Experiential use of Outcome Measures (CORE manual forms/CORE-Net)
Recent qualitative research (Unsworth et al. 2011) shows that introducing outcome measurement (paper or online versions) is a challenge to most therapists initially.
Challenges:
- Anxiety provoking as may be a new way of working.
- Intrusive in the room.
- Resistance to using it due to fears of changing their practice and being judged as therapists.
- Interrupts the flow of the session.
- Awkward to use when the client is distressed.
- Not knowing how to integrate the measures into their work clinically especially if there are discrepancies between the clinical scores and how the client presents.
However through practice and over time therapists felt more positive:
Benefits:
- Enables the provision of a good focus for shorter term work.
- Acts as conversation enhancers as collaborative conversations ensue of the clinical scores with the client especially if there are discrepancies/incongruence of the scores and how they present.
- Questions help to clarify thoughts with the clients.
- Establishes standards and benchmarks and is a (visual) representation of how the clients feel.
- Clients like to use the measures more than their therapists!
- Risk assessment more overt with an objective clinical score to guide the therapist.
- Clinical scores can help to triage sessions in order of severity when there are wait lists.
The training and continuous mentoring and regular supervision of therapists in outcome measurement use is essential to the success of routine use of outcome measurement in psychological therapy services.
Unsworth G; Cowie H; Green A (2011) Therapists' and clients' perceptions of routine outcome measurement in the NHS: A qualitative study. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research: Linking research with practice. Available at
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a935887469
~frm=titlelink?words=therapists%27,clients%27,perceptions,routine,outcome,measurement,nhs,qualitative,study [Accessed on 8th June 2011]
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