IDEAS Avanza: an FSC project to improve evaluation and offer interventions better suited to the needs of the people supported

The Health and Community Foundation (FSC) is continuing to develop this programme, which seeks to improve the collection and use of information in services for women who have experienced gender-based violence. Funded by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda through the national call for grants financed by the 0.7% allocation of personal income tax (IRPF) for 2025, this initiative builds on FSC’s work to strengthen its evaluation systems, gain a better understanding of the needs of the people supported and obtain information that helps to guide and improve interventions.

One of the main advances of this new phase has been the development of a proposal for assessing women’s recovery process. The aim is to be able to observe not only the level of risk present at a given moment, but also the changes that occur over time, and to consider, beyond the reduction of risk and harm, different aspects relating to their psychological wellbeing and the recovery of their autonomy and social inclusion. To this end, existing tools and proposals have been reviewed, and elements adapted to the experience and needs of FSC’s services have been incorporated.

This proposal has been developed in a participatory way, involving professionals from different areas of the organisation. Over the course of the project, several working sessions have been held to review the content, share experiences and suggest improvements. This way of working ensures that the tools are built on both technical knowledge and the experience of the professional teams who work directly with the people supported.

The project has also made it possible to strengthen the connection between different areas of evaluation. Specifically, the possibilities of linking information gathered through IDEAS Género and IDEAS Drogas have been analysed, identifying numerous common elements relating to health, psychological wellbeing, social relationships, substance use and quality of life. This review provides a more comprehensive view of the different circumstances that can influence a person’s life and, at the same time, makes it possible to detect information that can be simplified or integrated to avoid duplication.

The work carried out has also led to improvements in the organisation of the project itself. Reviewing the forms and the way information is presented has made it possible to design more specific structures and make certain content easier to access, improving navigation and the use of the tool by professional teams. In this way, the project is not just about adding new content, but also about using the review process to identify improvements that may benefit FSC’s evaluation system as a whole.

Through this programme, FSC is strengthening its commitment to evaluation that is more complete, more useful and better adapted to the needs of the people supported. Improved tools, together with the participation of professional teams and the women themselves, help to build a more accurate understanding of each recovery process, enabling better-targeted interventions and support that takes into account wellbeing, autonomy and social inclusion.

At FSC, we are very pleased with the work done so far and with the commitment of the professional teams to developing this initiative. The programme now moves on to further stages of testing and review, which will gather input from professionals and from women with first-hand experience of these processes, make the final adjustments and complete the documentation for the tools developed.