Establishing outcome measures in practice: Developing a model for services working therapeutically with children and families

Abstract

Abstract Providers of therapeutic services to children and families have, in recent times, been subject to pressure to supplement traditional service output measures with evidence-based measures, which capture outcomes for service users. In this article, we report on the near decade long establishment of a range of standardised measures within an Irish non-governmental agency providing therapeutic help to children and families across two settings, family centres and early childhood development services. We describe the organisational conditions necessary for the introduction of standardised outcome measures and provide an illustrative overview of participant characteristics and some examples of key findings across both services as they relate to the important outcome domains of child and parent functioning. We further propose a model for the introduction and sustainability of outcome measures as a necessary and enduring feature of therapeutically orientated organisations providing services to children and families. Lastly, we identify organisational commitment to the development of outcome data, plans to ensure sustainable arrangements for ongoing data analysis, and conceptual linkage between evidence informed practice and the values of an organisation as key considerations.