| Frontline factors |
aspects of the
family that influenced a worker’s thinking
about a case and action |
- Nature of the problem(s) – complexity
and/or seriousness and availability of suitable
services; strength of knowledge base/level
of professional consensus on diagnostic categories
and possibilities
- Duration of problems; well known to services
or not
- Problems as self-identified and/or designated
a problem by others
- Manner of problem presentation – help
seeking help or hostile
- Willingness to engage
- Nature of relationship between professional
and family member(s)
- Availability for meeting
- Number of children
- Size of family; no. of significant adults
involved
- Complexity of family dynamics
- Communication issues and language
- Personality
- Social factors, history
- Gender
- Age
- Sexuality
- Ethnicity
|
| |
personal (staff) aspects |
- Knowledge, skills and expertise
- Mindset
- Human reasoning
- Attentional factors (what were they doing
when they weren’t doing something else)
- Illness, tiredness, burnout etc,. leading
to their not being able to work to optimal
standards
- Motivation
- Personality
- Social factors – history
- Interactional style
|
| |
aspects of their role |
- Frequency of contact with the family
- Location of contacts – e.g. going
into family home or not
- Focus of their concerns
|
| |
conditions of work |
- The general atmosphere surrounding the
case
- Staffing levels and skill mix
- Workload
- The timing e.g. shift patterns or busy
time of year
- Admin support
- Managerial support
- IT/computers
|
| |
own team factors |
- Issues related to getting help, advice
or support
- Supervision
- Communication both written and oral
- Differences of opinion within the team
- Issues around team operations e.g. mixed
messages
- Team culture
- Accepted/usual/routine practices
- Capacity/workload
- Skills/experience mix
- Strength of knowledgebase/level of professional
consensus on diagnostic categories and possibilities
|
| |
Inter-agency/inter-professional
team factors |
as above and
also
- Relative hierarchies; status and hierarchy
- Language
- Clarity of relative roles
- Information sharing
- Personal relationships and history
(knowing each other or not)
- Nature of working relationships (good–hostile)
- Group dynamics
- Cultures of communication across boundaries
- Inter-agency culture and accepted practices
- Culture of dealing with conflict – covert
or overt
|
| Local strategic-level factors |
Organisational
culture and management (of individual agencies
and multi-agency system as a whole) |
- Financial resources and constraints
- Resource allocation
- Organisational priorities
- Organisational structure
- Organisational culture
- Thresholds
- Local policy
- Local procedures
- Standards and goals
- Safety culture and priorities
- Mixed messages
- Availability of services; gaps in service
provision
- Clarity and adequacy of commissioning arrangements
- Staffing decisions/allocation
|
| National/government- level
factors |
political context and priorities |
- Government policy
- Government guidance
- Management system and regulation; performance
indicators
- Tools: assessment framework and associated
forms; ICT systems
|
