There is a vital need for improved knowledge management (KM) in order to deliver the transformative goals of recent policy directives in adult social care, such as Putting People First, Transforming Adult Social Care, learning disabilities, the national Carers’ Strategy, the national Dementia Strategy. Social care practitioners, managers and commissioners need to have access to the best available evidence on effective social care interventions and practices in order to deliver transformed, personalised social care services. Social care professionals also need to be able to interpret and apply this evidence to their practice. By KM we, therefore, mean the creation and management of knowledge which allows it to be shared, learnt from, enhanced, organised and utilised for the benefit of adult social care.
The NW JIP has been working with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to improve our understanding and approaches to knowledge management within the region. During 2009-10 this involved undertaking a review of KM activities and networks in the region, as well as developing a network of chief knowledge officers (CKOs), and rolling out the Athens access management system to provide practitioners with direct access to key social care electronic journals.
Objectives
A key objective for 2010-11 has been the development of this interactive NW JIP website, providing information across all of the programmes and workstreams. The site will be regularly updated and act as the key regional source of social care information (e.g. through case studies) and knowledge exchange (e.g. via discussion forums).
