Working together for change: involving clients, families, and staff in planning improvements in mental handicap services

Abstract

A method of improving services for mentally handicapped people was developed which involved collaboration between families and staff. T h e method identified areas of service deficiency, introduced practical steps to improve the service, and monitored the effectiveness of the new procedures. This article briefly describes the use of this method in one mental handicap service and suggests that it could be more generally used within other services.As researchers with a special interest in the development and evaluation of services for mentally handicapped people, we are often invited to work collaboratively with staff to improve the services they offer. In the past, when we have answered such requests, we have collected information by watching the service in action and talking informally to staff. From this information we h a v e s p e c i f i e d p r o b l e m a r e a s , developed methods of approaching the problems, and helped staff put these methods into practice. Our evaluation of the new working methods have then been made more widely available in the form of reports and publications.

Disabled People, Work and Welfare

“…However the need for change became evident from the 1980s onwards, due to a lack of progression out of these services. As a consequence, more optimistic models were developed as alternatives (Porterfield and Gathercole, 1984;WHO, 2011).…”