DIY Health Project Evaluation (Version 1)

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    DIY Health Project Evaluation

  • IRAS ID

    163475

  • Contact name

    Jessica Deighton

  • Contact email

    Jessica.DeightonPhD@annafreud.org

  • Sponsor organisation

    University College London

  • Research summary

    This study is an evaluation of the DIY health project. This project targets parents of children under the age of 5 who have accessed GP or Out of Hours services 5 or more times over the previous 6 months for self-limiting conditions (coughs, colds, fever, feeding, ear infection and diarrhoea and vomiting). It aims to increase the skills, knowledge and confidence of parents in managing children’s health and to reduce inappropriate attendance in primary care and urgent NHS care services among children under 5. It is delivered through 12 weekly 2 hour sessions in which co-production is used to pool the skills, knowledge and abilities of participants to create opportunities and solve problems under the supervision of a core specialist multidisciplinary team of facilitators. The delivery team includes a Health Visitor, a learning tutor and a Children’s Centre play worker who help co-design a flexible curriculum based on relevant themes identified both by health professionals and patients.

    This research project is the evaluation of the DIY Health project and includes four activity arms:

    1. New data collected from DIY Health participants
    Interviews and focus group discussions conducted with parents attending the DIY health sessions over the 12 weeks of the programme and up to 6 months after the last session to examine experiences of participation.

    2. Secondary analysis of routinely collected (anonymised) service use data from the two GP practices delivering the DIY Health project. These data are currently used for service improvement work by the DIY Health development and delivery team.
    We will compare changes 3-6 months pre and post DIY health delivery among participants and potential DIY Health project participants.

    3. Secondary analysis of data collected by the DIY Health delivery team during sessions as part of service improvement work
    Questionnaires, outcome measures, observations and reflection notes which are currently used to inform the delivery of DIY Health from one cohort to the next.

    4. Service development data collected from the DIY Health development and delivery team
    In-depth interviews conducted over the course of the 12 sessions about the development, delivery and outcomes of the DIY Health project.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/EM/1247

  • Date of REC Opinion

    10 Nov 2014

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion