Page 44 - WCEN Dr Rochelle Burgess evaluation report\ Baloon

Qualitative feedback

A space was provided for qualitative comments if respondents wanted to make any additions about
their experiences. Overall, respondents expressed satisfaction with services. The comments suggested
that the social aspect of community based health services was important for them and encouraged
involvement. Furthermore, one respondent expressed that the environment was non-threatening, which
further encouraged participation.

‘The information was clear and easy to understand. The environment was non-threatening so
we were at ease to participate.’

The nature of the staff was another important factor that arose in the majority of comments. In one
comment, the importance of ongoing relationships was important and this is a significant benefit of
embedding services within social systems, relationships have longevity, which in turn have outcomes
for development of social networks and therefore better health outcomes.

‘…The openness and willingness of the facilitators to keep relationship even when the
programme finished.’

Some respondents also implied shifts in their individual behaviors as results of the programs. For
example, they expressed an improvement in their approaches to parenting which in turn has created
a non-violent household. One respondent stated that they had gained significant knowledge in mental
health and a number of practical strategies to deal with any personal challenges. Finally, one
respondent stated that the healthy eating programs had provided her with information, which led to
shifts in her individual behavior – she had now started to read food labels.

In conclusion, the collection of individual health outcomes data is a known problematic area, specifically
when services are coproduced. However, measuring health outcomes will be fundamental if there is
to be shift of financial resources from the statutory agencies to community groups. A systematic
approach to collecting individual health data will need to be implemented in order to sustain the work
that WCEN are already delivering or intend to deliver. From the limited data collected in this survey, it
may be concluded that the potential to run services within community sites is positively regarded by
individuals; however, this does not substitute for statutory service health care provision. Data analysis
also suggested that participants were satisfied with the experiences at coproduced initiatives already
in existence. Analysis suggested that community sites play a key role in addressing stigma associated
to particular health care services. Based on the findings from this data, it is suggested that services
within the community sites should be used to complement existing statutory services and/or focus on
early intervention initiatives.

Barriers to Change

In the previous sections, a summary of the four key shifts were explored; these included shifts in
identities, ideas, practices and individuals, this section will now discuss some of the barriers to systems
change. These include; risk adversity, professional values and redistribution of financial resources.
These ideas are separated for the purpose of this discussion. However, there are direct and indirect
links between them, making these barriers difficult to negotiate in practice.

The persistence of professional views and values, which can impede coproduction process, requires
a continuation of organizational learning and senior-level endorsement to transformative coproduction
practices. Furthermore, the safe spaces, such as the conferences, will continue to play a key role in
shifting professional views to conceptualize coproduction as a transformative process that shifts the
focus from the individual to the collective.

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