What is an evaluation framework for proactive prevention?
DEVELOPING AN EVALUATION FRAMEWORK WILL HELP PROVIDE A MORE CONSISTENT APPROACH TO HOW THE BENEFITS OF PROACTIVE PREVENTION PROJECTS ARE MEASURED
Why do we need an evaluation framework for proactive prevention?
How is the evaluation framework being developed?
The barriers to prevention identified earlier in this document highlight the challenge of knowing what works in relation to prevention, and the difficulty of demonstrating impact or value for money. Answering questions such as ‘what would have happened if this intervention had not been provided?’ are particularly complex and can often make it difficult for prevention projects to receive investment. Particular challenges identified through the programme include: • Prioritising preventative models and having confidence in porting solutions that others have evidenced • Having confidence in the impact being delivered because prevention trials and models cannot be effectively tracked and managed • Obtaining funding when confidence cannot be provided to funding and investment sources Nonetheless, measuring the benefits of proactive prevention interventions is not impossible. As a result, the Future of Prevention programme is aiming to develop an evaluation framework that can be used by adult social care services to track the impact of prevention initiatives and how they will influence overall expenditure, so that benefits cases are high quality and consistent – this will help lead to successful scaling of prevention initiatives. It is anticipated that the delivery model and evaluation framework will together be used as the national approach for the programme’s cross -council proactive prevention initiative.
The evaluation framework will: • Be based on existing research and good practice from across the heath and care sectors • Demonstrate how to set up the right measures, to support the successful delivery of key stages in a prevention programme • Ensure that it can be used to directly link prevention activity to spend levers and hence to budget impact • Work in conjunction with the delivery model to support the journey towards sustainably delivering prevention at scale. The evaluation framework is currently being developed by the organisations participating in the programme and will be published in the programme’s final report in summer 2025. It will then be available to be used by all local authorities nationally. Colleagues developing the evaluation framework are working closely with DHSC to ensure that the final framework will meet the needs of DHSC when considering whether to invest in a prevention initiative.
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