Who are we?
The Evaluation Online Network is a free virtual group for those interested in health and care evaluation. Anyone can be a member, irrespective of experience or expertise level.
The network was established in 2016 (co-hosted by Health Innovation West of England (formerly the AHSN) and the University of the West of England), and whilst its membership aims to serve the South West, we welcome members from all those working or interested in evaluation from our region and beyond.
Who are you?
We currently have almost 200 members, and our numbers continue to grow. Our aim is for our membership to be diverse and includes evaluation professionals, practitioners, independent consultants, commissioners from across national and local government, the voluntary sector, as well as the research community.
You might represent health and social care, a local authority, public health, education, or community development, or a variety of disciplines in the social sciences, economics, and science and technology. Whatever your particular interest, we believe you will find our community beneficial to developing your evaluation ideas and projects.
Get fresh ideas
Being part of a network is about sharing and helping one another toward goals. When we do this, we are creating the space for the reciprocal assistance needed to achieve our own goals.
The Evaluation Online Network is a source of new perspectives and ideas to help you in your project. We aim to exchange information on challenges and experiences so that you can gain new insights about your evaluation that you might not have otherwise thought of. Whether you are offering helpful ideas or sharing knowledge and expertise about a certain approach, being part of our Network will help you to feel supported and think innovatively about how to evaluate.
Why evaluate?
Evaluation tells us what works, for whom, and in what context. It provides a systematic method to study a programme, service, intervention, or initiative to understand how well it achieves its goals. As well as determining what works well, it can tell us what could be improved, and where we should target time and resources to aid implementation success.
We aim to post content covering practical and theoretical aspects of evaluation, but in the spirit of networking, we also want to hear from our members about the many projects you work on – both the successes and the challenges. We would love to about your real-life examples of evaluating, as well as information on funding sources, learning opportunities, training, tenders, conferences, and networking.
Joining our network is free and you can unsubscribe at any time. You can find more information about our terms of reference here. To join our network, simply email healthinnowest.evaluation@nhs.net.
New beginnings
To help our network continue to thrive in the future, we’ve changed our model a little. Our new steering group (drawn from our membership) met for the first time in December 2022 to discuss plans for 2023 content. Meet the group members who will be helping us achieve our vision.
