Social Networks and Public Services (2)

<!-- p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px} span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #0225a3} -->My blog yesterday looked at how a version of Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’ could be applied to the way public services impact of citizens’ social networks. Today I want to move this idea forward and look at how the idea of ‘re-ablement’ can be used as a metaphor for a different way of working with service users’ social networks.

My blog yesterday looked at how a version of Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’ could be applied to the way public services impact of citizens’ social networks. Today I want to move this idea forward and look at how the idea of ‘re-ablement’ can be used as a metaphor for a different way of working with service users’ social networks.

The idea of re-ablement will be familiar to those with a background in adult social care. The idea is that service users are given support to develop new skills to help them live independent lives.

Take the example of falls suffered by older people. If, after someone has had a fall, they are given extra help, for example home adaptations or information about home care, they are less likely to have further severe falls and are therefore more likely to continue to lead independent lives. This could also save the public purse some money. At least, that’s the theory.

I believe that we can apply a similar principle to looking at the social networks of service users in at least three domains; caring, transitions and conflict.

The idea of ‘re-ablement’ can be used as a metaphor for a different way of working with service users’ social networks

Caring

Several million people in the UK are carers. Carers UK estimate that every day 6,000 people take on caring responsibilities. When this happens to us it can be a profound change in our relationships.

Take the example of a son or a daughter who suddenly has to care for one of their parents. Or a husband or wife who take on caring responsibilities for their partner. Not only can this change place a tremendous strain on the carer it is also a profound change in the relationship and one that both people have to negotiate.

What might re-ablement look like in this case? It might involve talking with those involved about the stresses and strains that they should expect to face, it might involve giving tips and techniques for how to deal with a new type of relationship, it might even involve introductions to others who have successfully navigated similar situations.

I remember when my grandmother had a nasty fall and broke her hip. My mum took responsibility for providing some of the care that my previously very independently minded gran now needed. No one, at any point, talked to the two of them about how this would work. I believe if they had some of the resulting emotional strain could have been alleviated.

Transitions

Public services often find themselves involved in people’s lives at points of transition. This might be signing on because you have been made unemployed, signing a new tenancy for social housing or leaving prison.

These points of transition inevitably bring about a different quality to our relationships. We may be required to ask more of our friends or family or we may have to become more independent. We may want to use the opportunity to distance ourselves from some previous acquaintances and to make new ones.

Again, these changes can be quite profound. When I worked as a housing officer I would counter sign new tenancies. The new tenants were often young mothers who were moving away from their parents’ home. They would often talk about their nervousness and excitement at having a new type of relationship with their parents. I never knew what to say to them.

Often, a few months later, they would have had a massive fight with their parents and would not be speaking with them. Consequently, they would feel isolated and vulnerable. Public services should be able to offer some kind of support or guidance to people who are undergoing these transitions, to help them navigate the changed character of their relationships.

We could also include the trickier category of people who want to change their social circles. This could be people who previously had a problematic relationship with drugs or alcohol who want to distance themselves from their friends who still have a problematic relationship. It could be people coming out of prison who are wary of falling in with the old crowd. Currently, what can the rehab or probation services offer to these people?

Conflict

Public services are often called to intervene in conflicts. This might be complaints over noise nuisance between neighbours, allegations that a pub is breaking the terms of its license or community tensions around race or religion.

The predominant response from public services in many of these cases is often informed by a law and order approach. One party is designated as a perpetrator and the other a victim. This initiates a process of evidence gathering in which the public services (be they neighbourhood wardens, environmental health officers or police) attempts to prove that the perpetrator has broke a set of rules. If sufficient proof is obtained the public sector will then use some of the sanctions that are available to them, for example, issuing anti-social behaviour orders or reviewing the terms of a pub’s license.

This approach is appropriate in many situations. However, an approach based on early mediation can be more effective. This does not have to be a value neutral type of mediation. In fact, it is often quite appropriate for public services to express a view on the type of settlement that should be reached between the two parties, so-called ‘evaluative mediation’.

At it’s best this form of intervention can prevent further conflict arising. Rather than delivering solutions to these conflicts the public sector has a powerful role in bringing people together in a safe environment to negotiate their differences.

In all three of these examples I believe that public services can provide a service similar to re-enablement. They can assist the users of public services and the people in their social networks to navigate changes in their relationships and the resulting stresses and strains that come from these changes. This approach can prevent the need for more extensive interventions in the future and it can assit people in what are often very trying times.