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Chapter Five Outcome Evaluation
5.1 The outcome strand of the evaluation was designed to measure the effectiveness of interventions provided by Incite by monitoring the progress and improvement of service users.
5.2 Such project effectiveness has not proved easy to verify, although Incite staff and active clients have verbally described several positive outcomes. These include:
- Attracting primary stimulant users
The majority of Incite's clients self-referred to the service and were not formally referred by another agency. This indicates that Incite was successfully attracting primary stimulant users to the project, one of its key objectives
- Health improvements
All case study clients reported some improvement to physical health, mainly in relation to improved diet and better sleeping patterns. They also reported improvements to mental health, better concentration and enhanced social relationships.
- Increased motivation
A number of clients mentioned that they had become more focused since making contact with Incite, attributed to the encouragement and support received from staff.
5.3 These improvements and successes are evidenced through client interviews and case studies. However, this is not reflected in case files. The outcome data Incite collected did not therefore show the true activity and successes of the project.
5.4 A wide range of client information was collected and recorded by Incite staff and included details of basic drug use, history, referral information, and reasons for referral. Evidence relating to client outcomes, however, was not collected. For example, there were no details within case files that recorded whether or not identified client issues had been addressed, how they had been addressed and what outcomes had been experienced. This has meant that there was no way of quantitatively measuring how effectively Incite staff performed.
5.5 Formal recording of Incite client data would help to monitor outcomes, allow for comparisons to be made between users and evaluate the success of specific interventions. It would help to:
- Justify the provision of specific interventions to specific active clients
The high frequency of indirect drug use work, covering work on areas such as housing, finance and daily routines, is a common factor when working with people using psychostimulant drugs ( The Crack Report 2005) but users of services should be aware of what interventions they are receiving and why.
- Assign a common format to client data
Although there were many general assessment forms for recording client information, instructions for completing these were not clear or standardised which led to variations in the way data was recorded. - Enable formal client assessments through the use of a formal assessment tool, such as the ASI-S tool. This would help to monitor the effectiveness of the Incite service, assess the status of clients and provide a useful framework for development.
- Provide a cross tabulation of presenting problems and interventions offered to make sure that problems identified are compatible with programmes.
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