Sustainable Social Care

Catherine Max Consulting was launched when we initiated this major national policy and development programme and secured funding over three years from the Department of Health and Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). We identified the need to apply sustainable development principles to social care in response to the imperatives of demography, climate change and economics. We successfully raised awareness of sustainable development and built capacity across the sector through research, conferences, practitioner learning events, community engagement and publications.  We also contributed to national policy development and guidance regarding sustainability. This had previously focussed exclusively on the NHS and carbon reduction, but we were able to secure new commitments regarding social care, climate change adaptation and measures to safeguard vulnerable groups against extreme weather.

Our work included a collaboration with Bristol City Council, with whom we explored how personalisation could stimulate the market for environmentally sustainable social care. See our case study report Bristol City Council and mainstreaming environmental sustainability, and Sustainable social care and personalisation: A guide for community engagement, produced in conjunction with Uscreates.

For further information about the programme, visit SCIE’s sustainability web pages where you can also download a range of publications and resources.