Role of the registered social worker in contributing to better outcomes for Scotland

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s leading dementia voluntary organisation. We work to improve the lives of everyone affected by dementia through our campaigning work nationally and locally and through facilitating the involvement of people with dementia and carers in getting their views and experiences heard. We provide specialist services such as day care, home support and carer support (through training programmes and support groups) in over 60 locations and offer information and support through our 24 hour freephone Dementia Helpline, our website (www.alzscot.org) and our wide range of publications. We welcome the opportunity to comment on the guidance on the role of the registered social worker for local authorities.

Mental health and adults with incapacity

We agree that the adult protection responsibilities outlined under this section should only be carried out by registered social workers with additional appropriate qualification.

Promotion of personalised solutions

We agree that the promotion of personalised solutions is important and that it is a key means of ensuring people have services and support that meet their needs and priorities and address their personal circumstances. Social workers have become gatekeepers within the care management system, managing access and entitlement; personalisation can reconnect social workers with the goals and values that underpin the profession. However, it will require the transformation of the current adult social care system.

Personalisation is not just what services can do, natural supports and wider community resources are also important. However, adult social care services as currently structured can remove people from their community and create dependency. Furthermore, tightening eligibility criteria mean that people are not offered support sufficiently early; for people with dementia this often means that they are their carers struggle to cope and lose their connections with local community supports. People with dementia will not become eligible for adult social care until their condition has deteriorated and it is too late to reconnect with community supports.

Dementia is a progressive long-term condition; there is an opportunity to engage with people with dementia and their carers at an earlier stage in the illness. Support can then be planned in a way that maximises their natural supports and community links. Furthermore anticipatory support may have the potential to prevent or delay more expensive interventions later on. This requires a shift away from care management and towards an outcomes focus, with social workers as key in supporting people to shape their own personalised support solutions to achieve their outcomes.