How are public engagement health festivals evaluated? A systematic review with narrative synthesis

Abstract

The evaluation of public engagement health festivals is of growing importance, but there has been no synthesis of its practice to date. We conducted a systematic review of evidence from the evaluation of health-related public engagement festivals published since 2000 to inform future evaluation. Primary study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Extracted data were integrated using narrative synthesis, with evaluation methods compared with the Queen Mary University of London public engagement evaluation toolkit. 407 database records were screened; eight studies of varied methodological quality met the inclusion criteria. Evaluations frequently used questionnaires to collect mixed-methods data. Higher quality studies had specific evaluation aims, used a wider variety of evaluation methods and had independent evaluation teams. Evaluation sample profiles were often gender-biased and not ethnically representative. Patient involvement in event delivery supported learning and engagement. These findings and recommendations can help improve future evaluations. (Research Registry ID reviewregistry1021).

Engaging and supporting the public on the topic of grief and bereavement: an evaluation of Good Grief Festival

“…The evaluation framework was informed by a recent systematic review of the evaluation of public health festivals. 31 Reporting follows the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys. 32 …”

“…The evaluation framework was informed by a recent systematic review of the evaluation of public health festivals. 31 Reporting follows the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys. 32 Design of the festival A city-wide face-to-face festival about grief and bereavement was planned to take place in Bristol, UK, in May 2020.…”

“…34,35,40 The study has several implications: our findings can help shape future engagement initiatives internationally by demonstrating novel methods of engaging people on the topic of grief and bereavement and suggesting diverse topics for inclusion (see Table 5). Our methods for evaluating the festival can also inform future evaluation of public engagement festivals 31 and death/grief literacy 45 initiatives. The evaluation data provided useful evidence to help improve subsequent festivals; at the second festival in March 2021, evaluation ratings improved further: 92% rated it as excellent or very good and 80% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement 'Through attending the festival I feel more confident talking about grief' (compared with 89% and 76%, respectively at the first festival), and the audience became more ethnically diverse, underlining the importance of quality evaluation.…”