A Message from Centre for Effective Services:
Dear colleagues,
Thank you for your interest in our 2021 Reaching Out, Supporting Families conference: 'families'. This
was hosted in 2021.
See link to the conference report of the learning on good family support and key messages relating to
the question - "So what?".
The conference was supported by our first Capturing the Learning paper:
Good family support in the community and voluntary sector.
The second Capturing the Learning paper from the Programme: 'Partnership Working in the Community
& Voluntary Sector' was also published. This paper explores what projects have told us about the
benefits and challenges of working in partnership over the last seven years and what enables good
partnership working, during and before the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic.
The third strand of Capturing the Learning from the Programme is focused on the implementation of the
36 projects involved. On Thursday 26 May, 3-5pm, webinar entitled, 'The Power of Trusted Relationships
in Implementation' will be launched to share this learning. At this event Allison Metz,
world-renowned expert in the implementation of child & family services, will join us to reflect on the role
relationships play in making family support services successful.
This will be the last CES event of the Reaching Out, Supporting Families Programme
Involving peer researchers in service evaluations
The involvement of peer researchers - individuals who have
lived experience and insights into a particular issue in research
and evaluations can significantly enhance our understanding of
the quality and effectiveness of different supports and services.
Learning to emerge from two evaluations commissioned by the
Health and Social Care Board involving peer researchers was
presented at the Young Foundation's first Participatory
Research Conference: HIVE, in March 2022. Researchers from
the Centre for Effective Services (CES) reflected on their experiences of involving peer researchers in
evaluations of two services for vulnerable children and young people in Northern Ireland: The Fostering
Attainment and Achievement service and the Independent Guardian Service for separated children,
including separated children who are victims or potential victims of human trafficking.
The presentation describes the involvement of peer researchers and briefly reviews different peer
research models. It considers the benefits to the evaluation and the research team of involving peer
researchers alongside the opportunities afforded to those in the peer researcher role. Various challenges
and considerations arising during the evaluations are presented along with mitigating actions and the
presentation concludes with a brief reflection on the learning which emerged for the evaluation team.
The HIVE conference explored a myriad of issues relating to the involvement of peer researchers in
research and evaluations and is likely to be value to those interested in promoting the inclusion of service
users and individuals with a lived experience of an issue in evaluations or research studies.
The presentations and materials from the conference including the CES presentation will be available
from mid-April by signing up to the Young Foundation's Peer Research Network. Register for free here.