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Work Package 0: SALIENT meta-evaluation and whole-programme synthesis




The Problem

SALIENT has engaged with over 40 food system partners and it is anticipated that around 10 partners will progress to implementing co-designed interventions in their unique settings and work with SALIENT researchers to evaluate those interventions. Whilst each SALIENT research team will deliver evidence on the effects of the individual interventions alone, in Work Package 0 (WP0) we will derive lessons from the combined body of evidence and the programme as a whole. 

 

This work package will aim to understand the reasons for attrition in engagement and perceptions of the intervention co-design process. In addition, this work will aim to synthesise the findings from all the SALIENT interventions in the context of the present food system to understand what new knowledge has been generated by the research programme. The findings from this research will enhance generalisable knowledge on food system change, willingness of food system organisations and stakeholders to engage in health and sustainability intervention development and evaluation, and identify implications for policy.

Research question

This work package has two strands and aims to answer the following research questions:

Meta-evaluation

  1. How and why did the SALIENT co-design process work for some partner organisations and not for others.
  2. What can we learn from SALIENT about the potential for food system stakeholders to be ‘part of the solution’ to transform the food system via a process of co-production with government supported researchers?

Whole-programme synthesis

  1. What are the impacts of the SALIENT interventions?
  2. For whom, and in what circumstances, have the SALIENT interventions been effective?
  3. How do the components of SALIENT interact with the wider food system?
  4. What are the implications for research, policy and practice?

Meta-evaluation design

In this strand of WP0, approximately 30 qualitative interviews will be conducted with SALIENT research programme stakeholders to understand their experiences and perspectives of the SALIENT process. Three groups of stakeholders will be recruited, including:

  1. Members of the Food Systems Trials Programme Board which includes representatives from government departments and the funding body
  2. Food system partner from the retail and community food sectors who have engaged with the SALIENT programme
  3. Members of the SALIENT consortium team who are conducting evaluations

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted either online, using Microsoft Teams, or in person. Topics covered in the semi-structured interviews will include expectations of the SALIENT research programme, experiences and perspectives of negotiating and delivering the interventions and/or evaluations, perspectives of food systems change and implications for policy. Prior to the interviews, participants will be asked to review and reacquaint themselves with any meeting notes or records they may have made that relate to the SALIENT programme. Qualitative data will be analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

Whole-programme synthesis design

This strand of WP0 will combine multiple data synthesis approaches, including synthesis without meta-analysis, realist evaluation and systems thinking techniques to generate learnings from the entire body of evidence generated through SALIENT.  Using these approaches, we plan to synthesise the SALIENT Programme Theories, outcome data and process evaluation data to identity the new knowledge that has been generated, the existing gaps in evidence and the implications for policy and research. We also hope to map how these findings fit into out existing understanding of the wider food system.



TEAM

Governance

Ethical approval has been received for the meta-evaluation study. A data sharing agreement will be established between LSHTM and University of Cambridge for the sharing of the SALIENT Process Evaluation data.


Proposed outcomes

  • Research paper describing the findings from the meta-evaluation qualitative interviews
  • Research paper describing the findings from the whole-programme synthesis
  • Blog post or research paper describing the whole-programme synthesis methodology
  • Policy brief
  • Conference presentations

Timescale

Recruitment for the qualitative interviews will begin in May 2024.