in the workforce and empower service providers to understand and undertake robust evaluations. ABI delivery and evaluation will be supported: by National Guidance for planning and evaluating interventions; workshops to support local areas to develop robust planning and evaluation plans; 1:1 support by evaluation specialists; funding of robust evaluations of projects; and research training fellowships to enable individuals to develop their research skills. Results A workshop on evaluation for ABI leads working in wider settings has been delivered with 19 participants (primarily people involved in development or delivery of services) taking part. Participants agreed to collect a standard minimum data set, and follow up service users to evaluate changes in alcohol consumption. Some participants have developed evaluation plans with support from the team, and on-going support is being given to enable these evaluations to be robust and achievable. Scottish Government funding is also being provided to help develop systems for outcome monitoring and evaluation. Conclusions Discussion This is a new approach to supporting robust evaluation in real-life settings. Reflections on the process so far will be discussed as well as the results to date for example, details of evaluation projects which have been funded, and the experiences of participants in the project. Statement for debate 1: How objectively can practitioner evaluate their service can it really be robust if they are part of the process? Statement for debate 2: Is this model replicable in other settings?

3 2. Title: The Young STAND awards scheme: A national initiative to engage third sector alcohol and substance misuse prevention projects in research and evaluation Authors: McAteer, J.* 1 Jepson, R. 1, McVeigh, H. 2 *Corresponding and presenting author, john.mcateer@ed.ac.uk telephone: The Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, 20 West Richmond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DX 2 Mentor, 235 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AR Introduction: Much alcohol and substance misuse prevention for young people in Scotland is delivered through third sector organisations. It is unclear what practices are currently being used, and to what extent these are being evaluated. In response to this, Mentor and SCPHRP set up the Young STAND (Scots Tackling Alcohol and Drugs) Awards Scheme. STAND aims to provide a forum for sharing practices, to promote a culture of research and evaluation, and to develop a collaborative network across alcohol and substance misuse prevention projects for young people in Scotland. : This project was developed from existing collaborative links between SCPHRP and Mentor. Projects are eligible to apply if they are working in the areas of alcohol and substance misuse prevention in either schools or community settings where young people have been involved in development and/or project delivery. STAND is being promoted through mailing lists and social media. Applicants are required to describe their project, how young people have contributed to its development and/or delivery and how they have assessed its effectiveness. Shortlisted projects will be decided by a panel consisting of researchers and third sector organisations, and awards will be presented at an event on the 19 th February. The event will be focused upon evaluation and knowledge sharing between projects. The network developed through the award scheme will provide a forum for future development of collaborative projects. Findings: This paper will report number of applicants, type of projects, type of evaluations, winners of the awards and any follow-up collaborative projects. Discussion: STAND describes an innovative approach to engaging with third sector organisations. Whilst STAND may provide information on only a small subset of projects working in this field, it is a useful start towards understanding current practices and current understandings of evaluation. Statement for debate 1: How can the type of approach outlined by STAND be evaluated? Statement for debate 2: Is this sustainable over the long term for providing support to third sector organisations?

4 3. A feasibility study of Exercise Referral Scheme: indoor versus outdoor activities 1* Lawrence Doi, 1 Ruth Jepson, 2 Chris Dickson, 3 David Graham, 4 Judith Keighley, 5 Becky Plunkett, 6 Jen Johnston, 7 Josie Evans, 1 Helen Frost *corresponding author and presenting author; - larry.doi@ed.ac.uk; Telephone Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, 20 West Richmond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DX; 2 Xcite West Lothian Leisure 3 Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Scotland 4 General Practitioner 5 Community Greenspace Officer, West Lothian Council 6 West Lothian On The Move co-ordinator 7 Centre for Population Health and Public Health Research, University of Stirling Background This project is being carried out in partnership with members of West Lothian Council and The Conservation Volunteers Scotland who have been involved in all stages of the research design process from research question formulation to data collection and intervention development. Exercise Referral Schemes (ERS) aim to treat or prevent ill health by encouraging participation in physical activity (usually a twelve week programme). There is evidence that both outdoor and indoor exercise can be beneficial to health. However, what is not known is the relative effectiveness of outdoor versus indoor exercise for a range of outcomes and whether sustained physical activity participation is greater in one of the settings. The design is a pilot RCT with participant preference arm (Phase I), and a process evaluation (Phase II). ERS staff (West Lothian Council) and other partners will deliver both intervention and control and collect relevant data at different time points (already collected routinely). Phase I: around 80 participants will be randomised (or have their preferred option of) : Outdoor ERS (intervention) outdoor activities such as Green Gym roughly equating in duration and exercise intensify to the indoor intervention. Indoor ERS (control) - service currently being delivered through ERS. Phase II: qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups) will be undertaken with around 30 participants (control and intervention) to provide understanding of how and why the setting might affect physical activity participation and health outcomes. Findings The project has received ethical approval and recruitment procedures are currently underway. Discussion This project demonstrates how SCPHRP was able to engage the partner organisations effectively at a very early stage, and developed enthusiasm to use their routine service (the ERS) to generate robust scientific knowledge. All the partners have been equally committed to the project, despite having to overcome some obstacles such as funding. Statement for debate 1: How can we sustain the high level of motivation shown by partner organisations for the duration of the project? Statement for debate 2: What potential organisational constraints need to be considered before moving into a definitive trial?

5 4. Community Use of Child Development Data: the Early Development Instrument Pilot in Scotland Shivaji T 1, Geddes R 2 *, Frank J 2 1 NHS Highland, Scotland 2 Scottish Collaboration for Health Public Health Research and Policy, University of Edinburgh *corresponding author; rosemary.geddes@ed.ac.uk ; Telephone Background We conducted a Scottish pilot of the 104-item Early Development Instrument (EDI), an internationally validated measure of children s global development at school entry, developed in Canada. During phase 1 the EDI was adapted and tested for the Scottish context. Phase 2 entailed the collection of global developmental data on a full cohort (1200) of school-enterers in a whole education district. The results are fed back to communities allowing local stakeholders to reflect on the effectiveness of early years support services and programmes, and plan further interventions that address inequalities. Phase 3 of the project aims to produce generalizable knowledge about how the EDI results can be used, and the conditions which enable or obstruct effective intervention. An in-depth study of six local areas use of EDI results will take place over a period of two years. Six multidisciplinary groups (consisting of members from health, education, social services, council, voluntary organisations, and parent and community representatives) are currently being formed in the area and will be known as the Early Years Community Planning Groups. Qualitative methods will be utilised to understand how the various Groups use and interpret the EDI results, so as to have the greatest impact on locally identified priority aspects of early child development. Findings We will report on the processes used by stakeholders to respond to the EDI results, and the degree to which subsequent programme changes or new interventions actually reach the target audience, and engage them. The similarities and differences between the strategies adopted by individual Early Years Community Planning Groups will also be explored and reported. Discussion This project will shed light on the question of how successfully local practitioners are able to interpret and use scientific information for the benefit of the communities, and the processes they adopt in doing so. Statement for debate 1: Would it be acceptable for the researcher to intervene if stakeholder groups are misinterpreting the research findings? Statement for debate 2: What will successful use of research data in and by this community look like?