By Jaimee Lewis
How can a group of determined people, groups and organisations genuinely shift a massive, firmly established system that is both under-resourced and under-imagined?
Anyone who has tried to drive social change, big or small, has faced similar questions and knows the difficulties. Lots of early energy can help movements burn brightly, but momentum can be hard to maintain, so they then fade without having the impact they were determined to achieve.
The convenors behind #SocialCareFuture – a people powered movement that was “born of frustration but driven by hope” – are determined to avoid that. They wanted to get an honest picture about how much impact they have had in supporting a major rethink in adult social care since starting out as a simple hashtag in 2018.
Their Impact Report, published today, offers insight into a social movement on its journey. It highlights some of the successes it has achieved in that time, but also some of the lessons they’re learning along the way – the conflicts and trade-offs that are a part of activism and pushing for change – in social care but also in public services more broadly.
Here are four takeaways about what #SocialCareFuture has achieved as a grassroots movement since 2018:
1. Changing the story can change the world
One of #SocialCareFuture’s most tangible successes has been in researching, writing and promoting a new story about social care, in order to shift mindsets and the public debate. It’s vision of a world in which we are able to “live in the place we call home, with the people and things we love, connected to others and doing what matters to us” and recasting of social care as something that we “draw on to live our lives”, is now widely used by national and local government, national organisations and has appeared in various Parliamentary reports, signalling a shift in perspective.
The new story has become so embedded that, as one observer interviewed for the report said, “it’s now part of the sector’s common conversation”.
“I was at the ADASS spring seminar a couple of weeks back, and people were using the language of #SocialCareFuture, possibly without realising they were doing it. It’s becoming part of that common vocabulary.”
However, the report also acknowledges that the narrative change has not yet dislodged the dominant “care crisis” story in broader public opinion. Moreover, one interviewee for the report said:
“You need to present crises to get some politicians to get you money. #SocialCareFuture says the crisis language is damaging and negative, but that crisis narrative has got eight to 10 billion pounds worth of investment that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
This tension reveals a difficult paradox for making change happen. An aspirational vision is essential for inspiring people, building a sustainable movement and most importantly shifting public perceptions. But there are different views, even within the movement, about how to drive change, and some people are yet to be persuaded that reframing the narrative away from one of crises is what’s necessary.
The media still defaults to the “‘vulnerable’ image of disability” and the tired visual trope of “the wrinkly hands,” showing more work to do in tackling public perceptions.
2. People Power changes the system
The report found that people connected to the Movement feel more confident, have been given “a language to talk about things that matter,” and feel better equipped to advocate for themselves. One survey respondent said:
“In a personal context, I have asked questions about a Care Act assessment that I may not have had the confidence to do if I hadn’t learnt what I have from #SocialCareFuture.”
#SocialCareFuture is becoming a grassroots force and supportive network for individuals who become “grit in the system,” attempting to change the behaviour of the professionals they interact with, no matter how static the adult social care system is.
It is a more challenging and a longer job to shift the policy underpinning a large system. But it is encouraging to see links between growing people power and opportunities to connect this to policy developments, including people being able to get their voice heard in key places as the Casey Commission undertakes its work.
3. To get a seat at the table, #SocialCareFuture has balanced confrontation and cooperation
In terms of movement building, the Impact Report also details the movement’s tactical evolution. #SocialCareFuture established itself via a phase of firm challenge – what some saw as an initially “bolshy” approach enabling it later to move to a more collaborative, solutions-oriented style as key players saw it as a force to be engaged with. The result of this change “led to an invitation to join the room” and opened the door to greater engagement with policymakers.
However, the report also says that this access does not automatically or easily translate into influence, with “mixed views on whether policy has changed as a result of the engagement”.
This highlights a core tension within many social movements – should we be confrontational activists who create pressure from the outside or collaborative insiders who build relationships within the system? As one respondent said, if there is no one disrupting and shouting that things must change, it becomes much harder for the “bridge builders” to get the space they need at the table.
4. Success creates its own challenges
As the #SocialCareFuture movement has become more influential, it has begun to face positive new challenges including a need to increasingly include more diverse voices.
The report calls for more inclusion of “older people, younger people, people with more significant needs, self-funders, and those from wider socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.”
Furthermore, this challenge extends to ensuring the Movement’s sustainability, setting out the need to ensure” new iterations of people coming through” and intentional work to avoid creating its own bubble.
Conclusion
#SocialCareFuture is a growing and – in its early stages – a promising Movement, but its work is very far from finished. Its journey so far shows that shifting a stuck social care system is a complex and difficult task. But the lessons being learnt by those involved can be encouraging, powerful and relevant to other social movements too.
Indeed, all those in Movement-building will agree there is power in changing narratives and supporting people to take power for themselves to set things in motion when “the system” is slow to act and doesn’t start from what matters to the people it is supposed to serve. There is also a universal need to balance collaboration and confrontation and to acknowledge that success can bring capacity challenges and the conflicting views around reframing and holding on to a crisis narrative.
For #SocialCareFuture – its convening team and members are now working towards a future that balances its role as a collaborative influencer with the need to maintain an “activism edge”. If you see yourself as a changemaker too, perhaps their work will help you to ask the question of the role you will play in the ecosystem of change: active disruptor, bridge builder or both?
