Violence is a leading cause of death for young people in the UK. StreetDoctors is a national volunteer network of medical students and junior doctors who teach emergency lifesaving skills to high risk young people, challenging attitudes to violence and empowering them to make positive choices in their lives.
What CSAIF funded: StreetDoctors were awarded £159,110 to scale its operations and create the infrastructure for further growth beyond the fund. They were funded to grow from 9 teams in 6 cities with 220 volunteers, to 16 teams delivering in 12 cities with 315 volunteers. Through this they increased the number of young people reached by 300 per cent. StreetDoctors were awarded £25,000 for their impact evaluation. View the full impact evaluation.
Level on Standards: Level 2 - they have captured data that shows positive change, but cannot confirm they caused this.
Evaluator: RedQuadrant
Aim: The evaluation aimed to measure the impact of the programme (primarily on the young people it supports, but also on the medical volunteers who deliver the sessions), and to do so in a way that builds up the programme’s internal evaluation capacity and processes.
Key findings:
Methodology: The range of methods, included: post-session surveys by the participants, volunteers and teaching centres; session observations; follow-up debriefs and case studies; a literature review.
Why is this a Level 2 Evaluation?
This evaluation did not include formal pre-post data showing a change in outcomes. However, the report makes the valid case that pre-post data is simply not the most appropriate method for this intervention and population; and overall the alternative approach taken is well-justified, and has generated a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data that gives a strong indication of positive impact.
Progress: Through this evaluation Street Doctors have moved from Level 1 to Level 2 on the Standards of Evidence. Though they previously had some good anecdotal evidence of impact, this evaluation has generated a wealth of data that gives a much more comprehensive and representative account of the programme’s impact, and has put in place the tools and processes needed to continue to collect such data sustainably.
Lessons learned:
Next steps: StreetDoctors will continue to embed sound data monitoring and collection across all StreetDoctors teams in order to further evidence our impact. They are also exploring the potential of piloting a controlled trial in collaboration with an academic partner to demonstrate the ‘cognitive shift’ that can happen in a StreetDoctors session.