Sustainable social care programme
Sustainable development and social care
'Personalisation and community are key.'
Think Local Act Personal partnership agreement (2010)
As with all public services, social care is affected by the major social, economic and environmental challenges of our time. That is, an ageing and dynamically diverse population, climate change, energy insecurity, financial instability and increases in health inequalities and issues such as obesity, mental health, alcohol misuse, chronic illnesses and complex conditions such as dementia. The most vulnerable are the most affected. The premise of the Sustainable Social Care Programme is that a successful response to these challenges will recognise and address social, economic and environmental factors simultaneously.
SCIE's sustainable social care programme
The first phase of the programme comprised two projects supported by communication and dissemination activity.
- The Sustainable Social Care System research project analysed the conditions necessary for a sustainable social care system in a given community or setting. It was delivered by the Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment (ISHE) at the University of the West of England and their findings were published by SCIE in October 2010.
- The Sustainable Social Care Learning Network, convened by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), explored the challenges and opportunities for sustainable social care. The report of the learning network was published by SCIE as Independence, community and environment in July 2010.
Sustainable Social Care Conference 2010 - presentations
Other publications can be found on our Resources page.
The second phase builds on this work and develops the following themes:
- Personalisation and stimulating the market for more sustainable care services. We are working with community groups, commissioners and service providers in Bristol, in partnership with the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO). Investigation into local citizens' priorities will inform future strategies and service development, and foster collaboration between social care and environmental organisations.
- Ethical implications of low carbon services. With multidisciplinary bioethics research centre Ethox, we aim to devise a framework for decision-making which addresses the ethical challenges posed by a sustainable development approach to health and social care. The work spans issues of health and environmental inequalities, inter-generational justice, and how to weight different social values in funding and policy decisions.
- Sustainability, quality and productivity. SCIE is supporting a scoping review by the King's Fund to research what is known about environmental sustainability in the social care sector, priorities for future research, and how action on sustainability can contribute to the quality, productivity and prevention agendas. This work is in parallel with NIHR-funded research focusing on healthcare. It is also linked to a collaboration with the NHS Sustainable Development Unit and others seeking to develop economic methodologies for health and social care which take account of environmental costs and benefits.
Expert Seminars We are in discussion with a range of partners with a view to hosting a seminar series which will support knowledge transfer between academic research, policy-makers and practitioners on topics of mutual interest such as the understanding of risk in the context of climate change and the implications for care services and people in vulnerable circumstances.
You may also be interested in: Building community capacity.This is a Department of Health project working with local government partners to explore the role of social capital and co-production in the transformation of adult social care and its contribution to health, wellbeing, independence and quality of life for all.
