We have worked in partnership with ADASS (the Association of Directors of Adults Services), #SocialCareFuture, Think Local Act Personal, and Frameworks UK to explore how we can communicate more effectively about care and support. The first outcomes of this work include; Frameworks UK’s research on How to talk about social care and a practical quick-start guide summarising the findings.
At the LGA, we believe that the way we talk about adult social care matters. It shapes how people understand it, value it, and ultimately support the transformation we all want to see. Yet, public awareness and interest in adult social care remain low, and too often, the wider narrative is dominated by stories of crisis and deficit. If we are to build the support needed for reform and investment, we must tell a different story, one that raises awareness, inspires action, and puts people at the heart of the conversation.
Over the past year, we have worked in partnership with ADASS (the Association of Directors of Adults Services), #SocialCareFuture, Think Local Act Personal, and Frameworks UK to explore how we can communicate more effectively about care and support. This collaboration included workshops hosted by the LGA with sector partners and focus groups with members of the public led by Frameworks UK.
We are pleased to share the first outcomes of this work which includes:
- Frameworks UK’s research - How to talk about social care
- a practical quick-start guide summarising the findings.
This new research builds on foundational work by #SocialCareFuture, to change the narrative around adult social care.
The LGA’s involvement in this work reflects our long-standing commitment to person-centred care and to shaping what good care looks like for people and communities. Last year, we marked a decade since the Care Act received Royal Assent with a collection of articles that brought together voices from across the sector, with the stories of people drawing on care and support, carers, and the workforce at its heart. Behind every statistic on funding, waiting lists, or workforce challenges are real lives: a young disabled adult using a direct payment to attend their favourite gig; an older person regaining independence through reablement in the home they love; a care worker making vital connections with those they support. These are our friends, our loved ones and, one day, they may be us.
The research from Frameworks UK identifies clear opportunities to strengthen the narrative by emphasising fairness across incomes and places and our interconnectedness as communities, explaining what social care is and how it works when it is at its best, highlighting real examples of high-quality care that enable people to live the lives they want to lead and using the metaphor of social care as the ‘glue’ that connects the things that help us live well.
Over the coming months, each organisation will provide further guidance, tools, and learning opportunities to help embed these insights. If you are a council interested in learning more about this work, you can contact Mairead Rooney (Policy Adviser, Adult Social Care and Health Integration) at [email protected].