An evaluation of individualised supports to people with disabilities/mental health difficulties: Outcomes, costs and processes for change

For plain text information about the evaluation, please click here.

Background information

Genio is a non-profit organisation that works with the public, private and non-profit sectors to stimulate and support social innovation in Ireland that has lasting impact. Genio brings people together – the Government, health and social service providers, advocates, social policy experts, NGOs and business people – to support social innovation. Genio’s focus is on those who do not have access to opportunities to live as full and valued members of society due to disability, educational disadvantage, poverty, age or other factors that act as barriers to participating fully in society.

We began our work with a wide-ranging consultation some years ago which revealed the need for simultaneous action on several fronts to transform the health and social care system so that it enables citizens to have real choice and control over their lives through individualised supports and services. Evidence from other jurisdictions also underlined the need for inter-related actions in order to change long-established, complex systems of care delivery. Genio used this information to develop a three-strand strategy to support and facilitate change;

• Firstly, by providing financial support in the form of relatively small grants which are aimed at providing stimulus funding to support change.
• Secondly, through capacity building initiatives aimed at diverse audiences including service users and families, service providers and policy makers. Genio has developed a Learning Exchange which provides a range of capacity building programmes, from practical support in the form of direct advice and monitoring, through to in-depth training in evidence-informed models of support for people with disabilities and mental health difficulties.
• Thirdly, by providing and disseminating evidence on individual outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of individualised supports and services in an Irish context, and on the processes and structures that are efficient and support good outcomes. 

Genio funded 23 projects in 2010 and 2011 which had a specific focus on supporting people to move to more independent living arrangements in the community. This move is endorsed by Government policy proposals.

Part of our strategy is to evaluate the work that is funded to establish whether it is effective or not. It is also important to collect evidence of the impact on the person themselves, in terms of how their life changes, and also what families think and how services respond.