Outcome based homecare

In 2004, Care UK became involved in the research and work of the University of York’s Social Policy Research Unit around a flexible, person-centred approach to care for older people. Care UK made a commitment to invest significant resources to redesign the way in which domiciliary care services are provided: a promise that has been maintained today.

Outcome based care is about putting the person at the centre of the care service, and not prescribing a standard service to everyone. It is about delivering meaningful outcomes to every individual and helping people to lead more fulfilling lives.

Outcome based care requires careful planning, which involves working with the people who use our services to help them identify and achieve the things they want to do. Delivered well, outcome based care increases interest and motivation and creates the enthusiasm needed to support people to lead a more fulfilling life.

Key benefits of outcome based care

The service user’s desires, aspirations, abilities and talents are explored and utilised to help ensure they lead a more fulfilling life
It empowers care workers to work more closely with service users to understand how best to enable their independence
The service can respond more easily to changing needs and preferences
It contributes to maintaining a service user's independence
It enables service users to exercise more choice and have more flexibility in the day-to-day delivery of their service
It encourages partnership working between all stakeholders involved in the delivery and management of an individual’s care
It uses resources, such as funding and time, to greater effect
It provides a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of services

A fundamental part of outcome based care is looking for opportunities to support people in activity throughout the day. This means thinking about the activities that need to be completed – key tasks such as personal care, travel or meal preparation.

The practice of outcome based care ensures that service users are involved in their daily living choices, no matter what their physical or mental ability. Of course not everyone using our support services can undertake all tasks independently – people need different levels of support. The role of the care worker is to provide enough support to enable the service user’s successful participation.

A key principle of outcome based care is helping service users to engage little and often so that they build up experiences of success and increase their motivation.

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