Facilitating Change in Health and Social Care

This report examines the process of facilitating change within the Local Action for the Disabled (LAD) organization, focusing on its transition from residential care to supported living. It identifies key factors driving change (political, legal, demographic, technological) and associated challenges (resource management, maintaining quality care, staff resistance). The report details strategies employed to measure the change (inspections, user feedback, self-evaluation) and establishes criteria for evaluating success (user benefits, organizational efficiency, adherence to government guidelines). The impact of the changes is assessed, highlighting both positive (improved user satisfaction, increased staff efficiency) and negative (initial technological difficulties, adaptation challenges for older users) consequences. Finally, the report discusses key change management principles (Kotter's 8-step process, Leavitt's Diamond Model) and the planning and monitoring of the change process within LAD. The overall conclusion emphasizes the multifaceted nature of change management and the importance of considering various stakeholders' perspectives for successful implementation.

Facilitating Change in Health and Social Care
INTRODUCTION
Facilitating change in any organization is a dynamic process that brings about a potential impact
on its service users as well as its service providers. For any organization such as the health and
social care corporations, change is inevitable as it marks the success of the corporation. Local
Action for the Disabled (LAD) is one such organization that runs residential homes and other
services for people with learning disabilities. The purpose of this report is to highlight the key
features responsible for bringing about change in the organization, the strategies adopted to
implement such changes and its consequent impact.
TASK 1
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1.1 KEY FACTORS THAT DRIVE CHANGE IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
SERVICES
Since LAD is shifting its services from residential care to supported living, it is crucially
important to consider the key factors that drive change in such services to see whether they can
be accommodated or not. These key factors are as follows:
Political: It has a great influence on change in health and social care organization as it
concerns about policies and guidelines of the government, economic stability in the country,
norms and regulations, economic policies, government's residential land criteria, funding issues,
etc. The change of government can also lead to a major setback in the progress of the project.
Legal: A broad range of legislative acts can affect the changes getting introduced in LAD which
includes Health Act 2006, NHS and Community Care Act 1990, Health and Social Care Act
2012, Care Act 2014, etc. In any case, none of the guidelines set by these constitutional acts
shall be offended to get appropriate results in the favour of the change.
Demographic and cultural: Some factors such as age of the users, community needs, lifestyle
factors, etc can also affect LAD in shifting its services from residential care to supported living.
For ex- users of higher age might not be comfortable with the new concept or others might be
apprehensive about the fulfilment of their basic needs in supported living.
Technological: Introducing new techniques such as maintaining records through electronic
record keeping, electronic communication, etc. will require making the workers learn the new
methodologies. Hence, resulting in incorporating and driving changes in health and social care
services.
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Thus, the health and social care organizations are affected largely through the above mentioned
factors in various aspects. It must be ensured that the change must be incorporated smoothly
and effect of the change must prove advantageous for the community and its people. (Rutter,
2014)
1.2 CHALLENGES THAT KEY FACTORS BRING TO HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
SERVICES
The key factors mentioned above will bring plenty of challenges not only for the staff,
workers and other members of LAD but also for the service users. These challenges need to be
mitigated rapidly specially in case of health and social care services in order to bring about
smooth and positive changes within the organization. Some of these challenges are listed
below:
This new initiative of LAD will result into incorporating changes into existing services which can
result into chaos within the organization. This is because it will take a great deal of resources
and labour to make the members of the organization comfortable with the newly adopted
changes.
Maintaining the quality care is yet another challenging task keeping in mind that the
superlative care provided initially does not get compromised at all. Constant quality care
provision keeps the service users in confidence and gains their support that may also help in
moving to supported living. (Berwick, 2016)
In addition to this, it can be stated that changes in demographic aspects also
impacts the development of health care sector. If lifestyle of individual has changed then
it might be possible that risk of health issue will also be impacted in diverse manner.
Another key issue that can affect the working of LAD and may lead to several changes
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in working conditions is improper management of human and financial resources. Along
with this, technology changes also influences the development of health care sector. For
example, health care firm has installed new tools for blood test but the new technology
has been introduced in the market. It will influence the overall outcome in negative
manner which might enhance the overall cost of organisation. In order to meet the work
standards and provide convenient test process the changes in technology is significant
for LAD. Moreover, cultural values changes also impact development of health care
sector in diverse manner. If citizens are more focused towards low cost health treatment
then it will influence the working of organisation. According to need of citizens the
business firm need to have changes in policies and pricing so that satisfaction level can
be advanced effectively.
Any kind of resistance or lack of interest and concern in the workers or service users for the
new changes in LAD can be a bit challenging because this results in resentfulness among them
that causes lack of efficiency in their work which is not acceptable at all in the beginning of a
new project.
Availability of resources is another challenge as they are needed in every field whether it be
human resources or financial resources. To achieve the desired resources at desired time is
quite difficult during establishment of new projects.
Matching efficiency and economy is one of the most challenging of all as we cannot
compromise with it in any case. Efficient working gains the trust of the users but to maintain this
efficiency, a lot of efforts need to be put in.
Beginning of new kinds of services and changes might lead to undermining of existing services
which is another major challenge for LAD. The foundation of the existing services is the strength
of the organization. Hence, this shall not be compromised in any case. (Plesk, 2001)
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These challenges should not be overlooked at all because they can create great difficulties
within the organization if not handled properly.
TASK 2
2.1 STRATEGY AND CRITERIA FOR MEASURING RECENT CHANGES IN
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
After implementing the idea of moving from residential care to supported living, the first
and the foremost requirement of LAD was its management which proved to be quite
challenging. So, some strategies were implemented to measure these changes which are as
follows:
Various characteristics of change were identified such as the rate of change, its scale,
character, political change or intentional change, etc. that opened up many answers to the
questions related to measuring these changes. These depend immensely on the factors that
drive changes.
Inspections were regulated on daily basis conducted through various ways such as
questionnaire, surveys, interviews, documentation review, observations, case studies, etc.
These varied kinds of inspections held out the new idea smoothly.
Taking feedback from service users also proved to be beneficial as they were the ones
who were affected the most by this shifting among all the stakeholders. Their demands and
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complaints against the earlier services were taken seriously and were avoided while moving to
supported living.
Self-evaluation is although, given very less importance to be included in some strategies
but it plays a major role in measuring changes. In case of LAD, it was indeed of great value.
Evaluation was done until satisfaction was reached.
System quality assurance is indeed another strategy that helped in making this shift from
residential care to supported living possible. The shifting was unsupportive of any kind of
compromise with the quality. (Bond, 2013)
A criteria was set for measuring such recent changes in health and social care organization LAD
so that its decision of moving from residential care to supported living turned out to be
beneficial. This included the following points:
The change must always involve benefits for the service users that must include benefits
related to their well being, raising the quality of their life, providing them with the best treatments
possible and not compromising with their needs in any case.
This change should not only be beneficial for service users but also for the organization and
partners associated with them as this increases the efficiency of the organization and help in
achieving desirable target services.
Any new change must be able to fulfil the guidelines of the government and hence meet
national objectives. It must not offend any rules and regulations set by the government.
It should be ensured that the employees, workers and other staff must be very well
skilled in order to measure those changes. Their skills are responsible for making any health
and social care organization highly efficient and a great success. (Grol, 2013)
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2.2 IMPACT OF RECENT CHANGES ON HEALTH AND CARE SERVICE AGAINST
SET CRITERIA
The changes in LAD were earlier initiated by many other organizations but all were an
unsuccessful attempt. Thus, after this successful attempt by LAD of introducing and bringing a
new change, a huge impact of these changes on its services is being observed.
This new development has caused many significant impacts not only on the service users but
also on the organization and its staff. It has generated a bond of trust between the service users
and the organization build on based of continuity in providing the best quality of services. Earlier
they were quite apprehensive about the new concept of supported living and how they are going
to get comfortable in such an environment, but now when they have actually realized that their
services are not at all being undermined, so not only them but their families too seem
comfortable and happy with this new change. Other than this, they observed many difficulties
with the new technologies at initial level for about 5-6 months. Gradually they were able to cope
up with that for which the workers and other staff of LAD must be appreciated.
Prior to this shifting to supported living, workers used to do a lot of work manually but now with
the advancement in technology, we have electronic recording systems, electronic
communication, etc. which has reduced the work load but increased their efficiency. The training
provided to them for adapting such advancements in technology, has been fruitful as they now
fall into the category of highly skilled. Earlier the government had issues with the land provided
to LAD and some issues are still in process to be resolved.
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Thus, any change introduced in any organization leaves a impact on its service users, their
families, workers, staff and also the management of the organization. So, before implementing
any change, its impact on all the members of the organization must always be precedent in
consideration. (Behan, 2008)
2.3 EVALUATION OF OVERALL IMPACT OF RECENT CHANGES IN HEALTH
AND SOCIAL CARE
This new initiative by LAD has not only affected its service users and their families, but also
its workers, staff and other members in the organization. Some impacts proved to be quite
positive, others had a negative effect. So, an evaluation of these impacts needs to be
presented.
The service users had quite a lot of doubts about this new kind of living, but eventually within a
period of 5-6 months, they very well adjusted with this new kind of environment. Some users of
higher age are still in process to adapt to the new surroundings as it is taking a lot of time to
make them feel comfortable with it. With more care and support by the workers and the staff,
they will soon be in peace with the new environment. Apart from that, this change has proved to
be quite beneficial and fruitful for them as exposure to this new kind of environment has helped
them in leading an improved quality of life along with better means. Various surveys,
questionnaire and interviews were conducted to get this feedback from the service users and
their families.
The impact on workers and other staff members has also been quite positive. The workers
found opportunities in specialising and improving their skills with the help of various trainings
provided to them for the new advancements in technology. This has not only reduced work load
on them but diminished their manual work too. Highly skilled workers ultimately lead to better
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service provisions in the organization which in turn leads to an efficient working of the overall
system. (Grol, 2013)
2.4 SERVICE RESPONSES TO CHANGES IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Various types of service responses are associated in accordance with the changes in
health and social care provided within LAD. These responses can be related to the
management, service users, staff and other members of the organization. Some of the service
responses related to the shifting of LAD from residential care to supported living are explained
below.
The management must take care of the leadership to facilitate change. This is needed in
reference to guide the other members and staff of the organization towards efficient working to
adopt the changes smoothly. If guidance is provided at initial level, it helps in achieving the
desired goals within a short period of time. The management must encourage employee
participation and help them achieve efficiency. Employees of the organization must be provided
assistance at all times to improve the quality of their services.
The policies and procedures related to the changes in LAD must always be kept updated
with the new amendments if there is need to implement any. For proficient working of the whole
system of the organization, the regular updates are necessary to keep the members of the
organization updated about the new policies and procedures so that they can work according to
them.
It must also be taken care that the service users of the organization are involved at all stages as
their support will always be needed at every point. The services are provided according to the
users only. Hence, they must always be taken into consideration before taking any decision
regarding implementing changes in the existing services. (Scribd, 2016)
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Hence, appropriate service responses proposed to recent changes in LAD are also required in
order to get the desired results that are in favour of the change.
TASK 3
3.1 KEY PRINCIPLES OF CHANGE MANAGEMENET
The key principles for change management can be explained with the help of two
processes which are described below:
John Kotter's eight step process for change management is the most applied model used by the
organizations for change management. It includes the following 8 steps:
1. Increase urgency
2. Build the guiding team
3. Get the vision right
4. Communicate for buy-in
5. Empowering action
6. Create short term wins
7. Do not let up
8. Make change stick (Kotter International, 2015)
Leavitt's Diamond Model is another model that emphasizes on critical factors of change and
is used for change management. The factors it includes are as given below: Structure,
People, Managerial tasks, Technology.
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The changes in management depend upon the reaction of its users towards them. They
must always prove to be beneficial for them as they are the ultimate users. People or these
users must be totally satisfied with the change for which they need to deal with their fears,
anxieties and discomfort in accepting the change. The needs of the people must be
analyzed and proper measures must be taken to fulfil them but at the same time, their
existing services should not be undermined. Another thing that must be taken care of is that
the management needs to develop acceptance towards the change among the workers of
the organization. The management must also encourage the workers for leading the
change. In other words, it can be said that volunteering must be encouraged in the
organization (Cameron, 2015).
3.2 PLANNING OF CHANGES IN SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE
The implementation of these changes is not an easy task. Change is first evaluated, then
re-evaluated, monitored and then planned for its implementation. This planning can be done in
various ways some of which are as follows:
Before implementing change, all the aspects related to it must be consulted with the higher
authorities. This may include the type of change, its need, financial capability of the
organization, etc.
Participative type of management style must be adopted by the organization as this encourages
more and more participation from the employees. Hence, reducing their reluctance towards
change. Communication with the employees of the organization regarding the change must be
done to keep them updated about the recent changes.
Change must be planned in such a way that it meets the development needs of the staff.
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Informal social systems can also be used in order to communicate any information regarding the
change within the organization.
Before presenting the idea, it must be reconditioned and reconsidered to get the maximum
support from the members of the organization.
Planning can be done in the following way:
Objective of the organization must be identified.
Need for the change must be identified.
Ways to implement the changes must be devised.
Changes must be re-evaluated and reconsidered before presenting them.
Proper communication and consultation must be conducted for the implementation of change.
Various strategies should be devised to properly implement the change (Thomas, 2003).
3.3 MONITORING RECENT CHANGES IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Changes can be monitored by collecting information through formal and informal feedback
such as surveys, questionnaires, group discussions and forums. Generating feedback from the
employees and the service users help in monitoring the change. The management can also
conduct data-analysis based on which conclusions can be drawn that will help in determining
the success of failure of implementing the change.
The change can be monitored by analysing and then evaluating it in the following ways:
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The surveys and questionnaire conducted must be processed and evaluated and then
conclusion must be drawn based on the feedback received. Changes must be implemented in
accordance with the needs of the service users and the staff.
One of the most important thing is to achieve satisfaction from the users and the staff of the
organization.
To measure the efficiency of the work of organization, some factors need to be considered
such as waiting time of the customers must be reduced by inducing variation in management.
This will help in increasing the number of customers. This in turn will help in improving the
response time. The change must be beneficial to both the service users and the organization in
terms of its cost. The people must be able to take more and advantage from its services
(Johnson, 2016).
CONCLUSION
To conclude, we can say that to implement any changes in any organization especially in case of health
and social care such as Local Action for the Disabled corporation, also called as LAD, we need to look out
for a lot of aspects, issues and strategies that can prove out to be successful not only from the
management point of view, but also in terms of financial benefits and benefits associated with the
service users, workers and other staff members of the organization. The organization properly
implemented these strategies which is why it became the only successful organization in this field as all
the past attempts made by other corporations couldn't achieve the desired goals.
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REFERENCES
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