Personalisation as vision and toolkit. A case study

With the objective to eradicate disability related discrimination and promote choice, control, independence and inclusion for all individuals, the personalisation agenda paved the way for a transformation of social care and disability services in the UK. This paper explores personalisation both as a vision of care and support services and as a toolkit promoted by government policies in order to allow for such vision to translate into practice – the use of direct payments and personal budgets being an example. A qualitative case study analysis has been conducted in the context of care services for disabled young people and by means of in-depth interviews with professionals, parents and the young people themselves. Such analysis reconstructs the implementation of personalisation showing how the toolkit offered by government policies has been used and interpreted differently by the different actors in the field and how this has brought to a wide range of opportunities but also risks. What seems to emerge from the study is that the vision of personalisation risks being hampered by its toolkit and that alternatives might be needed in order to safeguard the potential of personalisation as a vision.