It's social care Jim, but not as we know it!
The big #socialcarefuture get together
This is not a conference....
It's a gathering of people who want to build a positive future
for what we currently call social care.
It is part of the volunteer organised
#socialcarefuture initiative (see socialcarefuture.blog)
This is a developing network of people discovering, sharing and
building from glimpses of the future. Places, groups and people
who, right now are building a future where public services, people
and communities are jointly finding better ways to include, serve
and support local people. They are making "pieces of the jigsaw"
for a positive future including using all local resources, shifting
control to people and communities, building non-institutional
approaches to support and growing human sized, community led,
organisations. They are developing different, more equal
relationships between professionals & people supported and
promoting professional autonomy and self-management so that workers
can have non-controlling, non-bureaucratic relationships with the
people they support. We want to build a future where these
things are much more supported by the wider public and politicians
because they make sense to people and are seen as relevant to
everyone's well-being and success.
- At this gathering we will all be active contributors. We are
inviting people to come who want to be part of this future and will
commit to play a part in building it by sharing, learning and
organising. They will include local citizens, professionals,
politicians, managers, providers of support, user and family led
groups.
- We will be arranging a range of ways to help learning and
sharing - what have people done, what difference has it made, what
lessons have been learned, what helped, what are the next steps,
what would help these happen? As well as structured sessions there
will be "open-space" to organise there and then to respond to
people's interests.
- We want to make this energising and social as well as
informative and action-focussed. We will be sharing what we do
outside the room, immediately reporting sessions and plans so
others can connect. There will be fun too. Creativity doesn't come
from traditional event approaches. Energy, inclusion and
relationships aren't created by just sitting and listening to
other's presentations. The gathering will include an evening social
gathering, pieces of theatre and performance and the chance
(optional!) for you to join in! It will be hosted to bring you in,
not keep you separate, whoever you are
- During the gathering we will create opportunities for people
with similar interests or energised by things they have heard and
discussed, to plan for action after the gathering.
#socialcarefuture will offer whatever help it can to support these
action groups with links and contacts and communication over the
following year.We are deliberately running the event to coincide
with the National Adults and Children's Social Care Conference
taking place nearby at the same time. We are making sure there are
good links and some joint sessions and inviting people from that
event to our gathering. This gives us a chance to bring together
all voices with a stake in the future to find ways of working to
make it a reality.
What will we be working on?
Topics and sessions - Jon Rouse, Chief
Officer of Greater Manchester Heath and Social Care Partnership
will help kick us off on Wednesday morning, alongside people with
lived experience of social care. Over the two days there will be
something for everybody!
Open space At a gathering like this it is vital to
create time and space for people to talk about and share whatever
is important to them. People will bring ideas, issues for
discussion, plans that they want to get others involved in. We will
build plenty time in for people to raise issues and space for them
to debate and plan together.
Glimpses of the future in the toughest of
times We are working with SCIE, Nesta, In Control, Shared
Lives Plus and Think Local Act Personal - bringing in learning from
6-8 places around the country. These are places able to share
exciting "glimpses of the future" where significant shifts are
being made to share power with people and communities, use all
local resources, build better approaches to support that are human
sized and shaped. Some of these places are under the most severe
resource pressures but system leaders, politicians, community and
voluntary groups, local citizens will share the pieces of the
#socialcarefuture they are putting in place and seek ideas about
new pieces. Professor John Bolton and Professor Bob Hudson will add
in their insights including John's detailed explorations in six
localities and Bob's work on an ethical approach to
commissioning.
Making a new case for social care Evidence shows
the way the sector is currently talking about social care puts the
public off and won't lead to political support and investment -
lets change that - hear about and contribute to a major push to
change the debate - based on effective approaches, new research and
learning including from the Frameworks Institute, Joseph Rowntree
Foundation and Lancaster University and with a major proposal for
action developed by Neil Crowther.
Everyone in The shift towards a future of
supporting well-being in welcoming communities must include
everyone including those currently most at risk of
institutionalisation and exclusion - what are the best examples
including everyone and how to do it - how can these be built on
everywhere? Some of the key areas we will be sharing on include:
better approaches to recruitment and workforce; support provider
innovation; relationship based commissioning; helping people
described as having more complex needs have a great life -
Colleagues from Learning Disability England and Dimensions are
engaging with others to pull the best learning and examples
together.
From the margins to the mainstream Sharing and
learning with groups and initiatives helping local places to move
more quickly to a better future where effective innovations
complement or displace traditional models and practice: including:
Well-being teams, Community Catalysts, Homeshare, Three
Conversations, Community-led social work, Community Circles,
Manchester Cares, Shared Lives, Spice Time Credits, Grapevine,
Local Area Co-ordination, Keyring, In Control, HMR Circle and many
more.
Closing the Care Act Rhetoric-Reality Gap - Join
in with the developing National Network for Self-Directed Support,
facilitated by In Control for a practical session of sharing and
learning about how people can get the support they need and the
lives they want. Including: using the law, getting great staff,
choosing how you manage the money, planning for a good life,
co-production in action, knowing your rights, effective local
tactics and more. Help build this network of local user and family
led organisations, community groups, charity branches and others -
networking for mutual support and bringing in useful national
expertise and help.
Building a movement for a better future Learning
from other movements for social change from around the world about
how we can act together to make faster change towards the
#socialcarefuture that we want and organising ourselves for action.
Applying these lessons to action planning for change. Nesta will be
sharing their learning and Jackie del Castillo helping us grow our
tactics.
Providers for a better local future - Sharing the
best ideas and planning for action about how organisations
providing support can be real assets in the communities they serve.
Including using their capacity and expertise to support local
community groups, assisting small community businesses and more.
Including proposals for a major provider led initiative developed
with a number of VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group)
colleagues.
Releasing the power of community enterprise and
business - How can we grow human sized and shaped support
organisations that add to communities. Alternatives like user -led
organisations, co-operatives, mutuals, community business,
self-managed teams, micro enterprises. What will it take for these
become a much bigger part of local offers of support? Hear about
initiatives, help make this change happen - with great input from
Community Catalysts and Power to Change.
Social work in the #socialcarefuture Exploring
the role of social work in our desired future. What should social
work do? How do relationships between social work, citizens and
communities need to develop? How can we make this future? The
Principal Social Workers Network want to share ideas and plan with
citizens and we will hear of examples of how social workers in some
places are being liberated…to be social workers.
Researching a better future What kinds of
research can support a positive future? We are getting together
with colleagues from Disability Rights UK working with DRILL
(Disability Research on Independent Living) and from the School for
Social Care Research which is planning its next five years of work.
What should be researched to help build a better future for social
care? Who should play what roles? We want to guide the research
agenda.
Shaping a better future with older people who
need long term support. The focus is on alternatives to
institutional options and more traditional models, including
housing options. This session will be run in way that allows older
people and others to consider ideas and models and identify
appealing options. With help from Vic Raynor from the National Care
Forum and Jeremy Porteus and Claire Skidmore from the Housing
Learning Information Network. We hope to follow up ideas with a
post gathering initiative to promote the best identified
approaches.
Ears against loneliness - Forum theatre. Our
campaign will contain a piece of forum music theatre performed by
participatory performers with lived experience working alongside
professional actors and musicians. The show will explore the
skills, challenges and triumphs of putting your ears against
loneliness.
Escaping the Invisible Asylum - World premier of
a new musical theatre piece developed and performed by MiXiT
inspired by Alex Fox's recent book and the core themes of
#socialcarefuture it - Whisper it but Andrea Sutcliffe may also
perform…
Living Well Alliance - A better
future for mental health support? The example of a new approach in
Lambeth trying to build a proper partnership - This session will
bring together the partners - people using the support of the
Alliance, the support providers, CCG and social care directors to
tell the story so far of the Living Well Alliance
Networking and socialising - On Wednesday evening
200 people will come together from #socialcarefuture to eat, drink
and be merry - including performance from the wonderful Dance
Syndrome and local choirs
Bringing it All Together, or "two Green Papers,
there's only two Green Papers…".The Department of Health and Social
Care have promised one this autumn…But the Local Government
Association have already put out their ideas - whether we have one
or two Green Papers by November at 5pm on Thursday 15th, the two
gatherings NCASC18 and #socialcarefuture will come together in
Manchester Central - this will give us a chance to share our vision
for the future and what we plan to do to make it real - and invite
the local managers and politicians from around the country to
partners with us and, to coin a phrase - Make it Real
For more information see socialcarefutureevents
An easy read version about the event can be found here
Last Updated : 26 September 2018. Page Author: Gaynor Cockayne.
