A Review of the Joint Initiative Funding Scheme (JIFS) - Final Report

The Wales Equality and Diversity in Health and Social Care Research and Support Service (WEDHS) is a programme funded by the Welsh Assembly Government‟s National Institute of Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR). This publication focuses on one of its‟ key initiatives: the WEDHS Joint Initiative Funding Scheme (JIFS).
Documentation submitted by the 27 grant awardees between June 2007 and December 2009 will be analysed and key themes presented. The key themes that emerged from this review include the fact that Community and Voluntary Organisations (CVOs) have the capacity to make effective health and social being interventions, that CVOs utilise a range of effective, flexible and practical recruitment and engagement strategies of use to university-based researchers, and lastly, that future Schemes should include information exchange opportunities, timely pay-outs, and greater involvement with applicants throughout the process.
The small grant scheme has allowed WEDHS partners and staff to work with small BME community groups, and with larger equalities agencies and statutory bodies, to foster and promote ways of improving the health and social well-being of people from a BME background. The grant scheme has been successful, and has, amongst other things, enabled us to begin to explore how particular groups seek to make improvements to their health, and which engagement models and techniques the grant holders are using to foster participation and engagement.