Modern social work is many things, but one of its central tenets involves the belief that everyone should have access to the same opportunities to live full, active, healthy lives, regardless of circumstance and background.
In this spirit, the Moving Social Work (MSW) programme aims to harness the skills and values of social workers to support the health, wellbeing and human rights of people with disabilities.
MSW focuses on increasing physical activity and the benefits this generates for mind and body, actively creating resources and co-produced strategies for new and established social workers to deploy as part of their practice.
Our research shows disabled people want to have more conversations about physical activity with health and social care professionals, including social workers. Why this group specifically? Because they are trusted.
They are trusted because they are empathic, a reliable source of information and knowledgeable of individual circumstances. They also tend to spend more time with the people they support and are best placed to advocate for the upholding of their human rights. That said, conversations in relation to improving physical activity can be lacking.
So, what do social workers think about promoting this aspect of healthier lifestyles? Our research found most believed it should be part of their role, in the context of wider efforts to promote physical health and mental wellbeing, as set out in the commitments of the Care Act 2014. They recognise it can help people become more independent, reduce loneliness, improve confidence, and mitigate trauma and substance abuse.
Whilst most social workers believed conversations about physical activity should be part of their role, they said they lacked the confidence, knowledge, and skills to do this effectively and wanted training to address this. They also said it should be included in social work courses in colleges and universities.
Equipped with this information, we went about creating and testing training and education materials for social workers. This was achieved through co-production, which involved widespread collaboration.
For example, a group of social workers and disabled people were brought together to shape the work from start to finish. We also conducted interviews, surveys, and World Cafés (interactive workshopping, bringing a holistic range of stakeholders together to share ideas) with over 300 social workers and disabled people to understand what they wanted to see included in training and education. A strength-based approach was frequently advocated for.
After co-producing the education and training, we delivered the package to over 400 students and more than 100 social workers as part of their continued professional development (CPD).
Having completed their training, our evaluation found social workers reported improved confidence, knowledge, and skills when discussing physical activity with those they were supporting.
These enhanced skills were not only a good way to help prevent poor health, but also provided opportunities to support the empowerment of people, tackle inequalities, and promote social justice.
For example, social workers were better able to support disabled young people to challenge discrimination which prevented them accessing spaces to play sport or move freely in. Thanks to these interventions, disabled young people reported their confidence, self-esteem, and sense of power and control over their lives had improved.
Social workers talked to them about using personal budgets to access dance classes which, in turn, could help them make new friends and feel part of a community. This approach also proved effective when helping individuals find ways to deal with their substance and alcohol issues.
Research also found social workers were interested in the benefits of physical activity for themselves. For example, they talked about the value of ‘walking meetings’ for their own health and wellbeing. It’s a win/win for both sides!
Moving Social Work is embedded in the Government Disability Strategy (2021) as well as the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Get Active: a strategy for the future of sport and physical activity (2023-2027).
We are currently creating a programme to roll Moving Social Work out nationally, in universities, county councils, the NHS and elsewhere in the health and care sector. If you’d like free physical activity training and education to support wellbeing, promote social justice and tackle health inequalities, or want to more, please do contact us!
]]>This is my farewell post before I step down as Chief Social Worker for Adults.
It was a privilege and an honour to take on this role over 10 years ago, the first of its kind in England. I am so very grateful for all the support I have received from so many people in the sector, especially those who draw on care and support and those who care for them.
And of course, I must thank and praise the many wonderful social workers, social care and NHS colleagues who, day in and day out, make such a positive difference to the lives of those we are all here to serve.
I must also pay tribute to the civil servants with whom I have worked. Their values, skills, knowledge aptitude and commitment to deliver policies and legislation to support improvements in social care, often in very challenging circumstances, have been remarkable.
Overall, social work has come a long way over the last 10 years, especially in adult social care and the wider health sector, where its profile is much higher.
This improved visibility for social workers was, in part, a consequence of the Care Act 2014. This legislation recognised and positioned relational strengths and rights based social work practice, rather than process and procedure, as the keystone in supporting best outcomes for people. It tied this into the imperative of people with lived experience co-designing care services and helping shape a vision of social care fit for the 21st Century.
The Care Act guidance put the role of Principal Social Worker (PSWs) on a statutory footing. PSWs have grown in influence and their national network has positioned them as key influencers.
I am very proud of all they have achieved so far, especially in promoting social workers’ unique combination of knowledge and skills, underpinned by a relentless commitment to upholding people’s rights. A shining example of this is the work they have led on the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standards, helping to reflect, enable and empower the rich diversity of our care sector colleagues.
They have supported the championing of social workers expertise in communication and relationship skills, together with their broad and specialised knowledge of law, entitlements, and the system. Their leadership and coordination in multi-agency settings, making sure voices and wishes of those we support are heard and respected, has been inspirational.
Elsewhere, we have seen the fruits of investment in:
The establishment of a specialist regulator for social workers, Social Work England, has also given more prominence to social work as a vital public service. We now have more social workers in the NHS, bringing holistic and inclusive outcome approaches to working with people who have long term and/or multiple health conditions.
We have trained more social workers to work with people with mental health related needs and, alongside sector partners, supported improvements in practice working with people with learning disabilities; autistic people, people with acquired brain injuries and older people. We have also improved safeguarding responses for people experiencing homelessness, through publication of good practice guidance and top tips.
More broadly, I am proud of the advances we have made, both as a profession and as a society, in our recognition and support of the LGBTQ+ community, especially in respect of older people, for whom care services have not always reflected the totality and validity of their experiences.
Meanwhile, our support in multiple crises in an increasingly uncertain world has never been more valued, vital and, in some cases, ongoing. From the tragedy of Grenfell, to the privations of the pandemic, from war in Europe to the rising cost of living, we have and continue to be advocates, supporters and champions of those whose circumstances increase their vulnerabilities. I thank all of you for being there when our communities needed you the most.
Throughout all this time, one of my personal priorities has been the improvement of the research and evidence base for social work with adults and our pipeline of social work researchers and academics. We now have significant investment from NIHR in this area, as well as support for a research capability within the social care workforce in local authorities.
Lastly, having the Chief Social Worker for Adults role in central government, advising and supporting ministers and officials, providing professional leadership, and working in collaboration with everyone in the sector, has given social work greater recognition and value.
There is much more to do of course. We live in tough and challenging times. However, your empathy, relentless focus on human rights and the primacy of the relationships you make with those you serve will, I am sure, continue to achieve great things. At its best, social work is truly transformative. It's been an honour to play my part in helping others be agents of that transformation.
Many thanks to you all for your support and very best wishes for the future.
]]>Lyn Romeo: I am delighted to have as guest blogger this week, Simon Duffy, who has made a significant contribution to work on self-directed support, personal budgets and really putting people in control at the heart of social care. Citizenship and inclusion are the cornerstones of social work.
However, making sure we are working with people with learning disabilities to achieve these outcomes is imperative. Thanks to Simon and his friend and colleague with learning disabilities, Wendy, for the rich resource they have created to support social workers. Their work helps us to focus relentlessly on rights and citizenship, as we support people to lead the best possible lives.
Laura Jane Addams, a disabled woman and a founder of the social work movement, wrote:
‘The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.’
This vision has inspired the best achievements of the social work profession: deinstitutionalisation, a commitment to tackle systemic injustice and the ongoing work to help people establish their place in the life of the community. Too many forces outside our control can stymie these efforts, but social work remains a profession defined by its commitment to social justice.
Social justice demands we treat each other as equals. This starts with seeing each other as citizens, each with diverse gifts and needs and bringing something special to the community.
Equal citizenship offers us the respect and dignity at the heart of human rights. But it is also by acting as citizens that we can come together to tackle the extreme problems the world faces today. Citizenship is not simply the goal of social justice, it is the means for achieving that goal.
That’s why I and Wendy Perez, a friend and colleague with learning disabilities, wrote Everyday Citizenship, a radically revised and accessible version of Keys to Citizenship (2003). 'Keys...' is my most widely cited publication but, as Wendy told me:
‘Your book wasn’t accessible, and maybe you didn’t think about making it accessible because you don’t have a learning disability. The book was about people with learning disabilities, but it wasn’t meant to be read by [them]. How can it be empowering to people who can’t read it?’
Wendy also pointed out what was missing:
‘There wasn’t anything about sex, and that was really worrying. Sex is hard to talk about, but if you don’t, people will be abused—they won’t know when to say no. They won’t know they’re allowed to.’
Wendy appreciated that 'Keys...' showed how people could be equal citizens enjoying the same rights and making the same contributions. So, we worked together to create a new (and hopefully better) book that describes citizenship from the perspective of people with learning disabilities. It also has wonderful illustrations by our Spanish colleague, Ester Ortega, and editorial guidance from the talented Clare Tarling, an expert in Easy Read.
But while more accessible, I hope the book remains interesting and challenging. Citizenship is a way of describing how can be both equal and different. Citizenship also demands we share the practical work of equipping each other with the stuff of citizenship. Some of these things may be obvious – help, money, home, community – but there are other things that may seem more difficult.
Freedom is an essential right that demands creativity and clarity to make real. Freedom is social; it begins when we listen to each other. This means that some people need communication systems while others need systems of support and decision-making to liberate their agency. Social workers need to offer practical support to make sure people can express how they want to shape their lives.
We also, as Wendy reminds us, need to be unafraid of discussing sex—and more broadly love, friendship and relationships. We know that love is the fundamental stuff of life, we know that loneliness is a dangerous poison—yet we struggle to accept that strengthening relationships is essential to good social work. It’s often easier to focus on the practical help we organise.
At the heart of Everyday Citizenship is the search for meaning. Life without a sense of purpose is difficult. A personal budget or a support package is meaningless unless it enables us to do something that’s meaningful for us, and this is a very personal matter. What is meaningful for me won’t be meaningful for you. This has always been at the heart of that rather over-used word “personalisation”.
Everyday Citizenship is a guide for social work, written from the perspective of a woman with learning disabilities. It’s also a guide for life, offering a vision where everyone has life that’s well lived, equal and wonderfully unique. I hope social workers will read and share it with the fellow citizens they support.
]]>As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the journey we have undertaken together over the last year. We have continued to relentlessly seek improvement in the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, friends and carers. We have done this in collaboration with our colleagues in the social care workforce who, together with us, work alongside people and communities to enable them to lead the best possible lives.
We have benefited from the amazing leadership of our Principal Social Workers throughout the year and I want to thank them for the contribution and support they have given me and my colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Together with the Principal Occupational Therapists and people who have experience of drawing on care and support, they coproduced guidance for proportionate assessment approaches.
They have also played a vital role in preparing for CQC assurance and have led on various webinars to support local authorities in their preparations. Recognition that strengths based professional practice is now front and centre of local authority approaches in responding to people’s need for care and support is really something to celebrate!
The Chief Social Worker for Adults office is now also providing support for the Principal Occupational Therapists Network and recognition of the contribution that OTs in social care make is well overdue.
Jason Brandon has been an outstanding mental health social work lead in the CSW office and I want to thank him, especially for the work he has done with the sector on the Approved Mental Health Professional Workforce Plan and supporting and profiling mental health social work in key areas, both within DHSC and across the sector.
Colleagues from the sector have helped improve approaches to safeguarding practice, including transitional safeguarding and working with people experiencing homelessness and multiple needs. This is an area where more improvement is always needed, as we respond to the changing landscape of needs and pressures that people face.
We have also continued to provide support to retain and sustain the social work workforce, through provision of bursaries and placement fees, as well as the graduate scheme for mental health social work students, ThinkAhead.
More and more employers are utilising the apprenticeship route to employ social work and occupational therapy trainees, who can work and gain a qualification. This is a ‘win win’ all round. Drawing our future workforce from local communities is vital if we are to improve retention and reflect the communities we serve.
Social work with adults doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, but I do think we have gained ground over the last decade, and I hope that more social work students will consider working in the varied settings where our practice is making a positive difference.
Hospital discharge has been a priority for DHSC and I am clear that social workers working in hospitals, as part of multi-disciplinary support and decision making ,is vital if people are to receive the right help and that right time in the right place.
Aligned with this area, social work with older people is increasingly important and as part of the National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR) research funding for social care, this area has benefited from research which illuminates what a difference our practice can make.
We have made significant progress in investing in social work research, as well as growing our research capacity for social work, with a number of local authority social workers now benefitting from fellowships and PhD funding.
I also want to give special thanks to Mark Osterloh who has supported me in managing and editing blogs on this site over the years. He has been amazing and I hope will support my final blog before I step down at the end of January.
I have visited several social work teams and social care provision over the last couple of weeks and it was so lovely to see all the twinkly lights and festive decorations adding cheer to the early darkness as we approach the shortest day. I know how hard people have worked throughout the year and people are looking forward to much needed time out to have a bit of a break and enjoy festivities with friends and families.
Of course, that always reminds me of those who continue working throughout the Christmas and new year period, especially social workers in out of hours teams, care workers continuing to support people every day and the ongoing care that family and friends provide to their loved ones.
I'm also reminded that some people who need care and support are often without friends and family. Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of the year for those already experiencing some degree of loneliness or isolation.
Many colleagues in social care often go beyond their normal duties to make sure people have festive food and companionship and I know many teams collect donations and deliver hampers and presents to people who may otherwise have nothing to open on Christmas day.
So, whatever you are doing over the festive season, I want to wish you all a peaceful and happy time and to thank you being a vital part of social care and for all that you have done throughout the year. You are all helping people to live the best possible lives.
]]>Lyn Romeo: Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care and I recently visited Salford to hear about the way social care colleagues work with the council, the NHS, providers and voluntary and community sector partners.
As part of that day, we heard about their approach to recruitment and retention and building the capacity and capability of their workforce across all sectors. I was delighted to hear from one of the social workers, Donna Sharkey, about her career journey into social work and she has kindly provided her reflections in this great blog.
I have worked for Salford Adult Social Care for 18 years and 11 months, and I have been a level two social worker on the transition team for three weeks and about 23 minutes, but who’s counting?
I am a Salfordian. I am who I am because of the people of Salford. Make yourself a brew and read about my adventure and how an administrative error helped me achieve a goal I never dreamt possible.
My social work journey began in year nine of secondary school, in my English lesson. I did a presentation on a country and western song from a documentary I’d been watching. The song was called “Jenny’s got a secret” and was speaking up about child abuse.
The documentary explained that one in four children would experience some form of abuse, and I thought “that is six people in my class”. I wanted to give at least one child a way to speak out. My mum says now, “social work was written in the stars.”
After leaving school, I enrolled on a diploma in social work, but other things happened, it didn’t work out and I returned to work in my local hospital. I later took an opportunity through work to train as an assistant practitioner. The role was to be a combined, nursing, physio, and occupational therapy role, a health and social care foundation degree and my NVQ level 3.
Upon qualifying, I was applying for jobs and saw a Community Assessment Officer role within occupational therapy. I rang Salford Council and was put through to the wrong department. Adult social care department were advertising the same role. I spoke to them and I thought this sounds like something I could enjoy so, I took the chance, applied and got the job!
That phone call to the wrong department changed my direction, and I truly feel it put me where I was meant to be.
There were six of us, the first social work apprentices for Salford. Without the support we had for each other, from our teams and the workforce development team, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
At the end of my degree, I was nominated for the Umbuntu Memorial Award. This recognised outstanding social justice values in line with the Unbuntu Principles. One of my greatest achievements to date. It was created to commemorate Dr Allister Butler a fabulous, passionate, and creative teacher. I will be forever honoured to be the first person to receive it.
I am so inspired by our work in Salford. I look forward to Friday’s good news stories to see what my colleagues have achieved. Even on a bad day, I feel privileged to do my job. Not many people do something they truly love and feel they were meant to do. The best moments are seeing the young people we support achieve their outcomes.
Recently I worked with a young woman who said, “I want to be a carer. I want to be able to make people a cup of tea and make them happy”. At that time, she couldn’t lift the kettle. I suggested the ‘one touch’ kettle, which she practiced with and, when she made a cup of tea, her face lit up. That day, she made someone a cup of tea and asked them how their day had been. She had achieved her goal.
We arranged a volunteering opportunity within an extra care housing scheme, supported by Salford’s health improvement team. With an opportunity to volunteer in college holidays, she hopes to work as a carer one day. The last time I saw her she was setting up a brew club at college.
I’ve learned so much about social justice, power, and the challenges that the people of Salford face. I implement a power with model when working with young people, and I want to understand their strengths. With confidence, they can challenge injustices, and inequalities, making the positive changes they desire, not what I think they should do.
I am a different worker today than yesterday and a different worker than I will be tomorrow. Our workforce team helps me stay challenged, and motivated to continue to develop and be the best I can be.
It’s been a whirlwind, the time has absolutely flown by. I am grateful for all my opportunities within adult social care, and I hope to pay it forward, I plan to become a Practice Educator, encouraging students just as I was encouraged.
]]>Lyn Romeo: I am delighted to host this blog from Gerry Nosowska, founder and Director of Effective Practice, which supported the Social Work with Older People research project. For too long, this vital area of practice has been largely unseen.
Real improvements in the lives of older people, including outcomes that matter to them, arise out of good social work practice. Hopefully, as we build a stronger evidence base, more social workers will be deployed to work with and alongside older people and their carers, using their unique combination of knowledge, skills and values.
Older people represent the largest group of people accessing social care services. However, most who need social care support will never see a social worker. For every referral into adult services there are five times fewer social workers than for children’s services. And, although many services have specialist teams for adults with learning disabilities or mental health problems, there are fewer dedicated teams for older people.
When I was at university 20 years ago, I was one of the few people in my social work cohort who actively wanted to work with older people. For some reason, probably to do with the incredible life stories of my Nan, and my English, Polish and Irish great aunts, I was drawn to working with people in later life.
I never regretted getting into that area of social work and now we have the Social Work with Older People research findings to demonstrate comprehensively the fascination, importance and beauty of social work with older people.
I use the word 'beauty' because the research does show the beauty of human relationships in times of struggle. It reveals the way the human touch, backed up by expertise and ethics, can support someone to transform their experience and future.
Albert, one of the older carers in the study, put it perfectly when he talked about his social worker:
‘[It was] like talking to a friend you’ve known for some time... And I think that helps her a lot… I wasn’t afraid of any of the questions she asked or any of the ideas she put forward. I could see the sense of her questioning and the sense of her proposals.’
The research looked in-depth at 17 situations where ten different social workers supported older people, carers and families. Over a six month period, researchers observed and interviewed social workers, older people and their families, and other professionals involved.
The results showed social workers were using specialist knowledge related to later life, expert personal skills and a commitment to upholding rights and dignity. Their capabilities directly led to improved wellbeing, including appropriate care, support for carers and access to financial help.
However, they also provided direct therapeutic support to older people and their families by the way they worked. The relationships and trust they established reduced emotional distress and provided reassurance. This was despite the research happening during an exceptionally hard winter for adult social care and the NHS.
Social workers were hampered by lack of staff, lack of social care resources, clunky processes and frustrating systems. However, they remained, as one said ‘that hopeful person.’ They supported each other and received sound professional back-up from their managers. Above all, they loved their work.
The research identified what older people and carers valued: trust, continuity, knowledge and can-do attitudes – and how social workers can be enabled to offer this. We have produced a policy briefing and will be holding a webinar for Principal Social Workers and other leaders to talk through the implications for deploying and supporting social workers.
We are also creating resources for social work education programmes and continuing professional development that showcase the skill and impact of social work with older people.
As our population continues to grow and live longer there will be many more older people with rich histories and complex lives. They deserve to have access to a social worker when they need them most. And so we want to encourage them to go into this endlessly fascinating area of practice.
As Maria says of social work with older people:
‘I don’t think we are quite as glamorous [as other services]. I don’t think the complexity of what we do is recognised, because… the complexity of human relationships… don’t stop just because you get older.’
Let’s do all we can to make sure social work with older people receives the recognition it deserves.
]]>Lyn Romeo: It's an honour to host blogs from social workers, researchers and people with lived experience of health and social care. This post addresses core challenges for Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) and others involved in anti-racist mental health practice.
Dr Caroline Leah: Since the Mental Health Act came into force, rates of compulsory detention in mental health hospitals have more than doubled. The NIHR funded project, ImprovE-ACT, is new research aiming to reduce compulsory admissions for Black African and Caribbean (BAC) men with mental health conditions. It also aims to improve experiences of pathways to detention and the system overall.
An essential aspect of the project is the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience of MHA detention. This enables us to deeply connect and build relationships with the very people who matter.
In this blog, Debbie Best and Kenny Thompson, invite practitioners to reflect upon and challenge anti-racist practice and examine how these impact on supporting people with lived experiences of MHA detention.
Debbie Best: I’m an optimist. It’s important I present my authentic self to effect change rather than working from a position of blame, which only reinforces hostile work environments. We’re all human, it’s OK to be scared and to give yourself permission to be vulnerable.
I am also a carer. I have supported my son through local, medium, high and low secure forensic services for over fourteen years. It’s been a journey. There have, without a doubt, been some examples of good practice. However, the hardest part has been challenging practices (inequalities, disparities, gaslighting and coercion to name a few) within services.
I was the first carer to attend a safeguarding meeting in a long established hospital. So, I welcome the Patient Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) and I’m looking forward to leading on it within my local trust, so that together, we can affect positive change and better outcomes.
However, I do wonder if it’s going to be another tick box exercise. For example, during a BAME carers meeting (I don’t even like the term BAME), a trainer gave a brief overview of PCREF. It was going well. They explained all staff would be given cultural, statutory and regulatory awareness training.
‘That’s great’, I replied. ‘However, I also feel patients and carers should have the same training’. They responded by saying it was a great idea, which they would take back to their organisation to consider. This seemed fair enough, as they were not in a position to make any decisions there and then.
I explained that training needed to be delivered to patients, carers and professionals collectively. The representative responded with the counter view that professionals should have separate training specific to them.
I don’t agree, as it appears to be a power dynamic, coming from a place of privilege. What I’m curious about is whether the trainer’s response was conscious or unconscious.
I was left feeling this was a prime example of my lived experience of power and control. They were describing the framework from their professional perspective and trying to tell us, the patient and carer, how we should use it. That’s not equity, co-production, or partnership working. My request is simple: we must work it out together, sharing learning and understanding.
Kenny Thompson: Having been in the mental health system and now medication free, I see that practice ideas and the medical model is out-dated and broken. How can we ‘fix’ people in a broken system, one which suffers from institutional racism? We need to consider conscious and unconscious bias in professionals, challenging racism in practice. For practice to be truly progressive and based on human rights, this includes reporting and logging incidents of racism.
I was told I would be on medication for life, but I am not and won't be. Medication isn’t always the answer, communication and talking therapies are important. However, communication with people outside your own race can be difficult.
Each case is different and seeing each person as an individual is important. We are constantly evolving. It’s essential to ask someone in crisis about their lived experiences. Having a mental health issue is a journey in a difficult and racist world. If external factors make the person sick, then racism can seem like an illness and have lasting effects. The culture around mental health must change for us all to be well.
]]>Lyn Romeo: October is an important month as it marks World Mental Health Day and Black History Month. These two important themes were explored at a brilliant webinar on anti -racist perspectives and the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) role: ‘taking professional responsibility to address racism in practice’, chaired by Jason Brandon, Mental Health Social Work lead in the Chief Social Worker for Adults' office, in partnership with the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) England.
Shantel Thomas and Neil Sanyal, share their reflections on allyship and what it means for all of us involved in improving the lives of those who experience racism in our society and in the health and social care system. It is a privilege to host their blog. I extend my thanks to them for giving up their time to share their experiences and insights.
Shantel: The murder of George Floyd in the United States in 2020 and its galvanising impact on the Black Lives Matter movement, sharpened global attention on the issue of racism, within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, there has been a call for acute attention to be given to issues of structural and institutional racism in the UK and the social work sector is no exception to this. Despite our value base of social justice, human rights, anti-discriminative, anti-oppressive and antiracist practice, there is still a very long way to go in becoming an anti-racist workforce.
As a black woman, I do not have the privilege of ignoring racism or pretending it doesn’t happen but have had to ignore and subconsciously bury the feelings evoked when on the receiving end. I was deeply stirred by the events of 2020 and the activist within was unleashed.
Neil: But it wasn’t until I watched a December 2020 You Tube recording of Dr Helen Morgan’s presentation on “Whiteness: A Problem of Our Time?” that I realised something new was about to happen.
After 34 years of race equality work, I came across the term “whiteness” for the first time in this presentation, which was my lightbulb moment. A discussion with the AMHP Lead in Barnet gave me some impetus and support and I had already read Akala’s book “Natives”, and Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book “Why I am no longer talking to White People about Race”.
I started discussing Whiteness with some local social work colleagues from both White British and other ethnic backgrounds, which helped formulate some concrete concepts of allyship for race equality. I watched Robin DiAngelo’s You Tube presentation on “White Fragility” given in 2018, which further enlightened me.
Shantel: Together with colleagues from the Hertfordshire Social Work Teaching Partnership we developed the ‘Becoming an Anti-Racist Practitioner: An Invitation to Allyship’ short course in response to the recognised need to build allyship or a ‘coalition’ across networks and systems in social work.
The course shares theoretical and research informed knowledge in relation to racism and the notion of becoming an anti-racist ally. The aim is to invite participants to think about anti-racist practice with the people they support and within their organisations and teams.
The course holds relationship-based, anti-racist practice at its core and is based on a model for achieving emotionally intelligent, critically reflective, curious conversations, in a ‘brave’ space.
During my term as BASW’s UK anti-racism lead, I delivered the course across the UK, inviting participants to consider their own individual identity and position in relation to power, white privilege and black empowerment and develop their own personal mission statement for their learning on the course. The group are invited into a shared space, with an ethos of collaborative learning, where responsibility for learning is co-created.
Neil: In March 2022, I created my own presentation, using some stark aspects of the British Empire’s financial effects on non-white populations of the world, and concepts of anti-racism and whiteness, utilising clips of the videos just mentioned, and delivered it to final year apprenticeship students on the University of Winchester Social Work Degree course.
Their response was profound and passionate, and I realised that this message was something that needed to be promoted across the world of social work. In April 2022, I was co-opted to join the National AMHP Leads Network Steering Group to assist them with developing practice. The co-chairs of the group assisted and supported me to promote my presentation to wider audiences through their connections.
I participated in a workshop on allyship at the BASW Annual Conference in June 2022 where I first met Shantel. By April 2023 I was delivering my presentation and training session to AMHPs as far afield as Cumbria and Yorkshire both face to face and online, and I had covered Hampshire, West Berkshire and North London Boroughs by July.
Neil is now working with the AMHP Leads Steering Group to move things on with an Anti-Racist Practice Working Group. Maya Angelou once said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better”.
Meanwhile, Shantel urges white British people to aspire to being “1% better each day”. This advice is crucial to the successful take-up of allyship principles and good anti-racist practice.
Lyn Romeo: On a recent visit to Harrow council, I was delighted to meet their cohort of apprentices and to hear about their amazing journeys towards qualifying as social workers or occupational therapists. Many of them had lived experience of social care in their own lives and have also worked as support workers, social work assistants and in other related social care employment.
This route into becoming a regulated professional in adult social care is laying the foundation for a strong and committed cohort of social care practitioners who will ensure that, as social care reform progresses, people who draw on care and support will have better lives and a more positive experience of social care. I am delighted to introduce Angie Beaumont as our guest blogger to tell us about her experience.
Being a latchkey kid, raised by a single mum on a council estate in the 80s, the odds of achieving success were often stacked against me. I experienced social care before, during and after the Children Act 1989 came into play, so I had the absolute belief this was the path I wanted to be on.
And so, at the tender age of ten, my social work career began with helping out in my local community. I went on to become a peer educator and link counsellor at school and college. Now, years later, I have completed my Social Work Apprenticeship Degree and am ready and waiting to register as a qualified social worker. Let us just pause there to consider the reality and emotions of achieving a lifelong dream…
Over the years, I have sadly watched dozens of second year students and newly qualified staff leave when they realised the full weight and reality of working in this field.
The academic learning environment had not prepared them for social work itself and this led to me having countless discussions with learning and development teams around offering apprenticeships when we are qualifying social care staff. Although the seed had been planted, it never seemed to have the right conditions to come to fruition.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I jumped at the chance to qualify in a way that supported my needs as a learner. The Social Work Apprenticeship Degree was finally here!
I studied at Kingston University and the team there were incredible; they spent time getting to know their cohort of trailblazers and created a positive learning environment that flexed and adapted to meet our emerging needs.
I was one of four course reps who shared apprentices’ views and suggestions, which were listened to and respected. We were acknowledged as leaders in our field, who would help to shape the degree course not only for us, but for the those who followed.
Yes, we stumbled at times, mainly due to the lack of consistency from employers. Some apprentices had amazing support leading to positive outcomes. Others did not have this experience, enduring numerous changes in manager and mentor, heavy workloads and no additional time to reflect or study, all of which took their toll.
Kingston University continues to use apprentices’ feedback to make us feel safe and supported as human beings. They are working with employers to create a consistent approach for Contrasted Learning Experiences and Final Practice Experience Learning placements.
They have adapted the course to meet the learning needs of future apprentices by practicing what social care has preached since the Munro Review; where a team around the person approach is utilised alongside sufficient and effective early help interventions so that “social work students are prepared for the challenges of (child protection) work” (Munro, 2011).
I would recommend all who want to enter the world of social work to consider an apprenticeship using another great tool (signs of safety) to identify what works well, what they are worried about and what grey areas need further clarity. If this is how we work with people, we need to start applying this approach with ourselves first.
]]>Lyn Romeo: I am delighted to support the launch of a free online training course for social work in disaster situations.
Since the tragedies of Grenfell and the Manchester Arena bombings, so much work has been done by social workers and others in the social care sector to support our profession in this vital area. Maris Stratulis, National Director, BASW England, and Joe Hanley, lecturer and researcher in social work at the Open University, have kindly drafted this week’s blog promoting this excellent course. Please read it and sign up!
British Association of Social Work (BASW) England are excited to announce the launch of a free online training course for social work in disasters. This training was developed alongside key partners within the BASW England Social Work in Disasters Working Group, including social workers with experience of working in disasters, and those they have supported.
The training is informed by these experiences, and the impetus for starting this project arose from those social workers who had previously responded to disasters and described the lack of training available.
The development of the training course was also informed by a systematic literature review commissioned by BASW England and completed by the University of Stirling, the course materials were designed in collaboration with The Open University.
The training builds upon previous work of the BASW England working group, including the development of guidance and learning outcomes for social work in disasters continuous professional development (CPD.
The modules are designed to be worked through by social workers either independently or collaboratively, and each module involves a combination of text, audio and video content, alongside preparation reading and follow up tasks to complete. The training is supplemented by a workbook where participants record notes, reflections and responses to individual tasks throughout the training. Each module is designed to take about four hours to complete, meaning the training totals about 16 hours (or two days).
A pilot study of the training, involving a collaboration between BASW England, The Open University, University of Stirling, Durham University and University of Greenwich, found that it was overwhelmingly positively received by social workers working in a range of contexts. This included positive reporting in relation to enhanced knowledge and self-confidence in working in disasters. Some selected quotes from participants include:
“It was really refreshing to do the training and kind of be reminded these are what our ethics and values are, and this is how we can respond”.
“The CPD course really made me think about attachment and strength-based working and resilience and systems”.
“I think as well there is a real culture around training where we are either sort of passive listeners and then we’re asked to complete a sort of satisfaction questionnaire at the end…”
More information will be provided at a free to attend official launch event to be held remotely on 8 September 2023 from 12:00-1:30pm. Click the links below for more details, including how to register.
This training compliments the key messages from people with lived experience and social workers in ‘Out of the Shadows: The Role of Social Workers in Disasters’ (2022.) It is the first book to be published focusing on the role of UK social workers in disasters. Their involvement goes beyond the initial crisis as the impact of disasters have long term consequences such as displacement, loss, psychological issues and survivor guilt.
This book focuses on the poignant and important personal stories of people with lived experiences of disaster. It also includes voices of social workers and their organisational leaders who have been directly involved in providing support in disasters, their reflections and sharing learning for the future.
The impact of disasters not only affect those directly involved but also individuals, families, groups and local communities, nationally and internationally.
This book provides an important opportunity to share and develop knowledge, skills, best practice and learning from disasters nationally and internationally and from social workers who have been directly involved in emergency responses as well as from the communities they have served.
Joe Hanley, Lecturer in Social Work, The Open University: joe.hanley@open.ac.uk
Maris Stratulis, Director, BASW England maris.stratulis@basw.co.uk