Social Worker Sharing

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...

I was recently reading a couple of blogs from Rewriting Social Care and found that it got me thinking about the use of language and whether this has improved over time. One word that is used often when referring to people who require support is the world vulnerable. What does that even mean? There are a lot of different ways of thinking about this word. Does it mean at risk, does it mean open emotionally, does it mean uneducated or lacking in skills. I don't know about you but I have definitely felt vulnerable in my life but I do not require Social Care support. The two things are not mutually exclusive but they seem to be intrinsically linked. I have felt vulnerable physically when having my daughter because you are in effect in a room full of strangers, not wearing very much, in pain and for me experiencing something I had never done before. Not only was I open emotionally, I was at risk physically and I did not really know what I was doing. I have felt emotionally vulnerab...

We wear a lot of different hats as a Social Worker. The one I have been seeing a lot recently is advocate. Now that we are an older people's team we seem to be getting a lot more referrals coming from people who either have no family or due to the family dynamics they are not the best people to support them. It is trickier to support people who come through with a Dementia diagnosis or similar when there is no family involved because usually we would speak to the family to gain the required information about how they are managing or what has changed recently. This is not an option in situations where they don't have anyone because when they live alone or do not have people who are close to them it does not give the opportunity to gain that salient information. We can see records and notes on the systems but it does not give us insight into how they are managing day to day, we do not know how their finances are managed or if there bills are being paid. We end up doing a l...

One thing that I think you discover fairly quickly once you qualify is that a lot of the time you are thinking about what comes next. Don't get me wrong some people become level 2 and are happy there but a lot of the time managers want to know what training course or self improvement you are doing next to further expand your skills. I am quite happy doing more and am looking forward to upcoming courses to achieve this. I have discussed in depth with my manager and included in my appraisal what I would like to do long term. I am lucky to have a very good manager who at this stage I have worked with for about 3.5 years who knows me well and is very supportive. She cares a lot about the mental health of her staff and will encourage use of paid time off to give us a break when we feel that we need it. She encourages us to be mindful of what we are doing and how we are using our time. This makes me feel very supported and that I am more than a number who is there to make sure th...