Practitioners

Practitioners should follow these steps to begin inputting data:

1. Contact AVIGuk

   AVIG will support your organisation with training on the use of the DCS. They will also ensure that your Information Governance teams approve your use of the DCS. Contact the DCS team at dcs@videointeractionguidance.net.

2. Complete Training

   AVIGuk provides self-guided training on DCS use through available on the dcs landing pages. There are also online workshops held throughout the year. If your organisation has a number of practitioners we can arrange a bespoke course. Our training covers important information on data security and how to get the most out of using the DCS with clients.

3. Sign Practitioner Consent Form

   It is important that you consent to some personal data, like name and work email address, being stored on DCS. You should also read and acknowledge the Terms and Conditions of Use. These are combined in one online form that only needs to be completed once.

4. Obtain Client Consent

   It is important that clients understand what data will be stored in the DCS and that they consent to this. Signed paper copies of consent forms are stored by your organisation, separate to the DCS.

5. Input Data

   You are ready to use the DCS – a safe, flexible and efficient tool to support your VIG practice and evidence its efficacy.

This video is from a live demonstration of the DCS delivered on 3 September 2025. It introduces the DCS webform where practitioners enter client meeting data.

Managers and Data Processors

To set up their services on the DCS and to ensure they can access their data, managers should:

1. Contact AVIGuk

   AVIGuk will support your organisation to obtain approval from Information Governance, with training on the use of the DCS for practitioners, and data management for managers. Contact the DCS team at dcs@videointeractionguidance.net

2. Information Governance

   Organisations have different information governance requirements to ensure their client data is protected. AVIGuk will help you to meet those requirments, including completing forms and meeting with IG teams. Our data policy, DPIA assessment, our data processing agreement with Kobo and client consent forms are all available on the DCS webpages.

3. Sign-up for a Kobo Account

   Managers need to have a Kobo account for their service's data to be shared with them. Accounts should be created on Kobo's EU server: https://eu.kobotoolbox.org/accounts/ signup/.

4. Complete Training

   AVIGuk provides self-guided training on DCS use through the learning platform. There are also online workshops held throughout the year. Our training covers important information on data security and how to manage your data effectively to support your practitioners and service evaluations.

This video explains how managers (or any person assigned by an organisation) can access their service’s data.

Recording Data Effectively

This video highlights how practitioners can use the DCS to enhance VIG practice and record data to demonstrate impact. It covers how to effectively score goals and use appropriate measures both at time one and time two meetings.

You must have approval from your Information Governance (IG) team, and/or understand how data is managed in the DCS before you use the system. The documents below, and the consent forms available at the top of the page, will explain everything you need to know. Please share these with IG teams and anyone else working with VIG data through the DCS.