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Organisational change is now an integral part of the life of an adult social care manager. Whatever their context, scale, pace and objectives, change projects encounter common challenges. These include securing necessary support from key stakeholders, being clear about outcomes, resolving different interests, coordinating multiple activities to timescales, and sustaining improvements in the long term. While the process of organisational change appears difficult in most sectors, social care has particular complexities due to the vulnerability of many of the people which it supports, its interconnection with other professions and agencies, and public scrutiny of perceived failings in its work. There is little empirical evidence though to guide how change can be successfully achieved in social care organisations. This compendium seeks to address this gap in knowledge combining generic evidence on organisational change with the experiences of those who have led and participated in change initiatives in adult social care.
The compendium has main two sections:
Section 1: Fictional case studies which illustrate how four key approaches to change could be deployed within adult social care. These case studies also illustrate how other tools and interventions could be incorporated within such a change process. Further details and supporting resources for each approach and tool are provided in Section 2.
Section 2: A directory of change approaches and change management tools based on a review of current literature including available empirical research and the views of people who have experienced and led change. A short commentary on the application of the social care change principles through these approaches is also provided.
Health Services Management Centre University of Birmingham
Park House
40 Edgbaston Park Road Birmingham
B15 2RT
United Kingdom