Peer-Led Evaluation Toolkit
The Peer-Led Evaluation Toolkit was developed in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton Region (CMHA-Edmonton) to support organizations working within Edmonton’s Strategy for Community Mental Health.
Many organizations recognize the value of involving people with lived and living experience in evaluation, but are often looking for ways to do so. This toolkit was created to support community practitioners in building confidence with peer-led evaluation approaches and to offer a starting point for organizations interested in making evaluation more participatory, relational, and community-informed.
The toolkit brings together background information, reflection questions, activities, templates, and practical tools that support different stages of the evaluation process. Topics include identifying outcomes, gathering information, making sense of what is being learned, communicating findings, ethics, facilitation considerations, and organizational readiness. Throughout the guide, peer-led evaluation is explored as an approach that values lived experience as a source of knowledge and insight.
Action Lab led the design and development of the toolkit, drawing on developmental evaluation, systems thinking, participatory approaches, and input from community practitioners. The resource was shaped through collaboration with organizations involved in community mental health work and reflects both the opportunities and challenges of applying peer-led evaluation in community settings.
