Solutions not problems

Abstract

The government’s regime of target setting for public services has been subject to increasing criticism. The number of targets, who sets them and the interactions between the target setter and user have been challenged in reports from the Audit Commission. This article reports on the findings of an experiment in which a Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) approach was used to define suitable targets for change and the improvement of service outcomes in one integrated mental health residential rehabilitation service. The paper describes in detail the type of information which was elicited from a Solution-Focused questionnaire containing ‘the miracle question’ which was distributed to both service users and staff. In particular, the discussion focuses on the advantages of using the approach as a management tool for translating the experientially based responses of both service users and staff into measurable practical action.