Rosemary Collaboratory Qualitative and Quantitative Data Analysis Consultant

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

1. Special Olympics, Inc. (SOI) is seeking a consultant through this Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop and implement an analysis plan including conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses. These analyses will be used in a planned global report on health of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)—part of the Rosemary Collaboratory project, aimed at making health systems more inclusive for individuals with IDD.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Special Olympics is the world’s largest organization providing year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics has grown to 227 accredited Chapters in 177 countries, including 52 Programs in the United States. Over 3.9 million athletes and over 1 million volunteers participate in 32 Olympic-style individual and team sports.

We are a sports organization at our core, but also so much more. Special Olympics is the leading voice in raising awareness about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities. We fight negative stereotypes and misperceptions. We educate people young and old about the skills and gifts of our athletes.

Special Olympics leads the world in researching the concerns of people with intellectual disabilities and how others perceive them. We use this research to influence policy and bring services to those in need. Our research is a powerful force for social and policy change around the globe. We are also the world’s largest public health organization for people with intellectual disabilities. Many of our athletes come to us with neglected health problems. At many of our large competition events, we offer a wide range of free health screenings and care.

Special Olympics Health

Special Olympics, Inc. (SOI) is an international NGO serving over 3 million people with IDD in over 170 countries and jurisdictions. While best known for sports opportunities, SOI offers a vast array of health interventions and collects and maintains the largest database on the health of people with IDD in the world.

Special Olympics Health, made possible by the Golisano Foundation, and in the United States in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is creating a world where people with IDD have every opportunity to be healthy. SOI’s Health strategy is directed towards health equity and reducing disparities for the 3+ million Special Olympics athletes and the estimated 1-3% of the global population living with IDD through four strategic pillars:

1. Prevention, including our Young Athletes early childhood intervention program for children less than 8 years old, as well as our lifespan fitness programs and health promotion activities,
2. Assessments directed at early detection of the most common and deadly conditions for people with IDD and making connections to care,
3. Training of the health care workforce using evidence-based active learning that employs virtual and hands-on interactions, and
4. Promoting health systems strengthening by centering the voices of people with IDD to build awareness of this population’s health-related vulnerabilities, foster and share good practices, and promote action.

Rosemary Collaboratory is a health systems strengthening initiative that aims to accelerate country/local-level research, policy, and practice for IDD-inclusive health through connections to and support from a global network and social movement. The key outputs for the Rosemary Collaboratory are:

1. a global report on the health of people with intellectual disabilities, aimed to increase awareness and catalyze action for IDD-inclusive health systems reforms, and
2. health systems reforms that stand to improve health access or outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities in locations where the Rosemary Collaboratory is active.

In the first phase of the project, SOI contracted with 11 consultants from 11 sites across the globe (8 countries and 3 U.S. states) to perform a system level assessment in their site. To complement these assessments, SOI plans to gather qualitative and quantitative data through various approaches. SOI is seeking a consultant to develop and implement an analysis plan to characterize, report, and interpret these data. These analyses will inform subsequent phases of the project and thus should be rigorously designed to ensure evidence-based advocacy and implementation strategies.

Data to be analyzed will include:

• Up to 600 responses to a survey of athletes/people with IDD on barriers to accessing health services; each survey includes approximately 25 questions,
• Up to 100 responses to a survey of the healthcare workforce on challenges to caring for people with IDD in the health system and best practices for providing access to health services; (each survey includes approximately 15 questions), and
• Up to 80 Key Informant Interviews (KII) and/or Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with clinicians (each KII/FGD includes approximately 20 questions).

Confidential versions of the draft instruments (surveys and KII/FGD) are available upon request to ensure transparency and thorough understanding of the methodologies employed.

The awarded consultant will receive the raw data via Qualtrics and notes (as well as recordings when available) and will carry out analyses and present findings including data interpretations.

SCOPE OF WORK AND PERFORMANCE TIMELINE

This RFP will fund data analysis of data gathered through surveys, KIIs, and FGDs. All data will be available and ready for analysis in December 2024. Through this RFP, SOI will award funding to a consultant to perform all processes related to data management, data analysis, and reporting.

Specific responsibilities and deliverables under this contract are expected to include the following:

Deliverable 1: Detailed project plan (suggested deadline: January 13, 2025).

• Including a detailed timeline of deliverables with milestones using Gantt chart or any other similar chart to illustrate project schedule.
• Including any adjustments to timelines with justification based on the volume of data received.

Deliverable 2: Consolidated datasets (suggested deadline: February 28, 2025)

• Including clean datasets in a digital format as proposed and agreed upon during the bidding process.
• Including coding and categorization of qualitative data organized thematically.

Deliverable 3: Conduct analyses and present on high-level findings (suggested deadline: March 10, 2025)

• Implement analyses on datasets and interpret results as outlined in the proposal and agreed upon.
• Develop slide deck on main findings from all surveys and KIIs/FGDs including (but not limited to) a descriptive overview, participants characteristics, and thematic responses. Main high-level findings should include the following:
• Descriptive overview, participants characteristics, and thematic responses.
• Systemic barriers and challenges that hinder healthcare access to people with IDD from the perspective of clinicians, other professionals, and people with IDD both by geographic location and overall.
• Service delivery challenges that impact providers’ ability to provide adequate health services to people with IDD, both by geographic location and overall.
• Other barriers that impact healthcare access for people with IDD.
• Common themes and patterns recurring in the responses.
• Policy advocacy and service delivery opportunities based on responses.
• Possible implications and recommendations based on the responses.
• Limitations of these data in making interpretations.
• Future opportunities to better understand and overcome systemic barriers and challenges to accessing care.
• Visual representations of the analyses such as graphs, charts, and tables to illustrate themes and conclusions.

Deliverable 4: Summary report (suggested deadline: March 21, 2025)

• Including detailed methodology, hypotheses testing to identify potential inconsistencies, methods used to resolve errors, and verification of data quality.
• Including a detailed outline of the data organization, storage process, and research data management practices.
• Including information on dataset interpretations methods and codes or parameters used to generate data when applicable.

Deliverable 5: Progress reporting (January 2025 – March 2025)

• Biweekly (semi-monthly) Zoom progress reports on the project’s status (January – March 2025), detailing completed tasks, upcoming milestones, any issues or risks, and/or responding to questions from SOI staff or consultants.
• The biweekly progress reports should include a section on identified risks to project delivery, potential delays, and proposed mitigation strategies. This will include any risks related to data access, data quality, resource availability, or technical issues that could impact the timeline.

SOI shall have up to 15 working days from receipt of each deliverable for quality review. Based upon such quality review, SOI may require consultants to modify and re-submit deliverables.

AVAILABLE FUNDING

The contract is not expected to exceed a value of US$20,000-30,000. Any indirect cost recovery must be included within the deliverable costs provided.

TERMS OF CONTRACT

1. Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bidders for this RFP using SOI’s contract template. The terms and conditions will include the amount to be allocated to each deliverable, with payment of such amount to be made upon the satisfactory completion of said deliverable. Therefore, bidders must break their budget submission down by deliverable. Consultants may propose milestones or sub-deliverables with attached payment amounts to aid cash flow during the project. All contractual terms and conditions will be subject to review by Special Olympics’ legal and finance departments and will include scope, budget, schedule, and other necessary items pertaining to the project. All work products developed during the project, including but not limited to datasets, reports, analyses, and visualizations, will be the exclusive property of Special Olympics. The consultant will not retain any rights to the materials or use them for other purposes without written consent from Special Olympics. This includes the reproduction, distribution, or presentation of these materials for any other purpose or with any third party. The selected consultant may be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect the confidentiality and proprietary nature of all information and materials shared during the project. The consultant may propose additional sub-deliverables if they believe these would add value to the overall project. The proposal should include justification for any additional steps and the associated costs.

   Special Olympics is not obligated to any course of action as the result of this RFP. Issuance of this RFP does not constitute a commitment by Special Olympics to award any contract. Special Olympics is not responsible for any costs incurred by any consultant or their partners in the RFP response preparation or presentation. Information submitted in response to this RFP will become the property of Special Olympics. All responses will be kept private from other consultants. Special Olympics reserves the right to modify this RFP at any time and reserves the right to reject any responses to this RFP, in whole or in part, at any time.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Preferred Consultant Qualifications and/or Experience

• Advanced university degree in Public Health, Data Science, Statistics, or related field,
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience as a mixed-method data analyst or researcher,
• Experience conducting research on issues affecting marginalized populations; specific experience in conducting research on issues affecting people with disabilities is preferred,
• Ability to communicate effectively in English with a diverse range of stakeholders.

Consultants’ responses compliant with instructions below will be read and evaluated by the selection/implementation team. Consultant responses will be evaluated based on criteria including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Ability to meet the project needs and timelines of Special Olympics
2. Methodology for implementation and ongoing support
3. Cost and fees allocated to each deliverable (or sub-deliverable/milestone, if proposed)