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SeCtion one Four key approaches to change
Case Study D:
Soft systems methodology in the development of supported living
Background
Local Action for the Disabled (LAD) was set up in the 1970s by parents of children with a learning disability to provide respite services. It grew steadily over time and diversified its range of services to include three residential care homes, domiciliary care services, and schemes promoting access to leisure services. It also opened its services to support for people with any form of disability, including those with autism. Alongside these internal changes the local authority reviewed its learning disability provision some time ago and identified that it wanted to move to more supported living rather than residential care homes. Until recently though this had not significantly altered the services that were purchased. Financial pressures meant that the new commissioning manager advised that the Local Authority would not place anyone further in residential care and that existing homes should deregister if possible. LAD had already been considering closing the homes as there have been two vacancies that have not been filled for several months and a resident may need to move to nursing home care due to advanced dementia. A local housing association had a new residential development that they were willing to offer up to 12 tenancies for people with a disability.
Case Study Manager D
Case study manager managed the residential care homes in LAD.
The Organisational Brief to Manager D
• To ensure that the homes are closed and the current residents are supported in appropriate accommodation.
• To avoid negative publicity regarding the closure of the homes.
• To redeploy the suitable members of the current staff within a domiciliary care service that can support the people who move into the new tenancies.
The overall approach to change
From her knowledge of the stakeholders, Manager D could predict that they would have very different perspectives on what services LAD should provide to replace the homes. Furthermore from the previous attempts to move from a residential care model it would be unlikely that the Board of LAD would be able to ‘impose’ their views in practice. She therefore decided to use Soft-Systems Methodology as an overall change approach. This recognises that people have different ‘world-views’, and that it may not be able to reach a compromise that is agreed by all. Instead it aims to deploy a learning cycle to better understand these worldviews and respond to
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