Evaluate your work

Plan your evaluation

These resources and training opportunities can help you plan a realistic evaluation (both in terms of timeline and resources):

• Demystifying evaluation: introduction
• Engaging with evidence toolkit - Nesta
• The using evidence resource guide: preparing a research or evaluation plan.

You'll need to think about the key stages of your evaluation as well as the tools and measures you'll use to collect evidence, and any ethical considerations:

• Demystifying evaluation: ethics and evaluation
• Demystifying evaluation: using a 'story of change' to measure impact
• Person-centred Community Care Inventory (PERCCI) – Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) bitesize session.*

*The DEEP events run throughout the year. You can search our events page or contact insightcollective@socialcare.wales to find out when the next session will be held if it's not currently being advertised.

Choose the best approach for you

Look at a range of evaluation approaches and methods and reflect on their strengths and limitations. Select the most appropriate one to gather evidence that will show the difference and impact your work has made. These resources and training opportunities can help you:

• Demystifying evaluation: an introduction to economic evaluation
• Demystifying evaluation: creativity and participation in evaluation
• Demystifying evaluation: introduction
• Magic moments and Tragic Moments - DEEP bitesize session*
• Most significant change - DEEP bitesize session*
• The using evidence resource guide: collecting and analysing non-numerical data
• The using evidence resource guide: collecting and analysing numerical data.

*The DEEP events run throughout the year. You can search our events page or contact insightcollective@socialcare.wales to find out when the next session will be held if it's not currently being advertised.

Make your evaluation inclusive

Involve people who access care and support, carers and advocates in all stages of planning and evaluation:

• Standards for public involvement in research - National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

You can gather information from a range of sources and value the feedback of everyone involved:

• Magic moments and Tragic Moments - DEEP bitesize session* 
• Most significant change - DEEP bitesize session*
• National social care data portal for Wales
• Storytelling framework (in development with DEEP colleagues).

*The DEEP events run throughout the year. You can search our events page or contact insightcollective@socialcare.wales to find out when the next session will be held if it's not currently being advertised.

Share and learn

Reflect and learn from your evaluation findings: what worked well, what did not work so well, what needs to be changed and what mattered to people using the service.

Clearly communicate and engage relevant audiences to share the outcome of your evaluation:

• Community of Enquiry - DEEP bitesize session*
• Sharing evidence: with a focus on numbers - DEEP bitesize session*
• The using evidence resource guide: reporting your findings.
  

*The DEEP events run throughout the year. You can search our events page or contact insightcollective@socialcare.wales to find out when the next session will be held if it's not currently being advertised.