Strength based working Coventry City Council ADASS PSI network 18 October 2019

Approach to adult social care What we aim to do: ‘Providing support, in the least intrusive manner possible, based on the assets, resources and abilities that are available to people’. Summary: Coventry supports a relatively low number of people with ongoing care and support needs, this is related to: Our approach to Adult Social Care and support which is based on helping people to be independent and not reliant on services wherever possible Getting the right interactions when people first come into contact with us – strengths based, short term support and engagement with families as well as professionals Operate as part of a system with health organisations, voluntary sector and housing The goal we aim at is for people to be living independently within their own homes - this is not always achievable and in many cases living independently is only possible with support Where living at home is no longer feasible there is a requirement for accommodation based support

Comparison information

Approach to strengths based working Practice Framework - Adults and carers at heart of practice Toolkit for practitioners and managers Motivational interviewing Supervisory approaches Adults Family Group Conferencing Real time user experience survey Potential evaluation through Birm Uni ???

What is a Practice Framework? Brings together, in an accessible way, an organisations approach to practice, what underpins the work, how this informs interventions and as an organisation how we support front line practice Promotes identity, an ethos to how we practice, promoting consistency and quality Used internally and externally (recruitment) 

Toolkit for practitioners and managers Accessible handbook and toolkit aims to ensure that practitioners, supervisors and managers are equipped with various tools and approaches to support strength based practice

Motivational interviewing (MI) Supporting strength based conversations via use of MI – Two days training and follow ups MI techniques can increase motivation to change, increase engagement with interventions or increase confidence to explore alternative options The skills of MI? Open ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening and use of summaries

Supervisory Approaches Focus on reflective supervision approaches and the development of peer group supervision to reflect on and embed strength based approaches Reflective supervision is a learning process in which the supervisor engages with the supervisee to explore a supervisee’s practice, factors influencing their practice responses, knowledge base informing their analysis using this understanding to inform next steps Peer group supervision to compliment one to one approaches A range of models can be used that support reflective supervision in both one to one and peer formats

Adults Family Group Conferencing (FGC) FGCs are meetings of the extended family network and friends, together with those working professionally and directly with the family. Use ‘independent coordinator’ and comprise three parts or stages; Information sharing – about the concern, clarification given. Private family time – develops self-reliance, problem solving skills, encourages negotiation and co-operation Agreeing the plan – ‘Family Action Plan’ agreed and supported as necessary. Currently seeking to pilot examples with the support of the Children’s FCG service

Real time customer experience survey New real time client and carer 'experience' survey A key element of Quality Assurance is seeking feedback from our customers Traditionally takes the form of two national postal surveys (client and carer) Online survey has been developed consisting of a series of questions completed from either the perspective of the client or carer - aligned to the questions within the surveys so can compare Also ask people if want to ‘get involved’- sign up to newsletter Launch October 2019