Answer the “So what?” question by triangulating the information you have assembled in answer to the previous questions to synthesize a summary of the current position and postulate implications for the way services could be configured going forward.
- A lead could attempt the synthesis alone on behalf of the cluster, or establish a reference panel (including community representation) to review the evidence with them; this can be especially helpful when there’s work to do to get stakeholder buy-in/ where something is contentious, so assessments and their solutions are shared.
- As clusters approach synthesis, they should look for patterns of need in both vertical and horizontal directions. In other words, are there particular issues within a topic (e.g. relating to high levels of need and low levels of specific service provision), and/or particular issues across multiple topic areas (e.g. impaired access due to lack of integrated community-based provision)?
- Is there any relevant research evidence or published service evaluations that describe alternative delivery models, which could be adapted to the local context
- Propose the cluster’s options for addressing emerging issues (which could mean enhancing things that are going well, as well as mitigating those that are not).