Tender for Target 1000 Project Evaluation

Tenders are now invited from appropriately skilled and experienced individuals to document an overview of the impact and successes of LINCs Target 1000 Suicide Intervention Project. Tenders are invited from interested consultants with:

Expertise in conducting similar project evaluations Knowledge and experience of working inside/with communities Excellent communication and inter-personal skills

The evaluation will begin mid November 2012 and continue until April 2013. The researcher will submit draft and final reports to the Target 1000 working group. The researcher(s) will report at designated stages of the project, to be agreed. A maximum of 2,000 is available for this research, inclusive of V.A.T and all expenses. When tendering for this piece of work the following criteria should be followed: Contractors should detail their proposed approach to the project. They should also furnish the following information:

Name of applicant(s) and/or organisation who will be carrying out the evaluation A proposed evaluation methodology including key tasks, deliverables and timelines Relevant samples of previous work

Tenders should be submitted by email, no later than Wednesday, October 31st, to: Toddy Hogan, Target 1000 Project Co-ordinator at toddy@linc.ie Conditions of participation:

Appropriately knowledgeable, skilled and experienced applicants please. Proposals within available budget only please. Experience of both quantitative and qualitative evaluation of projects

For further information regarding this project please contact Toddy Hogan at toddy@linc.ie
________________________________________________________________________ LINC 11A White St Cork Ireland 0214808600e: info@linc.ie www.linc.ie CHY18645

Context for the Evaluation

LINC has been working with statutory and voluntary agencies, including HSE South, local services and the Gay & LB Equality Network (GLEN), to develop this project, called Target 1000 which aims to: o Promote good mental health within the LB and bisexual (hereafter referred to as LB women) community in Cork o Enhance the capacity of LINC to further engage in suicide prevention work o Enhance the capacity of local agencies and practitioners to provide an accessible and appropriate service to LB women at risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviour in Cork. Target 1000 is based on the model of community-based, local suicide prevention work described in Reach Out Action 7, where the project aims to meet local needs through local partnerships. By promoting mental health resilience, the community education programme will have a direct impact on the mental health of LB women in Cork. This in turn will promote the reduction of self-harm and suicide risk among the women targeted. By increasing practitioner awareness and understanding of the issues facing LB women and supporting them to provide a more inclusive service, this will also support the mental health and well-being of these women. It will also promote womens engagement in mainstream services, which in turn will promote their mental health resilience. The combined effect of both the community education and practitioners education programmes will be to reduce social isolation, enhance mental health resilience and drive good practice in LB suicide prevention. The Target 1000 project is targeting 440 LB women and 560 practitioners in Cork during the two years of the project. The majority of targeting during the project will be achieved through the development of: o The mental health guide targeting LB women o The good practice guide targeting practitioners Once these resources are developed they will be available for ongoing distribution by LINC, thus sustaining the impact the project will have in the mid- to long-term. In addition to this, LINC engagement with mainstream service providers will build the capacity of agencies to engage LB women in using their services. The project is also very likely to generate a number of diversity champions within mainstream services who can be supported by LINC to provide training within their services on LB mental health needs and provide accessible and appropriate services.

Project Aims and Objectives

Target 1000 builds on previous mental health promotion and suicide prevention work carried out by LINC since 2002, with a specific focus on LB women in the Cork area. The aims of the project are: 1. To promote coping skills and help-seeking behaviour among LB women at risk of self-harm or suicidal behaviour in Cork 2. To promote awareness and understanding among mental health and other support services in Cork of the issues facing LB women and how to provide an accessible service that is appropriate to their mental health needs

Project Activities
Aim 1: To achieve the aim of promoting coping skills and help-seeking behaviour among women at risk of self-harm or suicidal behaviour, a community education programme is being targeted at LB women in Cork. The key components of this community education programme are: o Providing a series of seminars on mental health topics to promote mental health awareness and understanding for LB women. Running coping skills courses to help women learn how to deal with stress, improve their problem-solving abilities and how to seek help and support when they are in distress o Developing a range of information leaflets targeting LB women on topics such as self-harm, depression and coping skills for community-wide distribution to further promote coping skills and help-seeking behaviour among LB women in Cork AIM 2: To achieve the aim of promoting awareness and understanding among service providers of the particular issues facing LB women, a practitioner education programme is being targeted at local statutory and voluntary mental health and other support agencies in Cork, including psychiatrists, A&E staff, GPs, social workers, counsellors, family support workers and other mental health support organisations. The key components of this practitioner education programme are: o Providing training to local practitioners on LB mental health and how to provide an accessible service that is appropriate to their needs o Developing a good practice guide for practitioners, in collaboration with local services, to promote LB womens use of mainstream mental health services and to provide practitioners with good practice guidelines o Establishing stronger links between LINC and local mental health and other support agencies to improve referral pathways for LB women at risk of/or engaging in selfharm and suicidal behaviour in Cork

Proposed Targets and Outcomes:

1. Support a reduction in self-harming and suicidal behaviour among LB women in Cork by promoting good mental health, increasing support networks and providing resources targeted at their mental health needs. 2. Many LB women report receiving a service that is not appropriate to their needs when they use support services, leading to decreased mental health outcomes. Because they often perceive practitioners as not understanding the particular needs of LB women, many are therefore reluctant to engage with mainstream services when they are in distress. By highlighting the development of the practitioner education programme among the Cork LB community, this aim will also support help-seeking behaviour among LB women in Cork and their use of mental health services.

Project Management
Target 1000 is managed by a Working Group made up of: LINC Steering group members; Community members, Director of Mental Health (GLEN); Psychologist and Project Coordinator. A project co-ordinator was employed one day per week to oversee the roll-out of the project.

Project Evaluation
Final Evaluation Suitable evaluation mechanisms to be developed in partnership with consultant psychologist and mental health service providers in relation to overall impact assessment An overview of the impact of the project on the participants, LINC as the funded organisation and the mental health and service agencies A numerical breakdown of the project participants and details on the types of training delivered to them An account of the project stakeholders, including the level and type of engagement with them and their overall contribution to the work A synopsis of relevant project reviews/documentation, including the types of evaluation methods used and the number and types of publications arising from the work An account of the strategies in place for mainstreaming the project and an outline of key mainstreaming achievements Impacts of the Community Education Programme Impacts of the Practitioner Education Programme A numerical breakdown of the project participants and details on the types of inputs delivered An account of the project stakeholders, including the level and type of engagement with them and their overall contribution to the work A synopsis of relevant project reviews/documentation, including the types of evaluation methods used and the number and types of publications arising from the work An account of the strategies in place for mainstreaming the project and an outline of key mainstreaming achievements

The final report and evaluation will identify:

Project Initiation Document A Project Initiation Document with be agreed between LINC and the successful applicant prior to the commencement of the evaluation that will detail agreed project parameters including: Evaluation methodology Key deliverables including interim and final report Key tasks and timeframes Project management and reporting Contractor responsibilities