Changing the culture of social care in Scotland: Has a shift to personalisation brought about transformative change?

Pearson, C. , Watson, N. and Manji, K. (2018) Changing the culture of social care in Scotland: Has a shift to personalisation brought about transformative change? Social Policy and Administration, 52, pp. 662-676. (doi: 10.1111/spol.12352)

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Abstract

In April 2014, the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 (SDS Act) was implemented in Scotland. This marked a major shift in how social care is delivered and organized for both users and professionals across the country. Whilst it emerged through the personalization agenda—which has dominated international social care systems over recent years—self-directed support (SDS) represented a significant shift in thinking for service provision in Scotland. In this article, we review the initial stages of policy implementation. Drawing on two Freedom of Information requests from 2015 and 2016 and a series of interviews with local authority practitioners, we argue that, to date, SDS has yet to produce radical transformative change. We explore the reasons behind this through four key themes. First, we highlight the challenges of promoting the principles of co-production in policy and suggest that, in reality, this has been compromised through SDS implementation. Second, we suggest that SDS has been caught up in a policy overload and ultimately overshadowed by new legislation for health and social care integration. In looking at the impact of this relationship, our third theme questions the role of new partnership working. Lastly, we argue that the timing of SDS in a period of acute austerity in social care has resulted in disabled people being offered limited choice rather than increased opportunities for independent living.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Manji, Kainde Aisha and Watson, Professor Nicholas and Pearson, Dr Charlotte
Authors: Pearson, C., Watson, N., and Manji, K.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Social Scientists working in Health and Wellbeing
College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:Social Policy and Administration
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:0144-5596
ISSN (Online):1467-9515
Published Online:08 November 2017
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 The Authors
First Published:First published in Social Policy and Administration 52:662-676
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
664051What Works ScotlandNicholas WatsonEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/M003922/1SPS - INST. OF HEALTH & WELLBEING