Community-Led Support (CLS) is an approach which involves social care practitioners working with people and communities to achieve what matters to them, and builds on existing relationships, skills, networks and strengths that they already have, to improve care. 

This is called a ‘strength-based’ approach and it was developed by the National Development Team for inclusion (NDTi) as a way for the whole social care and health system to work together to make strengths-based working happen in practice. It has now been applied in over thirty local authority areas across the UK.

A two-year study led by the University of Birmingham, King’s College London, and University of Kent as part of the NIHR National Priority Programme for Adult Social Care & Social Work, has been investigating how strengths-based practice has been embedded and its impact through the Community Led Support (CLS) programme.

Findings from the study suggest that CLS led to positive impacts on social care assessment and care management activities in comparison to non-CLS areas and highlight the contribution of community-based health and social care hubs, national learning networks, and the NDTI programme team’s role in turning strengths-based principles into social care practice. 

The study also identified opportunities to further develop the CLS approach in relation to co-production with people and communities, distributing leadership, and involvement of the voluntary and community sector. Read the report 

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