The Wheel: measuring person wellbeing and programme impact Dr Fiona O’Reilly: Kerena Consulting & UL, Dublin Noreen Gumbo, Trócaire Ireland Deirdre Ni Cheallaigh, Trocaire Ireland
Programme Strategy. Trócaire’s HIV programme in Kenya Improve the quality of life of adults and children infected and affected by HIV who are living in slum areas of Nairobi and Nakuru. Involves: increasing access to, and the uptake of, HIV services as well as ensuring that those infected and affected by HIV are provided with the care and support they need (physical, psychosocial and socio-economic) to live meaningful lives.
The Wheel Developed to assess the impact of Trócaire’s programme on the lives of the programme participants. Each spoke on the Wheel represents one of six life areas. Each spoke has 4 points or subcategories of information that are scored ( ) or (X) based on information provided by the person living with HIV
Appointments & treatment adherence Treatment for and knowledge of opportunistic infections Drinking safe water How to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission How to practice safe sex Importance of disclosure to sexual partners Healthy lifestyle: Avoiding cigarettes and alcohol Using mosquito nets Rest and exercise Healthy diet and maintaining weight Belong to a peer group Enjoy supportive relationships Feel that they belong positively and productively within their community Supported to cope emotionally and mentally: having psychological support at home attending counselling not experiencing depression or feelings of guilt or shame Capacity to generate income and cope economically: involvement in an income generating activity or employment avoidance of negative coping strategies
Use in Baseline Wheels provided data for Results Based Framework Targets set
Used to monitor person progress - Joseph’s first wheel
Intervention
Joseph’s first & second wheel
End line Wheels provided comparison with baseline
Data Display - % of programme participants moving up 1 point/ 2 points on each spoke
Lessons learnt Identifies person need and programme gaps Participatory Empowering Minimal training needed for use - More needed for aggregating data Allows quantification for easy programme monitoring
Conclusion Useful tool that was capable of providing meaningful data to measure person wellbeing, support needs and programme impact. Participatory method empowering programme workers and People Living with HIV Could be adapted to measure programme impact of peoples lives in other areas.
Acknowledging Trócaire Kenya HIV and AIDS Programme, Local partners and participants
For more information O’Reilly, F., Trocaire; Measuring Change, person wellbeing and programme Impact using the Wheel in White, S., Wellbeing and Quality of Life Assessment : A practical guide. Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing.