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As part of the adult social care workforce, occupational therapists (OTs) have a key role to play in transforming social care through personalisation. This report discusses an approach to involve OTs in discussions about personalisation. In March 2010 research in practice for adults (ripfa) held a conference for OTs from local authorities in England. Evidence from the conference showed that many OTs felt that they did not have a clear understanding of personalisation or of their role in it, and had unanswered questions about where they would fit within adult social care in the future. However, good practice was emerging and OTs saw an opportunity in personalisation to use their skills and creativity for the benefit of service users.

On 24th June, two days after the emergency budget, research in practice for adults (ripfa) held an event for practitioners working in adult social care and health. Participants came from 14 health and social care organisations around the country and from a range of roles; the majority were front‐line managers or senior managers, and there were also representatives from front‐line practice, project management and commissioning. This was an opportunity to consider the context in which integrated working is operating, and to discuss the likely impact of future economic and political developments. Discussions were dominated by considerations around expected spending constraints. This report draws on evidence from the presentations and discussions on the day to highlight some of those considerations and to provoke further thought and debate.

This paper aims to examine the barriers and enablers to working together in social care, focusing on the experiences of carers and practitioners.

The project employed a change project method which brings research and practice together to identify a problem, seek ways to resolve it, and develop resources to implement the learning in practice.

The main findings substantiate much of the existing evidence in this area: the way people are treated by practitioners and services is as important as the outcomes they seek; there is a need to improve understanding and recognition of carer expertise; and there is a tension, for practitioners, between working within resource‐bound systems and implementing a needs‐led and person‐centred cultural service. It demonstrates that when shared learning is focused on action, i.e. learning through doing, relationship‐building becomes an intrinsic part of the process.

The project involved a limited number of participants, and this article shares interim findings only.

The project has used an action‐research approach.