You don't fatten a pig by weighing it.
So the saying goes. What, then is, the point of 'assessing' a service as a PIE?
In this section of this site (in the linked pages, column right), we explore a range of issues in assessment and evaluation of complex needs services, as that is the central focus of this site.
But the rest of this section is given over to our own approach to PIEs assessment, with the Pizazz, both the 'pen and paper' version, and now the software - the PIE Abacus.
On evaluation : specifics
In 'On evaluation' we look first at some of the more abstract or theoretical issues in the approaches and styles of evaluation, and their relevance - if any - to the assessment of PIEs.
This area is probably mainly of immediate interest to researchers looking for an appropriate methodology for evaluation. It does, however, offer some word of caution for others, such as policy makers and funders, who who want the services they fund to be 'evidence-based', and so might be seen as the 'end users' of evaluation methods.
In 'The Pizazz', we then illustrate an alternative approach, formulated especially for services that wish to develop using the PIEs framework.
The Pizazz on paper
This approach is then outlined in principle using 'the Pizazz on paper' - the version of this process that was published in 2018.
We have some very positive feedback on how useful it has been, though this is still largely anecdotal. This is partly a reflection of the fact that there is no central organisation to collect and collate feedback more consistently.
But it is primarily a reflection of the nature of the Pizazz process and philosophy itself, which aims to radically decentralise the process of assessment, to make it fully integrated into services self development planning.
The PIE Abacus
In the PIE Abacus pages, we introduce the software version of the Pizazz, which goes on general release only in the Spring of 2021 (after some three years of development and piloting).
The PIE Abacus aims to preserve the decentralised nature of the 'Pizazz on paper' assessments, and the full integration into service planning. But the PIE Abacus, as software, then also lends itself to sharing and pooling or assessment, forming a bigger picture.
Relative strengths
For a little more on the relative strengths of each - the Pizazz 'on paper' and the Pizazz 'on screen' - see : HERE
Meanwhile, for more on the business model underlying the PIE Abacus' aims to bring about an active shared, community of practice approach to developing the PIE approach, in future, see:
- PIE Abacus use and terms of use : HERE
- Costs as income: HERE
- PIE Abacus - balancing cost factors: HERE
