Social care for marginalised communities: balancing self-organisation, micro-provision and mainstream support. Policy Paper 18 - February 2014

Adult social care works with some of the most disadvantaged people in society and social work has a tradition of inclusion, empowerment and anti-oppressive practice (Dominelli 2010). However, the reality is that a number of seldom heard groups experience aspects of mainstream, traditional social care provision as inaccessible or disempowering. Within the social care policy context of personalisation, adult social care and support needs to be more responsive to the increasing degrees of diversity among individuals, their communities and social networks. In terms of achieving the necessary flexibility and responsiveness, community-based micro-provision could be a particularly appropriate option for configuring social care support.
This briefing reviews recent research on two aspects of social care support provision for certain people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, who are often seldom heard in mainstream services. The review draws out messages for social care micro-providers and social care commissioners and focuses on the following two areas:

- the marginalising dynamics in mainstream, statutory social care support provision for certain people with ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010
- how local community, specialist or small-scale services are responding to unmet need for support and advice among marginalised groups

The aim is to establish an evidence base for commissioners and micro-providers or local community social enterprises wanting to offer services or specialist support to diverse communities or particular populations.

© Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham
Published version reproduced in this repository with permission

Policy Paper 18 - February 2014