Outcome Planning

Definition of an outcome Outcomes are the change you want to make through your services or activities…

Writing Outcomes Who is changing? (e.g. the service user, beneficiary, organisation, community etc.) What is changing? (e.g. knowledge, skills, environment, feelings etc.) How will it change? (e.g. increase, improve, reduce, etc.)

Examples of who, what, how… Parents’ confidence is increased Young people have reduced, stabilised or eliminated their drug use Communities are better represented in decision making

Outcome Language Decrease Improve Maximise Minimise Expand Reduce Enhance More Less Produce Increase Strengthen Sustain Support Assist Engage Encourage Enable Help Offering Seeing ‘How’ means describing the change not the action which led to the change

The ‘so what’ test Delivered a health services awareness session- SO WHAT? Older Asian women have better access to community health and social care services  OUTCOME Worked with a group of 16 S4’s who are young carers about future planning- SO WHAT? Young carers are able to make informed choices about the future  OUTCOME Arranged group visits to colleges and took part in indoor climbing sessions - SO WHAT? The group have learned what courses are available at local colleges and how to access these courses  OUTCOME

Things to remember about outcomes… Outcomes… 1.Are about change or difference. 2.Don’t happen by themselves – they are not the activity – they are the result of the activity. 3.Must link logically to the activity. 4.Use words like improve, decrease. 5.Answer the ‘so what?’ question. 6.Should be realistic – achievable in a few years. 7.Should be (largely) in your power to deliver. 8.Should be simple – don’t overcomplicate!

How do you know when you have achieved an outcome? Discussion…

Writing outcome indicators What would an outcome look like if we achieved it? These are your outcome indicators What are the 2-3 most important (and most likely) indicators for each outcome? Involve users and stakeholders. Your indicator list = your evaluation plan

Things to consider when measuring outcomes… 1.Measure indicators more than once to show change. 2.What is your baseline (the starting point) for the service and for individuals (from referral info, assessment, evidence of need etc) 3.Don’t collect information on all outcomes all the time. 4.Do you need to ask everyone or can you sample? 5.Follow up some users if you can to find out what happened next. 6.Use one system – but a range of methods. 7.Build into planning – and if possible activities. 8.Test your methods. 9.Be honest and involve clients. 10.Record unexpected outcomes (e.g. 6 volunteers got a job)

Outcome Planning OutcomeIndicator Evidence Older Asian women have better access to community health and social care services Older Asian women know what community health & social care services are available in the local area Older Asian women know how to access community health & social care services Older Asian women receive more community health & social care services One-to-one mapping with the women to find out what services they know about at the start & end of the 1 year project Group interviews (focus groups) with the women Individual interviews with the women Interview a range of health and social care providers to find out if uptake of services has increased

Outcome Planning and Evaluation Cycle Getting Started - understanding what you want to achieve. Setting and agreeing your outcomes Collecting information - what are you going to measure and how? Getting systems in place Analysing and Reporting - making sense of what you’ve collected and reporting on progress and learning. Learning from your findings - What did you learn? How will you do things differently? Any unexpected results? Source: Evaluation Support Scotland