Introducing a National Evaluation Framework for evaluation of mental health and suicide prevention initiatives
Evaluation can be an important tool in working together towards a better mental health and suicide prevention system and better outcomes. Good quality evaluations provide program managers, staff and funders with evidence to inform decisions about quality improvement and funding, and inform service users about the quality of programs and services. Evaluation also has the potential to help strengthen the evidence base for particular initiatives. But disparate evaluation approaches and lack of sharing of findings limits this potential.
To help evaluation deliver on its potential, under the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, governments agreed to develop a Evaluation Framework and Sharing Guidelines for the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. The Framework is designed to provide best practice guidance on the conduct of mental health and suicide prevention evaluations to improve the quality and consistency of evaluations in the sector. The Sharing Guidelines outline a plan to supporting sharing and synthesis of findings.
Contracted by the Commonwealth Development of Health and Aged Care, ARTD Consultants – with academic partners (Myfanwy Maple and Sarah Wayland), linked data specialists Taylor Fry and a network of lived and living experience team members – developed these documents overseen by a cross-jurisdictional working group. The development process involved undertaking a review of best practice, including existing evaluations, followed by a series of national consultations to ensure the Framework built on existing good practice, overcame existing concerns with evaluation and reflected the views of stakeholders. We successfully engaged 172 stakeholders over a two-month period including:
- representatives from the Australian Government, state and territory governments
- Primary Health Networks
- Lived and living experience and priority population representative groups
- state, territory and national Mental Health Commissions
- state, territory and national peak bodies and mental health and suicide prevention organisations
- academic researchers and evaluators
- mental health and suicide prevention data custodians.
The Framework provides guidance and tools to build evaluation capacity and support the groundwork for knowledge translation, including:
- enhancing inclusive evaluation practice by working with people with lived and living experience as evaluation team members, and managing concerns about risks to participants
- defining the focus of an evaluation, including evaluation questions, considering how this can position an evaluation to answer immediate questions while contributing to an evidence base over time
- choosing a fit-for-purpose evaluation design, recognising difficulties attributing outcomes to a program in the context of a highly complex system
- making the most of administrative data while recognising its limitations
- working with stakeholders to sense-make evaluation findings in context and support translation to practice.
While designed specifically for evaluations of mental health and suicide prevention initiatives, it recognises that other policy areas influence these outcomes and can also be used by those working in other policy areas to consider their influence on mental health and suicide prevention outcomes.
