Beyond Joy: Measuring Success in Diversional Therapy Programs

As professionals in the field of healthcare, Diversional Therapists need to be able to measure the impact of their work. This is not only in the interests of accountability but, more importantly, to provide valuable feedback to help plan our programmes and activities. As with many other professions where the focus is people, success can look very different for each individual, and can be difficult to measure. It goes beyond a simple collection of data: knowledge of each person is necessary to make an informed judgement. If a man has only turned up for one session out of ten, is this success or failure? It could represent a huge breakthrough for him, or it could be a sign of withdrawal and depression. Only knowing him and his context will take you past the numbers.

Two types of data can be collected to measure the effectiveness of our work, and both are necessary in order to gain a full picture.

Quantitative measures are those that can be counted, expressed numerically and analysed statistically. They answer questions like “how much?” or “how many?”: for example, the number of people attending a workshop is a quantitative measure. I use a spreadsheet to record attendance at the sessions I run. No-one is expected to attend all of them, but I can use the data to see that every person is engaging with something. If attendance falls off, this triggers an investigation to find out why.

Qualitative measures are descriptive and involve characteristics that can’t easily be counted. They often involve observations and interviews to provide depth and understanding. They answer questions like “why?” or “how?”: an example would be feedback about participants’ experiences during an activity. I write quick notes after an activity on key points or observations, which I can write up in more detail later. These observations give me important feedback on the success of the activity. They may highlight individual issues: for example, a normally engaged and sociable person is not taking part or seems listless and out of sorts. This can be brought up at a team meeting and may provide valuable input to medical staff.

Individual patients’ care plans are a key factor in our planning as I do my best to provide a range of activities to meet the needs and interests of a diverse group of people. These care plans are also important when assessing the effectiveness of activities: to what extent have I supported the patients’ individual goals? What would success look like for that individual? Success may be when someone finally joins a group activity after isolating themselves in their room since coming into care, or a noticeable improvement in their wellbeing and quality of life.

The effectiveness of my programmes needs to be measurable and documented. If the outcome of an activity wasn’t what I expected, I need to reflect on why that was and figure out what can be done to improve it. I must ask myself what happened and why it happened. Was it the venue, the time of day or another influencing factor? Has something happened that is affecting the mood of the residents – a death perhaps? Does the activity add value to what is required in the patient’s care plan? If not, what needs to be changed? Does the care plan need a review? Is the bar too high or is the activity not up to scratch? Does the time frame need to be revised?

Through an intelligent and manageable system of reflection and measurement of the effectiveness of what we do as Diversional Therapists, we can make a significant impact on the daily experiences and wellbeing of the people we serve. Through feedback and informed planning, our programmes can offer activities that meet the needs of our patients, who deserve the best we can provide for them.