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Frameworks Theme

This theme will focus on the issues described in the below section, and will aim to help participants: 

  • Learn more about the latest impact framework approaches developed by the Wellcome Trust, NIHR and NHS England and NHS Improvement
  • Hear about their purposes, scope and uses, and identify similarities and differences
  • Discuss strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned

Over the last 5 years, in the research sector, we have seen a proliferation of systems or frameworks that monitor progress towards desired outcomes, evaluate contribution to impact and enable adaptive learning. A lot of this has been driven by research funders and is generally seen as a step in the right direction towards increased transparency, accountability and impact. However, this transformation presents its unique challenges. For example, sometimes it is difficult to develop research strategies that can be measured well and are supported by an organisational culture that ensures data and evidence is created and used to continuously reflect, learn and respond in a way that research transformative change.   

Moreover, funding can take a long time to produce an output, and even longer to generate impact. So, assessing contribution to health, policy or wider socio-economic changes requires going beyond bibliometrics and outputs tracking. It requires we identify specific and useful questions that can generate curiosity and drive change in practice as well as using a mix of methods and approaches that are better suited to deal with complex, long-term and systemic change.

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Takes Place

Friday 26 February | 10am

Theme Moderator and Speaker

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Yulye Jessica Romo Ramos (Jessica Romo)

Yulye Jessica Romo Ramos is a leader specialized in strategic management, organizational change and monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL). MSc-educated with approx. 15 years of monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) experience in a wide range of thematic areas across Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Jessica is a leader that loves developing and improving MERL functions and is specialized in the use of theory-based evaluation approaches and systems thinking for complex interventions. Her experience includes top MERL positions at international organizations where she has been responsible for facilitating strategic, adaptive and evidence-based management as well as enabling strong project design and business development with the help of MERL approaches. Currently Jessica works for Wellcome Trust (https://wellcome.org/) , where she provides MERL leadership, and is a member of the American, UK and European Evaluation Societies.

For a list of publications and talks please consult this page: https://jessicaromo.wordpress.com/publications/

Speakers

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Dr Anne River

Anne is currently leading the co-development of the NIHR Outcomes Framework, a tool to facilitate
communication and organisational learning across the complex system of NIHR. Anne has held multiple
roles within the research sector, including analytical roles at RAND Europe, MQ and Wellcome Trust, and
prior to this as Head of the Laboratory of Behavioural Genetics at the Feinstein Institute for Medical
Research.
At Wellcome Anne was part of the team working to introduce an outcomes-focused approach to
organisational learning, including project managing and then leading the first two co-development
phases of the Wellcome Success Framework, and leading the co-development of Wellcome’s Diversity
and Inclusion outcomes framework. Inspired by this, Anne is studying behaviour change, and systems
thinking and system dynamics at UCL. Anne has a strong belief that evaluation and monitoring needs to
adopt a context-sensitive approach, moving beyond monitoring for governance to facilitate both
individual and organisational learning.

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Dr Grace Sweeney

Grace is a Senior Manager in the Knowledge and Evaluation for Improvement (KEI) team in the Improvement Directorate, NHS England and NHS Improvement.  She leads a small team, supporting colleagues across the directorate capture and demonstrate the value and impact of their improvement programmes.  Her team also plays a key role in building health and care colleagues’ skills, confidence and capability in capturing and demonstrating the impact of their improvement work.

Over the past four years, she has overseen and championed the development of the Impact Framework and is convinced about the difference it can make to improvement programmes that are looking to evidence the impact of their work in a robust, pragmatic and meaningful way.

Grace and team have presented extensively on the Impact Framework, most recently at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, Amsterdam, May 2018; NHS Expo, Manchester, September 2019; NIHR meeting, Wellcome Collection on 22 January 2020.

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Dr Alison Tweed

Dr Alison Tweed is a clinical psychologist by profession and spent over 20 years working within mental health services as a clinician and also in higher education settings as a senior lecturer on the professional doctorate in clinical psychology programmes at Leicester University, Staffordshire University and the University of Keele. She specialises in qualitative approaches, particularly grounded theory and is a published author in this area.

Alison joined NHS England/Improvement in 2014 and currently leads the Knowledge and Evaluation for Improvement (KEI) team within the Improvement Directorate. The KEI team focuses on capability-building in knowledge management and evaluation approaches, consultation and evaluating the impact, value and learning of the improvement and transformation programmes delivered by the directorate. Most recently, Alison has led the evaluation workstream of the Beneficial Changes Network, a national initiative to harness the innovations and best practice arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alison also teaches on the Improvement Directorate’s quality improvement and transformational change programmes on the topics of psychological responses to change, qualitative approaches to data and engagement, and personal resilience.