Posts in Publications
Evaluating 10 years of Early Years Systems Change: Insights from Lambeth Early Action Partnership
Evaluating 10 years of Early Years Systems Change: Insights from Lambeth Early Action Partnership

For 10 years, Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) has funded and supported more than 20 local services to meet the needs of families through pregnancy and the early years of childhood with the aim of giving thousands of children aged 0-3 a better start in life. Now, a decade on, Dartington Service Design Lab is proud to present this new report, sharing the findings from a comprehensive evaluation of the programme. This report explores how place-based systems change can improve outcomes for children and families.

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Systems, PublicationsRachel Lilychildren., Children's Services, families, Systems, Systems Thinking, systems change, Rachel Lily, evaluation, co-design, DawnHart, earlyyears, funders, impact, inequality, Lambeth., research, Sean Manzi, Finlay, Megan Keenan
State of the System Report: Understanding cancer care for children, young people and their families
State of the System Report: Understanding cancer care for children, young people and their families

In 2023, four of the UK’s leading children’s and young people’s cancer charities joined forces with Dartington Service Design Lab to create a shared, evidence-based understanding of what is needed to build a better future for children and young people with cancer. We surveyed more than 1,500 young people with lived experiences to support the findings and help address gaps in the system.

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Systems, PublicationsRachel Lilycancer, Teenage Cancer Trust, Young Lives Vs Cancer, Young people, emotional wellbeing, psychosocial, Integrated Approach, families
Our Learning with PEDAL: Using a Rapid-cycle design and testing to develop the “Playtime with Books” programme
Our Learning with PEDAL: Using a Rapid-cycle design and testing to develop the “Playtime with Books” programme

Dartington Service Design Lab partnered with University of Cambridge Centre for Research in Play in Education Development and Learning (PEDAL) to develop new virtual ways to support parents and children to engage in book sharing, which has traditionally been done face-to-face . We are now releasing the final report from this work and sharing our learning for others to put into practice. 

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News, Publications, ReflectionBLOGPedal, earlyyears, research, Rapid Cycle Testing, Tom, Tom Gallagher-Mitchell, Alice Hewson, alice, evaluation, evidence, Report
Hard won lessons: A decade review bringing about systemic change in children's services
Hard won lessons: A decade review bringing about systemic change in children's services

At the Lab, we’ve been developing and refining our approach to facilitating systemic change, by generating and integrating diverse evidence of what children and young people need and want. We have had varying degrees of success. We’re releasing our report from the Early Action Project in Renfrewshire to both reflect on our experiences of trying to bring about systemic change in children’s services and encourage others to learn from our approach, to support the long-term sustainability of systems change that is both wanted and needed.

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News, Publications, ReflectionBLOGKate, systems change, Early Action, Rachel Lily, Kate Tobin, Scotland, Renfrewshire
Engaging the family to engage young people
Engaging the family to engage young people

This year, youth services faced new challenges in engaging young people, particularly young people at risk of becoming involved in violence. As the Learning Partner for the Youth Endowment Fund’s special COVID-19 Grant round, we’ve had the opportunity to understand more about how organisations – ranging from grassroots charities to Britain’s largest local authorities – have managed to adapt programmes to continue to engage young people during the pandemic. In this blog, we look at how working with parents, carers and siblings can help organisations to maintain positive relationships with young people through the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Publications, ReflectionRachel LilyEngagement, families, Young people, Programmes, Programme Adaptation, Julia Mannes, Rachel Lily, Youth violence, covid
The relationship between coercive control and mental health
The relationship between coercive control and mental health

Domestic abuse charities and campaigners have long highlighted the emotional impact of domestic abuse - and in particular the impact of coercive and controlling behaviours. We've seen the results of these hard years of campaigning and raising public awareness in Parliament testimonies, mainstream media, and ultimately in law and have more understanding now more than ever, of the devastating effects it can have on victims’ mental health. The ongoing Early Action Systems Change partnership work between Dartington, Renfrewshire Council, Engage Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership and a range of voluntary services, has highlighted coercive control in relationships can start before adulthood, and that this experience might prevent victims from accessing mental health support.

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Publications, ReflectionBLOGBehaviour Change, coercive control, emotional wellbeing, Scotland, relationships, Rachel Lily, Leanne Freeman, Leanne
Reimagining Help: Three things we learned through co-designing a ‘Good Help’ guide
Reimagining Help: Three things we learned through co-designing a ‘Good Help’ guide

Those who know us well will know this is a departure from our area of focus: children, young people, and families. But supporting the use of evidence through co-design and rapid iteration is at the heart of our work. That is why we teamed up with Nesta, the British Heart Foundation (BHF), Macmillan Cancer Support and UCL on the ‘Reimagining Help’ guide, a toolkit for service and system leaders to design support that helps people reach the goals that matter most to them.

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Publications, ReflectionBLOGFinlay, Help, Toolkit, Evidence, Design, Behaviour Change
Catalyst Collaborative: embedding learning into digital transformation at scale
Catalyst Collaborative: embedding learning into digital transformation at scale

The COVID-19 emergency is demanding radical changes in how public systems, communities and civil society organisations support those in need across the UK. Funders, Government and Civil Society are rallying in support. With so much activity taking place at an unprecedented pace, it is imperative we learn from elsewhere and each other. We’ll be working with the Collaborative to bring learning from the outside in, and learning from the inside, out. Here we provide a brief overview of how we expect this will look and evolve.

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Reflection, PublicationsBLOGTim, Collaboration, Catalyst, Learning, Digital
Learning through longevity: The FNP ADAPT Report
Learning through longevity: The FNP ADAPT Report

In 2015, the Lab joined forces with the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) National Unit to collaborate on the ‘ADAPT’ programme, the second generation of the FNP service aimed at improving outcomes for children and young parents and reducing inequalities. We set out to enhance the flexibility of the existing service and improve the efficiency of the programme. Five years after beginning the project, we are pleased to join FNP in launching the final report with all our many learnings and recommendations from the experience.

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Reflection, PublicationsBLOGearlyyears, FNP, Rapid Cycle Testing, ADAPT, Report