Book Review: Crossing the Housing and Care Divide: A Guide for Practitioners

 Crossing the Housing and Care Divide: A Guide for Practitioners
 Alex March, Alisa Cameron and Paul Burton, Chartered Institute of Housing,
 ISBN 1905018053, £25

 STAR RATING: 4/5

In a world of bids, tenders and service development planning, this guide offers a lighthouse beam of clarity, writes Meic Phillips.

Integration of housing into community care is a crucial feature of social care and the guide explores policy themes relevant to practice and offers a range of exercises to develop thinking.

The guide has five self-contained modules identifying the practicalities of project management, joint working, service user involvement, monitoring and evaluation and the use of information technology. And it describes its topics in a concise way and focuses on practice.

It outlines the concept of project life-cycle and stages, gives questions, examples, cautionary notes, and hints and tips. Its summaries are concise and focused with effective signposts to the contents.

The guide also has a logical and accessible layout. I am already inviting my project management staff to get hold of a copy, and I am recommending this book as a personal development aid.

Meic Phillips is assistant director of Epic Trust, a care and support provider in London