Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Strategic Director People on some of the dimensions of the Think Family agenda and how this agenda might be taken forward by Cheshire East Council and by the whole system in Cheshire East.  This report is also on the agenda for the meeting of the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee on 14 September 2009.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director People on the Think Family agenda which had been one of the Big Ideas underpinning the proposals for establishing two new Unitary Authorities in Cheshire.  The Big Idea had a number of strands:

      It was felt that the organising principles often used by Councils when setting up departments were artificial and irrelevant;

      There was an ambition to bring services together not on the basis of the ideas of the professionals but on the basis of experiences and perceptions of the people who use those services;

      In particular, it was believed that a fundamental experience of most people is that of being or having been part of a family.

When adopting a Think Family approach it was important to use “family” in an embracing and inclusive way that embraced families of every sort.  Think Family could be seen as an aspiration whereby the Council would not respond to people’s needs in a narrow way but rather would put services together in ways that reflected people’s lives. 

The report outlined a practical example of a Think Family approach – the People Directorate had submitted a bid in the context of the National Dementia Strategy, to become a Demonstrator Site for the development of Peer Support Networks.  Part of the Pilot would be about seeking involvement of grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Networks to enable greater understanding of what is happening to their relative, respond in appropriate ways and retain positive feelings and memories of their relative.  The experience of continued contact with children and young people would also be positive for a person with dementia.

The Appendix to the report listed a number of Think Family issues including Obesity whereby good work could be done in school but it was important to also focus upon the family environment.  

RESOLVED:  That the report be received and the Think Family approach be supported.