Asset-based innovations in social care

It is now increasingly being recognised that the future of social care requires a radical reorientation towards asset and strength based approaches to practice.

This involves opening up new forms of interaction between services, citizens and communities. This can include:

• New forms of conversations and relationships between citizens, communities and service agencies – ‘doing with’ rather than ‘doing to’ or ‘doing for’.
• Facilitating new connections between individuals, families and communities in order to build or sustain forms of capital and related resources.
• Finding ‘smart’ and non-bureaucratic ways of deploying relatively small sums of money so as to enable people to find solutions to their difficulties and to build on their own capabilities to give and receive support and assistance in their daily living.
• Developing more local, ‘organic’ and relationally-based ways of providing care and support where this is needed.

This research explored the process and impact of implementing combinations of asset/strength-based approaches within adult social care, and to assess their effectiveness in bringing about changed ways of working that better enhance the wellbeing of beneficiaries and family members. 

• Aims

  The aim of the project was to provide local authorities with evidence about how to, and how not to, use different combinations of asset/strength-based approaches to provide social care in their communities.

  By examining how different local authorities use these combinations, the project also set out to use this evidence to help improve and develop social care policy and how it can be rolled out in the community. 

• Methods

  This study involved:

  • A literature review of the different types of asset/strength-based approaches, and their strengths and weaknesses when used by themselves or together, to develop a research model for the study as it progresses.
  • Development of the research model to include three case studies of different local authorities in three areas.

  The case studies consist of:

  1. Analysis of papers, procedure, agreements, contract and policies.
  2. Interviews with:
     • •  senior strategic managers, front line managers and representatives from the health, housing and voluntary sectors followed by focus groups;
       • people using the new services and ten family members.
  3. A before and after comparison of 40 records following changes in provision as a result of the combination of asset/strength-based approaches.
  4. Surveys of:
     1. • front-line workers and managers;
        • the quality of life of people who use the services.
  5. Analysis of data collected to see how the new way of working has affected the provision of long-term care services. 

• Findings

  Asset-based innovations in social care project findings

  All the local authorities located their vision in relation to the prevention and wellbeing aspirations of the Care Act – moving away from a process driven care management approach that simply assessed whether people needed, and were eligible to receive, social care services. Instead, they saw their primary role as being to enable people to have better lives through maximising opportunities and mobilising resources – wherever possible, outside of social care services. There was a substantial difference in emphasis between local authorities as to whether, and how immediately, the purpose of this vision was also to deliver financial savings through effective prevention.

  Each local authority had chosen to spearhead their programme of transformation with one or more nationally recognised models of practice (e.g. Local Area Co-ordination, Family Group Conferencing, 3 Conversations). We found that those staff groups charged with implementing such models generally showed a good grasp both of principles and how these were to be put into practice. However, there was often less understanding of how specific models were embedded within an overarching vision for system change.

  Perhaps reflecting the complexity of changing complex systems, the local authorities struggled to find a simple and readily understandable way of articulating the essence of their overall vision for transformation, one that was sufficiently ‘crisp’ and concrete so that staff across the organisation, external partners and the wider public, would be clear as to what exactly was going to change. While there tended to be a clear articulation of underpinning values and principles, there tended to be less clear descriptions of how exactly the various proposed innovations would fit together and how synergies might be achieved.

  Articulations of the overall vision typically comprised most or all of the following elements – but with significant differences in emphasis and priority:

  1. Shift of focus from needs (and services) to positive outcomes (in terms of better lives).
  2. Investment in place, community assets and connectivity.
  3. Focus on relationships and conversations (instead of processes and procedures).
  4. Co-production and transferring power to citizens, families and communities.
  5. Emphasis on early help and preventative activity.
  6. Shift in organisational culture and reclaiming of social work values.

  It was acknowledged that delivering this sort of vision would require changing organisational practices around decision making, recording, data collection and deployment of budgets.

  Conceptually, there were differences between place-based strategies, with a primary focus on developing community assets, and citizen-based initiatives where the starting point was engaging with citizens in ways that mobilised their strengths and those of their wider social and family networks. Within the sample, one local authority’s strategy was primarily place-based, one was primarily citizen-based, and one gave equal emphasis to both, although, in interviews, staff acknowledged some tensions in terms of how these two agendas could be progressed together in practice. 

• Resources and publications

  Practice report

  Animated video of 8 top tips to embed strength-based practice for a wider audience of practitioners and strategic managers