Rapid evaluations of integrated care: developing rigorous evidence responsive to policy and practice need

Background: and aim: With the growing complexity of people’s lives and health conditions and the subsequent demand for care from multiprofessional health and care teams, the need to evaluate integrated care is becoming increasingly important.

In the UK, rapid evaluations are increasingly used to develop rigorous and timely evidence intended to be useful in policy and practice. This entails considering from the outset how evaluation findings can be timely, relevant and responsive to decision-making and service delivery.

As such, rapid evaluation designs are influenced by factors including health and care complexity, decision-making timelines, data access, competing evaluation priorities, and resource constraints. Early engagement with policy makers, practitioners, patients/service users, and funders is key to understand local issues and design rapid evaluations that are rigorous, inclusive, practically feasible and impactful.

We will explore the practice of rapid evaluation in diverse integrated care settings, focusing on the role of scoping, co-design and knowledge mobilisation to deliver impactful evidence.

Approach: The workshop will be facilitated by two National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded rapid evaluation teams from England. Since 2018, BRACE and RSET have collectively conducted over 25 rapid evaluations, including studies of primary and acute care vertical organisational integration, the role of artificial intelligence in diagnostics, hospital-at-home remote monitoring during the pandemic, and integrated women’s health hubs.

The workshop has four parts. It will start with small group discussions and plenary feedback (both verbally and via online polling using Vevox app of participants, 25 mins), inviting participants to introduce themselves, share why they are interested in rapid evaluations and what their initial thoughts are about ‘rapid’ evaluation including any questions.

Next, members of the BRACE and RSET teams (Prof. Judith Smith and Dr Angus Ramsay/Prof. Jenny Shand) will use concise and engaging presentations to introduce key rapid evaluation principles and reflect on their respective approaches to conducting rapid evaluation studies, drawing on examples from their evaluations of integrated care. They will discuss the stakeholder negotiations and trade-offs that shape rapid evaluation designs (20 mins). Patient and public involvement members of the two teams (RSET member and Trevor Fernandes (BRACE)) will share challenges and strategies inherent in including patient voices and priorities in rapid evaluation (10 mins).

Workshop participants will then be asked to take part in a small group simulation activity, being presented with a rapid evaluation scenario and asked to decide on the most appropriate rapid evaluation design based on available information and their assigned stakeholder perspective (policymaker, healthcare professional, patient, academic) (25 mins).

The workshop will conclude with facilitated plenary discussion, ensuring that questions determined at the start of the workshop have been fully addressed and answered (10 mins).

Outcomes: Participants will gain a practical understanding of how to design and conduct rapid evaluations in integrated care settings, balancing rigour, inclusivity, and timeliness. Key takeaways include how to engage stakeholders early, co-design evaluations that are responsive to real-world needs, and mobilise knowledge effectively to inform health policy and service delivery.