Understand Personalisation in Care and Support Services

This unit explores personalisation in care and support services and what it means in practice at Level 4. Personalisation is about shaping support around the person as an individual, not fitting them into a standard service. It links closely to rights, choice, independence, and outcomes that matter to the person in their everyday life.

In adult social care, personalisation is strongly connected to the principles in the Care Act 2014, including wellbeing and a focus on what matters to the person. It also connects to working in a person-centred way, promoting dignity and respect, and making sure support is fair and inclusive. At Level 4, you’ll go beyond basic definitions and look at how personalisation affects commissioning, funding, and how services are organised and delivered.

You’ll compare different models of service provision, including approaches sometimes described as “professional gift”, “empowerment”, and “rights” models. The key idea is how power and control are shared. In some older approaches, services decided what was offered and people took what was available. Personalisation aims to shift that balance so the person has more say, with support to make informed choices.

Language matters here, and so does clarity. You’ll come across terms such as personalised service, self-commissioned service, self-directed support, and micro-employer. These can sound technical, but they describe real-life arrangements people use to organise support. For example, someone might use a personal budget to arrange support directly, employ a personal assistant, or mix paid support with community options. Each option brings different responsibilities and risks, and your role may include helping the person understand those, or working effectively alongside other professionals who coordinate support.

A central part of personalisation is a focus on outcomes. Outcomes are the changes or results the person wants in their life, not just tasks completed. “Get washed and dressed” is a task. “Feel confident to go out and meet friends” is more like an outcome. You will explore why outcomes matter and how they can guide planning, review, and day-to-day decisions.

For example, in a supported living service, a person might say their outcome is to prepare a simple meal independently twice a week. That leads to different support than a plan that only lists what staff must do for them. You might break it down into small steps, agree safe boundaries, and review progress. It’s practical. It’s personal. And it can be motivating.

You’ll also look at the systems and processes that support personalisation, including commissioning, funding, and delivery models. This includes understanding direct payments and individual budgets, and how they can support choice and control. You’ll consider the role of brokerage too—helping people explore options, plan support, and connect with services that fit their goals and preferences.

Personalisation often brings a mix of benefits and challenges for staff and organisations. When it works well, people have more control, support feels more meaningful, and services can respond flexibly. When it is poorly organised, people can feel overwhelmed by choices, families can carry too much responsibility, and staff may feel unclear about boundaries. At Level 4, you are expected to analyse these impacts and propose improvements that are realistic in your setting.

Knowing where responsibilities lie is particularly important in self-directed support. Responsibility can be shared between the person, commissioners, social workers/care managers, providers, and sometimes family members. Where a person is using direct payments, they may have responsibilities that look more like an employer (for example, arranging cover, managing working hours, or following safer recruitment steps). Your role is not to give legal advice, but you do need to understand the practical implications so that your support is safe, clear, and consistent.

You’ll probably recognise personalisation challenges in everyday moments, like when a person wants to change their routine at short notice, or when two people sharing a service have different preferences. It might show up in a care home when someone wants to eat later than the usual schedule, or in a home care round when a person wants staff to support them to attend a community group rather than focusing only on household tasks. These are not “extras”. They are part of supporting a life, not just providing care.

Promoting personalisation involves attitudes, approaches, and skills. Curiosity helps: asking what matters to the person and listening properly. Communication skills matter: explaining options without pushing your own preferences. Consistency matters too: doing what was agreed, recording properly, and reviewing plans so they stay current. Equality and inclusion sit underneath all of this—making sure personalisation works for people with different needs, cultures, languages, and levels of confidence.

Finally, you’ll explore how to develop systems and structures that enhance personalisation. That might involve reviewing how your organisation plans support, how information is shared, how staff are trained, and how feedback is used. Improvements don’t always need big budgets. Sometimes small changes—like better review questions, clearer handovers, or stronger involvement of the person in planning—make a real difference.

The links on this page take you through each learning outcome in detail. As you work through them, keep your setting in mind and think about one person you support. What does “a good life” look like for them? Personalisation starts there.

Understand the meaning of personalisation in social care and support services

Understand the systems and processes that support personalisation

Understand where responsibilities lie within self-directed support

  • 3.1 Explain why it is important to know where responsibilities lie for the delivery and quality of self-directed support
  • 3.2 Analyse what responsibilities are held for the delivery and quality of self-directed support by: a. direct payments recipients, b. commissioners, c. social workers/care managers

Know how to promote personalisation

Know how to develop systems and structures for personalisation

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