Please find enclosed details of a PhD studentship at the Open
University. Enquiries should be addressed to Dr Tom Heller at the
Foxhill Healthy Living Centre in Sheffield: [log in to unmask]
Descriptive title:
Evaluating community based developments in health
Further particulars: The research will be based mainly in
Sheffield, although comparative work In other areas may be
required. The primary area for research will be the Foxhill estate.
This is one of the most deprived estates in Sheffield with all the
well documented indicators of social deprivation in abundance.
There is ample local evidence regarding low self esteem, drugs,
endemic domestic violence, grinding poverty, unemployment,
massively enhanced death rates, crime, mental health issues....
However some seeds of regeneration are starting to be put into
place. A new Healthy Living Centre, is being built, European
grants and funds are earmarked for the estate, Sure Start have one
of their pilot projects based there, a new drugs project is starting
with five locality based workers. It's been designated as a Health
Action Zone..... A new PCG is starting to get its head around
health service delivery to the locality. The fruits of local community
activity are also starting to show: there is some arts based activity
on the estate, a 'women supporting mothers' project, relatives of
drug abusers, domestic violence forum, local food project, after
school club.... but what effect does all this have on health? The
research task is an important, active part of the process of
community development and will be formed around some of these
questions: How can these local activities be evaluated? How can
local people become realistically involved in the evaluation? How
can the evaluation satisfy local needs as well as funding agencies?
How can evaluation be used to change the shape and delivery of
statutory services? How can evaluation be used to ensure
continuing funding? What methods of evaluation can pick up
health effects of community based activities? What evaluation can
be used by local people? What evaluation makes a difference to
the decision making of statutory organisations? Does the notion of
'social capital' work on a small locality basis?
------- End of forwarded message -------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|