Help test online engagement platforms – £2,000 grants available

Find out more about how to get involved with our pilot to trial new engagement platforms - CitizenLab and Engagement HQ. Submit your expressions of interest by Friday 8 January.
Healthwatch volunteer talking to a member of the public

Since the start of the pandemic, Healthwatch across England have been forced to adopt a ‘digital first’ approach to engage safely with their local communities.

While face-to-face engagement will eventually return, we are likely to be restricted to online methods of engagement for many months to come. The increased levels of engagement we’ve already seen from the public via digital engagement provides us with an opportunity to build on this further.

Grant opportunity

We are proposing to pilot two systems to see if they can support local Healthwatch to:

a) have deeper, more meaningful engagement with people online

b) be able to analyse what people have shared more efficiently

We are looking for 10 local Healthwatch to take part in the pilot from January - June 2021. We are offering a grant of £2,000 per local Healthwatch to help support you in this project.

Please note that we are not asking you to carry out new campaigns should you be successful in obtaining the grant. This system is to be tested alongside your planned campaigns and work as we look to see how it could benefit your work.

    Take part

    If you would like to take part please complete this expression of interest form by Friday 8 January.

    Go to expression of interest form

      What systems are we looking to test?

      With the support of Healthwatch Norfolk, we plan to trial two platforms:

      1. CitizenLab - view a demo of the front end here and view the back end here
      2. Engagement HQ - watch a four minute demo here

      Both aim to deliver deeper engagement with people online and make analysis of feedback easier.

      More specific functions include:

      • online forum discussions and breakout rooms
      • surveys and quick polls
      • petitions, questions and answers
      • email marketing
      • interactive mapping (using interactive maps to stimulate feedback/discussion)
      • idea collection and voting
      • a ‘hub and spoke’ approach, whereby data would automatically be shared with HWE, and advanced data analysis
      • targeted engagement based protected characteristics and other demographic information.

      When are we planning to conduct the trial?

      We are looking to test the platforms over a six-month period, from January to June, working with a total of 10 local Healthwatch (five for each system).

      What will you get in return for participating?

      • A £2,000 grant to contribute towards the staff time involved
      • Free use of one the platforms  for six months
      • Full training by the software suppliers and ongoing support from the suppliers, Healthwatch England and James Skipper from Healthwatch Norfolk.

      What are the requirements to take part?

      • Allocate at least one staff member for training to enable them to use the system effectively
      • Commit to actively use the system in your work for a six-month period and take part in a small number of potential test exercises.
      • Commit to share information back with Healthwatch England through monthly reporting – we may also schedule a small number of focus groups and/or evaluation interviews.

      Q&A

      Here's a least of more FAQ's that will help you find more about the pilot and what's involved.

      Find out more

      You can find out more and see some short demonstrations in our briefing at 11am on Wednesday December 16th.

      To attend just email Chris Gorman.

      You can also talk to a member of the team:

      Campaigns and Regional (Central) Manager Chris Gorman

      chris.gorman@healthwatch.co.uk

      07393 754225

      Digital Communications Manager Laura Blower

      laura.blower@healthwatch.co.uk