Useful resources
There are some really good examples of innovative models of health, social care and support for adults across the country. However, the challenge is to scale up these primarily small-scale, community-focused successes so that as many people benefit from them as possible.
This was studied in detail in a report by SCIE, Nesta and Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) with recommendations for a government-funded network to support this work. The Social Care Innovation Network will enable innovative local authorities and partners to test new ideas and share learning with others.
- Growing innovative models of health, care and support for adults
- TLAP Directory of innovations in health and social care
TLAP has a growing directory of innovative models of health and social care to support adults. Commissioners, providers and people with lived experience can use it to find out about good practice locally and nationally.
SCIE and TLAP have already published resources on innovation in social care. As the Network grows and produces more, we will add to the resources here.
Innovation in social care
There are a number of other SCIE resources on how innovative, small-scale models of health, social care and support could be scaled up to improve support to adults and children.
Asset-based area
TLAP has extensive resources on asset-based areas – where the focus is on people’s and communities’ assets, alongside their needs – and approaches to create them.
Strength-based approaches
Innovative strengths-based approaches (SBA) or asset-based approaches focus on individuals’ strengths (including personal strengths and social and community networks) and not on their deficits. The approach is holistic and multidisciplinary and works with the individual to promote their wellbeing. These resources describe how SBAs work in a variety of interventions and settings and provides information on how to enable and implement them.
- Strengths-based social work: practice framework and handbook
- Strengths-based approaches (SCIE)
- Developing a Wellbeing and Strengths-based Approach to Social Work Practice: Changing Culture (TLAP)
Empowering communities
TLAP’s resources offer a compelling case for working collaboratively to create strong and empowered communities, and argue that this needs to be central to the transformation of the health and care sector.
- Engaging and Empowering Communities: a shared commitment and call to action (TLAP)
- Developing the Power of Strong, Inclusive Communities (TLAP) sets out a framework, which can be adapted locally, for how health and wellbeing boards can do this. The framework also supports work to integrate health and social care and responds to public finances pressures by harnessing the capacity of people and communities.
More from TLAP
- Webinar on reimagining homecare - Wellbeing Teams
A webinar which covers alternative models of homecare such as Wellbeing teams, Community Circles and what commissioners and providers can do to move in this direction. - Podcast on how to make place based, person-centred health & care a reality
Head of TLAP Caroline Speirs interviews Chair Clenton Farquharson who offers his insights on what staff working across health and social care can do to work in a more person-centred way.