Social Work Links and Learning #110
18 February 2024
Introduction
Bit of a longer intro this week because as I was going through my links (that I collect over a week and believe it or not, I do edit out some of the ones I’ve collected!), I came across the first article about social work guilt over unmet needs and it made me want to respond. So this is my comment to that piece because it made me very sad. I am incredibly proud of being a social worker and having been a social worker comfortably over 20 years. I do and have felt that guilt and understand it. But we can’t change all of the structures and contexts we work in (that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try) but what each of us, those, anyway, who do this work, do, is change the experiences of the individuals and families we work with. We can, as social workers determine whether they are considering and communication is with humanity, compassion and attention, even if we can’t change the outcomes, even if the outcomes (as if often the case), are not what they want (or we want, but we can’t share that). People remember how you treated them. Social Work puts us in a position of privilege and power and we can always choose how we use that, and it will be remembered.
Anyway, I’ll try not to editorialise anymore. Enjoy your weeks and always remember the difference you can make it often more important than the differences you can’t make. Just because we want different outcomes, more resources, more time, doesn’t mean we can’t change the experiences of everyone we interact with. We are changing lives.
Quote of the Week
Blogs and Articles
Social workers’ guilt over unmet needs - Community Care
The Overwhelming Risk of Safety - Social Work, Cats and Rocket Science
CASCAIDr Care Act Round-Up - CASCAIDr
Families of disabled people tell BBC of battle for NHS care support - BBC News
Playing the numbers game? - BMJ Leader
What is the Future of Care? - Stephen Lee Hodgkins
Moving Social Work: it means what it says! - Social work with adults
Policy, Reports and Resources
Advancing race equality by building a culture of accountability - NHS Confederation
Young people’s experiences of in-patient mental health care - NSPCC Learning
AI and the power of narratives - Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Precautionary tales Tackling the problem of low saving among UK households - Resolution Foundation
Making care closer to home a reality - The King's Fund
Audio and Video
Trapped: The IPP Prisoner Scandal - Podcast Series
The Health Foundation Podcast (various episodes)
Forgiveness: Stories from the Front Line - BBC Sounds
Research
Social care: time for a name change? - International Journal of Care and Caring
Events and Training
Community of Practice for Trusted Assessors - Assessments - LGA - 26 Feb
Secondary trauma: how to look after your wellbeing as a social worker - Community Care - 19 March
Social Work Week - 18 March to 22 March - around 60 diverse sessions across the week, all free.
Pot Luck
A read
Heschel on the Joys of Slowness - Cal Newport
A listen
Radio 2 Remembers Steve Wright (Collection of Programmes) - BBC Sounds