Evaluation of the move to remote models of service delivery by drug and alcohol services in Leeds during the COVID-19 pandemic

How are the public involved in the evaluation?

The public was involved throughout the project in several different ways. This included a local service user consultation group who helped to ensure we answer questions important to them and provided relevant insight when discussing findings and producing outputs. Additionally, throughout all PHIRST Connect projects the Public Involvement in Research group act as a critical friend on key elements of the research process. They contributed at all stages of the Covid DASE project including being involved in data analysis and interpretation of findings and consideration of implications for future service design.   

Lay summary of research

The COVID-19 pandemic meant that there needed to be substantial changes to the delivery of drug and alcohol support services across Leeds.  This included stopping, or significantly reducing, face-to-face support services, and a move to remote delivery of key drug and support services. Remote service delivery means delivering services mostly over the phone or using technology such as video calls, smartphone apps, or instant messaging, rather than face-to-face.  Prior to Covid-19, face-to-face delivery had been the main way that service users engaged with drug and alcohol support services.  

Although there was disruption to the usual way of delivering support services, there was some evidence that aspects of remote delivery have been experienced positively by some drug and alcohol support staff and some service users. 

The aim of the study was to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the drug and alcohol services in Leeds, and the changes that staff and service users experienced, in order to come to an informed decision about how best to design services in the future.    

The study answered the following, broad research questions:  

• how did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the delivery of the various drug and alcohol support services?   

• how were any changes in drug and alcohol support service delivery experienced by those delivering those services and those in receipt of them?   

• what impact, if any, did remote delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic have on outcomes for service users and were any groups of people particularly disadvantaged by the changes?   

• what was the impact of remote delivery on the cost of delivering drug and alcohol support services, and what were the cost implications for service users?   

The research was conducted by: 

1. Looking at what was already written about drug and alcohol support 

2. Asking drug and alcohol support staff to fill in a timeline about their experiences, and take part in one-to-one interviews and group discussions 

3. Group discussions, one-to-one interviews, and text messaging and email conversations with service users, plus creative case studies creation with staff who worked with on-street sex workers 

4. Comparing past information (data) with new data that described outcomes for service users before and after COVID-19 

5.Looking at how remote delivery impacted financial cost (health economics)