ABSTRACT
The evaluation of client outcomes and costs was based primarily on interviews and assessments using structured questionnaires, but also on more than three years of formal and informal contacts with staff and clients. With few exceptions, the interview schedules were common to all client groups. Some of the most commonly-used indicators of the success of community care are skill level, role performance and behaviour. Indicators of integration into the community and level of independence include self-care, performance of everyday tasks such as shopping, and getting along with others. As a group, clients with learning difficulties showed no deterioration in behaviour between hospital and community, although there was a statistically significant increase in the intensity or frequency of behavioural problems in two projects. Engaged activity has been defined in empirical studies as ‘all client interactions with people, materials, furniture or fittings and a small group of other defined activities such as watching television.
