Personalisation of social care services has four aspects which are
-Access to universal services wherever possible, rather than individuals with particular needs going to special services.
-Prevention and enablement for individuals, including meaningful roles for service users who wish to volunteers as part of their contribution to society.Scope has developed roles for lay assessors in education settings which could probably be extended to health and social care settings
-Self directed support and independent living
-Developing social capital, recognising that how people behave towards each other in communities, as formal volunteers or informally looking after their neighbours, impacts of the social care needed by individuals
Volunteering can help deliver more personalised social care services
-By bringing the community to individuals who may be isolated and in need of support – befriending schemes, library volunteers who deliver books to people who are housebound, individuals with mental health problems supporting each other to go out
-Seeing the cracks in existing health and social care provision and being able to meet those needs differently.For example, an elderly person may be resistant to having a carer visit but may accept a volunteer gardener who informally provides some support, and can alert ‘official’ services if something goes wrong.
-Recognising the contribution that all individuals can make to society, such as older people listening to children read, Scope lay assessors of education services (see above),people who have strokes taking part in RSPB’s annual Garden Bird Survey.
Case studies
The V Team in Maidstone
Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living
Leicester Fun and Families
RNIB Transcription Service
