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Chapter 2: Aims, objectives and methodology
The first two CATs introduced in the East and North East of Glasgow acted as pilot sites. Seven more CATs were planned to roll out across the city and the issues emerging from the first two teams would help the other seven CATs to reflect and learn from both ' best practice' and challenging issues. To facilitate this process, the Scottish Executive's Effective Interventions Unit, Greater Glasgow NHS Board and Glasgow City Council jointly commissioned Peter Keenan in July 2003 as the CAT Evaluation Researcher. The aims of the evaluation were to describe and analyse how CATs developed within the first year of operation. The objectives were:
- To examine how addiction nurses and social care workers worked in practice within integrated teams.
- To assess stakeholder response to the introduction of CATs.
- To assess the impact of integrated services from the perspective of service users and carers.
- To identify key factors which dominated the first year of operation in East and North East CATs that would assist organisational learning for future CATs across Scotland. This would contribute to providing evidence about the most effective approach to care coordination.
Research methods
Qualitative methods were used with CAT staff and stakeholders. The process consisted of 131 semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with 20 CAT staff and 24 stakeholders from a total sample of 44 participants. Three sets of interviews took place in the period December 2003 to December 2004, the first at the start of the period, the second at 6 months and the third at 12 months.
Mixed methods were used for service user involvement. Two peer interview groups from Scottish Drugs Forum ( SDF) and Alcohol Focus Scotland ( AFS) carried out interviews among 83 drug and alcohol service users who received help from both East and North East CATs. The evaluation process included 75 drug service users and 8 alcohol service users. Alcohol service user recruitment was problematic as this client groups' contact with CATs often tended to be from their homes instead of at the CAT department or clinics. No carers participated in the evaluation process.
Structure of Evaluation Findings
Research findings are summarised in three separate chapters. These focus on:
- Integrated services working effectively (Chapter 3)
- Working in a CAT from the staff perspective (Chapter 4)
- Service user and carer findings (Chapter 5).
Chapter 6 examines the meaning of the evaluation in the wider context of integrated services across community care, such as Joint Futures and Community Health Partnerships.
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