Insights

Sharing thoughts on what matters

Green Health Prescribing to improve physical and mental health outcomes in Midlothian

Green Health Prescribing is an approach that supports people to engage in nature-based activities which offer…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluating an early intervention service for young people at risk of offending

In 2020, the Scottish Government Cashback for Communities granted funding to includem to provide…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Building a Forum to influence policy on gambling harms in Scotland

This report employs the Matter of Focus approach to outcome mapping and evaluation to show how…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Influencing policy on dementia with Age Scotland’s About Dementia Forum

About Dementia is Age Scotland’s Forum for improving the lives of people living with dementia…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Digital health and social care: making sure innovation makes a positive difference to people
Our work supporting the planning and evaluation of digital interventions and service developments.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluation of the Transforming Local Systems TEC Pathfinder programme
High-level findings on the achievements of the Programme and the enablers and barriers to impact.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluating relational services: new journal article published on our work with Future Pathways
We contributed a paper to a special issue of the journal Evaluation and Program Planning, on…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluating personal outcomes: how can you know you are making a difference to the people you support?
This webinar will be valuable to anyone wrestling with how to meaningfully evaluate the difference their…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
What do you need to be able to track the impact of your research?
This webinar includes a mix of concepts and practical approaches to get you started on your…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Building a community of learning together: Age Scotland’s Dementia Training
Read our report produced with Age Scotland's Dementia Training team for their third year of work.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Better use of data to improve our response to frailty in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Region
Our report for DDI
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
How Do You Know If You Are Making a Difference? A Practical Handbook for Public Service Organisations
Co-authored by Matter of Focus Directors Sarah Morton and Ailsa Cook
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Know your impact, show your impact: How to measure the impact of research or knowledge to action initiatives
Sarah Morton explores some of the challenges of understanding and assessing research impact.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
A theory of change for Making Children’s Rights Real in Scotland
Find out more about our partnership project with the Observatory of Children's Human Rights Scotland and…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
East Ayrshire Technology Enabled Care Pathway summary findings report
Summary findings from the discover/define phase of East Ayrshire's Transforming Local Systems TEC Pathway project.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluating personal outcomes approaches
In this webinar we share a practical approach to overcome common challenges to evaluating and recording…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Supporting Scottish Women’s Aid to capture learning from their pilot webchat service for children and young people
Using the Matter of Focus approach to capture the learning from the process of designing a…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Evaluation of the Peer Support Test of Change: East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership
Highlights and full report of our independent evaluation of the East Renfrewshire H&SCP’s pilot Peer Support…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Side by side: an evaluation of the Life Changes Trust Advisory Group
Read our independent evaluation of the Life Changes Trust Advisory Group (Young People with Care Experience…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Creating compelling case studies as part of your evaluation
Working with OutNav to create and utilise case studies
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
How to bring different voices into your evaluation
How to work well with different 'voice' data to bring insights to your evaluation.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
How to report well on your activities and engagement
Tips for telling a rounded, more engaging and interesting story of your work.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
4 simple steps to start evidencing your research impact
The best way to build an impact story is to track as you go.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Getting going with qualitative data and analysis
Recorded live webinar: real examples and practical tools to help you get started with qualitative data…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Navigating the challenges of assessing research impact
In this recorded live webinar, Sarah explores the challenges of unpicking and evidencing research impact.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
3 feedback tools to help you track your outcomes and impact
Use these tools to help you evidence your impact and contribution to outcomes.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Responding to COVID-19: an evaluation of the contribution of Edinburgh Community Health Forum member organisations
Our evaluation report is available to download now.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understanding change step by step: making use of maps and pathways
Focusing on pathways through your outcome map helps you to be explicit about the change you…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understanding and assessing research impact
Our approach helps unpick how research and knowledge exchange activities contribute to high level outcomes like…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
The Matter of Focus approach to tracking research impact

Our approach has been used in independent research impact studies of initiatives and projects around the…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Tailored support to help you on your evaluation journey
We provide face to face and online support services to help you with your outcome evaluation.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
From fixer to facilitator: evaluation of the House of Care programme in Scotland
Our evaluation report is available to download now.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
An overview of the Matter of Focus approach
...and why we think it’s right for teams and organisations with a vision for social change.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understand the outcomes and impacts that matter
The Matter of Focus approach always starts with working through the outcomes and impacts that matter.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understand the unique context of your work
The ability to understand and work well with context differentiates a good from a great organisation.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Get the data and evidence you need to track your progress
We believe in investigating not just what works, but how, for whom, where, when and why.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Track and visualise the difference you make
Once your project, programme or organisation has an outcome or impact map, other tracking and evaluating processes become easier. 
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Report in an outcome-focused way
Tell a robust and compelling story of the difference your initiative has made.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Talking about context: building a shared understanding of how your work is changing with COVID-19
This recording of a live learning webinar will introduce you the ISM Framework for understanding the…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Showcasing outcomes in action: reducing health inequalities and improving long-term health outcomes in Edinburgh
Providing collective support to embed outcomes into action across the Edinburgh Community Health Forum.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understanding the risks and assumptions of your initiative
What factors are going to help and hinder the success of your initiative?
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Focusing on what matters: Scotland’s outcome approach in action
We report on the main learning points from our #OutcomesInAction event.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Putting outcomes into action: four ways to focus your work towards social change
Using outcomes as a framework for action will empower your work towards social change.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Making the case for better use of qualitative data in public services
This will be of interest to anyone working in public services with an interest in data…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Understanding creative impact: insights into early learning professional development
Guest post by Catherine Wilson from Starcatchers, on being creative in communicating the difference the Creative…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Why data on children’s wellbeing is misleading
It’s important to understand why progress data on high level goals or outcomes usually gets worse…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
What is outcome mapping?
We see outcome mapping is an interactive approach to setting out a theory of change based…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Come with us on an evaluation journey
How can you understand your progress towards social change when standard approaches to measurement are difficult…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Feedback matters: choosing the right survey tool
We take a look at three different online survey tools and share our research into what…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Embedding meaningful outcome evaluation: tips from the OutNav Community
Learning from organisations that are cementing their place at the forefront of best practice in meaningful…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
How do you know if your project is effective?
With a well-defined outcome map it can be quite easy to shape and analyse your feedback.
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Meaningful outcome evaluation: a practical approach – watch our free webinar
Watch the edited recording of our free webinar that introduces you to a way of working…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
A simple framework to help you understand change
Our approach to outcome monitoring and evaluation is tailored to the needs of organisations delivering people-based…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Three key challenges to progressing outcome assessment
Understanding, analysing and reporting on outcomes is a complex journey that can be both rewarding and…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Seven steps to understanding success

Through our work with public service organisations we have identified seven steps that organisations need to…

Outcomes, evaluation and impact
Why focus on outcomes?
In Scotland, the concept of outcomes is interwoven with the ongoing drive to reform public services…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact
What are outcomes?
New to outcomes? This post clarifies the difference between outputs and outcomes, and explains the three…
Outcomes, evaluation and impact

The Matter of Focus approach in 6 key posts: