Scottish Health Council Advanced VOiCE Training

1. Thurs 25th & Fri 26th November 2010 Scottish Health Council Advanced VOiCE Training

2. Learning Outcomes • By the end of the Advanced Training Course participants will have: • An improved understanding of community engagement outcomes, outcome indicators and methods • An in-depth understanding of the VOiCE online tool and how it can be used in practice to support community engagement • An understanding of how to support the strategic development and operational use of VOiCE with a range of stakeholders and partners

3. Buzz Group • Reflecting on VOiCE training and use of the tool to date: • How has VOiCE helped you with your Community Engagement practice so far? • 2. Where are the gaps and what still needs attention?

4. Context: Modernising government in Scotland • ‘We want to see the principle of local engagement and involvement extended…. we want to see communities with the opportunity to sort out their own problems… ’ • SNP Government Manifesto and First 100 days commitments 2007

5. The key purpose of community engagement practice • ‘To develop influence and promote policy and implement practice which engages communities as partners in change’ • ‘Better Community Engagement – a framework for learning’, Learning Connections, Scottish Executive, 2007.

6. Participation Standard • ‘We need to move, over time, to a more inclusive relationship with the Scottish People; a relationship where patients and the public are affirmed as partners rather than recipients of care.’ • ‘Better health Better Care’ 2007

7. What are the National Standards for Community Engagement ? • Measurable performance statements for good community engagement • Launched May 2005 • Built from community experience • Designed by community and agency representatives • Based on best practice principles • Specific enough to guide actions • Useable in different types of engagement • Achieving highest quality practice • Endorsed by key stakeholders and 3 national events

8. What are the National Standards for Community Engagement ? • Involvement • Support • Planning • Methods • Working Together • Sharing Information • Working with others • Improvement • Feedback • Monitoring and Evaluation

9. VOiCE – The sitemap

10. VOiCE - The Detail • In relation toparticular community engagement initiatives VOiCE will support you to: • Reflect on what you are trying to achieve. • Develop plans that relate to your purpose . • Monitor progress in implementing your plan. • Evaluate the process and outcomes. • Learn lessons for future activity.

11. Featuresof VOiCE Online • A multi user environment - invite colleagues or partners to be editors of reviewers of a particular engagement. • Secure password protected user accounts - you decide what information to share. • Downloadable reports - share reports asPDF or Word formats. • E-mail reports from the system. • Accountable progress - built in user log - information on user activity within shared engagements - who made what changes to the engagement report. • A document bank - upload document to the system which relate to the engagement. • Strategic analysis - review engagements in your area and produce reports which pull together the information you select in one report. • Fully accessible site design - meeting a very high standard of accessible web design.

12. Analyse - What is the purpose of the engagement? • Think about the level you will engage the community at: • Inform • This means we are only going to tell people what we plan to do. • Consult • This means we will offer people restricted options to choose between. • Engage • To take shared decisions - This means the community will influence options and choices of action. • To take shared action - This means the community will share in any action taken. • To support community led action - This means the community will lead the action.

13. Plan - What difference do we want to make? • Outcomes are the changes that occur or the difference that is made for individuals, groups, families, organisations and communities • Outcomes answer the ‘so what?’ question! • In the context of community engagement, outcomes will normally relate to the process of consulting people or involving people in influencing decisions, or taking action on key issues that affect their lives

14. Identified Need • In your local area, support organisations and agencies express concern in relation to the poor take-up of health and social care services by older Asian women. A needs-assessment has highlighted poor communication between community health and social care services and this “hard to reach” group, with the result that there is little awareness re the services available to them. There is also evidence to suggest that there is uncertainty about how to go about accessing services. A local support organisation has highlighted social isolation as a key health issue for this group and a contributing factor to the issues outlined above.

15. Task • Identify 2 or 3 possible outcomes (the difference that you would want to make) in relation to the identified need.

16. Possible Outcomes • Older Asian women will have better access to community health and social care services • Older Asian women will be less isolated • Improved communication between older Asian women and public service providers

17. Plan - How will we know? • Outcome indicators are measures that describe how well we are achieving our outcomes • They define the evidence (qualitative and quantitative) to be collected to measure progress and help us decide if our outcomes are achieved • Outcome indicators are our evaluation criteria set at the planning stage – so that we know how to judge success and we have the information or evidence to make that assessment

18. Identifying Indicators - Task • Identify potential indicators in relation to each outcome that will provide evidence for measuring whether outcomes are achieved • Think about how to build the process of collecting evidence into practice and procedures

19. Older Asian women will have better access to community health and social care services Older Asian women will know what community health & social care services are available in the local area Older Asian women will know how to access community health & social care services Older Asian women will receive more community health & social care Possible Indicators

20. Older Asian women will be less isolated Older Asian women will independently attend more activities in the community Older Asian women will have more contact with other Asian women Possible Indicators

21. Improved communication between older Asian women and public service providers Older Asian women will know that they can ask for interpreters when they attend appointments Older Asian women will use interpreters more often Older Asian women have better relationships with their health and social care providers, and can understand the advice given by these providers Possible Indicators

22. Plan - What will we do? • Methods (outputs) are the actions we take to achieve the outcomes • Methods are only useful if they lead to the outcomes or change desired • There are likely to be many actions or methods available to us – the important thing is to choose those most likely to achieve our outcomes

23. DO – Methods (examples at different levels) • Inform • Publish information on a leaflet/website/letter/poster • Run an information event in the local community

24. Individual focus Questionnaires Opinion polls Interviews Suggestion boxes On-line consultations Text messaging Group/community focus Buzz groups Speed dating Group interviews/focus groups Nominal group process Area forums Citizens panels Citizens juries Open meetings/events DO – Methods (examples at different levels) Consult

25. DO – Methods (examples at different levels) • Engage • Open meetings/events including: Open space, World café, PP vote/Option Finder • Stakeholder workshops • Story dialogue • Deliberative mapping • Planning for Real • Participatory drama/forum theatre

26. Review – How do we do it? • All the partners in the same room! • Questionnaire for those involved in engagement • Using VOiCE Online • What are some of the things you need to think about when reviewing community engagement?

27. Strategic Planning • Across all the community engagement that your organisation or partnership is involved in VOiCE will provide a data bank that can be used to analyse: • What engagement is being (and has been) conducted. • What issues and needs the engagement addresses. • Where it is happening. • Who is involved in it. • What has or has not been effective. • Whilst the primary purpose of VOiCE is to support effective engagement practice, this aspect of VOiCE provides management information that can be integrated into other management information systems.

28. Planning your practice session • On Day 2 you will be delivering a 1 hour practice session to your peers on an aspect of VOiCE. • In groups of 2 or 3: • Decide what aspect of VOiCE you will cover • Decide how you are going to deliver session • Allocate tasks

29. Further information • For further information about VOiCE or any other aspect of community engagement please contact: • Paul Nelis (Development Manager) or • David Allan (Head of Programmes) Scottish Community Development Centre • Tel: 0141 248 1924 Email: paul@scdc.org.uk or david@scdc.org.uk • For further information on VOiCE or to register as a VOiCE user visit the VOiCE website at www.voicescotland.org.uk