The Mental Health Foundation in Scotland, alongside the University of Strathclyde, are the commissioned evaluation and learning partners for the Barnardo’s Core Priority Programme in mental health and wellbeing to address systems change in mental health and wellbeing for children and young people.
The programme currently runs in 3 areas across the UK (Renfrewshire, North Tyneside, and South Eastern Trust (NI)).
This programme of work aims to support the development of ‘strategic partnerships’ as a means to achieve the transformation of systems in mental health and wellbeing, with systems focusing on early intervention and prevention to reduce risk factors influencing children and young people’s mental health and ensuring that their resilience in maximised.
As an evaluation and learning partner, we seek to support this programme of work through employing evaluation approaches that emphasise an understanding of change and the contribution of each of the strategic partnerships to that change, the principles of co-production, and an ongoing cycle of learning within partnerships through regular workshops and learning events. As such, the evaluation adopts a mixed-methods approach within a methodological framework underpinned by systems thinking, theory-based evaluation, and contribution analysis.