Health Improvement Tools for the SOA process
The tools have been developed in collaboration with Scottish Government, NHS Boards, local authorities and third sector organisations. We have also worked closely with a small selection of local councils and their partners to understand better how the outcomes approach and tools can be used and made useful within the context of local community planning.
The importance of Equally Well is highlighted in the 09/10 SOA - find further information on the implementation of Equally Well
Using the SOA tools
Alcohol
Tobacco
Physical Activity
In the Health Improvement Performance Management (HIPM) Review, NHS Health Scotland has produced a number of tools to support community planning partners in developing SOAs. The tools have been developed to help partners clarify links between outcomes ‘above the water line' in SOAs and the shorter-term outcomes of service delivery that might be included in performance management information ‘below the water line'.
The tools presented represent work in progress. They are not prescriptive and work is ongoing to refine the logic models and update the multiple results chains as the logic models are developed further.
Therefore, the multiple results chains should be viewed as examples of how the approach and tools can be used. Community planning partners who want to use the tools may wish to adapt them to reflect local priorities and circumstances. In recent development workshops, partners from a range of organisations suggested that the tools would be helpful in supporting the development of SOAs, and that they should be made available in their current form to those who would like to use them.
Feedback also suggested a need for further work to develop:
- the HIPM tools to make them accessible and more relevant to CPPs (community planning partnerships)
- ways of providing support nationally and locally to CPPs who may wish to use the tools.
NHS Health Scotland is working with partners to address these issues and further information will be made available on this website in due course.
Using the Tools
The HIPM (health improvement performance management) tools may help CPPs (community planning partnerships) and partnerships to develop SOAs in a number of ways. These include:
- encouraging and providing a basis for dialogue between community planning partners about shared outcomes and their respective contributions to them
- supporting planning for shared outcomes by helping to identify both the outcomes and the interventions that need to be in place to achieve them
- supporting the development of local performance management information by helping to identify outcomes of service delivery ‘below the water line', linked to SOA outcomes ‘above the water line', that might be incorporated within local performance management processes
- identifying areas where evaluation is required to fill gaps in the evidence on the impact on shared outcomes of interventions delivered in partnership.
Alcohol
The tools for alcohol were developed as part of the work to inform the Scottish Government's consultation document Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol and the subsequent Framework for Action. The logic models are now being used to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the alcohol strategy.
The National Performance Framework and the Menu of Local Outcome Indicators published by the Improvement Service both have strategic outcomes related to reducing alcohol-related harm, such as reducing alcohol related hospital admissions and reducing deaths from alcohol-related diseases. The purpose of these tools is to help identify effective partner contributions that will help achieve these strategic outcomes.
Alcohol outcomes triangle and results chains
Strategic alcohol logic model
Nested alcohol logic model
These tools formed part of the information used by the Outcomes Sub-Group of the Delivery Reform Group, set up by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drugs Misuse and the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems, in their work to develop an outcomes ‘toolkit’ for drug and alcohol services. Version 1 of the toolkit, “Delivering Better Outcomes: An Outcomes Toolkit for Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships” is available on the Scottish Government website (external link).
Tobacco
The tools for tobacco control are based on logic models adapted from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) publication, Key Outcome Indicators for Evaluating Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programmes. They have been revised to incorporate recent policies and up-to-date UK evidence.
The tools form part of an outcomes framework currently being developed by NHS Health Scotland, which will include links to the underlying evidence base and suggestions regarding possible outcome indicators for use in local performance management, together with potential sources of information. These should be available by end December 2009. In addition to supporting the development of SOAs, the framework is also informing the development by NHS Health Scotland of a monitoring and evaluation strategy for the Smoking Prevention Action Plan.
The National Performance Framework and local SOAs both have strategic outcomes related to smoking, such as reducing adult smoking rates and reducing deaths from smoking-related diseases. The purpose of these tools is to identify effective partner contributions that will help achieve these strategic outcomes.
Tobacco paper, including outcomes triangle, outcomes framework and results chains
Tobacco logic models
Physical Activity
The physical activity tools are based on logic models commissioned by NHS Health Scotland and prepared by Avril Blamey and Associates based on work carried out for West Dunbartonshire CHP, council and other partners. The tools are presented alongside a brief commentary setting out the benefits of the logic modelling approach, the content of the models for physical activity and how the models might be used to inform outcomes focused-planning and performance management. The commentary also discusses some of the challenges in using a logic modelling approach.
The National Performance Framework and local SOAs both have strategic health and non-health (e.g. environmental) outcomes related to increased physical activity, such as reduced childhood obesity, reduced heart disease, increased mental health and well-being and greater use of active forms of travel. The purpose of these tools is to identify effective partner contributions that will help achieve these strategic outcomes.
Physical activity outcomes triangle and results chains
HIPM logic model report physical activity
Physical Activity models for HIPM