Evaluating services for people with disabilities: A critical systems perspective

No single evaluation method, or method of directing organizational change, can cope with every issue faced when evaluating, or intervening in, service systems for people with disabilities. By identifying the strengths as well as the weaknesses of various methods, we might find that they complement one another. This paper explores this complementarity of different methods, pointing the way to a more flexible, responsive and critically aware evaluation and change practice. A framework of four methods is presented: PASS/ING, Viable System Diagnosis, Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing, and Soft Systems Methodology. These may be used in conjunction with one another to address a variety of ethical and organizational issues in the evaluation and change of service systems for people with disabilities.