Evaluation design and support for Surrey Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives

Over the last year, Unity Insights has been collaborating with Surrey County Council and Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB) in developing evaluation plans and designs to observe the impact of multi-faceted Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives. In particular, this relates to evaluation support for the first two rounds of funding delivered under the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board’s Mental Health Investment Fund (MHIF).

The MHIF is a collaborative venture between Surrey County Council and Surrey Heartlands ICB, in place to support the aims of the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Strategy:

• Remove barriers that prevent people from accessing support
• Help prevent mental health challenges within the Surrey community
• Encourage people to be proactive in improving their emotional health and wellbeing

Across rounds one and two, 24 projects were funded, aiming to support the emotional wellbeing of individuals living in Surrey through a focus on preventing poor mental health and aiding those with mental health needs within the county. Priority populations that are particularly exposed to potential inequality, or are traditionally hard-to-reach, were identified as part of the Surrey Health and Wellbeing strategy, with the MHIF actively prioritising projects and organisations with the expertise to help redress such inequality.

In order to support the evaluation of the MHIF, Unity Insights have undertaken a range of activities, primarily consisting of a summative evaluation into the impact of the first round of projects (the executive summary of which can be found here), and supporting the evaluation design and planning process for second round projects. The latter included the oversight of a series of logic modelling workshops, helping funded organisations develop a theory of change for their projects, and the delivery of an evaluation framework guide, following a previous evaluation framework provided to the Council’s Workforce Wellbeing team.

Following this process Unity Insights have been supporting each project in the development of their own bespoke evaluation plans, highlighting appropriate data collection activities and benefits statements that can be used to demonstrate the impact of each project at their conclusion. This has been a rewarding process, allowing for the investment of time into the organisational development of the region, celebrating the success of valuable third sector organisations, and incorporating wellbeing improvement as a core outcome of the fund.

Due to the timeframe of the projects, some of which run into 2027, final evaluation outcomes for second round of projects are not yet available, but thanks to the enthusiasm of organisations and the collaboration with the Council team, the foundations have been laid to capture the impact and potential benefits of these services and organisations.