ABSTRACT
When I was asked if I would like to contribute a chapter for this book, my initial reaction was one of apprehension. My primary concern was that I am not an art therapist and my academic background contrasts quite sharply with the arts therapies. My qualifications and experience lie mainly in the fields of psychology and criminology. However, I am currently employed as a Research Support Worker within a combined arts therapies team in a service for people with learning difficulties. On reflection, it seems that many of my core research skills have transferred quite smoothly into the arts therapies arena. My key areas of responsibility are that of service evaluation, clinical effectiveness research and obtaining user feedback. Some of my specific tasks are as follows:
1 Administration of questionnaires and undertaking informal interviews with clients and carers to establish both their level of satisfaction with the service and the outcomes of therapy
2 Data collection and analysis 3 Upkeep of databases
4 Production of reports and presentations 5 Exploring new ways of engaging service-users in service planning and
evaluation.
