2023

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Mental Health Act reform ditched, King’s Speech confirms

Community Care

There will be no reform of the Mental Health Act 1983 before the next election, the government has confirmed. Today’s King’s Speech – setting out the government’s last full legislative programme before an election in 2024 or early 2025 – did not include a mental health bill, meaning any reform would have to be carried out by a future government, if at all.

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Mental Health Statistics to Know During Pride Month 2023

My Brains Not Broken

For the past few years, I’ve researched data and statistics surrounding mental health in the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month. I think it’s important to understand what mental health challenges exist for unique communities and groups of people, and these statistics help paint that picture. Every year, statistics show that the LGBTQIA+ community disproportionately at risk for mental health challenges, mental illness and suicide.

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Educational Assistants: Speaking out about their experience….

Gary Direnfeld

Yesterday I posed a question to Educational Assistants on my Facebook page. I asked how the year is going so far. There were 452 comments at the time of this post. This is reflective of the comments: “394 violent incident reports filed in 27 days of school, that is how our year is going in our board. In one class alone over 11 evacuations in 27 school days.

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Chat GPT – Primer for Social Work

Social Work Futures

In the past few weeks, I’ve (like many of you) been both experimenting with and being asked to comment about Chat GPT. Tomorrow I’m giving a presentation/brief workshop session – so thought I’d just share my resources for that here as well. This is an incredibly important space for us to continue exploring and thinking about.

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5 Must Haves for Case Management

Thousands of nonprofits rely on case management software to help collect data, manage programs, coordinate with agencies, and provide life-changing health and human services. Adopting a cloud-based case management platform is essential for nonprofits and government agencies to operate more efficiently and make better use of their funding and budget.

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Promoting progressive AMHP anti-racist practice

Social Work With Adults

Lyn Romeo: It's an honour to host blogs from social workers, researchers and people with lived experience of health and social care. This post addresses core challenges for Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) and others involved in anti-racist mental health practice. Dr Caroline Leah: Since the Mental Health Act came into force, rates of compulsory detention in mental health hospitals have more than doubled.

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Help Your Fellow Social Workers in Just Eight Minutes

Social Work Blog

We’re listening! Tell us what you know , think—and wish you knew—about client alcohol and other substance use. Eight minutes is all it takes to help us better train and educate social workers who serve clients who may be at risk for substance-related problems, including substance use disorders and substance-exposed pregnancies. Your responses will be completely anonymous.

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR IASSW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The International Association Of Schools Of Social

Closing Date for Nominations extended – 31 st July 2023 The International Association of Schools of ‪Social Work‬ ( IASSW ) announces four vacancies on the IASSW Board of Directors for 2024-2028: There is one position open for President ( years of serving: 2024-202 8) , one position open for Secretary ( years of serving: 2024-202 8) , and two positions for Member at Large of the Board of Directors ( years of serving: 2024-2028).

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Lib Dems’ Ed Davey to make £5bn-a-year pledge on care in England

The Guardian

On eve of party conference, leader says he feels a heavy responsibility to help get Conservatives out of power Ed Davey is to pledge a £5bn-a-year guarantee of free care packages for all in England as the Liberal Democrats gather for their first in-person conference since 2019. Desperate to translate recent byelection successes into a mass haul of parliamentary seats, the Lib Dem leader plans to use the event in Bournemouth, which starts on Saturday, to become the first of the major UK political

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Distractions to cope with a busy brain

Blurt It Out

Sometimes, our brain is far too busy. As thoughts stack up, creating a never-ending whizzy-blur, distractions can help us cope. We might struggle to avoid self-damaging behaviours or grapple with dark thoughts. Perhaps we feel overwhelmed, anxious, or restless. Alongside self-care, self-help, and support from loved ones and/or professionals, sometimes we just need to ride.

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Book Review—Prince Harry’s Spare: The Impact of Long Denied Trauma, Emotional Abuse

The New Social Worker

In its most brutal truths, Spare is a memoir about a lonely, isolated, abused, purposeless boy who becomes determined to face his realities in order to mature. Read our review and commentary on Spare.

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Get Connected: Using Social Media for Social Work Success

Speaker: Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW.

You may have the clinical skills to manage a private practice, but your success could actually hinge on marketing skills. For a thriving practice, you need to differentiate yourself from others and present yourself in a way that attracts referrals. These days, much of that happens online, including on social media. In this webinar, Gary Direnfeld will discuss how social media marketing can help you build your private practice and grow your client base.

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Courts to stop monitoring regulation of unregistered placements for children deprived of liberty

Community Care

The courts will stop monitoring the regulation of unregistered placements for children deprived of their liberty because of the “considerable burdens” this placed on the justice system. The president of the court’s family division issued revised guidance removing the provision this week, four years after it was introduced to deal with a marked increase in applications through the family courts to deprive children of their liberty.

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Statistics to Know During Suicide Prevention Awareness Month 2023

My Brains Not Broken

As I wrote in my post earlier this month, September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The month is an important time for us to have the conversations we need about suicide and suicide prevention. In addition to having conversations and sharing stories, it’s also important to share data and statistics that help frame the conversation and spread awareness.

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Educational Assistants in Ontario – Important Report of the OWSIAT

Gary Direnfeld

In July 2023, there was a decision by the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal. The case involves an Educational Assistant seeking leave for Traumatic Mental Stress owing to an incident with a six-year-old boy. The incident occurred in October 2018. The child’s behavior included physical outbursts requiring the other children to be cleared from the classroom.

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12 Things I Learned from Teaching a New Class: Disaster Social Work – An Anti-Racist Lens

Social Work Futures

[link] Is all social work – “disaster social work” now? I have kind of had this question banging around in my head the last couple of years. I don’t have a good answer…I’ve seen things that make me debate this with myself on the regular. Slow disasters – like our variety of forms of structural violence in underfunded social care resources – and – fast disasters like pandemics, large scale climate events, and other cataclysmic events like oil

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Social work's vital role in disaster situations

Social Work With Adults

Lyn Romeo: I am delighted to support the launch of a free online training course for social work in disaster situations. Since the tragedies of Grenfell and the Manchester Arena bombings, so much work has been done by social workers and others in the social care sector to support our profession in this vital area. Maris Stratulis, National Director, BASW England, and Joe Hanley, lecturer and researcher in social work at the Open University, have kindly drafted this week’s blog promoting this exc

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Mattel doll honors NASW Social Work Pioneer Wilma Mankiller

Social Work Blog

Mattel has honored another one of the NASW Social Work Pioneers ®, Wilma Mankiller, by issuing a Barbie doll inspired by her. Mankiller’s father was Cherokee and she developed a deep appreciation for her heritage. Mankiller (1945-2010) became the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and helped create the office of Indian Justice within the U.S.

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We are delighted to launch the 2024 World Social Work Day Poster

International Federation of Social Workers

As we approach World Social Work Day 2024, we are excited to unveil the theme: “Buen Vivir: Shared Future for Transformative Change”, which is rooted in the Global Agenda and […]

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World Social Work Day 2023 : Message from IASSW President

The International Association Of Schools Of Social

World Social Work Day 2023 : Message from IASSW President Happy World Social Work Day 2023 (WSWD). This year World Social Work Day will be celebrated on the 21st March 2023. This year’s theme is ‘Respecting diversity through joint social action ‘ Which relates to the third theme of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development 2020-2030.

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Owner of UK care home group paid himself £21m despite safety concerns

The Guardian

Exclusive: ‘Eye-watering’ pay for Gordon Sanders comes despite inspectors finding multiple breaches of rules at his firm’s homes A multimillionaire dementia home boss paid himself at least £21m in five years despite inspectors finding multiple breaches of staffing, safety and leadership rules, with residents left in dirty incontinence pads and staff accused of rough handling.

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Creating a mentally helpful living space

Blurt It Out

Our living space can impact how we feel. Changing our environment doesn’t have to be expensive, there are little, inexpensive things we can do that can make a big difference. Stop, sit, look We can spend time in our living space without noticing how it affects us. Before we change anything, we need to figure. The post Creating a mentally helpful living space appeared first on The Blurt Foundation.

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Justice for Palestine!

Reimagining Social Work

This text is a formative advance version of a special editorial from the following members of the ANZSW Journal Editorial Collective: Neil Ballantyne, Liz Beddoe, Kerri Cleaver, Yvonne Crichton-Hill, Emily Keddell, Eileen Joy, Ian Hyslop, Deb Stanfield, and Shayne Walker.

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Social care staff carrying out tasks previously undertaken by NHS, without extra funding, say directors

Community Care

Adult social care staff are carrying out tasks previously undertaken by the NHS in most areas, without compensatory funding, council heads have reported. Seventy per cent of directors said this was the case, in response to an Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) survey carried out in September and October of this year. ADASS described the finding as “startling” ‘People being charged for previously free care’ “Not only does this add to councils’

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Suicide Prevention Awareness Month 2023

My Brains Not Broken

CW: This post discusses suicide and suicide-related topics. In case you didn’t know, September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in the United States. Every year, I do my best to use this month as an opportunity to share information, statistics and resources related to suicide prevention. Suicide is not only an extremely serious topic, but a public health issue.

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Why Professional Care Workers' Week matters

Social Care

Celebrating the best of the care sector As the much-anticipated Professional Care Workers’ Week in 2023 gets underway, I am thrilled to share why The Care Workers Charity promotes this vital week of awareness and appreciation. Professional Care Workers’ Week is an annual celebration of care workers and their essential work, created to promote awareness and raise the profile of care workers in the UK.

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More New Social Work Jobs of the Future – May 2023 Edition!

Social Work Futures

We have been busy in the social work jobs of the future business! Lots of ideas percolating. This is a game I developed and started playing a few years ago with periodic new additions! My dream is that increasing numbers of fellow social workers join me in playing the game to boost our imaginations! Please note that these ideas are not intended to be endorsements – some of these jobs might appeal to us – or – worry us.

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Seventy-five years of health and social care

Social Work With Adults

"[Alongside the birth of the NHS]. a social safety net for all citizens [was created, providing support] for the homeless, disabled people and older people, obliging local authorities to provide suitable accommodation." [Image created by freepik.com ] Parallel evolution As we mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NHS, it is worth remembering how Clement Attlee's 1945 government embarked on implementing William Beveridge's report recommendations which set the framework for the welfare state.

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Gun Violence Continues: No End in Sight

Social Work Blog

By Mel Wilson, MBA, LCSW – NASW Senior Policy Adviser Lewiston, Maine has become the latest city to capture the nation’s attention when 18 people were killed and more than a dozen injured in shootings at multiple locations in this town of less than 40,000 people. This tragedy followed a depressingly familiar pattern. The perpetrator used an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine to commit the crime, reportedly suffered from a serious mental illness, was able to purchase the weapon legally,

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Update from the Turkish Association of Social Workers

International Federation of Social Workers

Dr. Merve Deniz Pak Güre, the Liaison Officer for the Turkish Association of Social Workers, has provided an update on the local social work response to the devastating earthquakes.

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CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST TO HOST THE SWSD 2026 CONFERENCE

The International Association Of Schools Of Social

The Joint Steering Committee, representing the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), is calling for expressions of interest (EOI) for organising and hosting the 2026 World Conference on Social Work and Social Development (SWSD2026).

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A moment that changed me: I played My Way to people with dementia. The effect – the sheer clarity – was like magic

The Guardian

When I started doing sensory stimulation workshops, I worried that playing music for the group would fall flat. I couldn’t have been more wrong In 2013 I was in my last year studying theatre and performance at the University of Leeds. I was a fairly normal student, I think. I sometimes worked hard, often drank too much and thought I was really cool, even though I definitely wasn’t.

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A message to foster youth from the “child welfare” establishment: Great news! We’ve ruined your lives, but you’re getting free haircuts!

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

That’s the real message behind a monthly newsletter touting “the good stuff in child welfare.” As foster children returned to school in September, the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice, & Research at the University of Pennsylvania had some great news for them: Sure, it may be your third, fourth, or fifth different school in a few years as you were forced to move from home to home, and sure, the odds that you’ll actually graduate high school are far lower than the odds for children

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Time to be Counted

Reimagining Social Work

The time for solidarity with the beseiged and brutalised inhabitants of Gaza, the wider Palestinian people and their collective human right for an independent state, is now! It is time for the people of the Western world to summon the political will to demand a free Palestine.

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More staff found to be practising illegally as social workers, says regulator

Community Care

An increasing number of staff have been found to be practising illegally as social workers, the regulator has said. Social Work England issued the warning on the back of an increase in cases referred to it about people misusing the title ‘social worker’, which is protected in law. The regulator opened 164 misuse of title cases in 2022-23, up from 105 in 2021-22, revealed figures in a paper to its board meeting last month.

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How Speech Pathologists Can Enhance Communication with Seriously Ill Patients

CAPC

A speech pathologist shares how she works with seriously ill patients, and offers ways for palliative care teams to consult with and integrate speech pathology into their practice.

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Black History Month: inspirational lives, inspiring great careers in care

Social Care

Deborah Sturdy: Christabel Chinonso U worked as a social care nurse when she came to the UK from Nigeria in 2022. Keen to boost her confidence and be a positive influence, she participated in a DHSC supported Florence Nightingale Foundation leadership programme for social care nurses from global majority backgrounds in 2022-23. To mark Black History Month , we are proud to share Christabel’s story.