The Social Care Experts Blog: Personalisation Archives

Risk averse agencies are the enemy of personalisation

By Adam McCulloch on October 6, 2009 10:33 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

By Kaarina Elisabeth

Personalisation, I am in no doubt, would transform the lives of mental health service users and lead to better outcomes. Before I'd even heard of self-directed-support, I was lobbying for it. Why, I wondered, does nobody listen to my own assessment of my needs? There is one reason that appears to preoccupy the minds of everyone I've met involved in commissioning services: that of risk.

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Service users help each other to produce personalised support

By Adam McCulloch on July 15, 2009 11:04 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

by Clare Evans

The success of personalisation depends on service users helping each other to escape dependency and move to independence

I have often been enthused by exciting articles on personalisation, but there is seldom mention of the models of long-term support that service users need in order to take advantage. Yet disabled people, keen to support their peers, have shown the effectiveness of centres for independent living in supporting less empowered service users to take control of their lives.

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How to make personalisation become real in mental health?

By Adam McCulloch on July 15, 2009 10:54 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

by Anna Bird

The take up of personalised services has been slow for mental health users to date. But there are signs this is set to improve

Personalisation has its roots in the disabled people's movement, and, for many people with physical disabilities, the personalisation agenda has allowed the balance of power to shift towards greater individual choice, control and empowerment. However, there are distinct barriers in moving towards greater personalisation in mental health. Most people with mental health problems still have little control over their care, and meaningful choice and independence are still a long way off.

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Illusion of Indepence

By Gary on February 18, 2009 8:29 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

by Steve Rogowski

Personalisation does not have its roots in social work, but in the reforms of the Thatcher era which New Labour has embraced

The Social Care Institute for Excellence has recently argued that personalisation originates from social work values such as respect for the individual and self-determination. It also argued that direct payments had their roots in the service user movement and the social model of disability with notions of participation, control, choice and empowerment being to the fore.

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Call that a career?

By Gary on December 10, 2008 8:01 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

by Simon Heng

If personalisation is to move forward, personal assistants employed by direct payments users will need a better deal.

What attracts you, when you're looking for a job? Decent pay, for sure, maybe even a progressive pay scale. Also, good working conditions; reasonable holiday entitlement; challenging, but not impossible tasks; job security - almost certainly; training, to hone your skills and to develop new ones; a pension that your employer pays into; and regular supervision to give you a chance to share any potential difficulties.

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Personalisation: bang the drum ourselves

By Gary on December 3, 2008 11:50 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

by Peter Beresford

Service users must redouble their efforts to back personalisation because policymakers' initial enthusiasm appears to be waning.

Earlier this year, individual budgets were heralded as the reform that would transform social care. Anyone who doubted them was liable to be taken off the team.

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'I feel embarrassed when I pay my personal assistants'

By Adam McCulloch on October 2, 2008 4:16 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Direct payment users treasure their relationships with their personal assistants, but can feel uncomfortable on pay day

By Simon Heng

One of the great things about being trained as a cognitive behavioural therapist is that I can now lead a guilt-free existence, which, as I was brought up in the faith which relies on guilt for its ongoing membership, I take as a personal achievement.

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Remaking the future of social care and personalisation: Listen to what people say

By Simeon Brody on September 26, 2008 11:14 AM | 7 Comments | No TrackBacks

by Peter Beresford

There's a simple truth emerging about the future of social work and social care. As service users, practitioners and carers, people clearly want the greater choice and control that 'personalisation' promises to offer. Well who wouldn't? But they don't want to be set up to fail and they have some very big questions which demand answers.

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