Tailored Research, Evaluation, and Continuous Improvement (TRECI) housed at the Institute of Disability, Research, Policy, and Practice at Utah State University offers a unique blend of consulting and program services for researchers, professors, project coordinators, and community-based service providers in designing the right quality improvement, evaluation, and research approaches for their work. We help guide our clients from inception to completion and cater our services to our client’s needs resulting in collaborative, effective, data-driven partnerships.
Which approach is right for your project, depends on several factors. Set up a consultation with our professional staff to determine the route that is best for your project.
Continuous Quality Improvement (QI)
Our QI services are best for internal projects (e.g., improving efficiency of services, reducing wasted time and effort) or paired up with our evaluation services. QI processes are done at a small scale which are meant to help the client build confidence that the strategies they are testing are effective prior to investing costly and time-intensive interventions. The TRECI team uses the Model for Improvement developed by the Associates of Process Improvement (2010), to guide their QI work (other QI models include LEAN, Six Sigma etc.). QI starts with identifying an aim or goal, then developing measurement that can help determine if what you're implementing is resulting in improvement, then developing tailored strategies to test activities. These strategies are then tested incrementally using plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles and the scale of the test increases overtime. Results of QI projects are project specific and not generalizable.
QI Services Offered:
- Build a driver diagram, which map relationships between drivers and outcomes in a system
- Create an aim statement (similar to a SMART goal), and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
- Develop a family of measures that include process, balance, and outcome measures
- Identify data collection plans that directly informs the project (no unnecessary data collection) and create user-friendly data dashboards
- Review results of PDSA cycles and help determine next steps
Evaluation
Our evaluation services are best for projects that are grant or contract funded and have specific goals and objectives outlined by the funder. The client may or may not have additional goals and objectives beyond those of the funder. Our evaluation measures can include validated instruments or project specific data collection tools. Results from evaluations communicate to the funder that the client has met or exceeded the outlined goals and objectives and are not generalizable beyond the program itself.
Evaluation Services Offered:
- Evaluation Design (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method), best done at the grant writing stage, but can be developed post hoc
- Development of logic models and other evaluation tools
- Development or adaptation of assessment instruments
- Design and facilitate data collection
- Train and provide technical assistance for staff
- Analyze data with inferential and descriptive statistics
- Report results tailored to specific audiences (e.g., funders, academic, practitioners, policy makers, lay audiences)
Research
Our research focused services are ideally started early in the design process and embedded throughout the life of the project. Research related services are meant to generate new knowledge in a field and incorporate methodological rigor to make research results generalizable beyond the study. These are usually grant-funded projects that are not program specific (e.g. a general topic area is defined by the funder, but the specific project is proposed by the client). Measurement instruments must be valid and reliable and can be quantitative and/or qualitative. Our team provides analytical support by employing a wide range of modern statistical methods to address research questions and test scientific hypotheses.
Research Services Offered:
- Conduct power analysis
- Develop a sampling/participant management plan
- Establish data collection methods
- Support identification of reliable and valid assessments
- Create a data analysis plan
- Conduct inferential statistics
- Analyze qualitative data via a rigorous team-based approach
- Report results tailored to specific audiences (e.g., funders, academic, practitioners, policy makers, lay audiences)
- Conduct analyses of existing data (often referred to as secondary data)
Additional Services
The TRECI team also has extensive experience in other areas outside of QI, evaluation, and research. Our team is here to help your organization with your:
- Needs Assessment: We assist organizations with the identifying and evaluating the gaps between the current state and the desired state of a situation, program, or service. The assessment typically involves gathering data through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods to understand needs, priorities, and resources. The goal of a needs assessment is to inform decision-making, guide planning, and develop effective strategies or interventions to address identified needs.
- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis: A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to identify and evaluate an organization’s or program’s strengths (internal factors), weaknesses (internal factors), opportunities (external factors), and threats (external factors) to ascertain the factors that can impact the success of a project, organization, or initiative. The SWOT analysis provides a clear understanding of an organization’s current position and helps inform decision-making and strategic planning.
- Environmental Scan: An environmental scan is a process used to gather, analyze, and interpret information about external and internal factors that can impact an organization or project. It helps identify trends, opportunities, and potential threats in the broader environment. Environmental scans are similar to SWOT analyses.
- Accessibility Evaluation and Improvement Plan: By utilizing research-based tools (such as the Community Health Inclusion Index), practical expertise, and feedback from stakeholders, a full evaluation of your program’s accessibility level can be provided, with recommendations for improvement. This includes, and extends beyond, adherence to legal standards of accessibility. This means your program and projects will be accessible to people with a range of physical, cognitive, age-related or temporary disabilities. These improvements also make your program or services more user-friendly and efficient for all members of the community, including caregivers and people without disabilities.
- Training: Build capacity within your organization with our a la carte professional QI and evaluation training services. Our expert-led trainings for large or small groups can be requested to cover any aspect of QI or evaluation. Popular topics include basic QI and evaluation overview trainings with specific trainings available for conducting focus groups, survey design and delivery, participant recruitment, data management, and data analysis. Invest in your team's growth through this tailored professional development that empowers your team with the skills needed for ongoing QI or evaluation.
- Grant writing: TRECI team members are experienced and successful grant writers and can assist you in the grant writing process. We can write the methodology or evaluation sections of grants in each of the areas described above (i.e., quality improvement, evaluation, and research). We also provide grant review and other grant-related consultation services.
Not seeing what you need? Contact us and we can tailor a solution to fit your needs.
