Articles

Citizen Network members share ideas, stories and writings on how to advance citizenship for real.

Article: 18.06.17 How Unofficial Social Policy Drives Change Steven Rose argues that social policy for people with learning disabilities has largely been driven by collaborative…
Article: 15.06.17 A Healthy Heart for the NHS David Zigmond argues that it is not just economics that is at the heart of the problems in the NHS - more than this is the…
Article: 05.06.17 The Politics of Poverty Dr Simon Duffy explores ONS data on inequality and poverty and tries to get behind the myths and lies used to exploit the…
Article: 26.05.17 Social Work and Disappointment Michael Balkow argues that social work is inevitably a profession that must attend to the inevitable limitations of…
Article: 26.05.17 Is Brexit an Opportunity to Sort Out Social Care? Bob Rhodes argues that Brexit offers at least one silver-lining, the chance to end the procurement rules which have…
Article: 26.05.17 Industrialised Humanity David Zigmond reviews the film I, Daniel Blake and argues that it reveals, not only the cost of austerity, but also the…
Article: 26.05.17 Assisted Dying Michael Balkow argues that compassion and respect for the autonomy of those with terminal illnesses requires change…
Article: 08.05.17 How the Eight Steps Help Pete Richmond explored, with colleagues on Tyneside, how Manavodaya's Eight Steps of Action help to promote…
Article: 24.04.17 One Good Thing Malcolm Henry imagines a conversation between a leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Neil on the topic of Universal…
Article: 20.04.17 Should All Doctors be Resuscitators? David Zigmond asks whether there are not costs to setting arbitrary standards for health and safety regardless of…
Article: 21.03.17 Abolishing the NHS Market In this powerful essay David Zigmond eviscerates the Internal Market which is choking the NHS to death.
Article: 21.03.17 Individual Service Funds (ISFs) in Dorset Dorset have established a ground-breaking commissioning strategy enabling people with learning disabilities…
Article: 21.03.17 Individual Service Fund (ISFs) Agreement This Individual Service Fund (ISF) Agreement describes the contract between the person and the community service…
Article: 14.03.17 Letter on Obstacle for Personal Budgets This open letter describes a serious block to the development of personalisation in England and calls for clear…
Article: 15.02.17 Time to Stand Up and Be Counted Don Derrett urges us as individuals to stand up and stand against this new wave of intolerance and brutality, wherever…
Article: 31.01.17 A Social Movement for Basic Income Bill Jordan describes how the idea of basic income inspired a pre-War social movement and wonders whether the same…
Article: 19.01.17 Blowin' in the Wind Steve Griffiths rewords a Bob Dylan classic - a reflection on our crazy times where injustice and hatred seem to fuel…
Article: 16.01.17 Practical Social Work is Personalised Hanne-Maria Leppäranta demonstrates the powerful impact of personalisation on the practical day-to-day work of a…
Article: 16.01.17 The Welfare State and Community Cormac Russell argues that welfare reform in isolation of the enlargement of the commons is naive and…
Article: 11.01.17 Equal Opportunities at Work? Fran Macilvey describes the reality of work for many disabled people and the barriers created by negative attitudes…
Article: 11.01.17 Towards an Holistic Democracy Marion Turner-Hawes reflects back on the tumultuous 2016 and looks forward to the possibility of a different kind of…
Article: 09.01.17 Working for Lives of Common Dignity Rhonda Galbally, a leading disability activist in Australia, explains how the National Disability Insurance Scheme…
Article: 09.01.17 The Invisible Barrier to Disability Employment Jon Breen argues that employer attitudes to disabled workers are often based on ignorance and that these can present…
Article: 22.11.16 Supported Loving Claire Bates is starting a campaign to share what people with disabilities think makes for both good and poor support…
Article: 25.10.16 Stop Unethical Research on Children Catherine Hale explains why unethical research on children with ME must be stopped and urges you to sign the #stopGet…
Article: 06.10.16 Beyond Efficiency: Care and the Commons Thomas Allan argues that respect for the Commons is critical to rethinking our approach to social care and the welfare…
Article: 29.09.16 Managing Dissent and Embracing Diversity Nan Carle has written this moving piece on how we deal with the challenge of respectfully confronting disrespect,…
Article: 27.09.16 A Review of Social Role Valorisation (SRV) Nan Carle explores the blessings and problems created by normalisation and Social Role Valorisation as a framework…
Article: 27.09.16 Managing Cynicism Nan Carle sets out 8 Strategies for Managing Cynicism as a Leader of Inclusion.
Article: 26.09.16 What Austerity Means for Women Brooke Bates explores the impact of austerity on women in the UK at the level of the individual and civil society.
Article: 23.09.16 The Integral Path Varun Vidyarthi offers a short note on the way in which social change can and must begin by a better ordering of…
Article: 18.08.16 Data on Social Care in England Simon Duffy pulls together some of the key data relevant to the Centre's submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry on…
Article: 18.08.16 Why are they closing our home? John Burton describes how changes in the regulatory regime are forcing the closure of genuinely human homes where…
Article: 17.08.16 Potential New Policy for Social Care The Centre has been working with the Socialist Health Association (SHA) on a possible new policy for social care. This…
Article: 17.08.16 What is Happening in Social Care Jan Walmsley asked local people with learning disabilities and their families to share their experience of adult…
Article: 10.08.16 Born to Dance Sue Blackwell shares the story of her daughter Jen's journey as she sought to follow her dreams and live a life of her own…
Article: 10.08.16 Asking Better Questions Lindsay Tighe believes that if we make some simple changes to the way we communicate with each other, we enable human…
Article: 09.08.16 Can ISFs Save Domiciliary Care? Martin Walker of TLAP suggests that in the midst of the severe funding crisis hitting social care the use of Individual…
Article: 08.08.16 A Career in Adult Social Care Virginia Moffatt reviews her 30 year career in adult social care in England and the journey from institutional…
Article: 03.08.16 The Flexibility of Self-Directed Support Simon Duffy, Pat Stack and Peter Gay report on the outcomes of a one day conference organised by the London…
Article: 03.08.16 The Solution is in Our Hands Simon Duffy outlines some of the important elements that need to be considered in order to develop welfare reforms in…
Article: 03.08.16 Calculating Community Capacity Simon Duffy explores the missing community capacity that needs to be identified and galvanised as part of a reformed…
Article: 02.08.16 Real Integration of Health & Social Care Simon Duffy outlines an alternative path for achieving meaningful integration between heath and social care.
Article: 02.08.16 Heading Upstream: Deinstitutionalisation & Public Service Reform Simon Duffy explores the challenge of moving solutions upstream and away from the institutionalised solutions into…
Article: 19.07.16 Exploring the Meaning of Poverty Poverty isolates and divides us. It leaves us thinking we are not good enough and we are too poor to spend time with…
Article: 04.07.16 The Goal is Citizenship Not the NDIS Kate Fulton explores what support providers in Australia should focus on to deliver better outcomes for those who will…
Article: 15.05.16 Totally Wrong List An overview of all the Government policies which harm or disadvantage people with learning disabilities in England.
Article: 06.05.16 Personal Budgets are Just a Tool In his sixth and final blog from Finland Simon Duffy reflects on the limits of personal budgets and the need to…
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