We want to make sure that adult social care systems and ways of working are focused on promotion of strengths. This includes supervision structures that support a strengths-based focus. We want people working in adult social care to be able to have structured and supported spaces to think about how they work with people and whether these are promoting a person’s strengths. We want adult social care professionals to be aware of how their presence in a person’s life or home has an impact.
How can systems do this?
Using the I,” “we” and “together” statements:
I statement: I feel respected and heard when professionals value strengths, inclusion, and reflection.
We statement: We reflect together, celebrate successes, and model strengths-based approaches in all interactions.
Together statement: Together we create an environment where staff and people receiving support learn from each other and grow.
- Build confidence through both formal training and a learning environment to enable a continuous focus on strengths.
- Group supervision as well as individual task-focused approaches provides time to think collaboratively about ways of promoting strengths.
- Encourage reflective supervision to understand how staff presence affects people’s experiences and take opportunities to consider the lessons learned.
- Celebrate individual stories . People who work in adult social care do this because they want to support people, individual stories act as powerful reminders of what adult social care is about.
- Use funding agreement processes as strengths-based discussions, encouraging early and proactive solution finding. Strengths-based approaches support independence, resilience, and growth.
- Encourage the workforce to be aware of how their presence in someone’s life is impacting on this.
Highlighted pages
A High Impact Change Model to support a strengths-based approach in adult social care
Partners in Care and Health (PCH) asked the Social Care and Health Collaborative to help to develop a tool for councils to help people who work in adult social care to focus on strengths-based approaches. This resource sets out the High Impact Change Model to support strengths-based approaches.
Making it work – putting the model into practice: seven "making it work" action cards
References and resources
This page contains a list of references and resources that informed this model; as well as a list of organisations and individuals who contributed to the discussions, drafting and re-drafting and shared best practice examples to support this tool.