Programme 2021

1. Addressing the needs of vulnerable families in our communities
Alfred Grixti, Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS), Malta

When planning and delivering community care, social services working in the community need to come together to provide an integrated multi-professional approach and, ultimately, fight poverty and social exclusion. In Malta, an agency was exclusively created to offer such a space. By explaining the mission of the agency, the Maltese Foundation for Social Welfare Services will stress the importance of nurturing social development through an integrated multi-professional approach based on families’ and community needs.

2. The economic case for community care – a regional authority perspective (IT)
Marco Espa and Francesca Palmas, ABC Associazione Cerebrolesi, Italy

Presenters from the region of Sardinia, Italy, will make an economic case for individualised plans for people with disabilities versus their institutionalisation in residential care. Thanks to the establishment of such plans, people with severe disabilities now manage to live independently and the region of Sardinia has saved more than 5 times the costs of institutionalisation.

3. Only the lonely: Experiences from initiatives in a municipality in Denmark to help users of public care out of loneliness
Jens Bejer Damgaard, Municipality of Holstebro, Denmark

Loneliness can deprive people of their ability to manage everyday tasks. Many health and social care professionals try to address issues concerning health, material, and social needs. However, addressing loneliness requires a different approach, one that involves professionals, the individual and the communities where they live. In this workshop, the Municipality of Holstebro in Denmark will present its local strategy to reduced unwanted loneliness, which is implemented through a community care approach with a range of stakeholders.

4. Personalising workforce development – Better outcomes for all.
Jim Thomas and Marie Lovell, Skills for Care, United Kingdom

Creating support for people that is right for them requires thoughtful and respectful conversations. Personalising care and support, and the funding to support this, is fundamental to enabling people to live independent lives. But in personalising care and support we forget to do the same for the workforce supporting that person. This session explores a project where we did personalise learning and development to the needs of individuals and their specific needs. It shows how doing so can increase people’s life opportunities and empower the workforce that supports them.

1. Implementation of the Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) in the Netherlands and Catalonia (Spain)
Steve Lauriks, Marta Ballester, Xavier Delgado Alonso, Coordinator of Social Inclusion and Cohesion Programmes. Directorate General of Social Services in the Department of Social Rights of Catalonia, Avedis, Donabedian Research Institute, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Spain, Netherlands

The SSM is a tool to measure the level of self-sufficiency of an adult person in their daily life. This tool has the potential to standardise professional assessments, improve communication among different teams of practitioners, and homogenise service provision across municipalities. Finally, this tool could also support decision-making if specific algorithms are developed. Examples from Spain and the Netherlands will illustrate the potential uses of the matrix to support the delivery of community care.

2. Aiming for higher quality – Transforming specialised social services in Denmark
Susanne Wollsen and Christian Schacht-Magnussen, Region of Southern Denmark

The Region of Southern Denmark is investing in improving the quality of specialist social services to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. They have introduced a management training on “LEAN’ methods, qualitative methods, improved user involvement, and waste and value assessment tools. During the workshop, delegates will learn about the positive impact of these methods on services improvement.

3. Promoting access to early childcare, building bridges with early education (DE)
Nancy Ehlert, Program Coordinator, Stiftung SPI on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and Sandra Berkling, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege (AGFW) Hamburg, Germany

The access of children to quality day care is fundamental for the creation of an inclusive community, which promotes equal opportunities for people and their full participation in social life. This workshop will present the activities of the German federal government for the promotion of low-threshold services to guarantee access to day care for children, especially those who are difficult to reach by institutional day care. In this workshop, delegates will learn more about the federal programme and on how it was designed together with children and families themselves through a co-production approach.

4. Socio-spatial approaches to social work with the most vulnerable – way forward for community care? (DE)
Iris Mann, Monika Büning, Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e. V. und Stadt Ulm. Germany

Social spaces consist of the relationships that emerge between people living in their neighbourhoods and communities. In this workshop, the German Association for public and private welfare (Deutscher Verein) promotes the idea that social space orientation is the way forward when it comes to identifying the needs of the community, as needs are formulated in social spaces, where people live, in their families and neighbourhoods. Delegates at this workshop will also discuss the importance of a human-centred focus in the social space orientation approach, using a co-production and inclusive methodology in the formulation of care responses.

Panel Discussion 1
SELF-HELP AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

While self-care is about the individual caring for their own needs, community care is focused on the collective: taking care of people together, from basic physical needs to psychological ones. This session will explore a crucial pillar of community care: the support offered to individuals “by’ the community, as well as how the community can help individuals to reinforce their own assets and promote self-help. This has become particularly relevant in the context of Covid-19. In periods of self-isolation and lockdowns, there have been a series of spontaneous and organised community activities to support the most vulnerable.

Delegates at this session will learn about the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare assessment of needs that allows individuals to strengthen their own personal resources to help them participate in community activities. Empowering individuals has had a positive impact on increased levels of participation of older people in the Basque Country (Spain). The region is implementing an older people’s plan that focuses, among others, on a successful dialogue with all stakeholders in the community. Delegates at the session will also learn how Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa works on the personal and social skills of young people leaving care to help them transition to adulthood. Finally, the third sector organisations Leben mit Behinderung Hamburg and Balance Vienna will present how “circles of support’ can build a supportive social network around persons with intellectual disabilities. We will learn how they work with the people they support in their communities and reflect on the impact that Covid-19 has had on their programmes.

Moderator:

• Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, Senior Expert in Disability and Inclusion, Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission

1. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to support individuals needs, goals and outcomes
Erik Wessman, Programme officer, The National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden

2. A public-social participation model for older people in the Basque Country
Beatriz Gaquez Delgado, Nagusi Agenda Coordinator, Basque Government, Spain (ES)

3. Autonomy and Community Integration: supporting the transition to adulthood of young people leaving care
João Bicho, Community Integration Team Director, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Portugal

4. Circles of Support: an empowering peer-to-peer support
Celine Müller, Project Management, Leben mit Behinderung Hamburg Sozialeinrichtungen gGmbH, Germany (DE)

 

Panel Discussion 2
SAFEGUARDING IN COMMUNITY CARE

Safeguarding is about preventing harm happening to people using social services and responding effectively when it occurs. However, most safeguarding protocols have been affected by Covid-19 across Europe. Drawing on examples from the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland, this panel discussion will explore the different safeguarding measures that had been put in place when it comes to the development of a model of care in line with human rights, participation, and staff training. We will also explore how these protocols have been impacted by the pandemic in the countries discussed.

Moderator:

• Samantha Pace Gasan, Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability, Commission for the Rights of Person with Disability in Malta

1. The Catalan Social Services Ethics Committee: involving people using services in decision-making
Begoña Roman, Chair of the Catalan Social Services Ethics Committee, Regional Government of Catalonia, Spain (ES)

2. Supporting staff to implement a human rights-based approach in community care
Deirdre Connolly, Standards Development Lead, Health Information and Quality Authority, Ireland

3. Training staff to prevent abuse of adults with learning disabilities
Herculano Castro, Senior Group Operations Manager, Mentaur, United Kingdom

 

Panel Discussion 3
INNOVATION IN INTEGRATED MINIMUM INCOME AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMMES (ES)

The Recovery and Resilience Facility Funds and future FSE+ provide a good basis for robust investment in public social services and aim at transforming the care and social welfare support models. Minimum income schemes are among the European recommendations for social welfare systems and Spain launched last year its first national minimum income. This social benefit should be combined with access to social services in an integrated social inclusion programme that guarantees the active participation of beneficiaries in our societies.

Delegates at this session will learn about how the European Funds can be used to promote these approaches using a wide range of resources, including innovation, technology and digital tools, to guarantee their implementation.

Speakers will include senior representatives from national and regional authorities, in cooperation with Accenture.

• Patricia Bezunartea, General Director of Family Diversity and Social Services, Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 (ES)
• Sara Buesa, General Director of Benefits and Inclusion, Lanbide – Vasque Service of Employment (ES)
• Manuel Torres, Managing Director, Health and Public Service, Accenture (ES) – Moderator
• Javier Fernández Presa, Head of Information Systems and Services at the Regional Government of Andalucía (ES)
• Esther Pérez Quintana, Deputy Director for Inclusion Policies, General Secretariat for Inclusion and Social Welfare (ES)

INNOVACIÓN EN PRESTACIONES E INCLUSIÓN SOCIAL (ES)

Los Fondos de Recuperación y Resiliencia y el futuro FSE+ ofrecen la oportunidad de realizar una inversión robusta en los servicios sociales públicos y aspiran a transformar los modelos de apoyo de cuidados y bienestar social. Los sistemas de rentas mínimas se encuentran entre las recomendaciones europeas para los sistemas de bienestar social y España lanzó el año pasado su primer sistema nacional de ingreso mínimo (IMV). Esta prestación social debe estar combinada con el acceso a los servicios sociales mediante soluciones integrales e integradas que garanticen una inclusión total de las personas beneficiarias.

En esta sesión se aprenderá sobre cómo pueden utilizarse los Fondos Europeos para fomentar tales soluciones desde una perspectiva amplia, incluida el ámbito de la innovación, la tecnología y la digitalización, y bajo el objetivo de unos parámetros comunes que garanticen la correcta aplicación de los derechos que los servicios sociales aportan.

La sesión contará con la participación de máximos representantes a nivel ministerial y autonómico, en cooperación con Accenture.

• Patricia Bezunartea, General Director of Family Diversity and Social Services, Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 (ES)
• Sara Buesa, General Director of Benefits and Inclusion, Lanbide – Vasque Service of Employment (ES)
• Manuel Torres, Managing Director, Health and Public Service, Accenture (ES) – Moderator
• Javier Fernández Presa, Head of Information Systems and Services at the Regional Government of Andalucía (ES)
• Esther Pérez Quintana, Deputy Director for Inclusion Policies, General Secretariat for Inclusion and Social Welfare (ES)