Evaluating Outcomes In Health And Social Care

Recent years have seen a shift in health care and social work that has moved collaborative work to the center of everyday practice. But has that change led to better outcomes for the people who use these social services? Evaluating Outcomes in Health and Social Care takes up that question--as well as the crucial underlying question of how best to measure those outcomes. This new edition brings the book fully up to date with the latest research findings and offers more tools, frameworks, and international examples of best practices to aid practitioners as they evaluate partnerships.

Providing an introduction to evaluation, outcomes and partnerships, this title summarizes trends in policy and research, sets out frameworks and approaches, and aids policy makers and practitioners to more effectively evaluate partnerships.

In recent years collaborative working has moved from being an optional extra of public service practice to being a core competency for individuals and teams. Has this led to better outcomes for those who use services? How to understand and to measure these outcomes and demonstrate these to a variety of different audiences remains a significant challenge for many. This revised edition of this bestselling textbook includes the latest research findings and contains more tools, frameworks and international examples of best practice to aid practitioners to more effectively evaluate partnerships. Up-to-date research evidence is presented in a practical and helpful way, making this an essential resource for students.

Published in association with Community Care This book provides an introduction to evaluation, outcomes and partnerships, summarising recent trends in policy and research, setting out useful frameworks and approaches and aiding policy makers and practitioners to more effectively evaluate partnerships.

This book is the product of 30 years of experience with program evalua tion. During this time, both service recipients and educational and social programs have experienced major cultural and political shifts in service delivery philosophy, including a focus on quality, mainstreaming, deinsti tutionalization, community inclusion, and an emphasis on measurable outcomes. Recently stakeholders of these programs have demanded more than just the provision of service, forcing program administrators to evalu ate their programs' effectiveness and efficiency. The "era of accoun tability" is here, and my major goal in writing this book is to help current and future program administrators understand that they need to look beyond simply the provision of service. Indeed, they need to be competent in outcome-based evaluation, which I define as a type of program evaluation that uses valued and objective person-referenced outcomes to analyze a program's effectiveness, impact or benefit-cost. By design, this book can be read from the perspective of a consumer or producer of outcome-based evaluation. As a consumer, the reader will be introduced to the various techniques used in outcome-based evaluation and how to interpret data from outcome-based evaluation analyses. As a producer, the reader will be instructed in how to do outcome-based evalu ation analyses, along with how to use and act on their results. For both the consumer and producer, two questions should guide the use of outcome based evaluation.

"This is an accessible and important text. It is to be commended for bringing together policy and practice on assessment and information sharing across England, Scotland and Wales." - Professor Michael Preston-Shoot, University of Bedfordshire "This new text is a welcome addition to the literature relating to inter-professional working. It offers students from a range of professions a comprehensive guide to current social policy and authoritative guidance on how to conduct a safe and effective assessment." - Soo Moore, City University, London Shared assessment is the standardised approach to assessment and the sharing of information and documentation within and between health and social care. This book offers students and practitioners a step-by-step guide to the process, helping them to overcome some of the anxieties of change and providing realistic guidance on the process. Key features of the book include: - Comprehensive coverage - follows a logical structure looking at context, policy, and practice - A focus on the practitioner′s understanding of an individual′s experience and the roles of staff within the process - Discussion of confidentiality and anti-discriminatory practice - Four chapter-long case studies that take the reader through the stages of assessment and subsequent roles and responsibilities. The book includes pedagogical features such as a glossary of terms, a Comparative Grid for Standardised Assessment Frameworks, examples of carers′ assessments, reflective questions and further reading. It is essential reading for students and practitioners working across health and social care, particularly in social work, nursing and mental health.

Social work has an impact on large numbers of citizens through its services for children and families, elderly people, those with mental or physical health problems and offenders. It also provokes much criticism; its effectiveness is questioned and there are increasing demands for this to be demonstrated. This text discusses how this task may be tackled and explores possibilities for evaluative research in contexts which are often not considered feasible for such enquiry. Paying particular attention to the diverse and complex functions of social work, the book reviews the implications for choosing and adapting research methodologies, emphasizes the importance of identifying the process of social work as well as its outcomes and distinguishes between the identification of effectiveness and its evaluation. It also describes the various means of dissemination which are necessary if research is to influence policy and practice. The book, which gives many examples of research in action, draws on evaluative research in Britain and the US and also on the experience of the Social Work Research Centre. It has been written for researchers, managers, practitioners and students with responsibilities to undertake or to understand the systematic evaluation of social work.