Why setting goals and tracking outcomes is important in a social care setting

Maximising the potential of reablement and supporting people with complex needs, a learning disability and/or autism 

Reablement helps and supports people to do things for themselves. Assisting people to continue to live as they wish is what reablement is all about, irrespective of their diagnosis.  

It enables people to do ordinary activities like cooking, dressing, washing, going to the shop independently, socialising with others, etc. Reablement focuses on enabling people to build or regain their confidence, abilities, and the necessary skills so they can live as independently as possible.  

In order to achieve effective reablement in a social care setting, the main focus for learning disability care providers should be on setting goals, tracking outcomes and achieving those outcomes. These goals and outcomes should have meaning to the individual and enhance wellbeing, autonomy, independence and choice, ensuring physical and mental health needs are met.  

A reablement approach is person-centred and can be used with a variety of people, including those with complex needs, a learning disability and/or autism, a physical disability and dementia.  

Setting goals and tracking outcomes with Person Centred Software’s Digital Care Planning System 

Numerous journeys occur daily within a social care setting based on each resident's needs.    

To ensure physical and mental health needs are met, it's essential that measurable goals are set for each resident receiving care and that learning disability care providers are able to keep track of the progress each resident is making, as well as track and deliver on the outcomes.    

For someone receiving care, the goal might be to make a trip to the shop by themselves or to join in on more activities within the care home, or it could be something smaller, such as cooking a meal for themselves.    

Other goals are the same as those of anyone else. 

• To feel a sense of independence and purpose 
• Employment  
• The opportunity to participate in community activities  
• A strong network of supportive friends and family members  
• Have the same access to resources in the community as everyone else 
• Go out and be included in society and the communities in which they live  
  
  

In most cases, the person being cared for might need extra support, guidance and a little encouragement to do the things listed above.   

For an older adult being cared for, there may be goals around being discharged from the hospital and placed in a residential home successfully, this can be very disruptive for the person, but the more care providers understand about someone, the easier it is to care for that person.  

In order to set and track goals, you need to understand the people who are being cared for:    

• What are their interests  
• What are their goals  
• What do they like/dislike  
• What activities are meaningful to them 
  

Person Centred Software sees the information above as imperative to support learning disability care providers in providing high-quality care and working a more compliant method of meeting wellbeing needs.   

With Person Centred Software's Goal Tracking and Outcomes feature, learning disability care providers are able to support residents with their goals and keep track of the progress towards meeting them.  

The Goal Tracking and Outcomes dashboard delivers a holistic overview of all the goals set for each resident within the home and a number of charts to track trends and analyse how each resident's goals are performing, along with the outcome. 

The benefits of setting goals and tracking outcomes 

Person Centred Software’s Goal Tracking and Outcomes feature will enable learning disability care providers to:

• Create numerous goals for each resident, along with the actions that need to be taken to achieve those goals.  
• Let family members contribute to a goal by adding progress notes through the Relatives Gateway portal.  
• Track progress and trends of activities over time to support and help guide residents to complete their goals.  
• Indicate how often you would like or would not like a resident to do a particular activity or behaviour. 
  
  

Matching residents with people who have similar interests  

Using the Goal Tracking and Outcomes feature, learning disability care providers can also fill out a form ticking the resident's likes and dislikes. After the form has been filled in, the system matches the resident with other people within the home (staff or residents) with the same interests, allowing care providers to buddy people up - this is especially helpful if there is a new arrival within the home. 

Having this capability allows a person-centred approach to caring and fulfilling goals. For example, with an older adult coming out of the hospital and into a care home for the first time, the goal may be to make their first day in the home as calm and relaxed as possible. 

Understanding the person's likes, dislikes, goals, and interests increases the positive experience immensely. If they feel more welcome due to being buddied up with someone with similar interests, or you can avoid a specific dislike they may have, their wellness goals are being considered and met. 

The same with someone who has autism or a learning disability, or both; their goal of wanting to be more independent and understanding their triggers, likes and dislikes will enable care providers to create an effective action plan tailored to them.   

Using Person Centred Software's Digital Care Planning System allows care notes to be reported against these goals to show real progress. 

Sharing residents' interests, likes, dislikes and goals with Person Centred Software's wellbeing and activities platform   

Person Centred Software has recently welcomed Oomph! Wellness to its family of products. Oomph! Wellness offers a wellbeing and activities platform for staff and residents containing activity ideas, exercise inspiration and training tools. Oomph also offers training for staff to support and build strength in providing meaningful activities around wellness.   

The information on the Digital Care Planning System, which includes residents' interests, likes, dislikes and goals, is shared with Oomph's wellbeing and activities platform and creates a profile for each resident, allowing the Oomph platform to tailor content specific to that person's preferences and needs. Essentially the Digital Care Planning System drives the content in Oomph to be more effective in meeting people's wellness goals.  

Information on what activities each resident is doing is sent from Oomph to Person Centred Software's Digital Care Planning System, which creates a care note, so you are able to measure activities against your goals and understand outcomes much better.   

Click here to learn more about Person Centred Software’s wellbeing and activities platform.   

To learn more about Person Centred Software’s Digital Care Planning System and its features, click here.