Supporting Miscarriage UK to understand how they could improve their support services
Project aims:
Miscarriage UK (formerly named the Miscarriage Association) wanted to understand what was working well and what could be improved about their support services. Inclusively supported Miscarriage UK to lead this project, conduct research chats with people with lived experience of using their support services and build their internal capability to run service reviews in the future.
Project approach:
First of all we looked at all of the existing quantitative and qualitative data that Miscarriage UK had across their support services. We then used this to create hypotheses about what we thought was working well or could be improved about the current support services. We also ran an ideation session and chatted with staff members to understand if there was anything else that people thought might be worth trying in the future.
Research approach:
We refined our areas of focus based on these findings and then started to plan our research. We recruited 10 people who had used Miscarriage UK’s support services over the last few years and had 1-1 chats with them all.
First we asked about what they thought was working well and what could be improved. We then talked through all of the other support services that Miscarriage UK provides and got their thoughts on those and some of our potential ideas for the future. This really helped us to understand what people most value and found helpful from Miscarriage UK’s services and what they would find most useful in the future.
How we ran the research:
We ensured that the sessions were run sensitively and had a chat with everyone a few days before the session to tell them a bit more about the project, what to expect from the research chat and reassure them that they didn't need to share anything that they didn't feel comfortable with. We also made sure that it was clear that they could step out or take a break at any time and gave them a chance to ask us any questions. We got feedback from pretty much everyone who took part that this was a really important step for them as it made them feel at ease and comfortable coming into the session. People often said that they were pleased to have the opportunity to give back to the charity through sharing their insights and that the sessions were run really well and sensitively.
We also ran a short survey, open to anyone who had accessed Miscarriage UK support services, which helped us to understand from an ever broader range of people what they thought worked well and could be improved about Miscarriage UK’s support services.
“Working with Inclusively was a joy from start to finish. Charley expertly held the project and took a considered, compassionate and flexible approach to working with our staff, volunteers and wider community of people impacted by pregnancy loss throughout. We've come away with so many powerful insights that we can use to better align our support services with people's needs going forward, and learned so much along the way.”
- Lucy Graham (she/her) Head of Operations & Service Delivery, Miscarriage UK
Impact and outcomes
We synthesised all of the findings into an internal report that helps to outline what is working well and what could be improved and pulls out some suggested next steps. Miscarriage UK are now reviewing the findings and using it to inform future developments for their support services.
Thank you:
A massive thank you to all of the research participants involved in this project. We really appreciate your time and insights. A big thank you also to the incredible Miscarriage UK team who were such a pleasure to work with.
Team:
Charley Pothecary, Inclusively
Miscarriage UK team