Evaluating community care

The aim of this book is to describe and discuss the principles of evaluating community care services for people with learning difficulties and to explore how they have been applied in the development of policy in the last ten years. Although the contents are based heavily upon the theory and practice of micro-economic appraisal of health and social care, other social science disciplines are exploited wherever relevant. No prior knowledge of any of these disciplines is expected.

The coverage of the book follows the logical steps in policy evaluation including an explanation of different approaches to evaluation, a discussion of recent policy objectives, the measurement of outcomes and costs and the policy implications of recent evaluative studies. The book concludes with an examination of the relevance of evaluative studies to the new arrangements for community care of people with learning difficulties.