Outcome Based Practice

Outcome based practice is a method used in health and social care services which is designed to have a direct effect on an individual; an outcome is also referred to as the end result, it is essentially the impact on the individual after an activity or service. Outcome based practice supports person centred care as it promotes staff to encourage citizens to take an active participation in their support/care. Instead of just identifying the needs of the individual and basing their support soley around what they need in the community, it is about putting the individual at the core of the practice and highlighting what is important to them in relation to wants, feelings, needs and desired outcomes to gather deeper understanding when prioritising

It is about person centred approaches which promotes individuality, this is also a tool that can be used for staff to reflect on how a service is suited to the citizen in their everyday lifestyle rather than how the same practice impacts different individuals. Reviewing and monitoring of outcome based practice is essential to receiving feedback on how the practice affects the individual, staff are able to work alongside the individual who gets support and discuss the positive impact as well as areas that could be improved to enhance the wellbeing of the citizen, it is very important the outcome based practice is realistic to the individual and not what they think they are expected to do. Additionally things change all the time so reviewing and monitoring the outcome based practice means that the feedback can help adapt the action plans or care plans to suit the individual, it needs to be person centred at all times, ensuring that the citizen is involved in the process of updating any information which supports the staff to apply an effective

For example if an individual has been under section for many years, has multi-agency reviews whereby they have to reach a particular level of understanding and their mood/behaviour should remain stable before release they can ultimately feel as though the choice has been taken away from them, even though it is in their best interest that these decisions are made by other health professions. However once in the community the citizens should have a full explanation that the goals for their future are based on the decisions and choices they make whilst under conditions of their section, if taking medication is one condition of their community treatment order and the citizen is compliant, then, for example, they should be given further choice to decide what time they may take it and with what drink. In supported living it is often easier to ensure the citizens are receiving the right package of support suitable for them, as they are awarded support hours based on their needs, therefore in own area of work it is vital that as senior I sit with each citizen and ensure their hours reflect their daily routine, as opposed to residential care settings/hospital settings where they are more restrictive of time due to the number of patients to staff ratio being