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The development of the Outcomes Star

Before using any tool it is important to understand how it was developed and whether it has been tested in the field. The following describes the origins and history of the Outcomes Star, including details of the processes that were used for developing and testing the tool.

The original Outcomes Star was developed for St Mungo’s by Triangle Consulting. St. Mungo's commissioned Triangle to develop a tool which they could use to capture soft outcomes for service users across the full range of services, from first stage hostels to work and learning services. A key intention was to enable St. Mungo's to demonstrate the difference they made to the lives of highly vulnerable people. Other requirements included consistency the values of St. Mungo's and ease of use.
 
Triangle consulted extensively with workers and managers across a range of services. In each, consultation was to draw out the key changes services aimed to bring about for service users and how they knew someone was making progress - what the journey looked like. Based on what they heard, Triangle proposed eight outcome areas, the journey of change and the Star format. The draft Star was piloted in four St. Mungo's services, finalised and rolled out.

The St. Mungo's Outcomes Star attracted considerable interest among homelesness agencies who wanted to measure the outcomes of their services but were unsure how. Three major London agencies decided to use the Star to measure their outcomes and received support from the London Housing Foundation to do this.

In addition, a local authority in the North West (Rochdale) commissioned Triangle Consulting to help them take an outcomes approach to Supporting People (SP). This involved consultation within ten pilot SP services and led to the development of the Rochdale client-centred Dial. The Dial was very similar to the St. Mungo's Star and also included some features which took the development of the Star a stage further, most notably a client-friendly version of the scales which made the underlying journey of change more explicit.
 
It soon became clear that the Outcomes Star could be improved to better meet the needs of the homelessness sector. The London Housing Foundation was keen to find ways to support agencies to measure their outcomes effectively and in the process to develop the Star to its full potential. They commissioned Triangle to improve the Outcomes Star as a tool for homelessness agencies. This was done during 2006. The London and Rochdale agencies' experiences and recommendations helped to improve the tool. The result is a client-centred, attractive and clear Outcomes Star with 10 scales.

Practical testing

This development process means that over a four year period clients and workers within 14 organisations have tested, commented on and retested the theory of change on which the tool is based, the wording of the scales, the presentation of the tool, and its usefulness in key-work settings. The result is a robust tool that:
  • Has filled a vacuum by showing that the outcomes of supported housing services can be measured in a way that captures the subtle yet important changes that clients make on their way to long-term goals
  • Supports the key-work process by helping clients understand where they are in relation to important issues in their lives and see the progress they are making
  • Clients and workers find reflects the reality of the process of change that clients go through and helps them to understand the next step they need to take
  • Organisations have found integrates naturally into the key-work process without increasing paperwork
  • Helps managers monitor and measure the effectiveness of services
  • Provides outcome information which is useful and relevant to funders.

Using the tool with clients has two benefits:
  • It helps clients to develop a sense of where they are now in relation to different aspects of their life, where they want to be, and the next step they need to take. By describing the journey of change, the tool helps clients to put their struggles in context, celebrate achievements, understand set-backs, and focus on the challenge ahead.
  • By using numbers to indicate individual client needs and progression, it provides information that can be summarised across a service or a group of services. This makes it possible for managers to take an overview of what is being achieved which helps in the monitoring and development of the service. It also provides a way of demonstrating effectiveness to funders.
Author: Triangle Consulting for the London Housing Foundation
Date: 20 December 2006
Updated: 3 December 2007 







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