Making the Invisible Visible: How a Voluntary Organization is Learning from its Work with Groups and Communities

Many organizations find it a challenge to measure and evaluate the impact of complex organizational interventions. In this second of a two-part article (part one, 'Connecting through Communities: How a Voluntary Organization Is Influencing Healthcare Policy and Practice', appeared in the last issue of this journal), the authors relate how UK-based charity Macmillan Cancer Relief has been experimenting with a new approach to evaluating how it works through learning communities of health professionals as well as patients and carers in order to benefit people living with cancer. Traditional evaluation methods rarely capture the intangible, qualitative results of this kind of work, much of which consists of groups of people learning by talking to one another about their experiences. Yet it is important to find ways of tracking the value of investments made in such processes as otherwise the investment may not be sustained and the relationships and knowledge developed may be lost. The approach described here, which has come to be known within Macmillan as the 'learning framework', aims to make visible the normally invisible patterns and ripple effects of working through communities of practice. This method of evaluation is collaborative, 'emergent' or iterative, and narrative-based.