Evaluation of Equity Training and Advocacy Grant Pilot Programme

The Townsend review of the arrangements for allocating resources for health and health services in Wales, ‘Targeting Poor Health’, recommended a ‘dual strategy’ for tackling health inequalities in Wales by action both within and outside the NHS. The review recommended the provision of equity training grants (to increase awareness and understanding of health inequalities and inequities in access to health care) and advocacy grants (to stimulate new action locally to address unmet needs). The Welsh Assembly Government set up a pilot programme to assess the potential value of these grants which were aimed at health professionals and their partners outside the NHS. The pilot funded 25 projects in three Local Health Board areas between December 2003 and March 2004. An independent evaluation clarified the mechanisms driving the programme and assessed the potential of Equity Training and Advocacy Grants to address health inequalities. The programme provided small pots of funding to raise awareness amongst health professionals about health inequalities and also stimulated some new local action. This report presents the findings from the evaluation and describes the sorts of projects that were funded, the key crosscutting findings, and suggest what the main challenges might be to the future of such a programme