Category Archives: social workers

There is a need for better training for social workers

Equality in social care practice: still a long way to go

After improvements in local government training and recruitment, why aren’t there more BME social workers?

Like many readers, my heart leapt when I saw that Stephen Lawrence’s killers had been found guilty. The family’s campaign for justice, and the McPherson Inquiry they prompted, have changed forever how we treat racism.

We should welcome that progress. But a serious look at social work suggests we still have a long way to go before we have a level playing field for black and minority social workers – let alone service users.

Whose Shoes? Game to train adult care staff in personalisation

How a board game is helping social care staff implement personalisation

Louise  Hunt

 Leicestershire Council uses the Whose Shoes? game to train adult care staff in personalisation. Pictured (from left) are Simon Carnall, Paul Lowis, Sarah Wigley amd Juliet Heaton

A board game that helps staff, providers and service users understand personalisation has succeeded in changing the culture in some organisations, reports Louise Hunt

PROJECT DETAILS

Project name: Whose Shoes? Putting People First board game.

Social worker endures isolation to learn practice lessons

Social worker endures isolation to learn practice lessons

Jeremy Dunning

Monday 27 June 2011 15:05

“I’ve only lasted half-a-day today. I feel tired and weary and I just needed to get away from the office.”

This was social worker Pam Stopforth speaking today on her first day back at work after a week pretending to be a lonely and isolated older person as part of social experiment organised for Isolation Week.

The experience, which included wearing vision-impaired glasses and diving gloves in order to carry out specific tasks and living alone without speaking to anyone for a week, proved unexpectedly taxing but left her with insights as to how to improve her own practice.