ChEW Bitesize: Large-Scale Macmillan Service Evaluation

Macmillan Cancer Support provides a suite of services to support people living with and affected by cancer. Many of these services are funded and run by Macmillan (‘direct’ services) and are usually delivered virtually – telephone helpline and webchat based. Other services are funded by Macmillan but run by other organisations (an ‘indirect’ offer) and have a variety of delivery methods including face-to-face. Macmillan’s Evaluation & Impact team were asked to build on previous work attempting to measure the impact of such services on quality of life.

As such, ‘Impact 2022’ was a (more than!) year-long project to measure service outcomes and quality of life with users of 15 direct and indirect Macmillan services. Overall, the project was a success and resulted in some key findings. However, it was not without its challenges for the Evaluation & Impact team, including realising that they were not necessarily speaking to the right…