Results

After conducting my evaluation at the Denbigh House, I was able to find the answer to my main two major questions that I wanted answered. For my first question, I wanted to see the effectiveness of the program and how it aligns with addressing the needs of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). I found that the program is indeed effective and does align with the needs of those with TBI. For my second question, I wanted to see how the program tracks its effectiveness and ensures its sustainability. The result I found to that question was that the Denbigh House has good measures in place to track its effectiveness, but to ensure its sustainability it does need to try to build more partnerships.

When conducting my evaluation at the Denbigh House, I used the methods of interviewing and observing to collect my data. The evaluation began with an interview with the Clubhouse Director at Denbigh House and later shifted to observing the employees interact with their clients as well as the tasks that the clients perform there. During the interview, all of my questions that I had were answered. When discussing the effectiveness of the program in addressing the needs of its clients, I saw how Denbigh House prioritizes its clients by looking at their needs on a case-by-case basis. The program is reliant on using person-centered planning to address the needs of the clients by making sure that the activities performed there are easily accessible (physically) to them. The employees at Denbigh House will have a consensus vote about the activities and tasks of the program and through that method, they can decide if any activities or tasks need to be changed to better suit the needs of their clients. I also found that the Denbigh House had conducted a survey this year (a satisfaction survey) for its clients that resulted in ninety-one percent completing goals set by the program based on their needs. The Denbigh House conducts this survey every year. I also found that the results of the survey from last year were one hundred percent. The program determines success based on the client’s experiences and applying the skills in real life.      

When discussing the program tracking its effectiveness, I found that Denbigh House does an internal assessment every year that looks at aspects that work in the program and aspects that don’t work in the program. They make sure to adjust it accordingly to better suit the needs of the clients. Denbigh House uses a Clubhouse Program Questionnaire (CPQ) also given to clients to determine their satisfaction with the program. The Denbigh House will also have clients take a post-injury survey of the mental differences between when clients first started the program versus when they no longer need the program. The post-injury survey will look at aspects like the vision and hand dexterity of the client. Employees of the Denbigh House can track improvements of its clients by making sure their charts are updated every year. Another way in which Denbigh House tracks effectiveness is by keeping up to date with research studies involving traumatic brain injury as well as being a part of the clubhouse alliance which involves other clubhouses like the Denbigh House in helping those with TBI. The Denbigh House is also active in rallying at the Capitol to get policy change regarding getting people with TBI more helpful resources. They advocate for more rehabilitation programs in more counties so people from those counties have access to these programs. The Denbigh House also makes sure that enough funding is received to service these areas. When discussing the sustainability of the program, I found that the Denbigh House works hard to sustain itself, but it could benefit from having more funding by building up more partnerships. During the interview, I found that the biggest challenge that Denbigh House has regarding sustainability is costs going up which results in their need for more funding of the program. The program’s success is that the program can have low fees for its clients, making it affordable for those seeking their services.

During the observation portion of the evaluation, I was able to witness the employees interacting with the clients there. When I first got in the building, I already observed clients doing tasks like doing laundry and sweeping the floors. As well as see that a speech lesson was being conducted in another room upon entering. After conducting the interview portion, I first got to walk around the Denbigh House and see its layout. I first walked into a room filled with computers that allow the clients to use a computer there, and it is also the room that focuses on the client’s speech as TBI can cause speech impediments. There is a main area filled with tables which also serves as the place where clients eat their meals. Clients have the opportunity to cook there by signing up on the whiteboard which lists all the meals of the week. While observing the employees were engaged in an art project with clients designed to be a creative way in helping clients hand dexterity. I had the opportunity to talk a little bit with the clients and learned that they all liked it there at Denbigh House. Allowing me to observe the overall environment of the agency helped me get a good understanding of how helpful these services are to the people who need them.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the evaluation, it can be concluded that the Denbigh House is effective in helping its target population based on the results of the interview and observing interactions between staff and clients. The Denbigh House does a good job at making sure all clients’ needs are met and will change activities and tasks to better meet clients’ needs in their journey of recovery. Many of their clients are satisfied with the program and have gotten success from it by getting jobs or becoming more independent. It can also be concluded that the Denbigh House does a good job of tracking its own progress by continually updating its clients’ charts every year to track client progress and by having an internal assessment every year that looks at what works and what doesn’t work in helping clients. Another conclusion that I have drawn from the results is that the Denbigh House needs to build more partnerships to maintain its sustainability. I do think once it has built enough partnerships, the program will be a sustainable one.

Implications of Findings

Based on the findings of my evaluation, the implications of my findings impact the program by catalyzing potential growth. With an emphasis on building more partnerships to further the program’s sustainability, it can help the program focus more on making sure it forms enough partnerships. Having more partnerships can impact the program by potentially attracting new stakeholders by having a bigger impact overall which would result in the program having a broader community outreach. It can also make sure that the program receives enough funds which can be used to add more to the program. The impact of these findings can impact the services of the program by enhancing the services offered there. Getting more funds from more partnerships allows Denbigh House to have activities and tasks better tailored to the individual. They do a great job at that right now but having more funds would give them a better opportunity to be even more personal in meeting clients’ needs. The influence is mainly positive as it focuses on the program’s weakest area which will help better the program long-term by forming these partnerships. My overall findings have been positive, but with any program or agency, there tends to be a weakness. Acknowledging and looking for methods to overcome that weakness is helpful to any agency in the long run, as it helps guarantee the program stays successful.

Recommendations

Overall, Denbigh House is excellent for listening to its clients and making sure their needs are met. The one area where the program can improve is by building up more partnerships to ensure its long-term sustainability. To do this, I would recommend that the program look more into other agencies that align with their goals and make a connection with these agencies. The stakeholders and the program should consider this recommendation as it helps give them the funds, they need to better support their clients. The findings were that the weakness of the program was its costs, so making sure it receives enough funds can help better its program and make sure the costs of services remain low for clients.

Goals and Objectives

The broad goal that should be implemented by Denbigh House is to strengthen its sustainability through the means of establishing at least two strategic partnerships and collaborations within the next twelve months. The first objective, to meet this goal, is to identify agencies to form a partnership. It is in the program’s best interest to make sure that the agencies that they collaborate with align with the Denbigh House’s mission. After making a list of agencies to collaborate with, it would be beneficial to prioritize agencies that would help with the Denbigh House’s goals of long-term sustainability. The next objective would be to then to develop a strategy that outlines the proposition of being potential partners. It’s important to emphasize the mutual benefits of this partnership and shared goals between the two. The third objective would be to establish a collaborative initiative between the two agencies to help demonstrate the benefits of the partnership and to build trust among stakeholders. The next objective would be to formalize the partnership by drafting an agreement that acknowledges things like roles and responsibilities. The fifth objective would be to monitor the effectiveness of the partnership. The last objective is to maintain these partnerships by ensuring there is a culture of continuous collaboration and support.

Research Articles

When researching rehabilitation programs for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), the results of those studies found that the programs were helpful to their target population. For example, in the article ‘Feasibility of a cognitive rehabilitation program for individuals with mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury: Participants’ engagement and satisfaction’ the study found the program was feasible as the skills participants learned during the program were applied to their everyday lives (Howe et al., 2019). My results from evaluating Denbigh House resulted in finding the program to be feasible as participants of the program were satisfied with their progress during the clubhouse. The participants of the Denbigh House were also to apply the activities and skills they learned there into their everyday lives, like being able to do laundry. The program even made it possible for participants to gain employment in the end. In the article ‘The outcomes of a vocational rehabilitation and mentorship program in unemployed young adults with acquired brain injury’, a weakness that was found in the study was that a few people did not have the financial means to continue attending the program (Markus-Doornbosch et al., 2022). This example shows the importance of making sure that a program has enough money to sustain itself long-term. By recommending and making the goal for the Denbigh House to make more partnerships to better its finances, it will not have to worry much about participants not being able to afford to continue the program like in the study. Once the Denbigh House makes enough partnerships to better its finances then the program as a whole should be a sustainable one in the long-term.

References

Howe, E. I., Løvstad, M., Langlo, K.-P. S., Hellstrøm, T., Spjelkavik, Ø., Ugelstad, H., Twamley, E. W., Andelic, N., & Khaiyat, O. (2019). Feasibility of a cognitive rehabilitation program for individuals with mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury: Participants’ engagement and satisfaction. Cogent Medicine, 6(1), 1–9. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/10.1080/2331205X.2019.1565614.

Markus-Doornbosch, F., Meesters, J., Volker, G., Ijzereef, W., Hout, W., Vlieland, T., & Kloet, A. (2022). The outcomes of a vocational rehabilitation and mentorship program in unemployed young adults with acquired brain injury. Work (Reading, Mass.), 72(2), 553-563. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-210038.