Genio has commissioned a research team from the University of Ulster (UU) to carry out an evaluation which will provide evidence that will inform the transition from traditional group-based models of care to individualised, cost-effective supports and services. The UU team is headed by Prof. Roy McConkey and will, over the next two years (from mid-2011 to mid-2013), conduct an evaluation of individualised supports to people in Genio grant-aided initiatives and other services working in this way. The members of the evaluation team are described here.

The evaluation is concerned with identifying:

• The outcomes for service users receiving individualised supports; including their own individual outcomes and outcomes common to all participants, and how these have changed. Outcomes will include relationships, living situation, community participation and others.
• The direct costs to provide support for service users and how these costs have changed. Other costs that have a significant impact will also be considered.
• The cost-effectiveness of initiatives. The data on outcomes will be combined with the cost data to provide a measure of the cost-effectiveness of the provision of individualised supports.
• The processes which have led to effective change and transition. This will include descriptions of the way in which services have been structured or reorganised in order to provide individualised supports and the steps they have taken to do this, the staff employed and the activities undertaken in the provision of individualised supports.

Participants will include over 200 individuals in 23 Genio grant-aided projects and in one other service who are being supported to move to more independent settings. Participants include people with a range of disabilities, both in type and severity; individuals with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities and mental health difficulties are included in the study.

Participants will be interviewed at three time points over the period of the study. A range of quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to fully capture specific outcomes and the story of individuals as their life changes in the course of a year. Interviews will also be conducted with family members, support workers and service providers to ensure complete data capture on all important variables.

Extensive pilot and other preparation work was undertaken and the first data uplift is currently underway. The first reports from the evaluation are expected in May 2012. When completed, it is expected that the study will provide information that will address the central questions of a variety of stakeholders including:

• Service users and families - examples of how people’s lives can change with individualised, person-centred supports.
• Policy makers and government funders - what these individualised, person-centred supports cost, what the outcomes are for individuals, and how they fit with policy and desired outcomes at a national/global level.
• Service providers - what changes were made within services to support this way of working, what processes have worked and how they have been put in place for individuals and scaled up for larger groups.

All reports from the evaluation will be widely disseminated and will be used to inform and accelerate the transition from traditional group-based models of care to individualised, cost-effective supports and services.

Evaluation Documents

• For information about the evaluation in a different format please refer to this document.
• All participants of the evaluation process are asked to complete a consent form which is available here.