ABSTRACT Increasing confusion and dissatisfaction with so-called ‘care in the community’ and ‘community care’ initiatives has prompted a search for greater clarity and accuracy in human services. An attempt has been made to specify some of the means and ends required to establish local comprehensive services for a range of client groups. The first of two papers describes some of the skills required by workers for successful involvement and examines methods of developing individual neighbourhoods. Tensions between clients, users, residents, planners and workers are examined within the context of integrative neighbourhood services. A subsequent paper describes the means by which this transition to local neighbourhood services is planned, recorded and evaluated.
