Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
A lot has been written about how to evaluate programmes to establish if they are effective in achieving their aims. However there is little guidance on how to actually work with organisations to identify which programmes they offer are suitable for evaluation and the steps involved in setting up those evaluations. Research evaluating programmes or interventions rarely discuss the steps involved prior to evaluation to identify suitable projects for evaluation and describe the steps required, often with academic institutions working in partnership with external organisations, to set up an evaluation. The aim of this study is to help determine the steps used to evaluate projects.
Who can participate?
Children under five as well as stakeholders working on the identified interventions.
What does the study involve?
Four interventions have been identified as a consequence of following the steps outlined in this protocol. Sign 4 Little Talkers/Big Feelings teaches sign language and stories for pre-school children during a two month intervention period. Data is collected at baseline and after two months. Follow-up visits are conducted up to three months post intervention delivery. The HENRY programme is an 8 week course for parents with children with concerns regarding weight and eating habits. Surveys containing a number of behavioural measures are completed at the end of the 8 week course and again after 3 months. Incredible Years is a 14 week programme for parents with children with behavioural problems. Parents fill in behavioural measures at the beginning and end of the course, and are followed up after 3 months. Parents as Partners is a 16 week course offering group counselling to parents to improve couple relationships to in turn improve child wellbeing and developmental outcomes. Relationship measures are taken at the beginning and end of the course and 3 months afterwards.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
As this protocol details the stages required prior to setting up evaluations, participants are not involved and consequently there are no direct benefits or risks. Any impact on participants would be anticipated when each programme identified by the steps described in this protocol is described in detail in separate, forthcoming protocols.
Where is the study run from?
1. University of Bedfordshire (UK)
2. Flying Start Luton (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
May 2016 to November 2018
Who is funding the study?
1. University of Bedfordshire (UK)
2. Flying Start Luton (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Rosemary Davidson
rosemary.davidson@beds.ac.uk
Study website
Contact information
Type
Public
Contact name
Dr Rosemary Davidson
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0010-4809
Contact details
Institute for Health Research
University of Bedfordshire
University Square
Luton
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
+44 796 667 6974
rosemary.davidson@beds.ac.uk
Type
Scientific
Contact name
Prof Gurch Randhawa
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2289-5859
Contact details
Institute for Health Research
University of Bedfordshire
Putteridge Bury Campus
Hitchin Road
Luton
LU2 8LE
United Kingdom
-
gurch.randhawa@beds.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT/CTIS number
IRAS number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
UoB_FS_EvProto_4Projects
Study information
Scientific title
Steps to Process and Outcomes Evaluation: The Flying Start Luton approach
Acronym
STEPS
Study hypothesis
Much has been written about how to evaluate projects, yet there is little on the steps required prior to this to identify suitable projects for evaluation. This is particularly salient when working in the community with partner organisations who wish their provision to be evaluated in order to build an evidence base and rationale behind their work.
Ethics approval(s)
This is a protocol to allow evaluators to get to the stage where they can identify projects and thereafter seek ethical approval to evaluate a specific project, therefore no ethical approval is needed at this stage. Ethical approval will be sought for the next stage of the evaluation, where the projects have been identified, allowing us to give specific details to ethics committees.
Study design
Observational study
Primary study design
Observational
Secondary study design
Cohort study
Study setting(s)
Community
Study type
Quality of life
Patient information sheet
No participant information sheet available, however forthcoming participant information sheets will be made available for each intervention identified as a consequence of this evaluation approach.
Condition
Early years health and well-being.
Intervention
Four interventions have been identified as a consequence of following the steps outlined in this protocol. Sign 4 Little Talkers/Big Feelings teaches sign language and stories for pre-school children during a two month intervention period. Data is collected at baseline and after two months. Follow-up visits are conducted up to three months post intervention delivery. The HENRY programme is an 8 week course for parents with children with concerns regarding weight and eating habits. Surveys containing a number of behavioural measures are completed at the end of the 8 week course and again after 3 months. Incredible Years is a 14 week programme for parents with children with behavioural problems. Parents fill in behavioural measures at the beginning and end of the course, and are followed up after 3 months. Parents as Partners is a 16 week course offering group counselling to parents to improve couple relationships to in turn improve child wellbeing and developmental outcomes. Relationship measures are taken at the beginning and end of the course and 3 months afterwards.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Primary outcome measure
Sign 4
1. Listening and Attention, Speaking, Managing Feelings & Behaviour, and Understanding are measured using Early Years Outcomes at baseline and 6 month follow-up
HENRY
1. Self reported measures relating to parenting skills and healthy lifestyles are taken at baseline and 3 month follow-up.
Incredible Years
1. Children’s behaviour is measured using the Strengths & Difficulties questionnaire at baseline and 14 weeks
Parents as Partners
1. Parenting style is measured using the Revised Parenting Index at baseline and 16 weeks
Secondary outcome measures
Sign 4
1. Children’s well-being is measured using Leuven Well-being scales at baseline and 6 month follow-up.
HENRY
1. Group facilitator and parental views of HENRY sessions are measured using surveys and interviews at 8 weeks and 3 month follow-up
IY
1. Group facilitator and parental views of Incredible Years sessions are measured using surveys and interviews at 14 weeks
Parents as Partners
1. Group facilitator and parental views of Parents as Partners sessions are measured using surveys and interviews at 14 weeks
Overall study start date
05/05/2016
Overall study end date
01/11/2018
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Participants are children under five as well as stakeholders working on the identified interventions.
Participant type(s)
Other
Age group
Mixed
Sex
Both
Target number of participants
200
Participant exclusion criteria
Any other human participants who do not fit the inclusion criteria detailed above.
Recruitment start date
05/05/2017
Recruitment end date
01/06/2018
Locations
Countries of recruitment
England, United Kingdom
Study participating centre
University of Bedfordshire
Institute for Health Research
University Square
Luton
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Flying Start Luton
The TOKKO Building
7 Gordon Street
Luton
LU1 2QP
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
University of Bedfordshire
Sponsor details
University Square
Luton
LU1 3JU
England
United Kingdom
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
https://www.flyingstartluton.com
Organisation
Flying Start Luton
Sponsor details
The TOKKO Building
7 Gordon Street
Luton
LU1 2QP
United Kingdom
+44 1582 548356
flyingstart@luton.gov.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
https://www.flyingstartluton.com
Organisation
University of Bedfordshire
Sponsor details
Sponsor type
Not defined
Website
ROR
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Funder name
University of Bedfordshire
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
private sector organisation
Funding Body Subtype
Universities (academic only)
Location
United Kingdom
Funder name
Flying Start Luton
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Steps to Evaluation article submitted to BMC Medical Research Methodology awaiting response.
Two outcome and four process evaluation articles are planned from the subsequent evaluation of the projects selected in the above protocol.
Intention to publish date
16/01/2018
Individual participant data (IPD) sharing plan
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Dr Rosemary Davidson (rosemary.davidson@beds.ac.uk).
IPD sharing plan summary
Available on request
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|