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DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO MEASURE SERVICE USER AND CARER SATISFACTION WITH SINGLE SHARED ASSESSMENT
The Methods
Definitions of Single Share Assessment
A Single Shared Assessment is a community care assessment in which more than one agency is involved and assessment information is shared across agencies.
A Single Shared Assessment has been completed once all the components of the assessment have been undertaken and either a care plan has been agreed with the service user or the statement of need and services to be provided has been agreed (where there is no actual care plan) or where the decision has been taken after assessment not to provide services.
The Methods
The methods used for this evaluation have been developed with people who use health and community care services and carers. The questions are derived from the Service Users' and Carers' Guidelines for Assessors, which are included in this Toolkit. Health and Community Care practitioners also contributed views and suggestions.
People will be invited to take part in the evaluation in one of the following ways:
1. A Self Administered Questionnaire
2. An Interview consisting of the same questions as the Questionnaire
3. A Guided Discussion
(semi structured interview
) using a schedule of
five broad questions covering key themes in the questionnaire and interview. The interviewer chooses the form of words and the order in which topics are broached, using the full list of questions as a prompt to expand the discussion as appropriate for each person.
4. In addition, for
carers who were present when the person they care for had a SSA, there is a
separate questionnaire.
The Methods in more detail
1. Self Administered Questionnaire
This is posted to respondents with
The questionnaire is available
on request in a range of formats. These include: audio tape, electronically as a Word document, in community languages, on computer disk, in specified font size, in Braille.
Respondents may have help with completing the questionnaire if they wish.
2. Interview
The Interviews will be carried out by trained interviewers. The interviewers will arrange the venue and date for the interview to suit each respondent and carry out interviews in ways which meet each respondent's requirements, e.g. with signer, with interpreter, by telephone. Respondents can have someone with them, if they wish. The interview questions can be provided in advance, in the appropriate format, to help respondents feel ready for the interview.
To help with preparation, the interview schedule can be provided in advance
on audio tape
electronically
as a printed document
and in other formats
3. The Guided Discussion
The Guided Discussion is designed for use primarily with respondents for whom, because of cognitive, memory and/or communication difficulties, the questionnaire or interview would be unhelpful or impracticable.
More than one meeting with the respondent may be required and generally a family member, friend, support worker, advocate or other person of the respondent's choice will be present to provide support and help with interpretation. The meeting is organised to meet the respondent's accessibility requirements and arrangements for the meeting(s), including who is present, length and number of meeting, ways of accessibility requirements, venue and date are agreed with the respondent and their supporter.
Generally, the interviewer will carry out the Guided Discussion but some people may choose to discuss and agree their answers with their family member, friend, support worker, advocate or other person and to report their answers back to the interviewer. The interviewer makes these arrangements individually with each respondent and, if appropriate, their supporter.
To help with preparation for the guided discussion, the topic guide can be provided in advance
on audio tape
electronically
on paper
and in other formats.
The Guided Discussion will be conducted in ways which create the right communication environment for the respondent. Responses may be recorded on audio tape or electronically as well as or instead of in writing.
Whilst for this evaluation potential involvement is assumed for everyone who has had an SSA, in some instances a service user's carer or someone else close to them may effectively participate in the research on the person's behalf to a greater or lesser degree. In such situations, the evaluator will need to make a sensitive judgement about whether to ask the supporter/carer the questions in the guided discussion:
4. Carers' Questionnaire
The carers' questionnaire is intended to be completed by the person's main (unpaid) carer where they were present at the assessment meeting(s). It aims to elicit the carer's perspective on the effectiveness of the service user's assessment meeting(s), placing particular emphasis on the appropriate involvement of the carer as a partner in care for the service user.
The approach to carers is determined by the choice of method chosen by the service user. Where the service user has opted for a postal questionnaire, they are asked to pass on the carers' questionnaire to their carer where relevant.
The questionnaire is available
on request in a range of formats. These include: audio tape, electronically as a Word document, in community languages, on computer disk, in specified font size, in Braille.
The questionnaire could be completed by the carer and returned to the evaluator.
Alternatively, where the service user has opted for an interview or a guided discussion has been chosen, the carer is offered a number of options, including interview, phone interview or self completion of the questionnaire. To help with preparation, the interview schedule can be provided in advance
on audio tape
electronically
as a printed document
and in other formats
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