Doing The Simple Things Well The Importance of Evidence Informed Practice Pam Robinson Deputy Director, Children and Families Children’s Services Department.

Doing The Simple Things WellThe Importance of Evidence Informed

Practice

Pam RobinsonDeputy Director, Children and

FamiliesChildren’s Services Department

Hampshire County Council

Doing The Simple Things WellEvidence Based Practice is defined as “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the welfare of service users” (adapted from Sackett et al, BMJ 1996)“It is often difficult for professional programs like social work or counselling to establish and maintain a credible academic identity, when much of the credibility of the profession lies in its connections outside the traditional university – with the professional field, social care organisations, and the broader community. In addition, it is difficult for the traditional academic researcher to undertake research which is seen to be of immediate benefit in a field which is complex, changing and unpredictable. And in the newer professions, it is often difficult to establish the credibility of research, when traditional research is seen to be relatively distant from the workaday world of the practising professional.”

(Proposal to establish a practice research development resource group, the Southampton Practice Research Initiative Network Group)

Doing The Simple Things Well

Why is evidence based practice seen to be so difficult?

A crisis of confidence• Tragedies• Change and wholescale policy reform• Changed structures• Changed legislation• Social re-engineering• Parallel universes

Doing The Simple Things Well

Why is evidenced bases practice seen to be so difficult?

A culture of externalised “it’s someone else’s job”– Government’s– Department’s– Local Authorities’– Employers’

A training/professional development issue– Compare this to Educational Psychologists– Doctors– therapists

Doing The Simple Things Well

Why is evidence based practice seen to be so difficult?

A Capacity issue– Targeted services for the most vulnerable and

resourcing levels– Dealing in crises. Time pressures

An Employer’s Issue– Use of performance management/measurement

frameworks– Value for money considerations – what works

Doing The Simple Things Well

Why is evidence based practice seen to be so difficult?A Change or Pace of Change Issue

– Back to Change for Children Agenda– Back to structural change– Changed tools and processes (Common

Assessment Framework)– Changed accountabilities/reporting lines– Changed cultures

Doing The Simple Things Well

When change promotes evidence-based practice

The Children Act 1989– Volumes of guidance and regulations – Family Rights Group– Family Group Conferences– Support to families

Doing The Simple Things WellWhen change promotes evidence – based

practiceQuality Protects

– Letter to councillors– Corporate parenting – Performance indicators– Performance Assessment Framework

Choice Protects– Placement stability– Permanence

Framework for the Assessment of Children and Families– Initial assessments– Core assessments

Doing The Simple Things Well

When change promotes evidence-based practice by accident!Care Leavers Legislation

– Pathway Plans– Personal Advisers– Not in Education, Employment or

Training (NEETs)

Doing The Simple Things Well

When change promotes evidence based practice

Every Child Matters and Outcomes– Being Healthy– Staying Safe– Enjoying and Achieving– Making a Positive Contribution– Enjoying Economic Well-Being

The Children Act 2004– Promoting well being duties– Safeguarding duties– Director of Children’s Services

Doing The Simple Things WellWhen change promotes evidence based

practiceAnnual Performance Assessments

– Outcomes reporting on all children– Integrating accountability for outcomes

Joint Area Reviews– JAR data set– Outcomes reporting on vulnerable children

Piloting for evidence base– On Track– Targeted Youth Support– Parenting Interventions (Triple P – Positive Parenting)– Children’s Fund– Youth Offending Teams– Intensive Treatment Fostering

Doing The Simple Things WellWhen local practice management promotes evidence based practiceIt costs money/resources – so it has to work really wellIt’s non statutory, so it has to prevent the need for statutory interventionEvaluating Schemes in Hampshire/Basing Schemes on Research

– Family Group Conferences (Lupton and Stevens, Marsh and Crow)

– Restorative Justice (Sherman and String)– Common Assessment Framework Training– Impact of Locality Teams

Doing The Simple Things Well

When local improvements in training/ professional development promote evidence based practiceStudents

– Researching mentoring schemes for care leavers

P.Q. Awards– Practice teaching and outcomes

Current practitioners supported– Quality of supervision– Health and safety of student placements

Doing The Simple Things Well

A comparison

PATHS SEAL THOMAS SIDNEY Triple P

What are they?

Doing The Simple Things WellConfident schemes, used in whole school communities

PATHS Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies

SEAL Social and Emotional Aspects of LearningTHOMAS The Hampshire Outline for Meeting the needs of under fives on the Autistic SpectrumSIDNEY Screening and Intervention for Dyslexia notably in the Early Years

Research and evaluated schemes that build resilience Schemes researched, evaluated and published by a confident profession (“Doing The Simple Things Well”)

Doing The Simple Things Well

The Comparison“permanence”“attachment disorder”“assessment”“therapy”“keepsafe work”

Mantras that are repeated without understanding

A culture that takes no responsibility at the personal or professional level

Doing The Simple Things Well

Lord Laming report – Death of Victoria ClimbieInter-agency responsibility – failedOrganisational responsibility – failedProfessional responsibility – failedPersonal responsibility – taxi driverProfessional responsibility to do the simple things

wellProfessional responsibility to evidence – base our

actionsPersonal responsibility to use and promote research

Doing The Simple Things Well

So what do we need to do?Address the crisis of confidence

– Understand, embrace and celebrate the pace of change

Address the culture and training and professional development– On social work training for a profession– On integrated training for a children’s workforce

Address the capacity issue– Build resilience in universal services– Use multi-disciplinary approaches to crisis

Embrace the performance management frameworks– Targets– Performance indicators/measures

Doing The Simple Things Well

So what do we need to do?Promote policy/legislative change that is based in research of what works

– Parenting– Youth Offending Teams

Challenge policy/legislative change that is tabloid based

– Demonisation of children– Criminalisation of children– Punishment of the poor

Use integration to reduce “siege”– Workers with a chance to do prevention– Workers with a chance to pilot– Workers with a chance to evaluate

Doing The Simple Things Well

So what do we need to do?Learn the lessons from integration

– National strategies for schools– Educational psychology and research – Youth work– Parenting intervention

Celebrate specialism– Senior practitioners/consultants– Define the roles– Be the “experts”

Use the universities– Persuade them it’s not just social care– Marry them to policy change– Marry them to performance management and

outcomes

Doing The Simple Things Well

So what do we need to do?Take personal responsibility

– for learning– for research– for teaching– for evidencing

Take professional responsibility– for using “what works”

Do The Simple Things Well