A scoping review of commissioning practices used in the evaluation of Indigenous health and wellbeing programs: Protocol article
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231200050 |
| Author | Summer May Finlay,Amohia Boulton,Helen Simpson,Bronwyn Fredericks,Yvette Roe,Jenni Judd,James A Smith,Janaya Pender,Margaret Cargo |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Academic Article |
Academic Article
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2023, Vol. 23(4) 220–242
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1035719X231200050
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
A scoping review of
commissioning practices used
in the evaluation of Indigenous
health and wellbeing
programs: Protocol article
Summer May Finlay
University of Wollongong, Australia
Amohia Boulton
Whakauae Research Services Ltd, New Zealand
Helen Simpson
University of Wollongong, Australia
Bronwyn Fredericks
The University of Queensland, Australia
Yvette Roe
Charles Darwin University, Australia
Jenni Judd
Central Queensland University, Australia
James A Smith
Flinders University, Australia
Janaya Pender
University of Wollongong, Australia
Margaret Cargo
University of Canberra, Australia
Corresponding author:
Summer May Finlay, School of Health and Society, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities,
University of Wollongong, Building 29.224, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Email: sfinlay@uow.edu.au
Abstract
Despite the billions of dollars invested in improving Indigenous health and wellbeing
outcomes in Australia, there is little evidence of program effectiveness to inform policy
and practice. The deficiency of evaluations is problematic. Critical to this process is the
effective engagement of commissioners with Indigenous peoples, which is not well
documented. Currently, there is scant evidence on modes of commissioning practices
used. This scoping review will aim to identify the spectrum of commissioning practices
used when evaluating Indigenous health and wellbeing programs in Australia, codifying
them into a model set. Documents (between 2008 and 2020) will be retrieved from
Scopus, Proquest,Informit, Google Scholar and via a web-based search that refersto the
commissioningof Indigenous health and wellbeingprogram evaluations in Australia, New
Zealand, Canada or the United States. Importantly, the research team is Indigenous-led
and the project’s governance, quality and translation framework will be informed by a
project advisory group, including Indigenous associates. This will be the first scoping
review globally to identifypractices used to commission Indigenous healthand wellbeing
program evaluations. Results will be utilised to strengthen the commissioning practices
of Indigenous health and wellbeing programs in Australia and overseas.
Keywords
Aboriginal, commissioning, evaluation, health, Indigenous, wellbeing
What we already know:
·Calls for evidence-based Indigenous health and wellbeing policy
development have increased over the last few decades.
·One way of generating evidence to inform this policy and practice is
through funded program evaluation.
The original contribution the article makes to theory and/
or practice:
·This review considers what little is known about the commissioning
processes for Indigenous health and wellbeing evaluations.
·To date there are no developed models for commissioning Indigenous
health and wellbeing programs. This will be the first step in their
development to assist commissioners, evaluators or services providers
when undertaking commissioning.
Finlay et al. 221
To continue reading
Request your trial