Major changes to the way people across Scotland receive support from public and private care providers came into effect on today. The change to self-directed support, or SDS, gives people receiving support, and their families, the power to choose who provides that assistance. Everyone assessed as being eligible for support…

This article presents findings from a focused scoping review of the published literature on self-directed support (SDS), the term adopted by the Scottish Government to refer to its policy to improve social care outcomes and choices for people using publicly funded services and to distinguish it from personalisation, the term…

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 goes live on the 1st April 2014 and the implementation of the National Strategy is well under way across Scotland. Pilotlight is contributing to these preparations. The project involves co-design teams of people who use and deliver services across Scotland to design…

This is the first in a series of round-table discussions that was recorded at the IRISS offices in the busy Merchant City of Glasgow. It forms part of the IRISS Debates project for 2013/14 and brought together individuals from key organisations to discuss the question: 'Self-directed support is just the…

This report is drawn from a National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) Network for Methodological Innovation project, the key theme,‘Dancing with new partners’ examined methods for engaging non-academic users, especially with people who, in our experience, are often resistant to engagement – and for measuring the impact of research on…

The advent of self-directed support and personalised care will mean that over time, more and more individuals will have control of, and choice around, their own care and support, and this will include where and how they want to live. Housing Options Scotland is a public service organisation that provides…

Reshaping Care and Support Planning is a nationally approved, awareness raising resource for outcome-focused care and support planning within adult registered services in Scotland. It was devised, developed and published in a partnership between the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS), Care Inspectorate, Scottish Consortium for Learning…

In order to effectively implement the Self-Directed Support Strategy for Scotland, it is imperative that information on services and supports is readily available to those that need it. What the strategy envisages is individuals and families having “informed choice about the way support is provided to them” (Scottish Government, 2010)…