The project aim is to provide sufficient data and analysis on the range of needs of victims and survivors of the Troubles in the Eastern Health and Social Services Board area, perceptions of that need, and on services available to them, to equip the EHSSB and the Trauma Advisory Panel to plan future services and strategies for service development.

The project objectives are to:

1. Engage the cooperation of the key representatives and groups within the constituency of victims and survivors of the Troubles;
2. Engage the co-operation of the key agencies within the statutory and voluntary sector service providers and other public stakeholders;
3. Establish an effective steering group, which will incorporate this range of interests and which will advise and assist the research team;
4. Catalogue the range of existing provision and service providers within both the statutory and voluntary sector, within the EHSSB area;
5. Consider how the services cover patterns of need elicited from the survey data;
6. Evaluate the extent to which existing provision matches levels and types of need;
7. Identify gaps in service and opportunities for service innovation and development;
8. Make recommendations about service development and innovation;
9. Catalogue the spread and categorisation of data collected routinely within HSSBs, NIHE, H&SS Trusts, ELBs;
10. Evaluate the usefulness of routinely collected data in planning and monitoring services to meet the needs of victims/survivors;
11. Make recommendations about future systems and practice in routine data collection.

The research methods will include:

• A written review and evaluation of recent research and evaluations of needs and services for victims and survivors of the Troubles;
• Identification and extrapolation of data on items such as punishment beatings, shootings, being made homeless due to paramilitary threat etc.
• Direct face-to-face interviews with key informants within each of the identified agencies in the voluntary and statutory sectors;
• Compile and analyse findings on data collection practices in service providing agencies such as the PSNI, NIHE, Dept of Health and Trusts, Dept of Education, Education and Library Board, Compensations Agency.
• Focus group interviews with those in the statutory and voluntary sectors working directly with victims and survivors in the EHSSB area;
• Individual interviews with a sample of victims and survivors in the EHSSB area, selected to give a spread of views and experiences;
• Policy review and development of recommendations.