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The Future of Prevention
Making the shift towards a preventative approach to adult social care
At its heart, effective and targeted prevention enables people to live better, more fulfilling lives on their own terms. It supports people to maintain their independence, stay connected to their communities, and preserve their dignity and autonomy.
When prevention works well, it empowers people to continue living in the homes and places they love, surrounded by the people and things that give our lives meaning.
The financial imperative
In addition to this goal for people, there is also a financial imperative. 81% of councils expect to overspend their adult social care budgets this year and demographic projections show care need from those aged 65+ rising by 80% in the next two decades. It is widely agreed that the current trajectory is simply unsustainable. Importantly therefore, there is also a clear financial case for a shift to targeted, proactive preventative models of care and support.
Research conducted by the LGA, ADASS, Social Care Institute for Excellence, Mencap, Skills for Care, Think Local Act Personal, The Care Provider Alliance, and Social Care Future found that for every £1 invested in early intervention and preventative support (where the investment is carefully targeted both towards the right interventions and to the right cohorts of people as identified by robust evidence), councils can save £3.17 in future social care costs while fundamentally improving quality of life for the people they serve.
This approach and focussed scope of the programme recognise the reality facing people and the adult social care system: to build sustainable momentum for systemic change, and create financial and operational headroom, authorities must first demonstrate measurable impact on resident wellbeing while addressing system pressures. By starting with high-risk groups, local councils can show clear outcomes in the near term while creating capacity for further upstream preventative work.
From aspiration to implementation: collective learning from the sector
The Future of Prevention programme brings together learning from across the sector. In 2024, 20 local authorities volunteered to come together as part of a Community of Practice to tackle this challenge as a group, bringing best practice to bear and enabling learning across the sector. Guided by a cross-sector Reference Group, the programme reflects collective experience and wisdom in delivering prevention on the ground, combined with bespoke research, analysis, and development.
Aiming to support the sector as a whole to move beyond pilots and isolated interventions, the aspiration of the Community of Practice was to co-develop a model to help achieve this vision by delivering targeted, proactive prevention for older adults at scale.
The national implementation of the programme’s delivery model represents the critical first step in an ambitious yet achievable journey towards a preventative state - one where public services proactively support wellbeing rather than primarily respond to crises.
About this website
Drawing on the expertise and experience of participating authorities, this website translates the Future of Prevention programme's findings into actionable insights for local authorities nationwide. This toolkit describes effective implementation approaches for targeted, proactive prevention models, outlines practical steps to overcome common barriers, and provides a framework for measuring impact.
The toolkit is designed to be used both by local authorities seeking to scale prevention efforts and by central government stakeholders to understand how prevention at scale could accelerate the shift from reactive “treatment” to proactive care and support.
