Evaluation Toolkit (the CAVEAT project)

The development and testing of a Community and Voluntary organisation Evaluation Toolkit (the CAVEAT study)

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important contribution of charities, voluntary organisations, local community and faith groups in supporting older people at home. Beyond the pandemic, these organisations are integral to the delivery of the social prescribing initiative set out in the NHS long-term plan. Social prescribing enables GPs and other professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services to support their wellbeing. There is a need for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to demonstrate the scope and nature of the work they do; that they provide value for money; and that services are of a high standard and meet the needs of the people they support. Our previous research (COV-VOL) showed that many organisations do not collect the data that would enable them to provide such evidence. The CAVEAT project will develop and undertake preliminary testing of a toolkit for recording activity and impact that can be used by these organisations. This is important for securing ongoing funding and to feedback to the people they support and others, including volunteers, health and social care staff and those commissioning services.

Funder/funding stream

Towards Changing Practice, Applied Research Collaboration, Kent, Surrey, Sussex

What are the main aims?

To develop and test a set of resources and guidelines – the CAVEAT ‘toolkit’ –  that Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations can use to collect information and data to demonstrate their activities and impact.

Key words

Evaluation, older people, voluntary, community, social enterprise

Who benefits from the research?

Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations; older people receiving volunteer support, volunteers, health and social care practitioners, service commissioners

What is the expected impact?

The CAVEAT toolkit will enable the formal recording of VCSE organisation activity and impact which will provide guidance to commissioners, and will be helpful for internal audit and quality improvement purposes. The toolkit will also be of value to academic research communities in health and social care. It is anticipated that outcome measures will assess impact on social isolation, connectivity within communities, and economic considerations, for example. These and other outcomes will be of interest to a range of different audiences, including older people receiving support, volunteers, VCSE organisations, commissioners and policy-makers. A particular focus will be on the factors enabling collaboration and integration between VCSE organisations and health and social care providers, and on the resources involved in service delivery expenses).

How is PPI embedded?

PCI&E is integral to all stages of the research process from the inception of the project, through implementation and dissemination of findings.

Any PPI co-applicants/advisory group?

Two members of the ‘Opening Doors to Research’ group will be part of the advisory group. In addition, two older people who use voluntary, community or social enterprise services will be invited to participate in a consensus building workshop to develop the toolkit; Older people who use these services will also be part of the working groups at each of the 4 case sites to test the toolkit in practice.

What research outputs planned/published?

Regional launch and training webinar(s)  – we will run a webinar or series of webinars aimed at sharing CAVEAT with stakeholder groups in the region.

Publication(s) – We aim to publish a minimum of one academic paper in a high impact, peer reviewed academic journal. This paper will be aimed at VCSE leads, health and social care professionals, Local Authorities, commissioners, academics and researchers.

National/International Conference paper(s) – We will submit a minimum of one conference abstract for presentation at a recognised and respected national or international conference. This will be aimed at VCSE leads, health and social care professionals, Local Authorities, commissioners, academics and researchers.

Final report – We will produce a comprehensive final report including an executive summary, methods and findings. The report will primarily be for use by the project funder but the executive summary will be circulated to all relevant stakeholders and will have  a link to an online version of the full report.

‘Easy read’ lay summary – We will produce a summary of the project for members of the public who took part in the study and for circulation to other PCI&E groups.