An Outcomes Focus in Career Assessment and Review: Value and Challenge

Nicholas, Elinor

doi:10.1093/bjsw/33.1.31

Cited by 29 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Some were unable to take up the offered help because the respite care service was Journal of Research in Nursing 13 (5) unacceptable to the cared-for person. This issue is well documented within the caregiving literature (Brodaty, et al, 2005) and points to the need for practitioners to work together with both the carer and cared-for person and build up a trusting relationship so that over time a suitable solution for both parties can be found (Nicholas, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swedish experiences of a negotiated approach to carer assessment: the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool

Hanson

Magnusson

Nolan

2008

Journal of Research in Nursing

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Given that the majority of frail older people living at home are cared for by family members, ensuring appropriate and sensitive support services for family carers is a major policy priority globally. Such assessment of the needs and situation of individual carers is a crucial first step towards ensuring that they receive flexible, quality support services. However, existing assessment practice is still inadequate in many countries. This paper describes a negotiated approach to carer assessment, the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool (COAT) and briefly considers its development with carers and practitioners in an Anglo-Swedish development project (2003)(2004)(2005) and subsequent implementation within five municipalities in Sweden (2006Sweden ( -2008. A participatory research design was adopted in both projects building on the ÄldreVäst Sjuhärad model, which is a user-focused approach to research and development. This paper provides a short summary of the COAT development before presenting the qualitative findings from the Swedish implementation project (2006)(2007)(2008), which emerged from focus group interviews with COAT practitioners and telephone follow-up interviews with carers who had a first and second COAT assessment. The findings clearly highlight the value of COAT in enabling partnerships to be developed between carers and practitioners, which recognise the expertise of both parties. They also challenge providers to invest sufficient time and 'ear-marked' resources for family care support so that COAT becomes an integral part of a Downloaded from comprehensive long-term carer strategy, which feeds directly into local developments in service delivery and organisation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swedish experiences of a negotiated approach to carer assessment: the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool

Hanson

Magnusson

Nolan

2008

Journal of Research in Nursing

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“…The first‐mentioned understanding of the role of services leads to assessment that serves to determine who is at the breaking point so that short‐term and often intensive services can be put into place in order to avoid carer breakdown. The latter perception promotes assessment that is an interactive, personalised and contextually determined helping relationship aimed at promoting carers’ well‐being and freedom to have a life of their own (Nicholas 2003). How assessment is conceptualised is thus very dependent on the beliefs one has with regard to the respective responsibilities of carers and of services.…”

Section: What Is Carer Assessment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Not another form!’: lessons for implementing carer assessment in health and social service agencies

Guberman

Keefe

Fancey

et al. 2007

Health &Amp; Social Care in the Community

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This article addresses some of the issues that need to be considered in implementing carer assessment in health and social service agencies. It is based on findings from three studies involving the use of the CARE (Caregivers' Aspirations Realities and Expectations) Assessment Tool in Canada, a comprehensive psychosocial instrument. The first study, carried out between 1999 and 2001, was aimed at developing the CARE Tool, and had as one of its objectives to evaluate the feasibility of its implementation into ongoing practice. The second study, conducted between 2000 and 2003, was designed to evaluate the impact of using the CARE Tool, and also had an objective concerning implementation. A third study was undertaken in 2005-2006, in part, to gain more understanding of the barriers and outcomes of implementing carer assessment. All three studies used focus groups and individual interviews as the main data collection method. In all, this article is based on 13 focus groups and five individual interviews with home care professionals and 19 individual interviews with home care managers or supervisory staff, all having experience with carer assessment. Similar themes emerged from the thematic analyses of the data from all three projects. All studies point to the following as preconditions to successful implementation: clarification of carer status within policy and practice; making explicit agency philosophy with regard to the role and responsibilities of families in care and conceptions of carer assessment; and agency buy-in at all levels. Four themes emerged as issues for implementation: integration of the carer assessment tool with existing tools; ensuring training and ongoing supervision; work organisation and resources required for carer assessment; and logistical questions. It would appear essential that a clear rationale for moving towards carer assessment and its place in a global approach to long-term care and carers are essential to its implementation.

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“…2000, Spander 2004). More noticeable, however, are efforts to incorporate the concepts of choice and user involvement within the assessment process as part of personalised social care (Nicholas 2003). A greater focus on the desired outcomes of service users as opposed to simply ‘needs‐based’ assessment is a key feature of the process.…”

Section: Personalised Social Care: Emergence Of Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Implicit in this re‐orientation is that a ‘needs‐based’ approach to assessment is a potential barrier to choice given that it is likely to be professionally dominated. This has led to more recent exploration and development of outcome‐focused assessment systems with carers (Nicholas 2003) and disabled adults of working age with physical and sensory impairment (Harris & Morgan 2002). In contrast to ‘needs‐based’ assessments, which rely substantially on professionals to define the problems and level of service, outcome‐focused assessments seek to involve service users in identifying the outcomes that they want to achieve with the assistance of services.…”

Section: Personalised Social Care: Emergence Of Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Personalised social care for adults with disabilities: a problematic concept for frontline practice

Foster

Harris

Jackson

et al. 2006

Health Soc Care Community

118

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This paper explores the complexities and contradictions of frontline practice that pose problems for personalised social care through enhanced choice. It draws on semi-structured interviews with community care workers, social workers, occupational therapists and care managers in two social care departments.Practitioners interviewed were asked about their current assessment and documentation system, including the assessment documents currently used; how they approached information gathering and the topics they explored with service users; and their experience of documenting assessment and care management. The paper argues that the validity and sustainability of personalised social care in frontline practice relies on developing a thorough understanding of the complex and implicit assessment processes operating at the service user/practitioner interface and the inevitable tensions that arise for practitioners associated with the organisational context and broader service environment. The findings demonstrate the variability among practitioners in how they collect information and more importantly, the critical role practitioners occupy in determining the kinds of topics to be explored during the assessment process. In so doing, it shows how practitioners can exert control over the decision-making process. More importantly, it provides some insight into how such processes are shaped by the constraints of the organisational context and broader service environment.Complexities and contradictions may be an inherent part of frontline practice. The issues discussed in this paper, however, highlight potential areas that might be targeted in conjunction with implementing personalised social care through enhanced choice for disabled people.

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An Outcomes Focus in Career Assessment and Review: Value and Challenge

Cited by 29 publications

References 1 publication

Swedish experiences of a negotiated approach to carer assessment: the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool

Swedish experiences of a negotiated approach to carer assessment: the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool

‘Not another form!’: lessons for implementing carer assessment in health and social service agencies

Personalised social care for adults with disabilities: a problematic concept for frontline practice

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