What is the aim of the BEACON evaluation? 

The aim of the evaluation is to understand what it is about Neighbourhood Health that works, for whom, in what circumstances, and how. The workshops we held in the first phase of the national evaluation explored current understandings of neighbourhood health, potential barriers and enablers for delivering health closer to home, and potential designs for a full evaluation of Neighbourhood Health. The workshops included people with lived experience of care services, people delivering neighbourhood health, and subject matter experts. 

In the BEACON evaluation, we will be developing theories of how we think Neighbourhood Health will work based on existing literature and talking to people involved in Neighbourhood Health. We will then test to see if these theories are supported by collecting data in case-study sites who are delivering Neighbourhood Health in different ways. These sites will be chosen to look at the different ways Neighbourhood Health is organised and delivered, as well as different places with different populations. We will collect both qualitative data (interviews, focus groups, workshops and observations) and quantitative data (administrative data like number of GP visits and hospital admissions) from the case-study sites. We will use these data to develop final theories of how Neighbourhood Health works and a model to simulate how Neighbourhood Health works in the long-term for use by people who make decisions about how care is organised and funded.  

How will we involve people who deliver and use Neighbourhood Health? 

At the beginning of the evaluation, we will co-design an inclusion, engagement and knowledge mobilisation plan with key stakeholders including patients, carers and the public. This plan will guide our involvement and engagement work throughout the evaluation and ensure that all stakeholders are involved in all aspects of the evaluation. The plan will also include how we should share our findings, including who we will share them with, when and how. We want to ensure that we share important findings throughout the evaluation.