Personalisation in disability policy and practice: an analysis through the lenses of professional actors

Abstract

ABSTRACT ‘Personalisation’ is nowadays a very popular concept in disability policy and this article – drawing on my PhD research project in the English and Lombardian context of social care services for disabled people – aims to explore the translation of personalisation from policy into practice; hence the ways in which personalisation policy makes its way into disability services. In particular, drawing on street-level-bureaucracy, policy practice and network theories, personalisation is analysed here through the lenses of professional actors. The application of a mix of qualitative research methods brought me to two main conclusions: 1) narrow approaches to personalisation coexist with broader ones, leading to very different roles for professionals charged with translating personalisation policy into practice; 2) power differences and asymmetries are at play among different professional actors, with some having stronger discretional and policy steering capacity compared to others when it comes to informing person-centred care practice.