change projects

Change Projects are a unique strand of our work of research in practice and one of the opportunities for our network of Partner agencies to work closely and collaboratively together. Their aim is to bring together a few agencies from the network to explore with us (over a period of several months) a particular aspect of using research in policy-making and practice. The product is a set of practical materials, an Action Pack, that crystallise the collective learning, usually accompanied by audio-visual resources. These are subsequently piloted and amended as a result of the pilot and finally published as a Handbook.  Examples of recently published Handbooks – and you can find these available on our website in full text www.rip.org.uk are the following:

• Teamwise handbook: using research evidence in teams
• Firm Foundations handbook: organisational support for the development of evidence-informed practice
• NIFTY handbook: for non-researchers completing service evaluations
• Leading evidence-informed practice: for leaders engaged in the development of an evidence-informed initiative in their agencies

Change Projects typically have a life-cycle of 3 or 4 years to complete and there are 9 stages involved. However, practical products are published and shared with the network at two key points in this cycle:

There are 4 Change Projects currently underway. Below are a few sentences about each, with the most advanced ones listed first:

Frontline partnership working

View the poster for this Change Project (PDF new window)

This Change Project focused on how to develop effective partnership working within front-line, multi-agency teams. The project took key messages from Nick Frost’s research review (Frost 2005), and explored what these messages mean ‘on the ground’ and how they can be put into practice. The project is at Stage 6: the meetings with five front-line, multi-agency teams working on the project are completed and the Action Pack was published in January and launched at our annual regional Link Officers’ meetings in March and April 2008. We are currently running a pilot group to test the Action Pack.

Engagement and re-engagement in learning at Key Stage 3

View the poster for this Change Project (PDF new window)

This project (currently at Stage 5) addresses issues of early intervention, reducing exclusion, increasing attendance and tackling under-achievement. A Knowledge Exchange event was held in March and the project began in June 2007 with the formation of a multi-disciplinary Change Project group to explore how to implement the messages from research about these issues. In October 2007 we published a scoping review of the literature Disengagement and Re-engagement of Young People in Learning at Key Stage 3 (Morris and Pullen 2007) and an audio CD Staying on Course: Educational engagement and re-engagement (rip audio series 11). The Action Pack will be launched at the Link Officers Annual Meeting in October 2008 and we will then be recruiting for the pilot group to evaluate the Action Pack.

Young people, alcohol and offending

View the poster for this Change Project (PDF new window)

This project, currently at Stage 7, has explored the links between young people's alcohol use and their offending patterns with the aim of producing a highly practical, innovative toolkit to foster more effective working with young people aged 10-19.  The project is based on the findings of a research project commissioned by the Cheshire DAAT and a comprehensive review of the literature on the topic undertaken by research in practice.  The Change Project group had its first meeting in May 2007. The project is based in the North of England and meetings have taken place in Sheffield, Macclesfield and Liverpool, with the fourth and final meeting due to take place in February 2008 in Preston.
Because the patterns of drinking, types of offences and research messages for intervention and are so different for the different age groups, the toolkit will feature tailored research messages for three specific age groups (late childhood, early adolescence and late teens).  The Action Pack will be launched in October 2008.

'Growing Digital'

View the poster for this Change Project (PDF new window)

This latest Change Project is looking at how information and communications technology (ICT) can be better exploited to support staff to find, share, evaluate and use research. A scoping study has now been completed regarding ICT provision for frontline social/care staff and further literature is being identified to support this. A Knowledge Exchange event was held in July 2007 and the Change Project group is now up and running (Stage 4). The materials produced out of this project will include e-learning resources.