Litmus conducted the review of the implementation of the Disability Strategy between May and August 2007. The review drew on multiple data sources:

• Two workshops to develop the analysis framework for the five and 10-year reviews of progress towards implementing the Disability Strategy.
• Documentation analysis to understand the context of the Disability Strategy, its evolution, and to frame and validate findings from stakeholder interviews. Documents included briefing papers, progress reports, agencies work plans, statements of intent and business plans, and research reports relating to disability issues. The Office for Disability Issues conducted a stock-take of central government implementation activity since July 2001, which is included in section 3.3. A full list of documents reviewed is appended.
• Stakeholder interviews to identify implementation activities, enablers and barriers to implementation and to identify the perceived effects of implementation for disabled people. In-depth interviews were conducted with disabled people, disabled persons’ membership organisations, parents of disabled children, disability support providers, central government agencies, local authorities, District Health Boards, tertiary education institutions and lead implementation agencies. A total of 110 stakeholders were consulted.

The following evaluation objectives and associated questions were developed:

• Implementation of the Disability Strategy from April 2001 to June 2007:
  • What was the intention of the Disability Strategy? How does it fit with other relevant legislation and strategies? How was it implemented? Is implementation proceeding as intended? How has implementation evolved?
  • What barriers arose in implementing the Disability Strategy? How did they affect progress? How were they overcome? What barriers are currently affecting progress?
  • What enabled the implementation of the Disability Strategy? How did these enablers effect implementation? How, if at all, were they capitalised on? What enablers are currently supporting implementation?
• Perceived intermediate outcomes of the Disability Strategy’s implementation on the lives of disabled people at June 2007:
  • What intermediate outcomes are emerging? What unintended intermediate outcomes are emerging?
• Future implementation of the Disability Strategy to 2011:
  • How, if necessary, can implementation of the Disability Strategy be improved across central government?
  • How can implementation be expanded beyond government agencies to local government, other entities and organisations, and the disability sector?
  • How can the Office for Disability Issues support future implementation of the Disability Strategy?
• Framework to facilitate an effective 10-year review of the Disability Strategy in 2011:
  • What are the intended outcomes of the Disability Strategy by 2011? What are the potential indicators of these outcomes?
  • What are the objectives for the 10-year review? What are the potential research questions?
  • What are the potential data sources for the 10-year review? What needs to be collected that is currently not being collected?
  • What other factors need to be considered to ensure a successful 10-year review?