Outcomes Star as a way of supporting relational practice at all levels of the service delivery system
In a recently published article in the peer reviewed journal ‘Teaching Public Administration’, we draw together evidence that Outcomes Star can play an important role in supporting the development of skills for on-going learning and relational working, not only for practitioners, but also for those using, managing and commissioning services. Dr Anna Good, Evidence and Validity lead at Outcomes Star, and one of the co-authors shares some of the highlights.
Calls for relational, person-centred and strengths-based services grow louder and louder, but despite pockets of excellent practice, the norm remains a more transactional approach which ‘does to’ rather than ‘doing with’. Our own Enabling Help report broke down ‘doing with’ into six core principles. The six principles of Enabling Help are below.
What role can Outcomes Star play in helping to make this kind of enabling service delivery widespread? In the article we look at how the distinctive design features of Outcomes Star shown in the table below have been found to help people at all levels of the service delivery system to learn and to work in an enabling way.
The people using the service
The Star visual supports people to gain greater understanding of their needs, strengths and progress. Together with the collaborative completion and shared sense making, the Star conveys that their role in making change happen is valued. The model of change and defined scales also provide a picture of the scope of the service, and how change can happen incrementally through a collaborative, developmental process of learning what works for them.
“You can see the progress you’ve made. It’s visual, powerful. Some people can’t understand from written reports but can understand this.”
– Service user cited in Onifade, 2011
Practitioners
The structure provided by the Journey of Change, collaborative completion process and visual graphic supports practitioners to implement a strengths-based, relational, holistic approach – as well as providing a shared language for learning across teams. The Journey of Change is also helpful in informing the type of support that is needed because it focuses on the person’s engagement with the issues and the available support rather than just their severity.
92% of clients reported that the Star helps practitioners understand service users’ needs (2019 client survey)
Line Managers
Managers are often taken away from the important work of supervising practitioners and reviewing individual cases by pressures such a trying to meet targets, policing compliance and record keeping. With this in mind, the Journey of Change and Star visual can rapidly provide an overview of the situation and the type of support likely to be appropriate for those individuals, helping the practitioner and manager to use the remaining time on reflect on the approach being used. In addition, presenting summary information about progress to the team can offer both motivation and a starting point for reflective practice. We offer training for managers who really want to get the most from the Star.
“It was so nice to be able to show health visitors that they are improving outcomes and making an impact when they are feeling weary and overwhelmed.”
– Manager, 0-5 service
Senior Managers and Commissioners
The rich information provided by Star data can help to connect those who are necessarily somewhat removed from direct service delivery with what is really happening on the ground. Because Outcomes Stars are rooted in the one-to-one work occurring between those using the service and the practitioners supporting them, they can provide a golden thread linking delivery to management, leadership and commissioning.
The Star offers a holistic picture beyond the presenting need and in-depth information about engagement with issues and support, skills, confidence and self-reliance as well as severity, supporting reporting that can lead to improvement at all levels of the service delivery system.
While pressures on senior managers and commissioners can lead them to focus on achievement of hard outcomes or oversimplified KPIs, tools such as the Star can encourage more in-depth exploration and more meaningful outcomes. We have been encouraged to see examples of a genuine desire to engage in what the Star can reveal, and more partnership with services in determining what ‘good’ is. We are always keen to support this learning mindset around the Star.
Footnotes and further information
The article summarised here is titled ‘Equipping public servants to take a learning-oriented, relational approach: The Outcomes Star as a tool for public service pedagogy’. It is in the journal Teaching Public Administration (2025, Vol. 43(2) 157–188). DOI: 10.1177/01447394251360763
Enabling Help report
You can read the full Enabling Help report here.