How much time do you spend in front of your computer? To avoid back and neck pain and repetitive strain injury, make sure that your desktop computer is set up for optimum comfort andf safety. Download a diagram of how to set up your work station at: http://www.rsi.org.uk/pdf/correct_work_station.pdf.
With over 1.6 billion registered email addresses in the world and increasing use of the internet, there are plenty of opportunities to study on line in your own time and at your own pace. An increasing number of organisations provide eLearning opportunities which range from updating your knowledge of the law through to preparing for the European Computer Driving Licence.
The Social Care Institue for Excellence (SCIE) offer a number of invaluable and free resources on line which provide innovative solutions to ensuring that your knowledge and skills remain up to date. A note to SCIE – please provide a certificate to download after completing the programme which can be included in the Post Registration Training and Learning folder.
“Law is often seen as alien to social work values, a tool of oppression and control. However, it is possible to see law as a source of empowerment, if a way can be found through the maze where legal rules, organisational contexts and professional practice meet.” Learning, teaching and assessment of law in social work education
Suzy Braye and Michael Preston-Shoot, October 2006 Online at SCIE’s website
The Law and Social Work
This is a very interactive programme using audio and video, which brings alive key aspects of the law applied to social work practice. Ten modules which explore accountability and intervention, courtroom skills and experts by experience using case studies, quizzes and self assessment tools. This resource was developed for student social workers but is equally relevant to qualified social workers, especially if you are supervising a student on placement. I particularly enjoyed the win a million gameshow! http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/law/index.asp
An introduction to the mental health of older people
This interactive programme aims to raise awareness of key issues, research, messages, policies and approaches relating to the mental health of older people and, in so doing, positively impact on practice. Ten modules cover everything from attitudes and images to ageing through to understanding dementia. Informative and thought provoking and an invaluable resource. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/mentalhealth/index.asp
NEW Poverty, parenting and social exclusionThese new e-learning resources are intended to help people working in social care to understand the link between poverty, parenting and social exclusion. The nine training resources include quizzes, videos and case studies of families affected by poverty. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/poverty/index.asp
How are these resources helping your practice? What further e-Learning resources would you like SCIE to develop? Let us know your thoughts.
The demographic time bomb of the baby boomer generation and their expectations and aspirations suggest the need for a radical rethink of how care services are delivered.
The move towards person centred and self directed support suggests the need for many smaller providers able to tailor services to the needs and expectations of individuals rather than the prescriptive and often limited services currently offered.
But there is a paradox which sits uncomfortably amidst the vision. The growth in emphasis upon commissioning services assumes that there is a “market” in social care. Arguably we do not have a market in social care because of the limited resources available, how the services are financed and where the money is located. This certainly does not encourage innovation and creativity and there is little incentive to understand and provide what the user actually wants and needs to improve the quality of their lives.
The Remodelling Social Work Delivery Project announced by The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) could be an exciting opportunity to test out new approaches to social work deployment so that staff expertise can be used more widely, to enable better direct work with clients. It is hoped that the pilots will improve the retention and recruitment of social work and social care staff, allow more early intervention work with clients, involve non-social work staff, trainees and social work students on practice learning placements and form part of integrated services and arrangements.
The Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, and Making Research Count are pleased to invite you to our second annual UK mental health social work continuing professional development conference.
In a year of opportunities and challenges for mental health social work, this conference will provide practitioners and managers with an opportunity to engage with new research and theory that informs contemporary practice.
Mental Health Social Work: Opportunities and Challenges
Friday 11 July 2008
9.00am – 4.45pm
Waterloo Campus, King’s College London, SE1
Mental Health Social Work Conference Programme
Mental Health Social Work 11 Jul 2008 (Flyer and Book Form)
According to a survey by Infosecurity Europe, 45% of female office workers were so desperate to get their hands on a free bar of chocolate that they were prepared to give up their computer password to a complete stranger. Here at MT we laugh in the face of traditional gender stereotypes – but some clichés obviously exist for a reason…
To mark Information Security Awareness week the company’s staff posed as market researchers outside Liverpool Street station in London and asked passers-by for personal details, to prove how easy it would be for computer hackers to trick their way into our IT systems.
Some of these loose-lipped respondents also happily gave up their name, date of birth, address and telephone number – all perfect fodder for the identity thief, as well as the hacker. Apparently these people were surprised to learn they’d been duped on the grounds that the ‘researchers’ were ‘so well dressed and honest’ that they didn’t look like criminals. Presumably they’re under the impression that all hackers hang around in those grey overalls with pointy arrows on them.
Although fewer people gave up their passwords this year (just 21% compared to 64% last year, suggesting we’ve become slightly less gullible in the last 12 months) we’re still amazed that so many people fell for the stunt. OK, so we all love a freebie – we pile our supermarket trolleys with products on ‘buy one get one free’ promotions and stuff our shelves with books on ‘three for two’ offers. But surely most people have realised by now that you very rarely get something for nothing?
And we imagine that employers will read all this with horror. After all, nobody wants to be the next big data loss story, after the opprobrium heaped on HSBC and HM Revenue & Customs recently. Although it does make us wonder – how many chocolate bars did it take to lose those missing data disks…?
Shirley Ayres is a respected commentator on issues of communication and diversity in the care sector. Contact Shirley.
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