Evaluation questions and planned activities at three phases of the evaluation
| Evaluation question | Planned activities |
| Phase 1: programme description | |
| What is the service delivery model of the ForWhen programme? | Participant observation at committee meetings; semistructured interviews with stakeholders (navigators, managers, steering committee members) |
| What are the core competencies and activities involved in navigation? | Participant observation at committee meetings; semistructured interviews with stakeholders (navigators, managers, steering committee members) |
| Phase 2: implementation evaluation | |
| What is the service provision and coverage of the ForWhen programme? (adoption, fidelity, coverage)* | Analysis of routinely collected service provision data |
| What are barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of the ForWhen programme around the country? (feasibility, fidelity) | Participant observation at committee meetings; semistructured interviews with stakeholders (navigators, managers, steering committee members) |
| Do users report satisfaction with the ForWhen programme? What factors do they perceive to have contributed to or impeded positive outcomes? (appropriateness, acceptability) | Brief exit survey administered to users (clients, family/friends, health professionals) at case closure; semistructured interviews with users (clients, family/friends, health professionals) |
| Do stakeholders report satisfaction with the ForWhen programme? Do they view the programme as feasible and effective? (appropriateness, acceptability, feasibility) | Semistructured interviews with stakeholders (navigators, managers, steering committee members) |
| Does the programme represent value for money? Do the benefits justify the costs? (cost, sustainability) | Resource audit to cost ForWhen and an economic analysis by converting K10 to health utilities, service use and productivity impacts, including a modelled counterfactual |
| Phase 3: outcomes evaluation | |
| Do clients report improvements in (1) mental health, (2) quality of life, (3) help-seeking behaviour, (4) self-compassion and self-care, and (5) early parenting experiences (parental self-efficacy, parent–child bonding)? | Analysis of routinely collected service provision data; ‘snapshot study’ to assess preprogramme to postprogramme changes on a range of additional relevant variables |
| How effective is the programme in facilitating clients’ timely access to, and engagement with, mental health services? | |
| Do programme outcomes differ across demographic groups (eg, age, symptom severity, location, cultural/linguistic background) or based on services provided (eg, type of referred services, no of interactions with navigator)? | |
*Proctor et al’s key implementation outcomes.25