A new evaluation of the Wales Violence Prevention Unit’s (VPU) whole-system approach to violence prevention provides vital learning for the development of local violence prevention partnerships.
Using two South Wales case studies, the evaluation explores how the VPU has sought to implement violence prevention activity on a local level to suit local needs whilst also building structures that enable this work to influence the wider system.
The evaluation, conducted by the Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moore’s University in both Cardiff and Swansea, included interviews with people involved in implementing VPU funded interventions, including service providers and VPU staff, and people who had been supported by these interventions as well as reviewing key policies, operational documents and academic literature.
Findings from both the Cardiff and Swansea evaluations demonstrate a need for longer-term investment to create stability in services and consistency of care. Further, the evaluations highlight the importance of combining the national and international evidence base with local insight and expertise through engagement, participation and coproduction to develop solutions that work for those that need them.
The evaluation consists of two parts, with one evaluation focusing on the whole-systems approach in Swansea, and one in Cardiff, totaling four full reports. To support partners in drawing from these evaluations, the VPU has condensed the key findings and recommendations into one summary report.
Evaluation is a crucial element of implementing a public health approach to violence prevention. To support partners in conducting or commissioning evaluation of their violence prevention activity, the Wales Violence Prevention Unit has developed the Violence Prevention Evaluation Toolkit to support partners in embedding evaluation in their practice.
Click here to access the Violence Prevention Evaluation Toolkit on the VPU website.