Our June newsletter included news on our upcoming new Star Online system, news on our new Outcomes Star: the New Mum’s Star, as well as updates on our new resources, reports and a short blog on our social enterprise model.
New resources and reports
Some of the new resources which were highlighted in the newsletter included:
Welsh translations of our Family Stars (available for licenced Star users on request)
A new evaluation report created with Chiltern Music Therapy examining the benefits of the Music Therapy Star which specifically highlighted that 95% of people engaging in music therapy significantly made improvements in at least two outcome areas.
Contact Triangle at info@outcomesstar.org or +44(0) 20 7272 8765 for more information on our Outcomes Stars or to find out more about how the Star can empower service users and keyworkers to make and measure positive change. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Introducing our new vision for the digital home of outcomes-focused keywork
By Sarah Owen, Product Manager at Triangle
Screenshot of the existing Star Online system showing a Star visual with 2 sets of ‘completion lines’ representing 2 Stars completed with a service user over time
The Star Online web application for the Outcomes Star was first launched by Triangle in 2011. As the Star has grown in popularity and in use across different sectors and services, so has the Star Online.
Today the system is used by over 800 organisations and 45,000 frontline practitioners, to support over half a million people and to record nearly 900,000 completed Stars.
Listening and responding to feedback
Over the last 8 years, we have heard from many of the practitioners, managers and commissioners that use the system. You told us that, although many aspects of the original design still hit the mark, there are frustrations with the system, such as the limited range of reports available and the lack of flexibility in how services can be configured.
Alongside this feedback, technology has improved exponentially since the original development, with digital service design now utilising cutting edge, user focused tools and programming approaches.
To respond to this, we have committed to a significant level of investment in the Star Online, and since last year, we have been working with QES to completely redevelop the system.
Collaborating with specialists and practitioners
Logo for QES – specialist developer of web based and offline apps
QES is a specialist developer of web based and offline apps, supporting secure digital data solutions to a diverse range of public and private sector clients. Other QES developments include the eCDOP (online recording, casework and reporting for child deaths) and Holistix Early Help case management system.
The development of the new system is well underway. We’re retaining a focus on intuitive, simple design whilst also radically improving what is on offer – for example, with a complete overhaul of reports and tools for analysing Star data, and by introducing more options for how services, teams and people can be configured. Throughout the process, we are collaborating with a small group of practitioners, managers and Star Leads – also known as our Think Tank – who represent a broad selection of organisations using the current system in the UK and in Australia, and who are reviewing our plans and testing out the system.
Timings and next steps
Our timeline is to launch at the end of November 2019 for
new users, and to support existing clients using the current Star Online to
migrate over to the new system by March 2020.
We will have more information for existing clients soon and are working
to make the migration from old to new as straightforward as possible. We will of course be providing guidance and
support throughout the process.
For more information
If you have any questions or any ideas you’d like to share with us, contact us on info@outcomesstar.org or +44(0)20 272 8765.
Our March newsletter round-up includes updates on our licensing options, an introduction to our new Managing Director, and a call for interest and views on a Star for Neurodevelopment as well as updates on our new resources and reports.
New resources and reports
Triangle continues to publish new resources to support organisations in creating positive change by promoting an effective outcomes approach and providing sector-wide solutions:
Contact Triangle at info@outcomesstar.org or +44(0) 20 7272 8765 for more information on our Outcomes Stars or to find out more about how the Star can empower service users and keyworkers to make and measure positive change. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Triangle, the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Stars, has grown rapidly in the last few years, as more and more frontline services aim to support and measure change by implementing the Outcomes Star.
To help lead Triangle into our next exciting chapter, we have appointed Graham Randles in the new role of Managing Director.
Graham joins us from the New Economics Foundation (NEF). As Managing Director of NEF Consulting, Graham worked with organisations to prove and improve their impact by understanding and measuring outcomes, leading a team delivering consultancy, training and capacity building.
Graham brings to Triangle his significant experience in the fields of health and wellbeing, social care and environmental sustainability, such as his role in developing the first total contribution report for the Crown Estate and creating the 40-year impact report for the Prince’s Trust. Throughout Graham’s varied career in the UK and internationally, he has focused on challenging the status-quo to unlock ideas and new ways of working.
Recently Graham has worked on projects to assess the implementation of the Public Services (Social Value) Act across the health and care sector for NHS England and to measure the value for money of FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste.
Graham will work alongside Joy MacKeith and Sara Burns, co-founder Directors of Triangle and creators at the Outcomes Star, to lead our social enterprise – supporting our teams to support our licensed Star users, and building the presence of Triangle in the wider world. Graham is an accomplished international public speaker with a focus on measuring impact, having recently spoken at the World Health Forum in Gastein and delivered workshops for Public Health Wales and the UK’s Care Quality Commission.
Graham has a BSc in business Administration and an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice, both from the University of Bath, and he is also a trustee for the sight loss charity Sutton Vision.
If you have any questions about our new role, any queries about Triangle or the Outcomes Star or would just like to say hello, please contact us on info@outcomesstar.org or +44(0)207 272 8765.
This month’s newsletter round-up includes news on new reports; two new Outcomes Star case studies; new Star research and pyschometric findings; links to Family Nurse Partnership’s newly published blog post on the development of our upcoming New Mum Star and an interview with Clare Burrell, Head of Strategic Commissioning and Policy for Children and Families at Essex County Council on the Family Star (Relationships) the new Star for reducing inter-parental conflict.
New resources and reports
We have recently published a new set of psychometric factsheets as well as a short blog on the role of psychometric testing and why it matters. We also introduced new resources including:
This month’s newsletter round-up includes news on two new Stars, newly published research on using Star data with research and evaluation in Early Help services, job vacancies, future Star development as well as upcoming events.
Outcomes Star events
Triangle are running free events across the country in Brighton, London and Glasgow for service managers and practitioners of frontline services. Morning sessions are for services who have heard about the Outcomes Star and would like to know more, afternoon sessions are for services who already use the and will focus on implementation and getting the most of out of the Star and data. Spaces are limited: find out more and book your place here.
On 14th November 2017, we marked over 10 years since the publication of the original Outcomes Star for homelessness with a free information and learning event in London, UK.
Over 100 people came together on a Tuesday morning, including new faces and people who have been instrumental to the success of the Star s0 far. The purpose of the day was to share what Triangle have learnt from over a decade supporting frontline services to prove and improve outcomes, and to hear from people’s own learnings and experiences of the Outcomes Star – watch our short video of the morning in action:
First up, our directors, Sara and Joy, presented their thoughts and learnings, looking back to 2002 and the beginnings of the Outcomes Star, and looking ahead to what the future may hold for outcomes, impact and the Outcomes Star. See the presentation from Joy and Sara, creators of the Outcomes Star and directors of Triangle, here.
To mark over 10 years of the Outcomes Star, we’ve pulled together some interesting facts and figures, showing the scale of Star use across the UK:
Later that morning, we heard from two representatives of organisations using the Outcomes Star in their day-to-day practice. Claire Richardson, commissioner with the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner team, told us how they had worked closely with service providers to help them get the most out of the Star. Mick Carroll, Head of Coaching at Restore, an Oxford-based mental health charity, took us through the 7 things, if you really want to implement the Star as badly and ineffectively as possible, that you absolutely must do! You can hear both Claire and Mick, as well as Paul Richards, a Support Worker and Licensed Star Trainer from St Basils, a charity supporting young homeless people or young people at risk of homelessness in the West Midlands, tell us a bit more about their use of the Star in our short videos, here.
Lastly, before lunch, attendees were invited to join one of ten discussion tables, each focusing on different aspects of the Outcomes Star – from the Star Online web app, to action planning with the Star, sharing the Star with commissioners and specific Stars, such as the Tenancy Star and Young Person’s Star. Feedback from the day was really positive about this format, so we’re hoping to run some more information sessions in this style in the New Year across the UK, and maybe even beyond!
Thank you to all that attended the event! For more information about our 10 year anniversary, read our article here. If you are interested in attending an information event in the future, or have any questions about any aspect of the Outcomes Star, please contact Triangle.
Triangle and the Outcomes Star are an approved Provider for the Growth Strand of the Impact Management Programme. The programme is designed to improve how charities and social enterprises approach impact management, with the Growth strand specifically targeted at organisation who already measure some impact or outcomes data and who would like to grow and scale their impact.
Organisations can apply for funding to cover the cost of Outcomes Star training, licences and support as one part of their overall approach to impact management.
To apply for funding, organisations will need to attend a free training day, and must register for these by the 6 September 2017. More information on the Growth strand and training can be found here, with more information about the overall programme available at www.accessimpact.org.
Triangle is looking for organisations to collaborate with on research into versions of the Outcomes Star.
We are particularly interested in carrying out psychometric analysis to evidence that the Stars are both valid and reliable measurement tools, but are open to designing the research with you and adding other research questions that are of particular interest to you.
This is an opportunity to be part of original research on the Star, contributing to the growing body of knowledge about the use of different versions of the Star and to debates surrounding outcomes measurement more generally. We will aim to write up and publish the research either as a Triangle document or in a peer reviewed journal.
In return for research collaboration, Triangle can produce a Key Findings Report for your organisation and provide an in-depth analysis of your Star data. Linked to this, collaborators will have access to the new Scale Checker tools and support with Star implementation.
If you are interested in collaborating with Triangle on a research project, please contact usfor an initial discussion, or get in touch directly with our Research Co-ordinator, Emily Lamont – emily@outcomesstar.org.
The Outcomes Star Scale Checkers are tools developed by Triangle for organisations using the Outcomes Star, to evaluate how well members of staff understand the Journey of Change and scales for the Star they use.
They are designed to be completed by workers who use the Star, have Star licences and who have completed core Star training. They are free to use for licensed Star users.
Assessing how well staff members understand the Journey of Change provides a key aspect of quality assurance for your Star data. Completing the Scale Checker can help keyworkers and managers to identify where further training is required, either for individuals, for particular outcome areas or for particular stages of the Journey of Change.
The Scale Checker also allows Triangle to gather data to test the inter-rater reliability of each of the Stars. By testing the inter-rater reliability of the Stars Triangle is able to contribute to evidence showing that the Stars are reliable and valid outcomes measurement tools.
The Scale Checker is easy and simple to use. It consists of a fictional profile of a service user relevant to a specific version of the Outcomes Star and staff members are asked to decide where the service user is on the Journey of Change for each outcome area. The answers given are then analysed by Triangle and a report is provided to the service manager.
Currently we have Scale Checkers available for 4 versions of the Outcomes Star, with profiles in development and coming soon for all other versions:
“Don” for the Carers Star
“Pete” for the Drug & Alcohol Star
“Paula” for the Family Star Plus
“Tamsin” for the Youth Star
If you would like to use the Scale Checker in your service or have any questions, please contact us for more information.
