1. Using research to support programme development Examples from Seacroft Sure Start 17 September 2003

2. Research can be used to: l Steer the strategy l Prove progress l Tweak the tactics l Plus, help address tensions

3. Strategy - Health visitor study

4. Why we did it l Seacroft programme is Education-led l New birth stats and contact info was not coming through l Health visitors did not seem engaged l Given the requirement to contact all new births, what do we do about this?

5. How we did it l Identified those HVs with highest caseloads in area l 45 minute depth interviews with these l Following pre-defined topic guide l Full written report for programme, summary sent to participating HVs

6. What came out of it l Initial consultation process left HVs feeling embattled l No-one was taking responsibility for Working Together l Communication and feedback had all but stopped l New HV appointed to Sure Start team

7. Monitoring progess - Community survey

8. Why we (first) did it l To provide base-line info for Sure Start Unit l To test early impact of programme l To set a benchmark against which progress could be tracked

9. How we did it l Street interviews with random sample of parents of under 4’s l Using a pre-defined questionnaire l Used professional interviewers (for speed) l Sample of 101 first time, 200 a year later

10. Satisfaction with services in the area for young children

11. Heard of Sure Start?

12. Wider benefits l Quantified the number of children in area l Helped prove the point about monitoring l Data show correlation between awareness/usage of Sure Start and other good things l Provides info from those not involved with programme l Helps promote Sure Start in itself

13. Tactics - Staff survey

14. Why we (first) did it l Became aware of issues in team early on, eg to do with: –communication –training –understanding of national objectives –awareness of local services –working together

15. How we did it l Self-completion questionnaire sent to all staff at home l Reminder sent 2 weeks later l Findings presented at team meeting l Followed by workshop sessions

16. What came out of it l Induction pack put together l Policies reviewed l Staff development programme instigated l Job ‘shadowing’ introduced l Team organised into geographical patches

17. Research should do more than just collect information