The evaluation cycle

Using and generating evidence to inform decision making is vital in health and social care. The steps in the evaluation cycle will help you to develop appropriate evaluation plans for the services you commission or innovations you are testing.

1 Identify & understand

Identify your stakeholders, explore the evidence base, understand what your service will do and how it will work.

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2 Assess

Decide whether you need an evaluation, and understand whether you're actually planning an evaluation or something else.

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3 Plan

Define the purpose and approach of your evaluation and the resources you'll need to do it.

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4 Do

Think about how to collect and analyse your evaluation data.

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5 Review & act

Decide how to present, share and act on your evaluation findings.

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The Evaluation and Evidence toolkits go hand in hand. Using and generating evidence to inform decision making is vital to improving services and people’s lives.

About the toolkits