Putting it into practice: an overview

New models of care draw on the principles of self-management support, where the key question shifts from ‘what is the matter with you?’ to ‘what matters to you?’ This can feel like a significant culture change.

The ‘House of Care’ was originally developed by the Year of Care partnership as a model for providing care and support for people living with diabetes. It has since been adapted and applied for all long-term health conditions.

As shown in Figure 2 overleaf, the House of Care depicts the shared responsibility across a health care system (commissioners, health care professionals, organisational processes and people with long-term health conditions) to deliver care and support planning, which is often seen as the gateway to identifying the self-management support needs that individuals have.

Figure 2: The House of Care, Coalition for Collaborative Care (C4CC)

In the specific context of self-management support, this guide covers the following practical elements of the House of Care:

  • Commissioning and planning that embeds self-management support within services and ensures that people have access to a range of support that complements their medical care (the floor or foundations of the House of Care).
  • People with long-term health conditions and their carers are supported to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to better manage their own health, for example through courses or coaching (one of the walls of the House of Care).
  • Health and care professionals, health coaches and others who support people with long-term health conditions having the knowledge and skills for clinical tasks and collaborative consultations, which have been shown to be effective in supporting and enabling people to self-manage (another wall of the House of Care).
  • Organisational systems and processes that enable support for people to self-manage and that help professionals to support them (the roof of the House of Care).

The effectiveness of self-management support depends on how the approach is implemented, rather than just the tools. Some key learning from people who have implemented self-management support is summarised in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Key lessons for implementing self-management support

Further reading

Building the House of Care. Health Foundation.

A case study exploring how Leeds and Somerset are implementing a coordinated approach for people with long-term conditions.www.health.org.uk/buildinghouseofcare

The House of Care Toolkit. NHS IQ

Developed in partnership with NHS England and Coalition for Collaborative Care to support implementing the House of Care at all levels www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/improvement-programmes/long-term-conditions-and-integrated-care/long-term-conditions-improvement-programme/house-of-care-toolkit.aspx

Coalition for Collaborative Care

Alliance of people and organisations committed to making person-centred care happen http://coalitionforcollaborativecare.org.uk/

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