Hey Milan didn’t you say there were *two* books you’d recommend on deinstitutionalisation…
I did, din’t I.
Same as the first one, the second book isn’t about deinstitutionalisation either.
It was written by Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, and is called How Big Things Get Done. The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration.
The book shows why so many large projects fail, and why some succeed.
Deinstitutionalisation can and should be viewed as such a large project.
Which means the lessons offered by the book are very much applicable in the transition from institutional to community-based care.
Lessons that go from the importance of planning (as in – preparing well to implement the changes; not using “planning” as cover for inaction).
Through the importance of attention to detail.
To the value of understanding previous successes and building on the know-how they generated.
At nearly every page, I was thinking about the similarities to different projects I’ve seen across countries and contexts.
There is a lot this book has to say in designing better public policies and projects.
Take, for example, this:
“Projects are often started by jumping straight to a solution, even a specific technology. That’s the wrong place to begin. You want to start by asking questions and considering alternatives. At the outset, always assume that there is more to learn. Start with the most basic question of all: Why?”
Sound familiar? So many “deinstitutionalisation projects” may include some “needs assessment” but are actually intended to deliver only one kind of “solution” regardless of what the person actually wants or needs…
Anyway, maybe this could be something to add to a summer reading list 😉