Launch of Power and Connection
Available to buy now, the Centre for Welfare Reform has published the first ever book on Local Area Coordination – ‘Power and Connection’ by Eddie Bartnik and Ralph Broad with contributions from Nick Sinclair, Al Etmanski, Michael Kendrick and international colleagues.
This book is the most significant publication on Local Area Coordination to date, outlining the details of its practical application and more than thirty years of experience and research on its positive impact across social care and health/mental health on the lives of citizens and communities.
Local Area Coordination transforms social services from a system that provides services to people to a system that connects people to community. It is a proven approach, which if developed with integrity, can help people create better lives and stronger relationships, all on their own terms.
First piloted in Western Australia, Local Area Coordination has become a key element of reforms in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales and Singapore.
This book combines the most up to date definition of Local Area Coordination with a synthesis of decades of research, experience and practical application. The authors have also harnessed the perspective of multiple researchers, managers, local area coordinators and the people who have directly benefited from this approach. It is a rich resource which can set services and policy makers on a firm path to sustainable innovation and improvement.
You can purchase ‘Power and Connection’ via:
https://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/store/power-and-connection.html
Please join us at a Question Time event to launch the book on the 2nd November, get your free tickets at:
Advocates of Local Area Coordination say:
“The very fact that Local Area Coordination has both been transported into quite different governmental systems and has continued to innovate and evolve, is a striking endorsement of its potential adaptive capacities and the ultimate worth of its vision for the people it is trying to support.”
Dr Michael Kendrick author of ‘Letting in the Light’
“If we are to support a whole system social movement, we need to work together to embed Local Area Coordination across public services.”
Professor Donna Hall CBE of New Local
“This book offers those wanting to ‘Build Back Better’ after the pandemic practical solutions that have stood the test of time.”
Al Etmanski founder of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN)
“Care is primarily a function of relationships, not services. Local Area Coordination provides a brilliant point of leverage to help shift our energy from pointless system reorganisations towards active support for citizen and community leadership.”
Dr Simon Duffy of Citizen Network
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Eddie Bartnik has been continuously involved in Local Area Coordination from its inception in the late 1980s right through to the present. Further to his early role as state-wide Director of Local Area Coordination in Western Australia, he has been supporting Australian and international developments through his work as a Director of Tamar Consultancy Pty Ltd and his writings. Eddie has held a variety of senior state and national government positions across disability, mental health and community services, including being Western Australia’s first Mental Health Commissioner and Strategic Advisor with the National Disability Insurance Scheme. He is currently International Lead for the International Initiative for Disability Leadership.
Ralph Broad is Director of Inclusive Neighbourhoods Ltd and led the development of Local Area Coordination in England and Wales. This built on the original ground-breaking developments in Western Australia, expanding Local Area Coordination to its current, inclusive “whole community, whole system” focus alongside people of all ages and backgrounds. He also established the England and Wales Local Area Coordination Network and authored the first two reports on Local Area Coordination in England and Wales. He has subsequently worked in partnership with leaders to support new Local Area Coordination developments in Western Australia, Singapore and now the Isle of Man, as part of contribution to health and social care reform. Prior to this, Ralph had a variety of senior leadership positions in organisations in England, Scotland and Western Australia.
The book has been published by the Centre for Welfare Reform in England and you can see the original media release here https://bit.ly/2WvzBBC
First developed in Western Australia, Local Area Coordination now has 30+ years of evidence spanning multiple countries and population groups across social care and health/mental health. The book features contributions from Nick Sinclair, Al Etmanski, Michael Kendrick and a wide range of international contributors including people who have benefitted from this approach, researchers, managers and local area coordinators.