Think Ahead – meeting the workforce challenges in Mental Health Social Work. Institute for Public Policy Research – May 2014
The report seeks to address the challenges currently facing the education and recruitment of Mental Health Social Workers and recommends a programme which attempts to:
Follow the link to the IPPR website to download the full report.
Social Work Education - moving on?
Two government sponsored reports out in early 2014 looking at the future of social work education.
The first, Martin Narey's 'Making the education of social workers consistently effective', focusses on Childrens social work, but therefore covers some of the issues within social work education today, especially the complex regulation, HCPC (Health and Care Professionals Council), TCSW (The College of Social Work), SoPs (Standards of Proficiency), PEPS(Practice Educators Professional Standards), QAA (Quality Assurance Agency for higher education), HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) etc
The second is an independent review commissioned from David Croisdale-Appleby Re-Visioning Social Work Education.
As a taster, and a nudge to the importance of evidence-based practice, here's a Bertrand Russell quote: “A habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only that degree of certainty which the evidence warrants, would, if it became general, cure most of the ills from which the world is suffering.”
More useful links
Research and Inquiry – Social Workers
Oppression versus Collusion the dynamics of partnership
Guidance for social work students wishing to claim mileage for work completed whilst on placement with Walsall Council.
Social Work, Criminal Justice and Mental Health Seminar presentation, case studies and references.
Fact Sheets
On 1st August 2012 The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) replaced the General Social Care Council (GSCC) as the regulatory body for social workers in England.
Our Fact Sheet will give you further information about HCPC.
Ongoing learning is key to the professional and career development of social workers.
This Fact Sheet explores some of the options for your Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
The implications of social networking for professional social work practice are explored in our Fact Sheet here.
Engaging in courageous conversations is about challenging current practices and fostering improvement and growth through conversation, listening to and acting on feedback, and providing feedback that will lead to improvements in achievement and well-being. See our Fact sheet for more information.