Launch of Power and Connection

Eddie Bartnik and Ralph Broad, authors of Power and Connection the new book on the international development of Local Area Coordination, joined Nick Sinclair and Sian Roderick for a Q&A book launch with Simon Duffy.

The authors comment:

There have been over 40 Local Area Coordination studies and evaluations internationally since 1988, including 16 independent evaluations in England and Wales alone in the last 10 years, with 2 new evaluations due in 2022. We are so lucky to have so much information, evidence and learning as we move forward. The high level of accountability and independent evaluation has helped Local Area Coordination to continually deliver, improve and evolve.

It is now absolutely clear that there is consistent, long term evidence that, where there is strong, system wide leadership, community leadership and strong, evidence based design, there are consistent, positive and sustainable outcomes (see Table 4) alongside a wide range of people of all ages and backgrounds (see Table 3), the communities in which they live and the wider service system.

Where it is strong, there are strikingly similar outcomes across very different places – countries, cities, towns, rural and remote areas and island communities. Clarity of purpose, design, implementation and leadership really matter.

Where there is an absence of leadership and/or diluted design and implementation, there is a direct negative impact on individual, family, community and systems outcomes, sustainability, transformation and value for money.

The book launch was recorded on 2nd November 2021.