The new HealthPathways Research and Evaluation Hub (R&E Hub) now provides a central information repository for HealthPathways programme managers, coordinators, or researchers looking to undertake research and evaluation within HealthPathways. 

The R&E Hub will be a key resource for members of the HealthPathways Community or external researchers who wish to research or investigate HealthPathways, ranging from individual pathway case studies to entire program evaluations,” says Research and Evaluation Manager, Simon Parsons. 

“We hope it will act as a starting point for anyone planning research, or needing reliable evaluation data for stakeholders or sponsors,” he says.

“Visitors to the hub from either within or outside the HealthPathways Community can review completed studies in a particular area of interest, find resources to help plan and design new research, or link with potential contacts for their interest area. Sharing previous studies and other information through the hub will make it easier for anyone about to embark on evaluation work.”

Resources publicly available from the hub include a publications database, evaluation guidance, key publications, case studies, information on available data, and links to potential sources of funding. 

“The overall goal of the Research and Evaluation Hub, and Simon’s role, is for local teams to better measure and demonstrate the benefits HealthPathways provides to health systems, clinicians, and those in their care,” says Gary Ng, Manager, Community and Programme Support.

Guidance is provided on how to evaluate the impact of a HealthPathways programme, with associated metrics and evaluation examples. Key Publications presents a curated list of significant HealthPathways publications, while the full Publication Database provides a more comprehensive, searchable, and sortable bibliography of over 40 available resources. The Research section provides information and advice for researchers considering implementation studies into the HealthPathways platform.

Next phase in the HealthPathways journey

Future plans for the Research and Evaluation Hub include building a research network and developing relationships with funders. As the hub grows, Gary and Simon hope to see ongoing growth in research and evaluation across the HealthPathways Community. Simon is also working on an evaluation framework project to develop a scalable methodology for evaluation and research, suitable for a wide range of projects.

“The R&E Hub is about collaboration, where the HealthPathways Community can draw on and learn from what’s already been done. The community now has a knowledge-base that we can build on, and a person to talk to,” says Gary.

“We all understand the benefits that HealthPathways delivers. We’re developing a growing resource of peer reviewed studies to help us illustrate those benefits more effectively,” he says.

Simon and Gary look forward to further supporting research and evaluation initiatives in the post COVID-19 phase of HealthPathways and beyond.

Find out more

For more information:

• Visit the HealthPathways Research & Evaluation Hub.
• Contact Simon Parsons, Research and Evaluation Manager, if you have any questions, would like some support to develop research and evaluation ideas, or have information on resources to be considered for inclusion on the hub.