MAKING SURE PEOPLE HAVE MORE CONTROL IN THEIR LIVES

An Opinion Piece From Sally Percival, Isaac Samuels and Rachel Mason of the National Coproduction Advisory Group (NCAG) - Think Local Act Personal (TLAP)

How can we create the conditions for people “To live the life they want and do the things that are important to them as independently as possible” (Making it Real Framework; How to do good personalized care and support. From Think Local Act Personal).

The APPG’s next event is an opportunity to hear more about the impact on people’s lives when we focus on supporting each other to develop our potential as citizens. We will hear from the Co-Chairs of the APPG for Adult Social Care and Sally Percival (NCAG) someone with lived experience about the importance of getting good quality support through working together or “coproduction”.

So at the APPG’s next event we are adopting a brave new approach to engaging parliamentarians, and involving them in the conversation alongside, providers of care, local councilmembers and most importantly people with lived experience of social care services and support such as Sally, Isaac and Rachel all members of the National Coproduction Advisory Group and Think Local Act Personal.

We believe this collaborative approach ensures that the right people are in the room at the very start of the conversation about what it means for people to live the life they want. There are lots of conversations about how to bring about the change needed for this to happen. There are also a number of things that need to be addressed to enable the shift. For us one of the biggest barriers is the language that is used and the labels that are given to people.

For example, some people who work in services will think nothing of referring to people as ‘service users’ a convenient label to refer to anyone with disability, regardless of whether they use a service or not. Often, this already contentious label is then shortened even further to just one word ‘user’. The dictionary definition describes a “user” as “someone that exploits others”.

We believe that we need to reframe the conversation about social care in the context of people’s whole lives and the communities in which they live. Think Local Act Personals Making it Real framework talks about us ‘seeing people as unique individuals with hopes, dreams and aspirations’ and the conversation as part of the ASC APPG is an opportunity to hear more about the positive impact on people’s lives when we focus on supporting each other to develop our potential as citizens.

It is the hope that the conversation that will develop as part of the APPG for Adult Social Care will help us to understand the importance of using a different language, sharing power, relationships and developing an overall understanding that social care is not about the needs of the system but is in the words of Think Local Act Personals Making it Real Framework about “people being able to live the lives they want and do the things that are important to them as independently as possible”.

Making it Real is rooted in the principle that people are citizens first and foremost. It is not just another thing for organisations to do. It is a vision, inspiration and a guide that if used in the way intended, will help people to lead their lives to the fullest. As people with a wide range of lived experience we believe that each and every one of us has the right to realise our own human potential, l and in the words of Social Care Futures:

“Live in a place we call home with the people and things that we love, in communities where we look out for one another doing, the things that matter to us. That’s the future we [as citizens] seek” We don’t think anyone would disagree.

Sally, Isaac and Rachel look forward to participating in the APPG’s next event and to join the conversation to explore how we can work together to improve social care.

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