Here, social care practitioners talk about the support they need in helping people move between care settings. A key message is that organisations need to better support social care practitioners in taking on the work. Most challenges associated with supporting care transitions are beyond practitioners’ control and exist at a systems level. These challenges include divisions between health and social care, as well as within the social care sector (between different organisations and departments), limited capacity, resources and staff shortages, excessive paperwork and authorisation requirements, and limited public budgets and service gaps. Practitioners suggested organisations could support them better with the following measures:
• More time to support individuals.
• Supervision and peer support for staff.
• Information about moves, care settings and local agencies
• Opportunities for networking
First of all, it is important to allow practitioners more time to support each person they work with. This is key to building trust, listening to and supporting older people and their families with move-related decisions.
Another important support strategy is to provide supervision and peer support for staff. Examples included discussing options with the team, identifying strategies to support practitioners to navigate complex cases, and emotional support and guidance for colleagues.
Instead of treating it as an individual practitioner’s responsibility, people suggested that organisations can collect and provide information for practitioners to use about moves, different settings, and contacts of other agencies in the local area. This can ensure that practitioners are up-to-date with the latest knowledge and information and can help them to provide quality support.
Many practitioners in the adult social care sector go beyond their roles to help older people and their families with the practical aspect of moving, for example, organising the transport to enable the move or providing that support themselves. Practitioners would benefit from information and specialist resources that are available to support transport and moving for older people with complex needs.
Finally, it is important for practitioners to network with other professionals and to promote their own services, as well as get access to training and latest knowledge in the field.
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