5 Recommendations for policy and practice
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Helen Dickinson
Abstract
Drawing on the questions, summaries and frameworks set out in this book, there are a series of practical recommendations and potential warnings that arise, for both policy and practice.
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Given that collaboration takes so many different forms and is driven by different goals, they cannot be expected to deliver the same outcomes. More research is required to establish what kinds of collaborative arrangements can produce which kinds of outcomes, for which kinds of service users, when, and how?
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Central government needs to be clearer about what it reasonably expects collaborative working to deliver, and under which circumstances collaborations are appropriate and, importantly, when they are not.
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Political timescales and evaluation timescales are often incompatible. When commissioning evaluations of collaborative working, this needs to be carefully considered.
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Service users are not homogeneous groups, and individuals (particularly those with complex or challenging needs) require specific support. More closely involving individuals in determining the nature of their own care may produce positive impacts, in terms of both service effectiveness and efficiency. This can produce different ways of joining up services and empowering individuals to achieve better outcomes, and is worthy of further exploration of its usefulness beyond social care. It can also create new demands for evidence of performance.
Although various structural, legal and technical fixes have aided the formation of health and social care partnerships to a certain extent, what local organisations and front-line services also need is more detail on how they might actually go about producing better collaborative working, and what this would entail.
Abstract
Drawing on the questions, summaries and frameworks set out in this book, there are a series of practical recommendations and potential warnings that arise, for both policy and practice.
-
Given that collaboration takes so many different forms and is driven by different goals, they cannot be expected to deliver the same outcomes. More research is required to establish what kinds of collaborative arrangements can produce which kinds of outcomes, for which kinds of service users, when, and how?
-
Central government needs to be clearer about what it reasonably expects collaborative working to deliver, and under which circumstances collaborations are appropriate and, importantly, when they are not.
-
Political timescales and evaluation timescales are often incompatible. When commissioning evaluations of collaborative working, this needs to be carefully considered.
-
Service users are not homogeneous groups, and individuals (particularly those with complex or challenging needs) require specific support. More closely involving individuals in determining the nature of their own care may produce positive impacts, in terms of both service effectiveness and efficiency. This can produce different ways of joining up services and empowering individuals to achieve better outcomes, and is worthy of further exploration of its usefulness beyond social care. It can also create new demands for evidence of performance.
Although various structural, legal and technical fixes have aided the formation of health and social care partnerships to a certain extent, what local organisations and front-line services also need is more detail on how they might actually go about producing better collaborative working, and what this would entail.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables, figures and boxes vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- List of abbreviations ix
- Preface x
- What are evaluation and outcomes, and why do they matter? 1
- What does research tell us? 29
- Hot topics and emerging issues 59
- Useful frameworks and concepts 85
- Recommendations for policy and practice 105
- References 109
- Index 125
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables, figures and boxes vi
- Acknowledgements viii
- List of abbreviations ix
- Preface x
- What are evaluation and outcomes, and why do they matter? 1
- What does research tell us? 29
- Hot topics and emerging issues 59
- Useful frameworks and concepts 85
- Recommendations for policy and practice 105
- References 109
- Index 125
