Breastfeeding peer support core principles for volunteering in Scotland: guidance

Core Principles - Data and Evaluation

Peer support provision varies throughout Scotland as it can be delivered by NHS, Third Sector or voluntary organisations. This results in different data being collected and reported by the differing peer service providers.

A data set was developed for use across Scotland. The first questions asked are; who are the volunteers, what do they do and what do they get from volunteering. The second questions are about the mothers accessing our services; who are they, what was the reason for accessing support and how did they know about the support services available to them. The data set was designed to answer these questions.

This data will allow for monitoring of recruitment and provide a profile of volunteers who are representative of their community. Similarly, it is important to gather the profile of women supported, ensuring that the service is accessible to mothers from across the locality. Finally we need to monitor the benefits of volunteering by measuring experiences and outcomes.

The Core data set is provided in Appendix 5.