This article describes the findings of a research project which examined th
e views and practice of social workers undertaking assessments in one local
authority following the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act 1
990. While the assessors expressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of the
new system of care management, overall they appeared to be taking the new
culture on board. Managers were consistently more enthusiastic than practit
ioners. Both groups saw needs-led assessment, user choice and keeping users
in their own homes as central objectives of care management. The shadowing
of ten community care assessments allowed the degree to which these object
ives were realized in practice to be explored. Users' experience of the new
culture was also studied. The user-practitioner transactions observed sugg
est that those users who were able to articulate their own needs forcefully
were most likely to be able to exercise choice. It is argued that the new
culture of community care embodies 'consumer choice' rather than 'user choi
ce'.