Practitioners as gatekeepers and researchers: family support outcomes Available to Purchase

This paper describes the problems and difficulties encountered in a current research project which is attempting to engage practitioners in the collection of data using standardized outcome measures. The aim of the research is to meet the demand for greater clarity about the services and, particularly, the therapeutic interventions delivered by family support practitioners, whilst maintaining a sensitivity to the family support services’ client group. The client group consists of children in need and vulnerable families who might often be described as “in crisis”. The paper explains the family support context and refers to the difficulties encountered by other researchers in this field. The methods and process of engaging practitioners in this research have not been widely used and are, perhaps without precedent. They are described in detail, as are both the reported and perceived problems which have become a research finding in their own right.