Know, an alternative approach in decision support systems for Human Services

The Knowledge work station (KnoW) is a visual, flexible and open approach to support the decision making process. Current DSS's are often cumbersome because they derive from the concept that data usage may be defined in advance in a very structured way for one specific decision. This rigidity is at odds with the practitioner's style of work. Practitioners, as part of the decision making process, often browse through the file in order to understand the whole client situation. This is a learning process that utilizes associative, lateral and logical thinking, combines data from multiple types and sources, and jumps between different levels of abstraction. Thus, the conceptual base of a software program that is intended to serve practitioners decision making should cater to these constraints and accordingly has to be much more open and flexible. The Know environment is a hypercard application for the Macintosh. It provides the practitioner with the information he/she feels is needed in order to make a decision, in an easy to understand visual format. KnoW effects this through software that integrates data from different media, structures the environment in which the practitioner operates and provides tools to navigate freely, associatively and simply within the data. The added value of Know is that it provides information that, to the practitioner, is new and relevant. A prototype was developed to aid practitioners in a Child Development Center in establishing a treatment plan which includes selection of the problem area which is considered most amenable to intervention and assessment of clients' level of functioning in that area.