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Addressing negative attitudes, developing knowledge: the design and evaluation of a bespoke substance misuse module
- Authors:
- HARLING Martyn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 32(3), 2016/17, pp.137-149.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Recent calls for the inclusion of substance misuse into social work curricula appear to have been met with a piecemeal and rather sporadic approach from many Higher Education establishments. This research set out to determine if a bespoke module, delivered to a group of social work students (n=57), might influence their attitudes and values towards substance misuse and working with substance misusers. A mixed methods approach was used, employing an attitudinal Likert scale and a series of semi-structured interviews (n=10). Analysis of the quantitative data indicated that there was no significant change in the students’ established attitudes over the course of the module, but there was a substantial increase in the number of students (35%) who agreed with the Likert statement ‘working with drug users is a rewarding role’. The qualitative element of the research suggested that students felt more prepared for working with substance misusers and had increased their level of substance misuse knowledge since starting training. Whilst it is prudent to remain cautious when reporting the findings of a small scale research study, the results of the study support the effectiveness of the bespoke module in preparing the students to work with substance users/misusers (Edited publisher abstract)
An evaluation of Wigan Council’s Partnership for Older People Project
- Authors:
- BEECH Roger, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 29(2), 2012, pp.69-81.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Wigan Council participated in the Department of Health for England’s Partnership for Older People Project (POPP) and piloted eleven community based schemes for promoting older people’s health and well-being and reducing their need for higher intensity forms of care. This paper describes evaluation activity that guided decisions about the development and ongoing sustainability of these schemes. A mixed method, observational study design generated information about the number and characteristics of POPP service users and the ‘value’ and ‘effectiveness’ of POPP schemes from the perspectives of older people and other POPP stakeholders. From May 2006 through January 2008 there were 7,572 referrals to POPP schemes. A survey covering 1,362 service users and interviews with whole system stakeholders revealed high levels of support for POPP schemes in terms of their relevance, value and ability to promote partnership working between agencies. Results also offered ‘plausible’ evidence that some schemes were helping to reduce older people’s use of more intensive and higher cost services. Implications: evaluation results supported a decision that all POPP schemes should be sustained when pilot funding from the Department of Health ended. The study also demonstrated the importance of local evaluation activity when developing new services. (Edited publisher abstract)
The increasing evidence of how self-directed support is failing to deliver personal budgets and personalisation
- Authors:
- SLASBERG Colin, BERESFORD Peter, SCHOFIELD Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 30(2), 2013, pp.91-105.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Last year the authors published an article that set out the evidence that shows how the current government strategy is failing in its aims of delivering either personal budgets or personalisation. It used information up to the year 2010/11. This article updates the evidence base to include data from 2011/12 along with an evaluation of other activity and data sources since the article was written. That includes the second national survey of Think Local Act Personal – the body funded by Government to progress the strategy – and In Control, the body acredited with its design. This new evidence strengthens the argument that the strategy is failing, notwithstanding the apparent government view to the contrary, adding urgency to the need for a change in direction if personalisation is to be made a reality for all. (Edited publisher abstract)
Challenges in evaluating a ‘think child, think parent, think family’ approach to adult mental health and children’s services
- Author:
- ROSCOE Hannah
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 28(2), 2010, pp.103-114.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
In 2009, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) published a guide on parental mental health and child welfare, which makes recommendations about how services can better support families in which there is a parent with a mental health problem. This guide is based on a ‘think family’ approach, which requires effective interagency working between adult mental health and children’s services. This article discusses how the recommendations of the guide might be implemented. In September 2009, a project team at SCIE began working with 5 sites in England and 5 Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland to implement the guide and gather further learning about good practice and solutions to some of the barriers identified. The article considers the challenges of designing methods of evaluation in these sites, particularly in terms of how to define and measure the impact of implementation. It suggests that the concept of a ‘complex intervention’ is helpful in thinking about implementation of the guide in terms of allowing local flexibility, targeting multiple parts of the health and social care system and the range of possible outcomes of the work. In line with the principles of realist evaluation, a key role of the evaluation is to help further understand and map the intervention rather than simply to provide a summation of success or failure.
A depth of data: research messages on the state of social work education in England
- Authors:
- MORIARTY Jo, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 28(1), 2010, pp.29-42.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
In the light of extensive media coverage of social work education, this article uses information from the Department of Health funded 3-year evaluation of the social work degree qualification in England to discuss areas in which qualifying education might be improved. The evaluation was a multi-method longitudinal study combining national data with case studies of six higher education institutions offering nine social work qualifying programmes. This article concentrates specifically on two themes: perceptions that new social workers are not being prepared for the demands of the job; and concerns that the profession is under-valued and poorly understood. The article considers: how social work students are selected; the availability and quality of practice placements; and whether programmes prepare students for the workplace. It argues that too great a concern with the ‘A’ level performance of social work applicants risks not paying enough attention to the non-academic qualities that they will need to work in the changing world of children’s and adult services. Better partnership working between employers and universities will help students make the transition into the workplace. This includes greater opportunities for employers and practitioners to be involved in candidate selection and teaching on qualifying programmes.
I'll (not) see you in court: family dispute resolution in North Wales
- Authors:
- WARREN Emily, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 26(3), 2008, pp.143-155.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
This paper draws on a qualitative evaluation of the CAFCASS Cymru's Family Dispute Resolution Pilot Programme (FDRP) in North Wales. The FDRP was developed as a child centred intervention aimed at resolving disputes involving children, without recourse to courts. The evaluation comprised postal questionnaires for parents and qualitative interviews with a sample of parents, children and professionals engaging with the programme. Overall, both professionals and families were very positive about the programme. However, some parents also found it a) difficult to relinquish their attachment to personal grievances with the other parent and b) less empowerment. While the programme was founded on the principle of agreement, for many of the interviewees issues of enforcement were important. Both professionals and parents highlighted issues which have resource implications for an already resource heavy service.
Evaluating the outcomes of health and social care partnerships: the POET approach
- Author:
- DICKINSON Helen
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 25(2/3), 2007, pp.79-92.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Health and social care partnership working is a central feature of the current government's approach to public policy. Yet despite this, and a proclaimed interest in evidence-based policy, partnerships have not empirically demonstrated that they produce better outcomes for service users. This paper argues that the problem may be a result of the way in which partnerships have been evaluated, rather than an indication of the ineffectiveness of partnerships per se. After providing an overview of the ways in which the 'partnership' label has been used in health and social care, the paper moves on to give an overview of the range of difficulties involved in evaluating partnerships. The paper then moves on to outline POET (Partnership Outcomes Evaluation Toolkit) which has been specifically designed to determine what kinds of partnership delivery what forms of outcomes, to whom and when.
Assessing older people with complex care needs using EASY-Care, a pre-defined assessment tool
- Authors:
- LAMBERT Susan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 25(1), 2007, pp.43-56.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Nurse assessors undertook assessments of 119 older people living in a care home setting or awaiting discharge from hospital. Older people who had been assessed also completed questionnaires to evaluate use of the tool. Assessors took part in semi-structured focus groups or interviews. The results suggest that EASY-Care was considered in general to be useful in exploring needs and acceptable to both assessors and older people. Assessors thought it was person-centred in that open-ended questions allowed people to describe their circumstances in their own words. Some assessors were less comfortable with the open-ended questioning approach and felt it made collection information difficult and was likely to cause confusion. One the whole, use of the tool was considered to facilitate rapport. However, some questions provoked anxiety and assessors needed to use their professional judgement to identify non-verbal cues of anxiety in order to achieve a person-centred assessment. Professional training and skills were essential to identify non-verbal cues of distress and to moderate potentially difficult situations where older people became upset during assessment.
Careful thoughts: recognising and supporting older carers in intermediate care
- Authors:
- TOWNSEND Jean, MOORE Jeanette
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 24(1), 2006, pp.39-52.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Recognition and support for carers has become an increasingly important part of government policy over the past decade. This paper draws on data from a national evaluation of intermediate care. the study adopted a mixed-method, case-study approach across five English localities. It describes patterns of informal caring relationships among older people who were using intermediate care services and considers the issues which affect how the carers perceived their caring roles, the service interventions which they found helpful during intermediate care, and the negotiations and decision-making processes as people moved from intermediate care to mainstream services.
The partnership initiative in nursing and social services: practical collaboration in services for older people
- Author:
- LYMBERY Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 23(2), 2005, pp.87-97.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
This paper reports on the Partnership Initiative in Nursing and Social Services (PINSS), a project that placed community nurses within social services Assessment and Care Management Teams (ACTMs) within two Social Services Departments (SSDs) within the East Midlands. The project aimed to assess the impact of the nurses on the social services environment and the parallel effects on the nurses of working in such contexts. The paper observes that the nurses had a positive impact within the ACTMTs and they reported having found the experience both stimulating and valuable for their own development. Although the project was felt to have been highly successful, questions remain about the extent to which the location of community nurses within social services assessment and care management teams represents the best way forward for inter-professional working in social and health care for older people.