Personalisation - the Journey So Far

Martin Farran, ADASS Policy Lead for Personalisation and Executive Director of Adults and Communities at Barnsley Council, has shared his reflections on the journey of personalisation as part of our blog series "What's next for Personalisation?".

Martin's vision for the future work centres on four key themes:

• Focus on the customer journey
  Don't rely on eligibility criteria to restrict access. Invest in a proactive universal information and advice strategy which provides information, advice and triage support to a broad range of health and social care services. Enable and promote self-care/management and sign post people to alternative services.
• Outcome focussed assessment
  The assumption is that people who use services self-manage, our role is to ensure the level of support they need to do so. Keep the self-assessment process simple and embrace risk management. Being risk averse limits creativity and opportunities, restricting People who use services from living the life they want.
• Market development
  We have moved on from the traditional 'commissioning' purchaser/provider split. Our role is predominantly strategic planning to meet needs and market facilitation, supporting people who use services as micro commissioners. For providers this means focussing on those in direct receipt of their services as purchasers and being responsive.
• Personalisation as part of a broader citizenship approach
  Individuals, families and communities should be seen as assets as opposed to the traditional deficits model. Recognise people's strengths and abilities, promote reciprocacy by asking those in receipt of support what they can offer.

What do you think? We'd love to know your thoughts. Please read Martin's blog and share your comments or tweet @tlap1 using the hashtag #tlap13