1. GOAL ATTAINMENT SCALING
Steve Marson Ph.D.
Dave Dran Ph.D.
Department of Social Work
UNCP

2. GAS
Goal Attainment Scaling

3. WHY GAS? Why are we doing this? Is this really necessary?
Why this particular method?
Is this another fad, someone’s pet idea?
What other options are there?

4. Why GAS (2) What is it going to cost us in money, time?
Is there going to be new help, or is this coming out of our hide?
Who is for and against it?

5. Why Gas (3) How is it going to be carried out and enforced?
What happens if I don’t go along with it?
What good is it to me and the program?
Is it really worth it?

6. A brief history of GAS Frustration of Mental Health Professionals
SOAP vs GAS Research

7. Ten Commandments of GAS

8. Ten Commandments of GAS 1-2
Include at least three ordinal scales on a follow-up guide except in dire straits, and even then have at least two scales.
Have at least three levels filled-in for each scale. One filled-in level should be the expected level, and there should be at least one filled-in level on each side and the expected level.

9. Ten Commandments of GAS 3-5
Include only one problem or variable on each scale.
If any of the scales on a follow-up guide are weighted, all scales should be weighted.
The client's behavior at intake may be equivalent to any of the five levels. Avoid terms like "better than when treatment began."

10. Ten Commandments of GAS 6-8
Avoid variables which are too general or vague to be accurately scored at a follow-up interview.
The levels on a scale should not overlap each other.
If the information needed for a scale's follow-up scoring is to be obtained from a source other than the client, the special source of information should be listed.

11. Ten Commandments of GAS 9-10
There should be no "expected" levels which are so high that there is no possible "better than expected" level. There should be no "expected" goals which are so low that there is no possible "less than expected" levels.  There should usually be a possible outcome for all levels of the scale even if some are left blank.
Avoid having two blank levels adjacent to each other on a scale.

12. Identifying Goals
Clinical Judgments

13. Goals Goals are different from interventions
Interventions are what the client (or social worker) will do.
Goals reflect the change in quality of life.

14. Intermediate goals
Sometimes smaller goals are stepping stones to other goals
Eg. Medication compliance for a diabetic on pills

15. Measuring goals In measuring we can ask How much (quantity)
How long (duration)
How often (frequency)

16. An example
Ralph and Road Rage

17. Ralph: the problem The problem
Ralph yells at other drivers on the road while driving home from work
He is visibly upset
His wife is concerned

18. Ralph: the intervention
Ralph agrees to practice some relaxation exercises before the drive home

19. Ralph: the goal There can be different goals
He decides on the following:
To not yell at other drivers while driving home

20. Measuring Ralph's goal
How many days does he arrive home during the workweek without yelling at another driver?
Right now he is at zero days, meaning he yells at someone on the road every day on the way home from work

21. So far.. Identified a problem Given an intervention Identified a goal
Measured the goal
Now we scale the goal…

22. Handout

23. Scaling
The “scaling” in Goal Attainment Scaling refers to stretching out the goal measurement
from far better than expected to
Far worse than expected

24. Scaling Goals Scaling indicates performance for the goal
From much less than expected to much more than expected
Somewhat more
Somewhat less
Expected
Much less
Much more

25. Example: Ralph and his road rage
Measuring how many days in the work week he arrives home without yelling at someone on the highway.

26. Scaling the goal for Ralph
Somewhat more
Somewhat less
Expected
Much less
Much more

27. Scaling Goals for Ralph
How many days per week w/o yelling
Four days
Two days
Three days
zero to one day
Five days

28. Example scaling for Ralph
-2 (zero to 1 day w/o yelling)
-1 (two days w/o yelling)
0 (three days w/0 yelling)
1 (four days w/o yelling)
2 (five days w/o yelling)

29. So far…
Identified a goal
Scaled a goal
Now we
Rate
Weight
Tally

30. Rating Ralph’s goal
Please put a check mark in the first column…

31. Weighting of goals
Some goals are more important than others

32. Weighting the goal In GAS we rate each goal on relative importance
From 1 to 10 (10 being most important)
Please fill in weight in box at top of column

33. Tally: Adding it all up For each goal
Multiply the weight by the rating
Add up the total
This is the “composite score”

34. Summary of steps Identify the goal and “scale” the goal from -2 to 2
Rate the client performance on the scale
Weight the goal importance
Tally up weight X rating for all goals

35. Ex. With handout
Ralph and his road rage

36. More goals for Ralph Not yelling at drivers Sleep better at night
Spend more time out with his wife
Job satisfaction self rating

37. Example: Ralph sleeping better at night
Measuring how many nights in the work week he has seven or more hours of sleep.

38. Example scaling for Ralph sleeping 7 hours or more
-2 (zero to 1 night per week)
-1 (two nights per week)
0 (three nights per week)
1 (four nights per week)
2 (five nights per week)

39. Weighting the goal In GAS we rate each goal on relative importance
From 1 to 10 (10 being most important)
See box at top of sample form

40. More goals for Ralph Not yelling at drivers Sleep better at night
Spend more time out with his wife
Job satisfaction self rating

41. Example scaling for Ralph nights out with spouse
-2 (zero to 1 night per week)
-1 (two nights per week)
0 (three nights per week)
1 (four nights per week)
2 (five nights per week)

42. Weighting the goal In GAS we rate each goal on relative importance
From 1 to 10 (10 being most important)
See box at top of sample form

43. More goals for Ralph Not yelling at drivers Sleep better at night
Spend more time out with his wife
Job satisfaction self rating

44. Measuring another goal for Ralph
Self rating of job satisfaction
On a scale of one to ten (ten being high) how satisfied are you with your job?

45. Example scaling for Ralph self rating of job satisfaction
Averaged per week
-2 (one to two self rating)
-1 (three to four self rating)
0 (five to six self rating
1 (seven to eight self rating)
2 (nine to ten self rating)

46. Weighting the goal In GAS we rate each goal on relative importance
From 1 to 10 (10 being most important)
See box at top of sample form

47. Adding it all up For each goal Multiply the weight by the rating
Add up the total
This is the “composite score”

48. See handout

49. Graphing results
Imagine graphing the composite score over four sessions
Graphing gives us a visual confirmation of the client’s progress

50. graph

51. Some fine points about measuring goals

52. Counting behaviors We can gather much information with a simple count
how much (quantity)
How long (duration)
How often (rate)
Example:

53. Rating behaviors We can also rate behaviors in various ways
Asking the client to rate themselves
Using standardized or “store bought” tests

54. Ex. Small groups