Star values

The approach underpinning the Outcomes Star family of tools is, we believe, an original approach to assessment and outcomes measurement. The Star approach can be described as Participatory Assessment and Measurement (PAM) because it draws on and extends Action Research and Participatory Action Research (PAR), which places empowerment, collaboration and integration at the core of research methods1. In the same way, the Outcomes Star seeks to empower people within a collaborative process of assessment and measurement that is integrated into support work, rather than a separate process.

Joy MacKeith’s article in Housing Care and Support provides a full description of the theoretical foundations of the Outcomes Star and the core values underpinning it are set out below.

Empowerment

Underpinning the Outcomes Star is an understanding that, in order for change to take place in people’s lives, service providers need to engage people in the motivation, understanding, beliefs and skills that are needed for them to create that change themselves.

Whilst practical changes in a person’s circumstances, such as new accommodation, may be very important, it is not enough to bring about lasting change. Change within the person is the key active ingredient and it is therefore the relationship of the individual to the challenges that they face that is the primary focus in most versions of the Outcomes Star.

This contrasts with other assessment and outcomes measurement tools that focus on the severity of the problem, such as the number of units of alcohol consumed in the case of substance misuse, or on external circumstances, such as whether a person has a job or a home or not. The Outcomes Star approach assumes that these things are important and should be measured, but that on their own they give a limited picture.

Service users and front-line workers report that the Outcomes Star provides a much more empowering context for their keywork because they are active participants in the process rather than having assessment done to them. This involvement in their own process and validation of their experience and perceptions is often critical to the changes they are seeking to make (Burns, MacKeith and Graham, 2008)2. In contrast, being the passive recipient of assessment and measurement by experts can reinforce the disempowerment and lack of self-worth that may have contributed to a person’s need for help in the first place.

Collaboration

When using the Outcomes Star, the worker and the service user assess the service user’s needs together. The service user bases their assessment on their knowledge and understanding of themselves and the worker utilises their experience of working with others generally and their observations and reflections on this person’s behaviour in particular. The intention is that the assessment emerges through a dialogue between service user and worker and this may include both people shifting their views.

The Outcomes Star makes the model of change explicit and the information that is collected (the scores) are immediately presented back to the service user in the form of the completed Star. This makes it possible for both the service user and worker to take an overview together and to reflect on the completed Star as a basis for deciding what action to take.

This contrasts with extractive approaches to assessment and measurement in which the worker, in the role of expert, collects data from the service user and takes that data away to make an assessment on their own. The expert may then decide what course of action is most appropriate and try to persuade the service user that this is the best way forward for them.

Integration

The process of completing the Outcomes Star is an integral part of working with the service user and it is intended to support as well as measure change. The process of completing the Star, engaging with the model of change and reflecting on the data as presented in the Star can, in and of itself, result in a change of attitude within the service user. As a result, the assessment is also part of the treatment. In addition, discussion of where a service user is on the Outcomes Star ladders or on the Journey to Independence and Choice naturally lead to discussions about next steps and action planning. This is why it is recommended that the Outcomes Star is used as an integral part of keywork.

This contrasts with traditional approaches in which the collection of data is seen as a separate process to treatment and may be regarded as intrusive by workers and service users.

1 O’Brien, R. (2001) “An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research” in Roberto Richardson (ed.) Theory and Practice of Action Research, Joao Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraiba (English version)

2 Burns, S., MacKeith, J. and Graham, K. (2008) Using the Outcomes Star: Impact and Good Practice, London: Homeless Link