Towards a Whole-System, Person-Centered Approach to Service Delivery

Many people access services from multiple sectors, and interventions or outcomes in one area, whether they be therapeutic, supportive, or corrective, commonly have positive or negative consequences for interventions and outcomes in other areas. Although this interdependence is well-known, truly integrative approaches have been slow to appear. An expert panel leads participants in discussions around a number of key questions to improve the coordination of complex service delivery.

The first session of our 2021 webinar series focused on the theme of complex service delivery itself. This focus comes from the understanding that many people access services and supports from a range of sectors. Client interventions and outcomes in one area – whether they are therapeutic, supportive or corrective – commonly have positive or negative consequences for interventions and outcomes in other areas.

This complexity means no sector exists in a bubble. Where interventions are coordinated and build on one another, the person being supported benefits immensely, and there are a range of indirect social and economic benefits realized as well. When interventions work against each other or are poorly integrated, the reverse is true, and the person and society as a whole pay a price. Although this interdependence is well-known, truly integrative approaches have been slow to appear. An expert panel leads participants through discussions related to a number of key questions:

1. Can we imagine a model of person-centered service and corresponding public sector objectives not confined by organizational mandates and sector boundaries?
2. Is there an incremental path to this new paradigm – can our current structures and institutions in BC evolve and deliver? Or is a new direction and approach required?
3. What can we learn from existing attempts to create person-centered objectives that cross-sectoral boundaries