How do you turn information into decisions you can act on - and defend?

That was the question at the heart of our latest Adult Social Care Community Practice Network, where leaders from councils across England came together to explore how to turn the wealth of information captured in assessments, reviews and frontline practice into clearer, more actionable insight.

Although every council came with different priorities and local pressures, the conversation quickly converged around four common themes.

1. Prevention needs to become visible

Everyone agrees prevention matters. The harder question is proving it's working.

Councils spoke about wanting to identify people earlier, intervene before needs escalate and understand which approaches genuinely improve outcomes. But evidencing that impact remains difficult.

How do you know what's already been tried, and whether it worked?

How do you demonstrate that a preventative intervention avoided future demand?

And how do you show where earlier conversations, technology-enabled care, or community support changed someone's trajectory?

For some councils, the ambition goes further still: using evidence of what works to target health and wellbeing plans and prevention activity by neighbourhood, so need is prevented from arising in the first place, rather than picked up once it already has. The discussion highlighted a growing recognition that prevention is no longer viewed as a standalone service – it's becoming a thread that runs throughout the entire Adult Social Care journey, from first contact through to commissioning and long-term planning.

2. The most valuable insight is often hidden in free text

One of the strongest themes throughout the session was the amount of valuable information locked away inside assessment narrative.

Practitioners record rich detail about people's circumstances, outcomes, risks and what's already been tried. Yet much of this remains difficult to report on or use consistently.

Councils recognised AI's growing potential to help unlock these insights, but there was also an important note of caution, particularly around the continued importance of structured information.

Free text can add context and depth, but reliable reporting depends on capturing the right information consistently in the first place. The challenge isn't choosing between structured data and narrative - it's combining both in a way that supports better decision-making.

3. Better evidence should lead to better commissioning

Several conversations moved beyond operational reporting and into strategic planning.

Rather than simply understanding current demand, councils want evidence that helps shape future services.

Questions included:

• Which cohorts are likely to require different support in the future?
• Where are needs becoming more complex?
• Which preventative approaches are reducing future demand?
• How should commissioning priorities change as populations evolve?

The discussion reinforced that evidence becomes most valuable when it informs decisions - not just reports on activity.

4. Councils want insight they can act on

Perhaps the strongest message from the session was that dashboards alone are no longer enough.

Councils aren't asking for more charts. They're asking for information that helps answer questions such as:

• Where should we focus reviews first?
• Which carers need support now? Where is need escalating, and are we seeing it early enough to act?
• Where can earlier intervention make the biggest difference?
• What should leaders be paying attention to next?
• What does good look like, and how can we benchmark against best-in-class councils, not just national datasets?

The conversation repeatedly returned to the same principle that insight should guide action rather than simply describe what has already happened.

Looking ahead

During the session Imosphere also shared an exclusive, early preview of our Connected Insights work, exploring how councils could move beyond static reporting towards more actionable intelligence, including forecasting, benchmarking and AI-assisted interpretation - always with transparent logic and human oversight.

The discussion helped reinforce that the biggest opportunity isn't simply producing more data. It’s helping councils connect evidence, practice and decision-making in ways that improve outcomes for people, while making better use of limited resources.

Those conversations will continue through our Community Practice Network as we work alongside councils to explore the next generation of insight for Adult Social Care.

If you'd like to join future Community Practice Network sessions, you can register your interest here.

And you can learn more about our Connected Insights Partner Programme here.‍

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