Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

Yes says Bill Liao co-founder of the social network service XING (www.xing.com) and a serial entrepreneur. Bill has developed a free online business course to encourage  and promote entrepreneurial thinking “How to Start Your Business or Social Enterprise – The Stone Soup Way”.   The interactive online business course is inspired by his book “Stone Soup – The Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing”. Uncertain times require bold thinking and Bill is a strong believer that entrepreneurship has the power to transform and channel change in society.

 Bill is a mentor to entrepreneurs in the making, helping women and men from very diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds to achieve all they can in business, while espousing qualities of enterprise, fairness and ambition. He is dedicated to the vision that business and enterprise, conducted fairly and with respect for the environment, can and will create a better environment for work, life and the world that we all share.

This course is designed to introduce you to Bill Liao’s thinking encapsulated in his book “Stone Soup: The Secret Recipe for Making Something out of Nothing.” This one-hour online course covers the elements necessary to survive and thrive in today’s environment. Bill believes that the course is applicable to any human endeavour or enterprise. To motivate and inspire learners the course features multimedia elements including animation, audio and links to videos. 

As a successful entrepreneur Bill’s philosophy is  “that with commitment, conviction and a positive mind-set, anything is possible. “Stone Soup” is a modern fable about business, community, entrepreneurship and sharing. Mixing a traditional folktale with telling the story of one woman’s journey through life, it contains tasty morsels of wisdom on work, team-building, leadership and courage. This book will nourish the soul of managers, entrepreneurs, community leaders, activists and educators by giving you the fortitude to lead fearlessly in the face of apparently insurmountable obstacles and foster true innovation within your community, group or organisation.  Stone Soup shows that whether we are an investor in business, an employer or employee or a consumer, we can all empower ourselves to make choices which will bring about the world we want”.

I asked Bill what he thought were the benefits for people in undertaking the Stone Soup course. 

“Entrepreneurs are as easily made as they are born. I have found that anyone can become a successful entrepreneur provided they are able to get sufficiently out of their own way and provided they can overcome the deep programming they receive in school.

Look at any kindergarten class that is fresh and not yet institutionalized and you will see masses of action and enthusiasm and quite a bit of planning trade and execution. You will also focus on playing together and having fun. These are all the attributes of truly successful start-ups. If there is a genetic link these days its probably more about being mentally able to withstand institutionalization.

Because I have had experience inspiring people to become successful entrepreneurs I decided that it was time to make some free resources available and to this end have launched an online university course on how to do your own start-up whether it’s for profit or not for profit . I can tell you that one of my greatest joys is seeing new businesses come to life empowering all those involved. So don’t just live into a default future that is given to you by your circumstances design a dream future instead and go for it. All of the tools are there and they are free. True empowerment for me is simply being able to do what you promised you would.

So don’t just live into a default future that is given to you by your circumstances. Design your own dream future instead and go for it. All the tools are there and they are free and true”. Check out the course at http://www.stonesoupway.com 

Bill Liao’s wide-ranging philanthropic endeavours include his participation as an investor and volunteer in The Hunger Project in Uganda, New York and Mexico. More recently, he launched a global citizenship initiative, http://www.neo.org which enables individuals around the world to make a personal commitment for the future of the Earth in the form of a Declaration of Global Citizenship. His commitment to the environment recognises the huge importance of reforestation in the battle against global warming http://www.weforest.com

Register free today http://www.stonesoupway.com  and take the first steps to developing your entrepreneurial future.

Hear Bill talk at TedXNottingHill about “The  future of Enterprise is….”

Read about ALISON who provide free global online learning

Tags: bill liao, entrepreneurship, free interactive business course, free online learning, innovation, public sector

Related Posts:

• Backstage 101 free online learning community

 The very act of leadership is making something happen. Are you ready to be the difference you want to see in the world?  

An innovative and groundbreaking development in leadership learning has just been launched by the Leaders Café 2020 which allows you to share the best ‘leadership thoughts’ across the world.

Leaders Cafe is a social enterprise that helps to reduce inequalities in leadership learning in the economy and society. This doesn’t mean reducing the quality of the learning. Their mission is to enable 20 million people at all levels of society to use their leadership potential to lead themselves and others by 2020. This will be achieved by providing access to compelling, world class and low cost learning through the innovative online Leaders Café. Experiential learning is conveyed via webcast technology. These webinars (web seminars) typically last no longer than 60 minutes and provide compelling learning through insightful storytelling rather than through models and methodology.

The Leaders Cafe Promise:

1. You get remarkable interactive leadership webinar learning at a price sustainable to you and us.
2. Invest as little as one hour a week in our interactive webinars, and you will think and lead like a pioneer.
3. As a social enterprise with no owners, profits are reinvested in YOU; to continue to give you more for less.
4. Your membership contributes directly towards learning chances for all.
5. Your membership helps positively to reduce learning inequalities for 20 million people by 2020.

The central ethos of the Leaders Café learning portfolio is that of Pioneering Leadership. The outcomes from participating in Leaders Café’s learning are people who understand what it means to collaborate with others, have an ethos of knowledge sharing and are co-builders of a better world. The cost of membership is kept low to widen participation and is sustainable to both the learners and to Leaders Café. Strategic partnerships – including coffee bar chains and international organisations. – will support the delivery of leadership development for millions of leaders and change agents globally.

You can join for free as an Associate Learner. Premium membership is just £100 per year. Apply the code BEINSPIRED when you check out from joining and you will pay just £80.

Welcome to the Leaders Café 2020

Where is the professional leadership in social work?

The Really Big Question – what makes an effective manager?

Tags: be inspired, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, Social Work

Related Posts:

• 2010 – new decade, new challenges – what needs to change in social work and social care?
• Guest Blog ~ Personalisation – the challenges for social work by Simon Duffy
• Launch of the Advanced Social Work Practice Network on LinkedIn
• Launch of the Final Report of the Social Work Task Force
• London Looked After Children’s Nurse wins top award

There was a real sense of anticipation at the launch of the final report of the Social Work Task Force last week. A gathering of the “great and the good”, government ministers and a sprinkling of celebrity. Goldie, the singer who appears in the social worker recruitment campaign “Helpgivethemavoice.com” spoke powerfully and movingly about his own experiences of being in care and the importance of social workers in his life.
It was always going to be a difficult balancing act – addressing the problems of today whilst presenting a vision for tomorrow. The Social Work Task Force are to be commended on producing such a thoughtful and considered report within a relatively short time scale. The extensive consultations with numerous stakeholders are reflected in the commentary and narrative of the Report. It is radical in the sense that it coherently addresses the concerns expressed by social workers and social users over many years about the cultural change needed to improve social work services. 
“Building a safe, confident future” has fifteen recommendations which have the potential to rebuild and reposition the social work profession.
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced the Government’s acceptance of a radical package of recommendations from the final Social Work Task Force report, to transform social work and the public understanding of social workers’ crucial contribution to our society.

Under the package, every social worker will benefit from: 
Reforms to initial training, so all students receive good quality education and practice learning placements, equipping them for the challenges they will face when they begin to practice. A change in the number of placement day is proposed to balance the new assessed probationary year. 
1.45 Serious consideration should be given to reducing the minimum number of placement days to be undertaken within the social work degree from 200 to no less than 130. Such a reduction would help to
●● release more time to deliver important elements of the curriculum which may not be currently covered sufficiently
●● ensure a sharper focus on what the placement is meant to achieve in terms of the student’s learning and development
●● enable all students to have better quality placements

A new ‘licensing’ system which will introduce an assessed probationary year in employment for new social work graduates, during which they will receive extra support. The assessed year in employment would also allow social workers to increase their expertise in specialised areas of social work, building on the improved grounding provided by the degree and creating a solid platform for further career long development. Responsibility for assessment could potentially be shared between employers, higher education institutions and the regulator.

A revamped framework for continuing professional development, underpinned by a practice-based masters qualification, so all social workers can keep their skills up to date and develop specialist knowledge.
3.6 The current post-qualification (PQ) framework of nationally accredited courses, in effect since 2007, includes some excellent provision for both the adult and children’s workforce. Where there are strong partnerships and good collaboration between employers and HEI – for example in commissioning, planning and developing current PQ courses – this has led to a more strategic approach to ongoing learning and the exchange of knowledge, more sharing of resources; and positive steps to develop and update practice.
(I would like to see a national research project commissioned which evaluates the impact upon practice of the current PQ framework before making any substantial changes. Moving towards a masters level is good news but consideration also has to be given to the 90,000 plus existing social workers on the GSCC Social Care Register who may not be in a position to undertake a masters programme). http://http://shirleyayresconsulting.co.uk/post-qualifying-learning-and-education/what-to-do-about-pq

A career structure so that experienced practitioners can progress in front line roles as well as in management. (Hackney’s reclaiming social work initiative is an excellent example of promoting the advanced social work practitioner).

A new standard for employers to ensure all employers put in place high quality supervision, time for continuing professional development and manageable work loads. In a Guardian article published 2nd December 2009 Moira Gibb encouraged employers not to wait for the standard to be in place but to publish NOW the caseload ceilings they work to locally, how they are achieving against them and engaging their front line staff in those discussions. (If your employer has already published guidelines do let me know)
The Task Force Report recommends the presence of a senior manager who is also a qualified social worker and who oversees the overall health of professional social work in the organisation; advises it on how the standard for employers can be upheld; and is accessible to frontline staff21. (This manager would also be the person who oversees the framework proposed below for assessing of the “health” of their organisation on a range of issues affecting workload).

Pay reform – unions will work together with employers in local government to ensure social workers receive the appropriate pay for their work and that the pay reflects their career development and progression.  

A new and independent College for Social Work led and owned by the profession, which must establish a stronger voice for social work and exercise appropriate influence over national policy making and public debate. Ministers will support it to become the first Royal College of Social Work as soon as possible. (it is interesting to contemplate the future roles of the GSCC, Skills for Care, Children’s Workforce Development Council, Social Care Institute for Excellence, BASW and the National Skills Academy for Social Care)

 All of this is in addition to the reforms to the Integrated Children’s System which the Task Force has already proposed and the Government has accepted. Over the next few months, as local authorities implement the changes they should significantly reduce the bureaucracy social workers experience on the front line.

Social worker supply
6.9 We do not have a system for analysing or forecasting the overall demand for and supply of social workers in England. There is a lack of reliable ‘real time’ data on the characteristics of the workforce and trends within it (e.g. vacancy rates). Equally, there is no agreed model for estimating and influencing the number of social workers needed in local areas.
6.10 As a result, workforce planning at local level and national levels, and the planning and resourcing of education and training, are severely hamstrung. This situation is not tenable in the long term.

Workforce Planning has to be a key element and it will be helpful to have some joined up thinking with the current systems for workforce planning which include:  the Skills for Care National Minimum Data Set, the CWDC One Childrens Workforce Tool, LeARNS and Adass InLAWS.

The Task Force have recommended that the public description of social work originally developed for the interim report should be adopted, finalised and used by the national college to improve the public understanding of social work.

The £58 million Social Work Transformation Fund has included:
• sponsoring 200 university places from September
• starting a new recruitment campaign specifically targeting social workers who may have left the profession to give the current workforce a boost
• rolling out the successful Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW) pilots to all new children and families’ social workers joining statutory and voluntary services from this September
• funding a practice-based Masters in social work to start in early 2011 so that all social workers can continue to develop further their knowledge, skills and expertise
• introducing a new Advanced Social Work Professional Status programme to create senior practice-focused roles to keep excellent and experienced social workers in children’s services
• coaching and development for frontline social worker managers to boost leadership and management skills.

Ed Balls has stated that this will involve tough choices and one of the big questions is how we can get better results from the money that has already been invested in improving social work.  There are risks and challenges – social work needs innovation and creative thinking but will employers focus on saving money and potentially missing out on investing in the workforce. I think that there needs to be greater transparency and accountability about how the £58m Social Work Transformation Fund will be evaluated. As with so many of the initiatives funded in the past few years there is sometimes a lack of clarity about outputs, outcomes and the real impact upon the delivery of front line services.

Task Force chair, Moira Gibb, will continue her work by setting up a Social Work Reform Board and an implementation plan will be published in early 2010.

It has to be acknowledged there are some actions that will not cost a lot of money but will require a change in “mind set”. I was particularly struck by the Task Force statement that employers must act now to ensure that they are listening to their staff and putting in place the support that they need. However, the issue of how the recommendations will be resourced has yet to be addressed. The article on the Community Care website highlights the concerns of Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass). “reform will not be “quick, cheap or easy” and the new responsibilities for employers must be matched by cash”. ADCS and Adass have warned that funding the Social Work Task Force’s reforms will not be possible from current budgets.  access the article here

The full report and government response can be downloaded here

Shirley Ayres Consulting are committed to the promotion of integrated working in care services through workforce development and effective communications.

Tags: advanced social work practice, be inspired, cwdc, gscc, improving social work practice, Social Work, social work recruitment and retention, social work task force, workforce engagement

Related Posts:

• What to do about PQ?
• Launch of the Final Report of the Social Work Task Force
• National Continuing Professional Development Conference for Social Workers~14th September 2010
• BASW warns that financial independence for GSCC will see costs passed onto social workers
• 50,000 social workers join the Advanced Social Work Practice Network on LinkedIn in 2010

Are there lessons for social work in this recent posting on the HR website? As the debate rages about how to improve social work services on the front line the big question for me is how we empower and motivate staff to deliver consistently high quality services. What needs to change to encourage innovation and creativity amongst such a diverse workforce?

The lack of leadership is constantly quoted as a major problem for care services but what sort of leadership is required?  Is leadership different from management? For me an emphatic YES. Leaders use passion and ideas to lead people. Leadership is about creating change.

We have known what the problems are in social work for many years so what is stopping change from happening? There is a consistency in the key messages and recommendations contained in the plethora of government reports following major failures in the care system.

Five ways to make a difference in your organisation:

Step One

Listen, communicate and engage with your workforce.

Step Two

Make a reality of the oft quoted phrase “Our people are our greatest asset” by developing, implementing and monitoring your workforce development strategy

Step Three

Encourage, nurture and grow your staff by offering a range of learning opportunities which take advantage of new technology.

Step Four

Get rid of the blame culture and encourage the senior management team to foster debate and encourage new ways of thinking and approaches to seemingly intractable problems. Do not be afraid of critical friends.

Step Five 

Recognise and develop the unique skills and talents of your workforce. Actively seek and encourage feedback and let everyone know how their thoughts and comments are making a difference to the delivery of services.

‘Talent’ may be HR’s buzz word du jour but a poll conducted for Human Resources finds that only 9% of workers think their business uses this word to describe its people.

Nearly 70% of respondents to the survey, by Harris Interactive, say talent is not an expression used. Asked if they think their employers see them as talented individuals, 42% of workers say no and a further 23% are not sure. Just 16% say yes, but only as a means to an end – so employers can get more work out of them.

A mere 11% say they are personally regarded as ‘the future’ of their organisation, with nearly half (48%) saying ‘no, not all’ to this question. Some 55% of the 1,187 employees polled say that, to their knowledge, their skills are not recorded on any talent management system.

Women are significantly more likely than men to say their organisation uses the word talent (75% vs 63%). They are also more likely to say they are not regarded as the future in their organisation (50% vs 47%).

View the comments at

http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/bulletin/weeklyupdatebulletin/article/911942/?DCMP=EMC-Dailynewsalert

Tags: connecting with your staff, creativity, critical friend, empowerment, encouraging innovation, Leadership and Management, workforce engagement

Related Posts:

• Is social work ready for the social media revolution? How to become LinkedIn
• 2010 – new decade, new challenges – what needs to change in social work and social care?
• Leadership Learning for the 21st Century
• Guest Blog ~ Personalisation – the challenges for social work by Simon Duffy
• Shape the new College and build a strong voice for social work

 Interested in action learning?

Want to find out more about how this can help managers solve problems?

Learning to Transform Services – a Guide to Action Learning is a handy guide, published in April 2009 by Skills for Care London:

The guide is aimed at managers, project leaders and champions who are developing new ways of working.  It is also a useful resource for learning and development specialists.

Over the last six years, Skills for Care’s ‘New Types of Worker’ programme has been working with and supporting social care employers, people who use services, carers and policy

makers explore the new roles that have begin to emerge across the adult social care workforce.

Skills for Care London commissioned a series of action learning sets, which broadly aimed to support senior staff and managers to use action learning in tackling workforce issues linked to the new transformation agenda.

The Guide was researched and written by Fran McDonnell and Harry Zutshi.

Download the Guide here Skills for Care London A Guide to Action Learning April 2009.pdf (190.17 kb)

Tags: action learning, free guide, skills for care london, supporting managers

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

It is with regret and great sadness that the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has announced the death of its Chairman, Michael Leadbetter.

Michael worked as Chairman for CWDC from 2007 and was a leading figure in the children and young people’s workforce, particularly in social work, driving reform at grass-roots level.

He was previously Director of Social Services in Tameside in Greater Manchester, and Essex, Greater London for 17 years. He was also President of The Association of Directors of Social Services 2002-03.

I knew Michael personally and he was an inspiration to me. He was always supportive and his wisdom and wise counsel will be sorely missed.

His final paper the CWDC response to the Social Work Taskforce, will be reviewed on the website next week.

Tags: best practice, challenging the status quo, maverick, michael leadbetter, radical, social work and social care

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

If you are preparing a presentation and really want to make sure that your message is communicated effectively you will welcome the advice provided by this article.
 
There are 15 top tips to help you prepare a presentation that people will listen too and remember.
 
You can avoid the most common mistakes - too much text in small print is a distraction and no one will be able to read it.
 
One of my favourite quotes “Don’t put any more information on the slide than you would print on the front of a T-shirt.”
 
Keep the font size generous, keep text towards the top of your slides and do not just read the text from the slides.
 
Practice your speech in advance – find some willing listeners to give you feedback and ensure that you do not run over the allocated time.

The training zone website is definitely worth a look and it is a really useful resource for training, learning and development
 
http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=196898

Tags: 15 top tips, common mistakes, effective powerpoint presentations, training zone

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

An intriguing new development from MacMillan Cancer Support. Learn Zone is a treasure chest of useful information including a Leadership & Management Toolbox. All the L&M Toolbox information and resources are suitable for any leader or manager and are not specific to cancer care.

Spend a few minutes online registering with them and your reward is full access to the Toolbox where you will find:

• A place where you can access quick and practical resources to support your knowledge and skills development.

• An online source of high-quality leadership and management development resources, in a range of different media, from Harvard Business School, Ashridge Business School and 50 Lessons.

• A resource for you to access whenever you like, wherever you are.

• A comprehensive set of materials covering a broad range of generic leadership and management knowledge and skills.

• A collection comprising everything from short video interviews with international leaders and brief book reviews to academic journals, substantial learning guides and multimedia modules.

• Issue of the Month – each month a particular L&M issue or topic will be highlighted and links provided to a range of resources in the toolbox.

In addition to the L&M Toolbox, the main MacMillan Learn Zone site gives you free and easy access to a wide variety of online resources, e-learning programmes, professional development tools and information about MacMillan’s latest learning and development opportunities related to cancer

care. For more information visit www.learnzone.macmillan.org.uk to register and start using their online resources.

Once registered  yu may be interested in completing the self evaluation for social workers. The personal development self-assessment tool is set out as a series of gears for you to adjust, allowing you to assess your competencies in relation to your specific professional role. You can save each assessment and return to it as often as you want. You can also print out a summary overview.

Definitely worth a visit!

Tags: a wide variety of online resources, e-learning programmes, evaluate your social work skills, free access, Leadership and Management, professional development tools

Related Posts:

• Leadership Learning for the 21st Century
• Shape the new College and build a strong voice for social work
• Launch of the Advanced Social Work Practice Network on LinkedIn
• 2010 – new decade, new challenges – what needs to change in social work and social care?
• Should dementia training be compulsory for all staff in adult social care?

What I believe to be one of the most exciting developments for social care has just been announced. The creation of a National Skills Academy for Social Care is a massive step forward in developing the skills of nearly 1.4 million social care workers. Finally there will be a “one stop shop” to enable employers, staff and service users to access information about learning and development opportunities.

There is, however, one confusing element that will need to be clarified – how will the social care academy link with the plethora of initiatives underway in children’s services? These include the Remodelling Social Work Practice pilots, the Newly Qualified Social Worker schemes and the development of Leadership and Management programmes for the children’s workforce. One answer may be found in the new Social Work Development Partnership Board a collaborative approach between the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and Skills for Care (SfC) which aims to improve social work practice.

The numerous questions I am asked about training in the care sector highlight the current confusion about accessing relevant and timely information. For the first time there will be a national scheme to identify and quality assure trainers to support the drive to improve the delivery of teaching and learning, inside and outside the workplace. You will no longer have to wonder which, out of a confusing number of organisations, you should approach to help meet your training needs.

The Academy will provide exemplar programmes for the skills required across the whole workforce in the private, voluntary and public sectors. It will champion innovative solutions to the ways in which training and learning can be delivered and assessed. It will be the information and reference source for individuals and care providers to disseminate good practice in learning, training and education wherever it is fo

Developments will include:

Two new commissioning programmes at national level, available regionally, to ensure that employers are able to contribute to and respond to community and individual needs effectively and efficiently:

A new national scheme to encourage quality in training provision through an accreditation scheme for associations and providers of training.

A new programme of encouragement and support for employers who wish to have their in-house training accredited to national standards.

Signposting the funding available for training and for staff and leadership development.

The Skills Academy will be established as an independent, not for profit organisation on March 30 2009.

Some facts about the social care workforce

Adult social care supports those with a physical or learning disability, people with mental health problems, and older people.

70% of social care staff work in the independent sector (private or voluntary).

Care is provided by more than 35,000 different employers

Most establishments employ less than 10 people

1.5 million people currently work in adult social care including home care workers, care home staff, social workers.

Demographic changes including an ageing population will require a significant increase in the social care workforce. It is projected to group to 2.5 million by 2020.

83% of the social care workforce is female (rising to 90% in direct care)

The majority have limited qualifications

What will the Skills Academy offer?

The Skills Academy is exploring a membership model which will confer a range of benefits, including:

access to a repository of information on funding opportunities and routes for training and development

access to information about accredited training providers and accredited trainers

access to e-learning networks

access to regional learning networks

discounts for kite-marking and quality assurance services

a membership kite-mark for corporate branding

the opportunity to take part in piloting and other developments of programmes and services

the opportunity to influence the direction of the Skills Academy through the membership group.

The Skills Academy for Social Care – Why Now?

To hear the views of the steering group you can watch the introductory video

For more information about the Social Work Development Partnership

Tags: accreditation, commissioning programmes, exemplar programmes, kite marking, national skills academy for social care, one stop shop, quality assuring training providers, scie, skills for care, training in the care sector

Related Posts:

• Can Gerry Robinson fix Dementia Care Homes?
• Launch of the Final Report of the Social Work Task Force
• What to do about PQ?
• Navigating the social care landscape
• Radical proposals in the new health White Paper

What does it mean to be an advanced practitioner in social work and does this role include a professional responsibility for leadership? With the increasing focus on interprofessional and multi-disciplinary work in both adults and children’s services, comparisons will be drawn with allied professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers and psychologists. The new roles of Approved Mental Health Professional, Best Interest Assessor, Independent Mental Capacity Advocates and Responsible Clinician detailed in the Mental Capacity Act. 2005.offer challenges and opportunities for social workers to  contribute their specialist skills and knowledge in a wider range of settings.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council strategy outlined in the Building Better Future – Next steps for the Workforce identifies the need to develop and pilot a framework for professional development for social workers, including those in specialist roles. This will set out the standards and competences expected at different career stages, provide a coherent career pathways, improved development planning and incentives for advanced social workers to remain on the front line.

The role of the advanced practitioner will be explored further in the 2nd UK Mental Health Social Work Continuing Professional Development Conference on Friday 11th July.2008. Social workers in mental health services require strong professional leaders to promote the values, skills and experience of the profession within multi-disciplinary environments. However, the concept of professional leadership in mental health social work is in its infancy and has not yet been universally adopted by employers. This conference will provide the opportunity for discussion and debate about this important subject. You can still book a place by downloading the forms here 

With 5 keynote speakers, 30 papers in 10 symposia and 2 lunchtime film shows the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, Making Research Count and the University of Bedfordshire are to be congratulated on providing such an extensive conference programme which will enable practitioners to reflect and share best practice in the mental health field.

The Professional Leadership symposium is one of ten symposia offered at the conference. The full programme can be viewed here This symposium will draw upon the experience of the MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults programme at the Institute of Psychiatry in developing professional leaders amongst mental health social workers. The key elements of professional leadership will be explored along with a vision for its future in mental health social work. Because professional leadership also includes the development of new knowledge through original research, research conducted by an advanced practitioner is included to exemplify professional leadership in action.

S8 Paper 1: Professional leadership in mental health social work: what does it mean and how do we achieve it? 

Martin Webber – Programme Leader, MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Abstract

Mental health social work in England and Wales is characterised by uncertainty and low morale. The new Mental Health Act 2007 has opened up the Approved Social Work role to other mental health professionals leaving many to question what the unique contribution of social work to contemporary mental health services actually is. In the absence of a Royal College (provided for other mental health professions) or another authoritative body which defines and promotes social work practice in mental health services, it is largely up to individual practitioners to make and defend their contribution to multi-disciplinary teams.

In this paper I argue that professional leaders are in a strong position to promote good practice, develop the evidence-base for social work and help to define future roles for social workers within mental health services. Professional leadership is currently provided by advanced social work practitioners who can demonstrate an ability to offer advanced and reflective supervision, conduct original research and confidently assert the positive and unique contribution that social workers make to mental health services.

S8 Paper 2: Advanced practitioners: professional leaders in practice

Jack Nathan - Lead Consultant Adult Psychotherapist, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Course Tutor, MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Abstract

This paper will explore what it means to be an advanced social work practitioner in mental health services today. It starts by discussing previously published work by the presenter which looks at the way in which social workers can develop competency beyond Schon’s ‘knowing-in-action’ and / or ‘reflection-in-action’. For example, the essential elements of an advanced practitioner include:

• knowledge of theories informing social work practice;

• knowledge of the current evidence-base; and

• the development of new knowledge through original research, undertaken within the workplace.

These ideas will then be applied to contemporary mental health social work to identify the opportunities and challenges for professional leaders today and in the future.

Jack Nathans previous paper The advanced practitioner: Beyond reflective practice can be downloaded here. Advanced Practitioner (Jack Nathan)

S8 Paper 3: Professional leadership in action. Identifying the support needs of children whose parents have mental illness: a survey of mental health professionals’ attitudes in Kingston-upon-Thames

Karin Slack – Senior Practitioner in Social Work & Approved Social Worker, Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames

Abstract

This paper reports on a study published earlier this year1 that was conducted by  practitioner as part of the MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children and Adults programme at the Institute of Psychiatry. The study aimed to explore attitudes of mental health professionals in one outer London borough regarding support needs of mental health service users’ children, to test for associations between demographic and professional factors, and practitioners’ views and practices, and to highlight barriers to identifying/meeting the support needs of service users’ children.

All statutory mental health teams in the borough participated in a cross sectional survey. The response rate was 94 out of 150 (62.7%). The sample consisted of a diverse range of professionals, in both inpatient and community settings.

The study found that practitioners were in favour of supporting children. However, attitudes and practices were significantly associated with profession, setting, and whether the respondent was a care co-ordinator. Social workers were the least likely to indicate that it was not their role to do so. Few associations were found with demographic characteristics or experience. The perceived barriers to supporting children were highlighted in this study. Responding professionals considered supporting children important but did not necessarily consider it their role to do so. Training is needed to raise awareness about this issue.

We will be reporting on the key issues raised at the conference in the next week

Tags: institute of psychiatry, making research count, national conference, professional leadership in social work

Related Posts:

• General Social Care Council to be abolished
• National Continuing Professional Development Conference for Social Workers~14th September 2010
• Social work practitioners develop a caseload management system
• What to do about PQ?
• Beyond Reflective Practice in Social Work: The Making of the Advanced Practitioner (7th – 8th September 2009)