Success Indicators

Clients usually come to Connect with a high level of pathology and significant destructive behaviours, usually including self-harm and/or suicide attempts.  We have strategies for continuous monitoring and assessment of how people are progressing towards significant, sustainable change.  Information about clients’ behaviour and presentation before and after admission is collected and collated and this is used to evaluate our outcomes.  Our quantitative success indicator is provided by the MMPI-2 test, which includes eight pathology scales.  People take the MMPI-2 before they come to Connect, and every six months while they are here, which allows us to trace their progress in working through their pathology.  The most recent detailed outcomes study on Connect is the Evaluation Study from Coventry University (below).

Evaluation Study

A recent study on Connect by Yvette Brown, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Coventry University, used MMPI-2 score data, outcomes measures and eight interviews with former residents to evaluate the service.  The study concluded that it had “highlighted the value of caring, acceptance and belonging and demonstrated Connect’s ability to give individuals with complex mental health needs hope for the future and produce life-changing experiences.”

The study also examined outcome results since 2000 and found that 92% of clients who had completed the therapy programme had not re-presented at statutory mental health services.  These clients had also reduced their medication intake, typically very high on arrival, to minimal or nil, and had used their time at Connect to permanently give up self-harm.

Click here to download the study in full.

Commission for Social Care Inspection.

As a registered Care Home for adults aged 18-65, Connect is inspected by CSCI.  The last inspection was on 28th February 2008, and the report noted:

“Connect Therapeutic Community provides a safe, caring environment to support people with significant emotional and mental health needs.  People get good information, and the chance to see at first hand what the Community has to offer before moving in.  This helps to make an informed decision about whether or not the service is right for them.

People are treated with warmth and respect.  Through very structured therapy and intensive support, they are helped to understand and face up to their personal difficulties.  Taking part in the life of the Community helps them to gain control over their lives, feel well again, and prepares them to live independently.

Staff are well trained and motivated, and work hard to support people to achieve their goals.  The home is well run, and good work has been done to find out what people think about the quality of the service provided."

Click here to download the report in full.

Community of Communities

As a member of the Association of Therapeutic Communities, Connect participates in the Community of Communities peer-review network, part of the research unit of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This allows us to measure ourselves against the Service Standards for Therapeutic Communities, which are broken down into these six areas:

• Core standards
• Physical environment
• Staff
• Joining and leaving
• Therapeutic environment
• External relations

The Community consistently scores highly in terms of the percentage of Service Standards which are considered “fully met” by the review team, and the review process provides us with a useful action plan for further progress.  Click here to download a copy of the most recent report.