Implementing routine outcome measures in a psychiatric rehabilitation setting

Abstract

The paper describes the implementation of outcome measures in routine clinical practice in a psychiatric rehabilitation unit in the UK. Informant-rated outcome measures assessing functional skills and community integration were successfully completed by nursing staff for all 10 patients over a period of 6 months. The results of outcome measures for individual patients were used to inform discussions of patient functioning at multidisciplinary review and support planning meetings. Outcome measures were also compared at two time points to provide a preliminary evaluation of the service. Data suggest that patients showed improvements in all variables assessed, lending support to the effectiveness of the programme. These findings were positively received by key stakeholders. Recommendations are made for the future implementation of outcome evaluation in psychiatric rehabilitation services.