Ageless at Work - Skills for Care

What works in involving people who use services in driving culture change?
“In social care total organisational and cultural change will need to take place so that people, rather
than systems and procedures, come first”
Table 9 What works in involving people who use services in driving cultural
change
Work in partnership
• Understand and use the social model of disability to begin to establish a more equal
relationship with the people who use services.
• Recognise the importance of effective leadership and management across the
organisation. It is essential in supporting the workforce to take a partnership approach in
meeting the needs and wished of those who use services.
• Be aware of the tendency to see participation as an add-on. Adopting a whole systems
approach means that you will need to think about what changes might need to be made
to: culture; practice; structure and systems of review.
Plan carefully and consider the practicalities
• Consider how to enable participation at all stages of change, including planning, decision
making and implementation.
• Make sure that people who use services are involved at the beginning of any process of
change, before plans are drawn up and any decisions made.
• Communicate your thoughts and ideas clearly, avoiding jargon, and present any materials
in a reader-friendly and accessible format
• Make sure that practical arrangements enable involvement, including: accessible venues;
timings to suit users, financial help if users need money for transport to attend meetings,
or to meet the cost of personal assistants to support their involvement; other forms of help
users might need (e.g. carers may need replacement assistance so they can attend
meetings).
• Acknowledge that is takes time for changes to have any effect, and that this may be
frustrating.
Make involvement genuine
• Agree the proves for and scope of involvement at the start of any planned change
• Be clear about what can and cannot be expected from involvement on both sides, and
acknowledge the potential benefits to individuals
• If decisions have already been made, be open about this.
• Consider identifying champions within the organisation to encourage genuine
involvement, but make sure they share their knowledge and expertise
• Identify roles which could be undertaken by people who use services. These might
include attending meetings and developing agendas, through to monitoring and
evaluating performance.
• Make sure everyone is clear about their role. If people who use services are leading the
development of participation, be especially clear about the role of any involved
professionals.
• Ensure everyone who has been involved is kept informed about the outcome. People
often say they never hear the outcome of their involvement or of any difference made as a
result.
• Recognise that participation encompasses a wide spectrum and be honest about where
your organisation is currently. Achieving the vision for social care means that we need to
aim for a partnership, where services are shaped by customer wishes and experiences,
and people are supported to control their own lives.
• Explore the possibilities for co-production. Achieving co-production in social care required
a number of fundamental changes, including: seeing the people who use services as
experts, recognising that they have assets which can help improve services, including
Ageless at Work: Change workplace cultures, development skills. Good practice report 27