What is involved in deciding what to commission or deliver?

• Identifying a problem/concern within a community/setting
• Establishing that the problem is not addressed by existing services or activities
• Exploring existing models/interventions that are being used elsewhere
• Understanding the feasibility of potential models/interventions
• Using expertise, lived experience, evidence from research, and public data to select the most appropriate solutions

Why should time be spent doing this?

We work in unique communities and settings, where the challenges are interlinked and complex; solutions are often hard to grasp and there are no ‘magic bullets’. Therefore, the time we spend on selecting services carefully increases the chances of making valuable use of the limited resources of time, money and volunteers/staff.

If an existing service can be found and replicated in our own setting, there is a huge saving in the effort required to design a service from scratch. Using an existing service design also means there may be evidence of its success that can be used to gain funding and ‘buy-in’ from relevant people and places.

If an existing service cannot be found, this process is likely to find elements of services or ideas from research that can inform in designing something new.

Overall, the time spent selecting a service carefully will reduce time and effort spent later and will mean that people and communities are supported sooner.