Best practice in community care

Are you aware of this report - Making It Real - put together by Think Local, Act Personal? We think you should be. Here's an overview.

A recent report released by Think Local, Act Personal (TLAP) details the new parameters suggested for best practice in community care. The new framework, called Making It Real, is designed to assist organisations in making their services appropriately personalised and citizen-led.

Think Local, Act Personal is the new incarnation of what Putting People First did. They consist of a mass partnership of more than 30 organisations concerned with community-support provision and service personalisation. Moreover, they list a further 30 well-known organisations, think-tanks and charities who endorse their work.

Making It Real lists six markers to gear your provision towards; Information and Advice; Active and Supportive Communities; Flexible, integrated care and support; Workforce; Risk enablement; Personal budgets and self-funding.

Skimming through it, much that they suggest seems self-evident, but the details show a reflective bent to its authorship that adapts care parameters for modern life.

For instance, in Information and Advice, they talk of providing a range of accurate and culturally sensitive information sources but also note the need for use of interactive technologies that “encourage an active dialogue and..empowers...”.

Making It Real also is written using a lot of “I” statements to explain the rationale and focus behind each Marker - e.g. “I have considerate support delivered by competent people”, “I can get access to the money quickly without having to go through over-complicated procedures.”

This showcases the user-centric foundation of the framework and keeps the reader focused on MIR's target.

Think Local, Act Personal are quite insistent that this is not meant to be another performance management tool. Rather than a dry, box-ticking exercise, they want it to be seen as something closer to a guide for groups to reflect on their service and consider how it can better serve their users.

It is also meant for the service users themselves to consider how well their services meet their expectations and needs. Part of the proposed culture in MIR is one of co-production between provider and user.

For more information, you can visit thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk and download a copy for yourself.

It comes in standard and Easy Read documents so download one for you and your user today!