What effects do community care services have on the people who use them? Detailed attempts to measure impacts on service users and their carers have been largely confined to research exercises designed to compare different forms of social care provision. In contrast, performance measurement by social services has focused on activity indicators, inputs and processes, rather than outcomes for users. The need for a shift of focus within agencies' routine practice is being increasingly recognized.

However, the task is not straightforward. This book offers some ways forward for people working in agencies delivering social care. It examines the meaning of outcomes, considers potential service contexts for measuring them, and explores service users' and carers' views. It gives an overview of measures already used in research, and considers the issues involved in developing methods suitable for practice, in relation to the main groups of people receiving community care services.