Social Worker Sharing

How would you like to be told to make a decision without all the relevant information? How would you like it if someone made a decision for you and didn't even ask you what you thought? How would you like it if someone disregarded what you wanted because it was easier for them? I would be angry, frustrated, sad, upset and many other emotions but there are so many conversations that happen in Social Work specifically with older people where we are told that they need something because family would find it easier not necessarily because it is what is best for the person. I have had cases where people don't really want me there because they hold Power of Attorney and have already made a decision. I have explained more times than I can count that Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare only kicks in or becomes active when someone loses capacity to make the specific decision. It does not allow you to make decisions for someone who has the capacity to make it for themselves. I...

  I had a conversation with a colleague the other day about how our experiences can impact our practice. We were talking specifically about safeguarding cases and if you are someone who has ever experienced an abusive situation how you would manage this. We talked about other scenarios and I gave the example that when I first started on my final placement in a hospital team it was around the time of the anniversary of losing my grandma so I remember talking to my practice educator in the first couple of weeks of placement about how I thought I would struggle with taking cases where someone had the same medical experience as she did because it would potentially be triggering for me at that time. It felt good to not only be able to have those conversations with someone who was so supportive but reflecting back on it the fact that I was able to recognise that for myself was so important to my development. Obviously we can't always avoid something we would struggle with but it i...

This blog is going to be a combination of two topics that I feel link which are Ageism and the new proposed bill linked to assisted dying. I went on a session recently about ageism and it got me thinking even more about we way we think about people in our society. As I have explained previously I work in an Older People's team so it is something that I am mindful of on a regular basis but there are a lot of comments that get made in day to day life to people of all ages. I am sure we have all heard comments like “act your age, not your shoe size” or “should you be doing that at your age”. I think if someone was making similar comments about any of the other protected characteristics under the Equality Act then it would not be acceptable but people seem to think that saying it about age is okay because it is so engrained into society that people see it as banter instead. That is where thinking about it in relation to other characteristics such as sexuality makes people feel un...

It is coming to the time of year where a lot of people have time off. Me included. Some practitioners can find this difficult because they are concerned about what may happen with their cases whilst they are off. With the team that we work in you never know what is going to happen. This discussion brings us back round to how you find a work life balance or how you switch off from what is a difficult job. We can hold people's lives and futures in our hands so taking a break from that can feel difficult especially when there are situations where carers are struggling with carer strain and certain groups or social inclusion are their lifelines but they close down for Christmas. Especially the ones which are run by volunteers. I have noticed the same when it comes to playgroups and groups for young children. They all stop over the Christmas period which is understandable but it can also cause a lot of anxiety and make situations more difficult for people. Christmas and New Year...

Risk is a big topic in Social Work. This is more at the front of my mind this week because I attended a training course where we were discussing it. I think the initial thought process to consider is what a risk is or what does that mean to different people. Is this another term that means more to professionals than the people we support. The thing that I find really interesting is that we are so concerned about the risks that the people we support take on a daily basis when they may not even see it as a risk. As not just practitioners but people we take many risks every single day that we do not even think about. Even on a basic level we do tasks such as crossing a road without even considering that it is a risk. I think about it a bit more because I have a young child so I am usually explaining to her why we have to be careful and why it could be unsafe. It may be a consideration that is taken into account when supporting people with learning disabilities or someone who has diff...

Following on from my last blog I wanted to continue the conversation about language but explore another aspect of it. It can be easy to speak in jargon and have to correct yourself to explain what you are talking about. I have noticed this more recently because I am a workplace supervisor for a student and I find myself talking about something then realise that the acronyms and terminology are such second nature that I do not realise that I am not explaining things correctly and end up starting again. It reminded me of when I first started my placement and I did not know what most of these terms meant. I created a document of acronyms so that I could refer to it when I did not understand what had been documented in notes or told to me in an email. I had got to the point where I thought I knew most of the terms but then recently I have had emails containing terms that I still don't know. I think sometimes when people work in different fields such as medical based they can forge...