A forgotten partnership? The carer-service user partnership and personalisation

Description

The issue of partnerships is a core requirement in social work training (Department of Health, 2002). However, mainly as result of a lack of substantive research, a partnership that is central to the delivery, quality and experience of care - the partnership between service users and their carers - receives little attention. This paper will focus on the impact of personalisation on this partnership, and argue that it should not be forgotten within social work education and practice in the move to mainstream operation of personalisation (Department of Health, 2007). It will start with an outline of the nature of the carer-service user relationship, focusing on those qualities that contribute to its partnership status. Specific reference will be made to the mutual interdependence that has been found to characterise caring relationships. An exploration of the ways in which personalisation has the potential to shape aspects of this partnership will follow. For instance, initiatives introduced within this agenda mean that carers can be faced with the situation where their dependants make more of the decisions about their own care, they have to make different contributions to the provision of care which may involve them in new tasks and in some cases, a contractual relationship with the service user. The effects of these sorts of changes could also be compounded by any misalignments with their own needs. Hence personalisation can affect the dynamics of the caring relationship. Given the importance of this interdependent relationship to the successful implementation of initiatives within personalisation, it is crucial that changes in this relationship are recognized and addressed in social work practice as this agenda gathers momentum. Therefore, the final part of this paper will include some ideas about resolving this dilemma and ensuring the implications of personalisation for carer-service user partnerships are both incorporated into social work education and translated into effective practice. References Department of Health (2002). Requirements for Social Work Training. London: HMSO Department of Health (2007). Putting people first: a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care. London: HMSO