Changing Minds Project Evaluation

Descriptions

The Changing Minds project aims to improve the mental wellbeing of young people aged 14-25 in the Gwent area through peer to peer support, one to one transitions support, self-management courses and volunteering. Funded by the Big Lottery Bright New Futures fund the project began in November 2013 and will run for 5 years until November 2018. The project is based and managed from Newport Mind and project staff are based in local mind offices throughout Gwent. Changing Minds is currently in Year 4 Delivery.The projects Aims:1. More young people will have access to more support with their mental health earlier and improved social networks through the peer support. They will be able to develop stronger relationships as a result of the skills learnt and the relationships made during the self-management courses.2. There will be an increase in the number of new partnerships which have been developed with a range of statutory and third sector partners to ensure that the project is able to provide holistic services to help young people with mental health problems manage transition.3. More young people with mental health problems will have the support, learn the skills and develop the confidence to successfully manage transitions and lead full and active lives through accessing or providing peer support, attending the self-management courses or being supported by a transitions worker.4. Evaluation of the Changing Minds project will be promoted widely at a local, regional and national level using the strength of the Mind network in Wales to advocate for improvement and changes. The self-management courses, peer support materials and transitions support framework will be developed so that other organisations and individuals can learn from and use the approaches.Evaluation Aims and ObjectivesThe purpose of this evaluation is to assess the impact and effectiveness of the Changing Minds project in achieving positive outcomes for young people accessing the service.•To assess the performance of the project in meeting its key performance indicators.•To assess the performance of the project in comparison to the use of other mental health services.•To assess the impact of the project on long term impacts on the wellbeing of service users.•Assess the potential cost savings, through preventative measures to publicly funded service providers (such as the NHS or local authorities for example).Scope of WorkThis phase occurs almost at the summation of the project (Year 4) when the project requires external evaluation information to support sustainability and further funding.(June 2017):a)Inception meetingb)Consult with project beneficiaries in a qualitative and quantitative fashionc)Collect and collate longitudinal data from service users to measure lasting impact of the project on its beneficiaries.d)Organise, analyse and report on the differences between three samples of those who have used the project, young people who have used other mental health services and a control group who have not received any support from any formal source.e)Evaluators to interview key agencies, partners or stakeholders that have an interest with or link to the project so that their views can be taken into account.f)Consult with project staff or volunteers to capture their views.g)Use the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) evidence standards rating scale as reference for findingsh)Create an overall external evaluation report for all information gleaned from analysis of qualitative and quantitative data sets.•Reports to be presented electronically and hard copies made available. Both should contain executive summaries.•Electronic reports to be translated into Welsh language.•Have current Disclosure and Barring certificates•Ability to work with in house database systems, engage with young people 14-25 and adhere to confidentiality policiesInstructions to BiddersWe are looking for the following experience and skill set for the proposed evaluators:•Knowledge and experience of conducting similar work.•Previous face to face work with young people•CVs for the personnel that will work on the evaluation.•An understanding of the brief and what’s required.•A detailed method section showing how they would do the work.•A clear indication of the cost of the work, including their inputs to each of the tasks outlined in the method section.Prospective contractors are invited to put forward proposals on how they might gain feedback from beneficiaries and how they might select a representative sample to make contact with, particularly in the case of control group comparisons.Tender proposals should be no more than 5 pages long and any queries must be through sell2wales.Assessment CriteriaScoring criteria will include:•Quality of proposed methodology.•Knowledge and skills of the proposed team.•Attention to the brief and understanding of the requirement.•Approach to quality assurance, project management and ability to meet timescales.•CostOther Information-www.changingmindsproject.org.uk-www.newportmind.org