The overarching goal of this strategy is to have a demonstrable and beneficial impact on population health in Wales, through leading and facilitating population health research and evaluation.
Through collective ownership of this strategy and investment in our staff, we will develop as a system leader for population health research and evaluation.
We will work to:
Building and strengthening research and evaluation across the organisation is essential if we are to meet the complex challenges and maximise opportunities for population health over the next decade.
The successful implementation of this strategy will be measured through core outcome indicators to ensure that research and evaluation is undertaken and used by Public Health Wales and by the wider public health system to influence practice and service delivery.
1. Increase in research and evaluation activity
Average annual increase in the number of evaluation programmes and research grant applications led by Public Health Wales and in collaboration with partners
2. Research income generation
Average annual increases in research income for non-commercial and commercial studies to facilitate capacity building.
3. Academic publications
The number of staff publishing their academic papers every year (co-author and lead author, reflecting research capacity).
4. Robust research governance processes to manage and support the set-up and delivery of research and evaluation
The Public Health Wales Research and Development office should have the necessary infrastructure to support researcher development, research governance and the set-up, delivery, and quality assurance associated with studies.
1. Annual Survey of Public Health Wales stakeholders
An annual monitoring process covering:
2. Targeted survey of anticipated users of research and evaluation outputs
Key recipients of the research and evaluation output will be chosen to be contacted by email and asked to complete a brief 7–10-minute survey after the output’s release. The purpose of this targeted survey would be to map the impact route that the output takes, and to ensure all avenues that the output takes can be reviewed, monitored and followed up.
3. Structured post-project interview with requesters of research and evaluation outputs
A series of semi-structured interviews with requestors of research and evaluation outputs will provide useful feedback on the functionality of the clarity and usefulness of the output, and the proposed and realised impact of the work.