Miller, 2016). This provided an opportunity to empirically examine the extent to which actual practice mapped onto the framework. The survey asked questions about the nature of emotional support/counselling being offered, including funding streams, service usage and type of interventions. The results found that there was some Tier One provision, but much less Tier Two provision. These survey findings provided important information about service provision in the UK and, in addition, provide an evidence base for future funding requests and the development of Tier One and Tier Two services. One of the key findings of the study was the need for quality standards benchmarking in the delivery of services. A small proportion of emotional support and counselling services for blind and partially sighted people in the UK is currently being delivered by unqualified staff. This is not good enough. Addressing the fourth unknown The fourth unknown needed to be addressed - what type of emotional support is most effective for blind and partially sighted people? In other words, what do people with sight loss really want to talk about, what type of talk helps and why? Systematic case study research the development of – therapeutic tasks In my individual programme of research, I chose systematic case study methodology in an attempt to answer the fourth unknown. Systematic case study methodology is not anecdotal. Multiple sources of data are collected and analysed by a team of
Miller, 2016). This provided an opportunity to empirically examine the extent to which actual practice mapped onto the framework. The survey asked questions about the nature of emotional support/counselling being offered, including funding streams, service usage and type of interventions. The results found that there was some Tier One provision, but much less Tier Two provision. These survey findings provided important information about service provision in the UK and, in addition, provide an evidence base for future funding requests and the development of Tier One and Tier Two services. One of the key findings of the study was the need for quality standards benchmarking in the delivery of services. A small proportion of emotional support and counselling services for blind and partially sighted people in the UK is currently being delivered by unqualified staff. This is not good enough. Addressing the fourth unknown The fourth unknown needed to be addressed - what type of emotional support is most effective for blind and partially sighted people? In other words, what do people with sight loss really want to talk about, what type of talk helps and why? Systematic case study research – the development of therapeutic tasks In my individual programme of research, I chose systematic case study methodology in an attempt to answer the fourth unknown. Systematic case study methodology is not anecdotal. Multiple sources of data are collected and analysed by a team of
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