Debates in Personalisation

This unique book brings together, for the first time, advocates and critics of the personalisation agenda in English social care services to debate key issues relating to personalisation. Perspectives from service users, practitioners, academics and policy commentators come together to give an account of the practicalities and controversies associated with the implementation of personalised approaches. The conclusion examines how to make sense of the divergent accounts presented, asking if there is a value-based approach to person-centred care that all sides share. Written in a lively and accessible way, practitioners, students, policy makers and academics in health and social care, social work, public policy and social policy will appreciate the interplay of rival arguments and the way that ambiguities in the care debate play out as policy ideas take programmatic form.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Introduction and Overview; Introduction ~ Catherine Needham and Jon Glasby; Taking Stock of Personalisation ~ Catherine Needham and Jon Glasby; Making it Real: from Putting People First to Think Local, Act Personal ~ Sarah Carr; Part 2: The Challenges of Personalisation; Resource Allocation Systems: complex and counterproductive? ~ Lucy Series; Safeguarding, risk and personalisation ~ Jill Manthorpe; Can personalisation work for older people? ~ Liz Lloyd; Personalisation: where do carers fit? ~ Wendy Mitchell, Jenni Brooks and Caroline Glendinning; Self-funders: the road from perdition? ~ Melanie Henwood; Part 3: Frontline Perspectives; Managing a direct payment ~ Christine Bond; Beyond ‘being an employer’: developing micro markets ~ Sian Lockwood; What about the workforce? ~ Helga Pile; A view from social work practice ~ Victoria Hart; Part 4: Personalisation in the NHS – Personal Health Budgets; Managing a personal health budget: Malcolm’s Story(book) ~ Colin Royle; Evaluation of the personal health budget pilot programme ~ Julien Forder and Karen Jones; PHBs: a threat to the NHS? ~ Colin Slasberg; Where next for personal health budgets? ~ Vidhya Alakeson; Part 5 - Responses and Conclusions; Advancing the positives of personalisation/person-centred support: a multi-perspective view ~ Peter Beresford; After Personalisation ~ Simon Duffy; Conclusion: glass half full or glass half empty? ~ Jon Glasby and Catherine Needham.

About the Author :
Catherine Needham is Reader in Public Policy and Public Management at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. She has written extensively on social care, including Personalising Public Services: Understanding the Personalisation Narrative (Policy Press, 2011). Jon Glasby is Professor of Health and Social Care and Director of the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. Jon is a qualified social worker by background and is the author of a series of leading textbooks on health and social services.

Review :
"A very welcome addition to the personalisation literature. Its breadth of discussion makes it a valuable resource in disability studies teaching and for all those with personal and professional interests in the area." Disability & Society "An important contribution to critical social policy by emphasising that person-centred care is not about individual responsibility, it is about choice and control." Critical Social Policy "A valuable contribution to what are arguably the most important debates happening in UK adult social care at the present time." Research, Policy and Planning "This was a lively and stimulating encapsulation of debates about the future of adult social care, and other areas of public policy. Highly recommended!" Dr Mark Lymbery, University of Nottingham "Provides an informative overview of the development of personal health budgets focusing on the ideological, political and financial challenges it faces in moving forward." British Journal of Social Work "This excellent, well balanced collection cuts through the ideological polarised debates and draws on personal experiences and research evidence to look at the pros and cons of personalisation. A must read for practitioners, advocates, researchers and policy makers, and a useful tool for those managing their own personalised services." Professor Kirstein Rummery, University of Stirling