Reflecting on the development of a logic model for an ‘Early Years’ program to reduce health inequalities in NHS Lanarkshire, Scotland

A logic model was developed as a planning and evaluation tool for a program to reduce health inequalities in NHS Lanarkshire in Scotland. This involved a challenging and ambitious approach in the redesign of services. The logic model developed was a comprehensive and graphic way to identify the relationships among the resources available to operate the program, plan the activities, and identify the changes or results hoped to achieve in the short, medium and longterm. The program team reflected on the usefulness of the logic model from several key perspectives including planning, application and evaluation. Benefits in developing the tool included detailed review of available and required resources to achieve the outcomes of the program, the discussion around identifying realistic and achievable outcomes within the scope of the program and subsequent sustainability. Strengths in using the tool included team building; partnership working; and communication flow within the ‘early years’ team. Limitations perceived included the speed of implementation in practice, the number of ongoing activities, the format of the logic model and the changing priorities for resources. The logic model has been an important and valuable tool in sharing information, facilitating the planning of the program and providing direction to process and outcome evaluations. Time spent in the planning stage demystified and clarified the purpose of the program. This was useful in teasing out the elements of the program most likely to produce meaningful and relevant evaluation data. In turn, this enhanced the development of realistic and measurable outcomes.