Evaluations
“...there needs to be a fundamentally
respectful and ethical relationship between services and the people
they assist”
Michael Kendrick
We
were originally commissioned by the Thistle
Foundation in Scotland to develop an Evaluation Process that would
explore quality in the newer more individualised services and that
could also be used and understood by everyone. The Five
Dimensions of Person-centredness was the result.
The process
has been developed to be used by
mixed teams of people who
are fascinated by how services work –
people who use
services, carers,
professionals are all team members.
We believe that organisations have patterns and routines
that are
difficult to see when they are lived from the inside, year after year.
Yet these patterns may be the reason why things stay the same and why
the same problems keep coming back. This means it's hard to identify
what is really happening unless there is a clear feedback process.
Organisational
change
often
fails because it doesn't
address
the broader social, historical and cultural issues that affect people
who use
social care services.
Using the Five Dimensions approach we explore with you
the patterns and processes in the delivery of a service that contribute
to unique, empowering support and right relationships- we provide a
reflective process to help improve services, raising awareness about belief
systems
and how things are happening?
“The process of 'serving' people well
is not a function of a simple adherence to procedures or the use of a
technology. On the contrary, it is a task that usually draws heavily on
those involved as 'servers' to be very present to, and respons
ive to,
the person being served. It involves many elements of one's
total person,
including
one's
perception,
insights, integrity, ability, limitations,
character, values, strength, time and energy. Far from being some
remote, detached activity in which all choices are objectified, it is a
task which intensively engages one's subjectivity. It should not
surprise us that human beings find serving others to be very
challenging, if not frequently overwhelming.”
For
more
information
about the Five Dimensions download
a
flier
here
And for information on our evaluation work involving
people who use services in the process see here.
