Citizen Advisors - Turning Point

Turning Point Connected Care Report 16
3. Local Area Coordination
Local Area Coordination (LAC) is a model of navigation that has been adopted
in different parts of the world. Focussing on people with social care needs such
as people with disabilities, mental health issues, older people and carers, it
emphasises the importance of fostering links in the community and acting in a
preventative manner, as well as with directing individuals to services.
LAC is primarily a model of neighbourhood or community support, and perhaps
the most important aspect of the programme is that it is ‘Local Area’
Coordination. Local Area Coordination attempts to utilise the strengths and
resources of the local community to promote the development of supportive
social networks, and the model draws heavily upon the concept of social capital.
Social capital refers to the social connections amongst individuals and in recent
years it has come to take on a broader meaning which includes feelings of trust,
safety and belonging to an area. From a health and social care perspective,
building social capital involves promoting self-help and mutual aid within a
community, which helps promote well-being and reduces dependency on
expensive public services. There is now much focus on attempting to build
social capital in communities across England.
The following sections will consider the model as it has been adopted in
Australia, Scotland and Middlesbrough and Darlington, where particular
attention has been paid to helping individuals to get the support that they need
in their own community.
3.1 Australia
The Local Area Coordination (LAC) model originated in rural Western Australia
in the 1980’s to assist people with disabilities to plan, organise and access
support as they are disadvantaged by geographic distance from the majority of
services. By the mid 1990’s the programme had been extended to urban areas
in Western Australia and full coverage across the state was achieved in 2000.
The aim of LAC is to encourage people with disabilities to access services and
get involved in their local community by providing a fixed point of accountability
through the form of a Local Area Coordinator. In Western Australia, LAC is
available to people with intellectual, physical, sensory, neurological and/or
cognitive disability who are under the age of 65 at the time of their application. In
November 2002, there were 7,054 people with disabilities registered with LAC
across Western Australia, supported by 124 Local Area Coordinators.
Local Area Coordinators work to make local communities more inclusive and
welcoming for people with disabilities through education, advocacy and the
development of partnerships with local community members and organisations,
government agencies and businesses. Alongside this, Local Area Coordinators
also work with the people involved with supporting people with disabilities so
that they are strengthened and supported in their caring role.
The charter upon which the LAC in Western Australia is based reads as follows;