Social care/SDS programme review of 2019

Self-directed Support review their activities for the ALLIANCE Annual Report

This year the ALLIANCE and Self Directed Support Scotland researched people’s experience of social care in Scotland in the “My Support My Choice” project. We aim to understand how Self-directed Support (SDS) is working (or not) for people who use social care – anyone who gets support or services paid for by the council so that they can do everyday tasks. With our members and partners across Scotland, we hope to make positive changes to social care, providing robust qualitative evidence, analysis and recommendations to help improve policy and practice. “My Support My Choice” involves a national survey, 100 face-to-face interviews and themed focus groups with seldom heard groups.

In 2020 we will run feedback sessions on our findings in the participating local authority areas and publish thematic, local, and Scotland-wide reports. Some of the participating local authorities have indicated that they will use research findings to help shape their next SDS strategic plans.

Also during 2019, the ALLIANCE presented at a SDS Roundtable at Parliament and gave evidence to the Health and Sport Committee clerks, alongside representatives from across the third sector and COSLA.

In 2019 the ALLIANCE and MECOPP (the Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project) partnered to deliver two events in the “SDS Masterclass Series”, looking at different aspects of Self-directed Support. These focused on creative uses of SDS, on SDS, human rights, and people with learning disabilities. Delegates heard from Emma Donnelly (CCPS), Elaine Torrance (NDTi), Charlie McMillan (SCLD) and Michelle Steel (People First). In the final workshop, delegates were invited to reflect on future actions to improve access to SDS (particularly for people with learning disabilities); these conclusions and recommendations were summarised and published in an event report.

The ALLIANCE also ran a joint workshop with the WISE Centre for Economic Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University, to overlap with the International Association of Feminist Economics Annual Conference. “Social Care, Feminism, and Human Rights” drew on feminist and human rights approaches to care and prompted wide-ranging discussions on future directions for social care, in Scotland and internationally. Delegates heard from Prof. Siobhan Austen (Curtin University), Prof. Sue Hemmelweit (Open University), Prof. Rhonda Sharp (University of South Australia), Linda Scott (ILF) and Karen Hedge (Scottish Care). A follow-on workshop series on social care is planned for 2020.

Finally, the ALLIANCE hosted three Satellite Wee Circle events as part of the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). The first of these, ‘Policy, Health and Wellbeing’ centred on the impact and development of health-related policies on women and girls; the second on carers’ experiences and gender inequality; the third on women and girls living with visible and invisible disabilities. Event reports have been published on our website and shared directly with members of the NACWG.

End of page.