This report from the Improvement Service provides an overview of the current practice of place-based approaches in Scotland across 27 local authority areas and also details the general literature on place-based approaches. The document includes a practical tool to enable partnerships to shape their thinking and approach before undertaking a new, or re-developing an existing place-based approach.
This report from The King’s Fund Place-based systems of care argues that providers of services should work together to improve health and care for the populations they serve. This means organisations collaborating to manage the common resources available to them rather than each organisation adopting a ‘fortress mentality’ in which it acts to secure its own future regardless of the impact on others. It provides 10 design principles for place-based systems of care.
This paper summarises the evidence on what we know, and are still yet to
learn, about place-based approaches to improve children’s outcomes. Over 12 months, the project investigated the Australian place-based landscape to understand how they could better promote children’s wellbeing through place-based initiatives. There is also a nice and quick history of place-based approaches from an international perspective. The paper is called The evidence: what we know about place-based approaches to support children’s wellbeing.
Iriss are a national partner with What Works Scotland. WWS is an initiative with the aim of improving the way local areas in Scotland use evidence to make decisions about public service development and reform. They are working with specific Community Planning Partnerships involved in the design and delivery of public services. Involved are a whole range of partners and there is a very much place-based approach, as they focus on four specific case study areas – you can find out more about these here.
The Promise Neighborhoods Initiative is a programme that supports community-driven, place-based efforts to improve educational and developmental outcomes for children in distressed communities in the US. There is a strong use of a community of practice approach that really resonated with the Iriss thoughts around the connections that are needed to make a difference in an area and to different groups of people.
See more about the initiative here.
This paper by the Kings Fund links what the Total Place approach has meant for the NHS in England. It has a very service design feel and some lessons from particular areas. This summarises a conference held in 2010 and outlines some or the potential challenges that the NHS will be facing, some of the policy drivers, and also why a place-based approach could be appropriate in the future of health and social care.
This evaluation gives a very good overview of place-based approaches and a whole range of strengths, weaknesses and potential that this approach has. You can click for the full text version or the pdf version.
Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is an approach that is both strengths based and community driven. The positive influence of this approach is that it focuses on a local area from a competencies, capacities and resources point of view. This way of thinking and working moves on from looking at the needs of an area, to looking at the contributions of that area.
In 2004, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) made a ten-year commitment to work in Bradford, acting in partnership with others in the city. This report talks about some of the learning from that period of work and we have used it to plug in to our thinkin gof how to work effectively in place-based way. See here for the full details.
This is a project that has been going in East Dunbartonshire. In this area SCVO has working with East Dunbartonshire Voluntary action, the local community health partnership, the council and local third sector organisations to tap into the ability of charities to help people lead healthier and happier lives. It has resulted in a whole range of collaborations and projects that you can see more about here.
