Report finds relationships are the essence of our work

Anglicare Australia’s latest State of the Family Report, Our Better Selves, finds that strong relationships between service users and staff are the essence of the work human services do. It finds that focusing on people’s strengths and interests can open the door for them to contribute to the community – and builds their skills and confidence. Our Better Selves shows it’s time to focus on co-producing services with the people who use them.

Case studies from across the Anglicare Australia network, including one from Anglicare NT’s housing team in Alice Springs, show how we build these relationships and the impact they can have when they are strong. The Alice Springs housing team’s contribution tells of how they applied a ‘strengths based’ or ‘appreciative lens’ across intake, case management and team meetings. When the intake process stopped focusing on problems alone and asked firstly ‘tell us about a time when things were going really well?’ tenants were buoyed with hope. They began to create the future they wanted and to share knowledge with other tenants. When staff applied similar processes internally, they were energised and more hopeful for their tenants’ future. Team meetings became positive opportunities to innovate, celebrate and learn.

The full report is available here.

Lola and caseworker Blythe catch up in Alice Springs.