CHANGES was established in 1996 to “promote positive wellbeing and provide opportunities for people in East Lothian, Scotland to find ways towards healthier and less stressful living” and one of the activities that CHANGES provides is a six week course called ‘Eat Well – Keep Active’ henceforth referred to as ‘the Course’.
The aim of the Course is to improve mental and physical wellbeing by increasing awareness and knowledge of eating well and exercising and to provide practical examples of healthy meals and ways to exercise. The free Course comprises 5 weekly two hour sessions and a 6th session after a 5 week break. In the sessions, participants take part in some light physical activity, are told about a healthy diet, and have a cookery demonstration (which they have the opportunity to taste as well).
In total, until the start of this evaluation in February 2013, it had been run four times with approximately 30 people having taken part. The majority of people who come to CHANGES have depression, anxiety or stress which is often related to social isolation and many of them are on state benefits. Those who have attended the Course are predominantly, but not exclusively,
older women, living on their own.
Aims
The aim of this evaluation was to see whether the Course achieved its outcomes by assessing whether the key objectives have been met in the Short term and/or the long term.
The evaluation had a number of objectives which were to:
- Explore the parts of the Course that people enjoyed;
- Explore the parts of the Course people found useful, and the parts that they found unhelpful;
- Determine which outcomes the Course appears to have an effect on; what changes in eating and exercise behaviour people have made;
- Determine whether short term effects are sustained in the longer term;
- Explore and gain an understanding of the mechanisms of change as a result of the Course. For example, if people are buying healthier food, was it as a direct result of the Course, because they found out that it was cheaper, or for reasons unrelated to the Course;
- Explore any unintended consequences (positive and negative) of taking part in the Course;
- Make some general observations and help understand in which ways the Course may be beneficial, and where there seems to be no effect.