Making person-centred assessments

In: Journal of social work: JSW, Band 20, Heft 4, S. 431-447

Open Access

Abstract

Summary The social care assessment is a 'key interaction' between a person and the local authority with 'critical' importance for determining a person's needs for care and support. In order to achieve this, the guidance requires that assessments must be 'person-centred throughout'. The concept of person-centred practice is now routinely invoked, but there remains little empirical evidence on how it gets put into practice. Findings This paper draws on interview data from 30 practitioners about their experiences of conducting social care assessments in England. While there was widespread support for the principles of a person-centred approach, tensions emerged for practitioners in three ways: the way in which 'chat' was used to build a relationship or conduct the assessment, whether to conduct the assessment via a conversation or by following the sections on the agency form and the extent to which the assessor should involve and negotiate the contributions of family members. Applications We argue that each of these dilemmas represents an occasion when a commitment to person-centred practice is negotiated between professionals and service users and sometimes compromised as a result. We consider the possibilities for and constraints on achieving person-centred assessments in a post-Care Act environment and discuss the implications for social work practice and research.