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A vision for the future
Based on the impact seen amongst local authorities who are already starting to develop and implement a model of targeted proactive prevention, it is possible to envisage how such an approach applied nationally could radically transform the experience and delivery of adult social care support.The Time to Act Reform group - which brings together national social care leadership including statutory bodies (the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association), support providers and people who draw on support - has adopted the Social Care Future Vision:
“We all want to live in the place we call home, with the people and things we love, in communities where we look out for each other, doing the things that matter to us”
The Community of Practice, based on their expertise and experience of delivery, began by articulating a vision for how a preventative approach applied nationally could transform the experience and delivery of adult social care support to help achieve this goal. Over the next 10 years, they articulated the ambition for partners locally and nationally to work towards a vision in which:
For older people, this means experiencing codesigned, seamless, coordinated support that respects their autonomy and builds on their strengths. Rather than navigating fragmented services or waiting until a crisis strikes, they receive timely, personalised interventions that address their needs holistically and that focus on wellbeing. They tell their story once, access support through a single point of contact, and experience care that feels joined up, regardless of which organisation is providing it.
With every local authority using data and digital tools to build a scalable evidence base for various delivery models for best supporting their local populations. Social care, health services, support providers and the voluntary sector work as one, to prevent people spending unnecessary time in hospital or care homes; to strengthen primary and community based care to enable more people to be supported closer to home or work; and to connect people accessing health and care to wider public services and third sector support.
Councils harness advanced data-insight and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict needs, target groups of people most at risk, and intervene before problems escalate. A scalable evidence base for various support delivery models for local populations is collectively developed, and is used to inform the design and delivery of support, fostering collaboration across the health and care system. This means fewer falls, less isolation, and more people maintaining independence in their own homes.
Support is provided at a neighbourhood level, ensuring services are tailored to local needs and delivered in partnership with communities themselves. Deeper system collaboration makes prevention a shared priority, delivering better, co-produced and more personalised outcomes for individuals.
The system hears what matters most to each individual, focusing on their goals rather than just managing their conditions.
In this vision, this transformation will be enabled by legislative and political reform - including greater devolution and a reformed local government landscape - empowering councils to lead this shift alongside their communities, giving them the autonomy and tools to shape services around the needs of their populations.
While ambitious, this vision is not about a single 'big bang' overnight change. Every council is on a journey, making incremental but impactful progress towards the end goal of a truly preventative system.
This is the future of social care: not primarily reacting to problems, but actively shaping a world with local people where those people live well for longer - on their own terms, in their own homes, with the proactive and preventative support they need to thrive.
This toolkit uses evidence from authorities already starting to work in this way, to guide authorities in their journey towards realising this visionary future. It outlines a consistent, evidence-led approach to delivering targeted proactive prevention, supporting the first step towards this system vision.
