Adult and Older Adult Community Mental Health
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are a way for you to share how you are feeling, your experiences and concerns about your mental health. PROMs place your experiences and needs at the heart of your care planning.
We will use the information you provide to think with you about how to plan your care. The completion of PROMs will also help us allocate the right Keyworker to work with you to deliver the care you need.

The PROMs Process

This is the process of using questionnaires to gather information about you, talking to you about your responses and how you feel, and monitoring outcomes of interventions and care.

We use three PROMs to help you to focus on what you really need and support you to be able to communicate your needs to us.

They are:

• The DIALOG Scale
• Recovering Quality of Life Scale (ReQol-10)
• Goal Based Outcome (GBO).

The Three PROMs

DIALOG scale

The DIALOG form is a brief, reliable, and valid measure of your satisfaction with your life and your mental health care. It is very simple, and it has only 11 questions.
The first 8 questions cover different areas of your life, and the last 3 are about your treatment. You may be sent the DIALOG scale to complete by yourself before sessions.

Recovering Quality of Life Scale (ReQol-10)

The ReQoL-10 is a brief questionnaire which you complete yourself. It measures your quality of life with mental health conditions.
ReQol-10 consists of 10 items that assess aspects of your life including your physical and psychological health, your social relationships and your independence.

Goal-Based Outcomes (GBOs)

The GBO is a person-centred approach to measuring progress. The GBO involves setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals that are collaboratively developed between you and your Keyworker and are included in the joint care plan.
These goals are then monitored and reviewed regularly to assess progress and make adjustments to the treatment plan as needed. You will normally create a goal with the support of your Keyworker and members of the team involved in your care.

How will the results be used?

The completed PROMs questionnaires are used to understand and measure your mental health and wellbeing throughout your care and treatment.
They help you and your Keyworker understand if things are improving for you, staying the same or feeling worse.

Your life, your PROMs

The PROMs also help you and your Keyworker consider what you may need to lead a more fulfilling life, with reduced symptoms, and return to what you enjoy.
They allow the Keyworker working with you to personalise your care and offer you the appropriate treatment, as well as helping build a strong therapeutic relationship.
Your answers to the DIALOG questionnaire directly feed into your Care Plan itself.

Animation and further information about PROMs

Read on for further information about the PROMs. There is also information about PROMs, including a short informative animation, on the Oxford Health website at ohftnhs.uk/care-planning.

Completing the PROMs

You may be asked to complete PROMs if you use NHS community mental health services.
The process will begin in one of two ways:

You will be contacted before your first appointment to let you know how you can complete the PROMs or
You will talk about PROMs with your Keyworker at your first appointment.

Option 1: Online

• We will send you a secure link via an email or text message to complete the PROMs online on a website called True Colours.
• We will ask you to complete the PROMs questionnaires in the 24 hours before your appointment.
• You can do this on your own computer, smartphone or tablet ahead of your appointment.
• If you do not have your own device, we will offer you the choice of completing the PROMs in the waiting room before your appointment or at the start of your appointment using an iPad which we will provide.

Please ask us if you would prefer to complete paper questionnaires and assessments or if you have any concerns or questions about this process.

Option 2: In person

• We will ask you to complete the PROMs questionnaires with your Keyworker at your appointment.
• Together we will talk through the questions and explore how you are feeling.
• Please ask us if you have any concerns or questions about this process.

After your first appointment

Your Keyworker will ask you to complete PROMs at intervals throughout your care, thereby putting your concerns, experience and progress at the heart of your reviews of your care plan.

Collaborative Care Planning

Care planning has always been a key part of mental health care and like all healthcare it is evolving and improving with time.

Collaborative Care Planning follows guidance from NHS England in the Community Mental Health Framework – a framework of clinical best practice which has been co-produced with service-users, carers and Mental Health Professionals.

Creating your Care Plan

Your Keyworker will be your main point of contact throughout your care journey. If your Keyworker has not yet been allocated, you will be given a named contact until one is assigned. For more information about the Keyworker role, please see our Keyworker leaflet.
Following the completion of PROMs, your key worker will work with you to agree areas you want to work on, explain how your PROMs results will influence your care and work with you to co-produce your care plan.

You will be asked to reflect on what good health means for you and agree the ways to measure successes which are relevant to you and your life. That could be walks in the park with friends, returning to the workplace after a break or cooking from scratch on weeknights.

Tracking your mental health journey

Your mental health journey will be tracked in a way that means something to you, making it easier for you and your Keyworker to identify what helps you improve your mental health, track your progress using PROMs and put in support when you need it.
Your care plan will also include what support you need if you are distressed or in crisis, so that you and others know the best way to respond.

Any questions?

Your Keyworker will be happy to talk to you about any information in this leaflet and answer any questions you may have.
This leaflet has been co-produced with people who use Oxford Health mental health services.