Emancipatory practice development in social welfare service evaluation – a worked example

Abstract

Background: People accessing social welfare services are connected by service provision across health and social care, so there is a crossover in the work of practitioners in those fields. It would be beneficial for these professionals to share a language when it comes to evaluating the services they provide. Aim: This article sought to address the need to improve service evaluation across all health and social science disciplines, which are interconnected through provision of welfare-related services for individuals living in the UK. It aimed to highlight the value of a shared language across organisations that provide these services. Methods: A worked example is presented, applying emancipatory practice development as a cross-disciplinary framework with community practitioners, who shared views through a non-moderated focus group. Conclusion: Before any stakeholder views are sought, the first step in sustained transformation is practitioner reflections using reflexivity within a safe physical and emotional space. This enables practitioners first to reflect on whether their practice is authentically person-centred and second to consider how to devise creative methodologies for service evaluation. Implications for practice: Emancipatory practice development could be beneficial as a cross-disciplinary framework in applied social science contexts to develop a shared approach to service evaluation with healthcare colleagues Before engaging with any stakeholders, practitioners could benefit from engaging in reflexivity to encourage authentic reflection and creative person-centred methodologies Safe emotional and physical spaces are needed for authentic practitioner reflection