An interesting article written by Radhika Sanghani and recently posted on the BBC website about funeral planning and why it’s never too early to start…
Click here
Category Archives: Wider Social Work
The working life of two social workers
Susan O’Malley and Sharon Owen are social workers at Bolton Hospice. Broadly speaking they provide care and support to local people with life-limiting illnesses, but here they explain the many links and services they provide for patients get the best possible care.
Read more here
Confident social work practice with people living with dementia
In May, the Department of Health launched new resources to mark Dementia Awareness Week (14-20 May 2017).
The resources aim to support confident social work practice with dementia. Commissioned by the Chief Social Worker for Adults, Lyn Romeo and developed by Research in Practice for Adults (RiPfA).
They build on previous Department of Health resources, broadening the application of knowledge into practice with case studies, practical guidance and tools drawing from the lived experiences of people with dementia and those who care for them. The live launch which took place in May included a webinar. For those that missed it a recording of that webinar can be accessed here.
The new open access learning resources look at the issues that people living with dementia may experience, and how social workers can develop a greater understanding of these in order to deliver good practice to support people through the different stages of dementia, from diagnosis to preparing for the end of life. The resources focus on five practice principles:
The resources are aimed at social workers and those who support them to work well, such as managers and educators. They will also be useful for allied professionals, agencies and organisations, and have been designed to be accessible for the general public, particularly those who are affected by dementia.
Please share with all your networks.
Related Links
Why social workers are marching 100 miles in protest against austerity
BASW along with people who use social services, have organised a march from Birmingham to Liverpool to call for an end to the UK government’s austerity polices. Over seven days, starting on 19 April, social workers, service users, carers and others will walk almost 100 miles, visiting food banks and social care settings under threat from funding cuts along the route, to hear from those whose lives have been devastated by austerity.
https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/apr/13/social-workers-protest-march-against-government-austerity
NCPC and Hospice UK boards agree to begin process of merger
On Wednesday 29th March, the trustee boards of both Hospice UK and the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) agreed to work towards the merger of the two organisations. The process of due diligence and formal merger agreement is being taken forward from today.
Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive of Hospice UK, will become the Acting CEO of NCPC from May 31st during the interim period before a merger is agreed. Hospice UK also announced that Claire Henry MBE, current Chief Executive of NCPC, will be joining the Hospice UK team as Director of Improvement and Transformation in June this year.
Talking with your child about your cancer
London Cancer and the Fruit Fly Collective have jointly produced an animated film to give advice to patients on telling their children about their cancer diagnosis. Although it is aimed at patients in early stages of an illness, the principles apply throughout and it may be of interest to palliative care social workers as well. Thank you to Peter Southern at St Barts for sharing this with us.
The video can be found using the following link – Telling your child you have cancer video
Let’s tackle ‘careism’ and give workers the respect they deserve
The word “careism” was originally coined in relation to discrimination against young people in care. It is time to re-appropriate the term to refer to negative and devaluing attitudes directed at social care and those who work in the sector. Careism is endemic, both in and beyond social care services. Continue reading
Controlling and Coercive Behaviour Resources
The Chief Social Worker for Adults has launched a new set of resources in partnership with Women’s aid and Ripfa to help social workers identify controlling and coercive behaviour.
In December 2015, a new offence of controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship was brought into law under the Serious Crime Act 2015. The law recognises that a pattern of coercive control lies at the root of domestic abuse. These resources aim to support social workers and others to respond appropriately to any disclosures or observations of controlling and coercive behaviour. Please see below link to the resources, blogs by both Lyn and Polly Neate- CEO of Women’s aid with information about the resources and an article by Community Care.
Resources: http://coercivecontrol.ripfa.org.uk/
http://coercivecontrol.ripfa.org.uk/Lyn’s blog: https://lynromeo.blog.gov.uk/2017/02/14/coercive-control-challenging-and-improving-our-social-work-practiceChie
Celebrate World Social Work Day 2017 with BASW
We recently received this great email from BASW relating to World Social Work Day on 21st March 2017 which we felt we should share with you all…
Study at one of the strongest Centres of palliative care research in the world on the MSc Palliative Care programme at the Cicely Saunders institute (King’s College London)
Study at one of the strongest Centres of palliative care research in the world. The MSc Palliative Care programme at the Cicely Saunders institute (King’s College London) is run in collaboration with St Christopher’s Hospice.
The programme is designed for all health and social care professionals working in palliative care and related areas. Here is a link to the MSc webpage if you would like to read about the programme in more depth.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/cicelysaunders/study/postgraduatetaught/index.aspx