Emma Louise Douglass and Barbara Hurtado discuss the effectiveness of a community service for adults with learning disabilities and mental-health needs

The evidence base for assertive outreach services in the UK is limited. Five established outcome measures were used in an attempt to capture the clinical complexities of an assertive outreach team caseload. The findings suggested that the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales: Learning Disabilities, risk scores and hospital data were appropriate outcome measures, whereas the service user questionnaire and Maslow Assessment of Needs Scale: Learning Disabilities required shortening to be acceptable to clients. Analysis indicated that the assertive outreach model is slightly more effective than a conventional service in meeting the needs of adults with learning disabilities and mental-health problems who find engagement with generic services challenging.