
Evaluating Sheffield's Housing + programme
This project assessed whether the Housing+ programme in Sheffield had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of tenants.
April 2016 - March 2018
April 2015 - March 2017
Between April 2016 and March 2017 an estimated 1.9 million adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse. During this time the police recorded 1.1 million domestic abuse related incidents and crimes.
Many services exist to change the behaviour and beliefs of individuals committing domestic abuse, however there is little evidence to show how effective these services are or whether they provide good value for money.
This project evaluated an existing service in Doncaster called ‘Foundation for Change’ to assess its effectiveness and value for money.
The research team spoke to a wide range of people (individually and in groups) who have an interest in this service. Researchers also watched one-to-one sessions and videos of group sessions. Researchers also looked at records of service users and requested them to complete surveys about their behaviour.
Researchers found good relationships and trust between key workers and service users improved service users’ engagement with the programme and key workers ability to continually assess how the service users were benefitting from the programme. Service users valued being treated with respect by key workers and valued the fact that they were able to choose how and when to be involved in the service.
Group work allowed programme staff to create opportunities to facilitate supportive relationships between service users and provide opportunities to learn from peers. Evidence suggests that the group work environment facilitated service users’ willingness to reflect on their behaviour and disclose their feelings, helped build confidence to participate fully in the sessions, and provided opportunities to learn from others with differing experiences and histories.
Services users also began to report changes in their actions as they began to understand how they affected others.
To run this particular programme for 281 service users over the course of two and a half years costs £382,500, costing £1,361 per person. Some of the benefits that were counted accumulated over time and were therefore calculated over five years. Although there were some important things that the research team could not count, they found that for every £1 spent the benefits were worth between £2.05 and £0.95.
If we compare the service to other services, it is slightly more expensive. However, as this services joins up all of the services and supports service users in a holistic manner it is less expensive than expected and could be considered to offer good value for money.
This collaborative research was undertaken as part of the SPHR Public Health Practice Evaluation Scheme (PHPES):
SPHR research briefing: Evaluation of a domestic abuse programme
SPHR project poster: Evaluation of a domestic abuse perpetrator programme
This project assessed whether the Housing+ programme in Sheffield had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of tenants.
April 2016 - March 2018
This project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Smokefree Homes Service in Stoke on Trent to see if it was an effective way to reduce children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and make homes smoke free.
September 2016 - April 2018
The purpose of this study was to find out whether it is possible to use alcohol advice or counselling approaches carried out in health setting in police custody suites with people who have been arrested, to reduce heavy drinking and alcohol related problems.
April 2014 - September 2016