Community Care moves to an online future

Community Care takes the difficult decision to close the print magazine and focus all its energy and resources on supporting social care professionals online.

Community Care has retained its position as the leading information brand for social care professionals through high quality content and high levels of positive audience engagement. This success would not be possible without innovation and this process will continue into 2012 as Community Care focuses on its online future, looking to increase its accessibility and to broaden its coverage of the sector.

The impressive growth of the communitycare.co.uk online audience to over 300,000 monthly unique users shows that social care professionals are increasingly going online to find information to support them at work. The website offers a wide range of resources, including the latest sector news, practical guidance, professional networking in Carespace, and the very best social care jobs. The job site carries up to 3,000 social care jobs each week, making it the biggest and best specialist jobs marketplace in the UK, with even more exciting developments planned.

This trend to online has come at the same time that the upheaval within public sector finances has seen advertisers question the value of print advertising. As a result, we have taken the difficult decision to close the print magazine and focus all our energy and resources on supporting social care professionals online. The key to the future of Community Care will be the utilisation of new technologies, allowing it to deliver new services to users, and engaging them more directly with the information provided to them, enabling them to shape the news agenda, not just be a recipient of it.

The last issue of the print magazine will be on the 24th of November. The closure of the print edition will involve a significant restructuring of the content team. Bronagh Miskelly will be leaving her role as group editor of Community Care, having steered the brand successfully through a period of change. Ruth Smith, the current head of content, will be promoted to the role of editor. The re-focused editorial team under Ruth’s direction will retain their commitment to the social care profession.

Readers and advertisers will be fully informed of all their options for benefiting from Community Care online. Our free daily and weekly e-newsletters will remain, keeping the sector right up to date with the latest developments. Investment in the online decision support tool Community Care Inform will continue, increasing its value to social care professionals working with children and families. And beyond the web Community Care Live and our programme of conferences will continue to develop.

Thank you for your continued support for Community Care.

Trevor Parker

Publishing Director

Make sure you’re ready for online by:

• Signing up to our daily and weekly emails.

• Bookmark communitycare.co.uk to make it easy for you to check our website for the latest news and developments on social work and social care.

• Explore communitycare.co.uk where you’ll find specialist zones for social care professionals who work with children, adults and older people, as well as in disability, mental health and residential and domicilary care. You’ll also find social care practice tools, special reports on the big issues facing the sector, research, good practice and much more.

• Students can visit Student Zone at communitycare.co.uk/studentzone for specialist resources.

• Visit communitycare.co.uk/carespace to meet other social care professionals for support and advice.

• Visit communitycare.co.uk/jobs to search and sign up for the latest jobs in social care.

• Visit Inform to sign up for a free trial

Want to find out more?

Email: comcare.letters@rbi.co.uk

Phone: Gera Noto or Tamsin Dixon 020 8652 4866

To contact Inform email kim.poupart@rbi.co.uk