Nominations Open for European Social Services Awards 2023

Deadline: 30-Jun-23

Nominations are now open for the European Social Services Awards to provide care which is centred around the person, coordinated between services and professionals and enables people to live independent lives and be fully included in their communities.

The annual European Social Services Awards (ESSA) is a unique opportunity to highlight and gain recognition for the work of social services teams across Europe and share best practice with peers.

At the forefront of providing support to individuals, families and communities, particularly during times of crisis, social services are central to creating a caring, inclusive, and productive societies.

Organised by the European Social Network, the Awards shine a spotlight on successful new approaches and the extraordinary ongoing work of public social services managers, funders, planners, providers, and deliverers of social services, as well as providing opportunities for exchange and mutual learning to improve social work policies and practice.

Theme

The theme for the 2023 edition of the European Social Services Awards is ‘Promoting Person-centred Care’.
Under this year’s theme, the Awards will recognise the organisations and people that are rethinking their services to provide care which is centred around the person, coordinated between services and professionals and enables people to live independent lives and be fully included in their communities. The European Social Network wants to give visibility to effective and/or innovative approaches in the delivery of services, workforce management/development, integrated and coordinated services, research and evaluation, and the use of digital and technological tools to provide person-centred care in social services.

Award Categories

Social services organisations provide a range of services and their responsibilities are diverse. To recognise this, organisations can enter a project, service or programme for consideration in the following categories.
- Service Delivery
  - Social services carry the responsibility to provide care to improve the lives of people in disadvantaged situations. This Award honours innovative social services’ programmes, measures or processes that take a person-centred approach to planning, designing and providing better quality services meeting the needs of people who require care and support.
  - Specific examples of applications may include:
    - Any service with a person-centred design methodology;
    - Programmes promoting choice and control, such as a personal budgets and personal care packages;
    - Family-based care programmes;
    - Community- and home-based care programmes;
    - Co-produced programmes that enable people who use services to become active participants in planning, delivery, and evaluation.
- Workforce Support
  - Central to the delivery of person-centred care in social services is a well-performing and competent workforce that can understand and address the needs of the people they care for and support. This Award honours social services organisations that have nurtured their workforce to support the provision of person-centred care.
  - Specific examples of applications may include:
    - Education, training and development programmes;
    - Inclusive leadership and management programmes;
    - New professional roles;
    - Innovative recruitment and retention strategies.
- Collaborative Practice
  - A cornerstone of person-centred care is the coordination between relevant organisations, services, and sectors to ensure the needs of people are met. This Award honours cooperative relationships between different levels of government, public agencies, services, third and private sector organisations that have led to the provision of person-centred care.
  - Specific examples of applications may include:
    - Partnership frameworks that foster constructive collaborative processes;
    - Jointly set-up service;
    - An agency pooling services or professionals from across agencies, sectors or budgets;
    - An integrated case management approach
- Research and Evaluation
  - Without a proper understanding of how a social problem arises, it can be difficult to come up with the right solution to address it. Backed with data, research provides this link to social services. This Award honours research that contributed to the development of evidence-based person-centred services.
  - Specific examples of applications may include
    - Evaluations of person-centred social services programmes;
    - Research (projects) on the topic and concept of person-centred care;
    - Return on investment studies on person-centred care;
    - Cost-benefits analyses of person-centred social services programmes.
- Digital Transformation
  - Digitalisation and technological tools can play a central role in delivering person-centred care and empowering people. This Award recognises technological and digital improvements that enable social services to provide care that is personalised, coordinated and enabling.
  - Specific examples of applications may include:
    - Welfare technology developed with a person-centred design;
    - Digital platforms to support people access social services or digital support for people using social services;
    - New technology to help professionals in their decision-making process or their day-to-day work;
    - IT case management to help professionals to better manage the specific situation of people using social services;
    - Assisted living technologies for people to remain in their homes and local communities;
    - New tools to improve communication of professionals with people using social services.
- Excellence in Cities
  - Many of the social, environmental and economic challenges facing us today are exacerbated in cities, which are under pressure to respond to the diverse set of needs that arise as a result. With this headline award, ESN seeks to highlight the city that has been outstanding in Promoting Person-centred Care ensuring all their inhabitants’ rights, choices and independence are valued and respected.
  - The Excellence in Cities Award will be awarded to a project chosen from all the entries submitted by cities in each of the other categories.