1. 22 April 2002Health Services Research Unit Feedback From Parents : Using an Action Research Approach to Evaluate a Local Sure Start Programme Tameron Chappell tameron.chappell@dphpc.ox.ac.uk Jessica Schafer

2. Talk Outline Rose Hill – Littlemore Sure Start evaluation What is Action Research? Parent feedback as an example

3. Rose Hill - Littlemore Sure Start Trailblazer About 640 children (300+ families) About 150 new births per year Lead partner was a charity Now Board of Trustees

4. Rose Hill - Littlemore Sure Start Evaluation Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford Independent evaluation 6% of Sure Starts budget = £36,000/yr Began in August 2000, with 2 researchers

5. Objectives of the Evaluation 1) What makes a difference to local parents, and feed this back to Sure Start 2) Look at how the programme is working internally, and improve internal feedback channels

6. Accountability Director of Health Services Research Unit Director of Sure Start Research Advisory Group – meets quarterly – mixed membership Has ethical clearance

7. Action Research Sure Starts everyday practice Reflection by Sure Start workers / Research team Action (instigate change) Strategic planning (action plan / theme for further investigation) Research and analysis (Interviews etc. )

8. Methods Interviews Staff : 33 conducted Parents : 18 conducted (target of 20) Parent diaries: Written or audio 6 given out - 2 returned Questionnaires to Board members 17 sent out - 6 returned Participant observation: meetings, events

9. Parent interviews Target : 20 interviews –10 Rose Hill, 10 Littlemore –Of these, 5 using services, 5 not –At least 1 Asian parent in each section Recruitment: –No access to database, no cold-calling –Playgroups, health visitors, Asian support workers, child literacy groups, snowball (friends of friends)

10. User vs. non-user distinction Am I a service user? Some services existed before Sure Start Sure Start stamp

11. Finding true non-users Use the database without names Postal invitation Parents initiative

12. Interview discussion topics

13. What parents like about Sure Start (1) –New skills (cooking, sewing, computing) –Voluntary work –Parenting skills –Computer classes –Support for post-natal depression

14. For me personally, it has just been a life saver because I think I would have got even more and more depressed. I got to the point where I didnt want [my child] at all. I wanted to like hurt myself and it is sort of coming here that really did... [The Sure Start health visitor] sorted it out because she arranged for me to go and see OXPIP [Oxford Parent Infant Programme], she phoned up and did all that for me which was just like wow, marvellous that somebody that I dont really know would do something so nice for me and that is how I felt just so wow.

15. What parents like (2) –Day-trips (e.g. Brighton, Child Beale) –Non-discriminatory services –Funding for child care –Home Start (weekly volunteer support in the home)

16. What parents like (3) –Improved communication between agencies –Early literacy and parent/child interaction

17. I think the biggest message that PEEP gives is that what youre doing as a parent anyway was the right thing. You know, and I could actually go along there and all the kind of worries that Id ever had in the past about how Id done things the first time round, that I could actually sit back and say Well, you were doing it right. But there was never anybody to say that at the time […] I was suddenly confident as a mother.

18. Things parents would like to see

19. Sure Starts responses to unmet needs Lead role in youth project Support for parent volunteers to hold youth events Lobby on housing issue Planning for Real initiative Lobby on public transport

20. Sure Starts responses to unmet needs (2) Work on environmental issues Police drop-in at family centre Regular monthly trips Tumble Tots Drop-in creche

21. Obstacles to using Sure Start services Stigma Lack of information Social barriers Cultural barriers Transportation

22. Sure Starts responses to obstacles identified Targeted service extended to allow some use by all families, and publicity revised to make this more clear Stigma of Family Centre –New physical infrastructure –New code of conduct & confidentiality policies implemented Information strategy in planning stages

23. Action research approach Immediate feedback after interviews Feedback to Research Advisory Group Away Days topic Action plan and sub-group