Meeting Complex Needs: The future of social care

There is a significant gap in services for people with complex needs. People with complex needs may have to deal with a number of different issues in their lives, for example a learning disability, mental health problems, or substance abuse. The may also be living in deprived circumstances and lack access to stable housing or meaningful daily activity.

This book presents a strategy for reform to meet complex needs. Arguing for government to make stronger connections between social care and social inclusion, it calls for a new kind of delivery model for people with complex needs who live in deprived neighbourhoods. The authors explore how frontline reforms might be achieved through a reformed commissioning process, as well as a commitment to purposeful cultural change. Attention to the process of translating policy into practice should ensure that social care services meet complex needs more effectively in the future.