measuring outcomes

Julie Gardener, Assistant Director of VOCAL (Voice of carers across Lothian) talks about developing a personal outcomes approach and outcomes for integration of health and social care.

The audio recording was made on the 25 February 2013 at an event organised by the Social Services Research Group (SSRG) entitled, 'Improving outcomes through integrated social care and health'.

For further information about the event see: http://ssrg.org.uk/events-2013/

Taking an outcomes approach means engaging with the person and significant others to find out what matters to them, what they hope for and what they want to be different in their lives. An outcomes approach involves thinking about what role the person themselves might play in achieving their outcomes, which can be a significant shift from more traditional services where the solutions are viewed as located on the service side.

This guide looks at what is required to ensure quality assessment and planning in developing an outcomes-focused approach.

What is it? Tool that manages services in terms of outcomes and effectiveness; resources and productivity; finance and sustainability; and compliance and safety. From the management of staff and volunteer records through to property and equipment, it provides a comprehensive approach to resource management that can be tailored to fit the resource mix in an organisation and the key aspects that need to be monitored and controlled.

Who is if for? Tool that can be used with adults and children.

What is it? A definitive set of standards for supported living. The second edition contains a multimedia CD, video footage, an It's my life pack and a full service review pack. The It's my life toolkit evaluates progress towards achieving outcomes desired by individuals. This involves the individual and their circles of support (should not involve service provider). AND Service Review toolkit (takes 12 months) and evaluates the service through service review.

What is it? This is a tool that can be used to calculate the overall ASCOT well-being score for individuals on the basis of their responses to questions about their current social care-related quality life (SCRQoL), and their SCRQoL in the absence of services.

Who is it for? For use with adults. The aim is for the measure to be applicable across as wide a range of user groups and care and support settings as possible.

What is it? Better Futures outcomes tool is a web-based IT tool designed to enable housing support service providers working with individuals to record their support needs over a period of time. In particular, it provides a means of recording a baseline when someone starts using a service, as well as plotting their aspirations using a unique scoring system. The tool is also able to produce reports from the data held to enable organisations to measure the outcomes of their work with service users on a continuous basis.

What is it? A tool for capturing carers' outcomes. This approach has been developed by VOCAL and is based on the Talking Points: personal outcomes approach.

Who is it for? It is an outcomes tool to be used with adult unpaid carers. It can be applied to any type of service or support being offered to unpaid carers.

Research that aims to review the existing evidence and practice surrounding victims' support needs, outcome measurement and quality assurance in the victim support sector, to assess:

• the support needs of victims
• the effectiveness of interventions to support victims
• how to develop victim outcome measures or indicators
• how to measure victim outcomes
• how to measure and assess quality in support service provision.

What is it? This is a monitoring and evaluation framework that was devised to support Women's Aid groups and Children's Services planners to monitor, evaluate, and report on the services funded by the Children's Services Women's Aid Fund on a six month basis.

Who is it for? Women's Aid group/children's service.

Format of recording: Questionnaire

Subscription: Free