Inside out and upside down: community based approaches to social care prevention in a time of austerity

Author(s)

MILLER Robin, WHITEHEAD Christine

Publisher(s):

University of Birmingham

Publication year:

2015

Reflects the experiences of six local authorities in the West Midlands who were identified by the regional ADASS group as seeking to deploy community based approaches within their prevention strategies. These approaches focus on opening up and sharing resources, insights and influence as a means to support individuals and local communities develop their capacity and resilience, shifting from a crisis solution model to a more preventative based social care system. The report begins with a short overview of the six community based approaches based on interviews with the leads in each local authority, and then pulls out key themes relating to the development of such approaches and lessons learnt. These are: community based approaches to prevention can take different forms; it is important to build on the local context; transformation of practice can be achieved in multiple ways; gathering relevant data is difficult but worthwhile; and genuine engagement and co-production with community and staff are central. (Edited publisher abstract)