Reframing the conversation: Reflections on a year of narrative change training

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of delivering our How to Talk About Social Care training to ADASS members across England, writes ADASS Engagement Officer Phoebe Kerr.

This work is funded thanks to the generous support of the Rayne Foundation and is linked to our partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA), Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) and #SocialCareFuture – under the umbrella of the Time To Act Reform Board.

What began as a research programme to understand how the public really thinks about adult social care has now become a practical, hands on training offer for our members. And each time I run a session, I’m reminded just how powerful this work can be when people have the space to explore it together.

Why we worked with Frameworks UK

The starting point for our work with Frameworks was a challenge many of us recognise: despite its importance, adult social care remains poorly understood. Public conversations tend to default to three unhelpful frames: crisis, cost, and individual tragedy. These approaches have failed to cut through and create much needed public support for investment and reform. But the research shows that when we change how we talk about social care, we change what people see, understand, and believe is possible.

Some of the most important findings include:

• Start with values – adult social care as a shared, societal responsibility.
• Use concrete explanations. When we describe how social care works, like how it enables people to stay connected, contribute and live independently, understanding increases and support for reform strengthens.
• Tell people-centred stories. Stories that emphasise agency and aspiration, rather than deficit or crisis, help shift people away from stereotypes. They give the public a way to see who draws on adult social care and what it looks like.
• Avoid crisis-led messaging. Although tempting, frames focused on collapse and emergency shuts down people’s sense of possibility and reduce their confidence in longer term solutions.
• Talk about fairness, especially dignity and the idea that everyone should be given a fair chance to live a good life.
• Metaphors, words which explain something complex by making it tangible and relatable can help – such as describing adult social care as glue.

These insights shaped the How to Talk About Social Care guidance – which can be found here – and our in-person training is designed to turn the findings into practical, everyday tools for our members.

What a Session Looks Like

Each session runs for three hours, in-person, in small groups of no more than 12 (though we did have one group of 15!) This set up sparks conversation and allows time for workshopping and exploration of place-based ways to use the training. So far, we have visited five regions and trained more than 70 directors, assistant directors, communications leads, PSWs and programme managers look for practical tools to shift the narrative in their own local places. These sessions are always lively. People test out new ideas, challenge old habits, and often realise how deeply certain frames are embedded in the way the sector has been forced to talk about itself – and think about itself.

What people take away

By the end of a session, we hope, and participants tell us through feedback forms, that they leave with:

• Proven techniques for reframing how they talk about adult social care
  Not just theoretical, but practical: tested values, metaphors and approaches that cut through.
• Storytelling strategies that better elevate the experiences of people who draw on care and support. Ways of talking that centre people’s agency, aspirations and contributions, rather than reducing them to needs or crises. We have a number of case studies in development for our Care Can’t Wait campaign thanks to trainees realising strong stories are all around them.
• A growing community of practice. People leave wanting to stay connected. To try things out, share what’s working, and collectively keep experimenting. Narrative change is never a one-off workshop; it’s a long-term practice.

Linking evidence to real change

This programme has been possible thanks to support from the Rayne Foundation, which has backed our ambition to improve how adult social care is understood nationally and locally. Their focus on “better careers for better care” aligns strongly with what we’re trying to achieve. Narrative change isn’t just about public understanding; it shifts how people feel about working in social care, how policymakers respond, and how communities recognise the contribution of the people who draw on and deliver care.

The connection between the research, the training and the wider system outcomes feels clearer every time I deliver a session. When leaders and teams learn how to intentionally frame their language, they start telling more accurate, compelling stories about what adult social care truly is: a system that can support people to live, connect and thrive.

Looking ahead

As we move into the next year of this work, I’m excited about expanding the training to more regions, strengthening the community of practice, and supporting colleagues to embed these approaches across their organisations. The demand tells us something important: people in adult social care want better ways to talk about what they do, and they can feel the momentum growing.

There is also an important shift where people question why they don’t boast about the impact they’re having like health colleagues do and it is often owing to a lack of clarity and confidence in explaining what they do. We hope that giving members the tools to talk about their impact will help them feel valued, and contribute to increased recruitment and retention of staff working in care in the longer term.

Changing the national narrative won’t happen overnight but it can happen. And every time a colleague tries a new frame, challenges an old metaphor, or tells a story that honours people’s strengths rather than their deficits, we move one step closer.

If your region or organisation wants to host a session, or to know more about the frameworks narrative I’d love to hear from you. Please email me at phoebe.kerr@adass.org.uk.