3 Best Breakfasts

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Admin

I’ve always felt that how I start the day is crucial to how the whole day goes. So what I have for breakfast is therefore crucial to what I eat during the rest of the day. A nutritionally sound breakfast gives me a good chance of a nutritionally sound day! That Full English breakfast sends the wrong signals to my brain. Although I’m not decrying the full English completely. Having a decadent breakfast once in a while has its place! Best to avoid those sugary processed cereals though!

So what do I go for!?. Here are my three favourite breakfasts!

Overnight Oats

Simply gorgeous and so easy! I’m not a fan of porridge (I’m not a fan of hot sweet things in general…. sadly I’m fine with cold sweet things!) so getting my oats on a morning (…stop it!) is difficult! But then I discovered Overnight Oats. I’m not one for measurements just go with what it looks like! So, take a pot of yoghurt, or a couple of good scoops, and mix in some oats until it’s ‘claggy’ (for those of you not from the north east of England go for ‘sticky looking’). There needs to be enough yoghurt, but not too much, as the oats are going to absorb the liquid in it to soften. I then add in some seeds – pumpkin seeds are my thing at the minute – and some soft fruit – blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. And leave it in the fridge overnight. If you forget you can get away with doing it on a morning and waiting about half an hour. Not as good but not bad.

I also have a prepared mix to hand most of the time to make this even quicker. I get myself a decent sized jar and half fill it with oats. I then grab a range of dried fruits and nuts. Chuck the nuts in and chop the dried fruit up into small pieces if required. Chuck the dried fruit in and give it all a shake! My favourite dried fruits are apricots, cranberries, mango, and figs.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a particularly low calorie option. It’s healthy but fairly calorie ‘rich’ especially once you get some greek yoghurt (my favourite) on there. So if you are dieting then don’t have too much of this!

Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and ham

Chop the mushrooms however you fancy and put them in the frying pan with a little oil. Chop the ham and crack two or three eggs – depending on how fuelled you want to be – into a jug. Chuck the ham in the jug and give a good stir. Once the mushrooms are cooked turn the heat right down – this is the crucial bit as you want the eggs to cook really slowly so they don’t go rubbery – and then pour in the eggs gently stirring to combine them with the mushrooms. Gently does it with the heat – you can’t rush this bit. And once the eggs are just done…. serve. Lots of people tell me that of all the breakfast options out there eggs keep you full for the longest. I have to agree!

Smashed avocado on wholemeal toast

Easy, and lovely. Select two slices of your favourite wholemeal, granary, brown, seedy, nutty bread (or make your own!) and pop them in the toaster. Slice open a ripe avocado and mash in a bowl. Spread on the toast! How easy is that! Get fancy if you want! Personally I like a little splash of extra virgin olive oil in mine as it seems to ‘loosen’ the avocado while you mash it. And I love to chop in a little basil! …and for a nice ‘hit’ try some chilli flakes!

There you are – 3 great ways to start your day! I’m off for my overnight oats now which have been gently doing their stuff in the fridge!

See you soon!

The lost art of conversation

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Admin

I bumped into one of my neighbours this morning and we discovered something about each other that we didn’t know… we are both passionate about self care, particularly meditation and mindfulness.

As we talked she was telling me how she enjoyed our conversation a lot and we pondered how conversation is becoming a little bit of a lost art. Conversation, at least, where we explore and discover shared interests and something new. I wondered, as I finished the walk with the dog, what the impact of our move into the online world was. The online world lends itself beautifully to the sound bite. Conversations are linear and come to a logical conclusion. It’s harder to take things in a different direction as we did. We started on the weather (as most conversations do) and ended up talking about friendship, photography, art, music, property developing, meditation, mindfulness, walking, holidays…. the list went on. Such a conversation would be unlikely to develop in that way online. Don’t get me wrong, I love online. I think it’s a great medium. Accessible, instant. But it lacks the flow of a real life conversation.

Part of the problem may be that we are all very busy. It needed a Sunday morning, a chance meeting, and the fact we were in a field away from distractions for this conversation to take place. It just takes someone to start. Then we join in. When I teach communication skills I’m always saying that as human animals we are instinctive communicators. We can’t help ourselves. But, as ever, it is the quality of the conversation that is important. It takes being in the moment without those distractions.

We agreed that because of our conversation our day would be changed. We felt invigorated and motivated through this chance contact. The desire to connect is part of the human condition.

So I want to challenge you to have more conversations. It is such connections that develop us. Enhance us. Take the time. Create the space. Be mindful. Be in the moment. Let it flow.

Let’s talk!

Sort out your morning first!

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Admin

The establishing of a morning routine is vital to starting the day on the right foot (that’s the ‘correct’ foot not necessarily the ‘right’ one – you could start on the left one if you want!). Your first ‘steps’ into the day are crucial to how your day goes. Some advocates of this suggest creating a 30-60 minute routine to benefit yourself and start you off on the day right. (Although 30 to 60 minutes feel like a bit of an ask for most of us). This comes as no great surprise to me, but it is nice to have what you know affirmed. You want something that will physically and mentally prepare you for the day. Ideally it should involve a period of mindfulness or reflection. Visualising the day ahead had been shown to help.

Thinking about our day, visualising what you want it to look like and what your objective is, has been shown to have a significant impact in how it actually turns out. Neuroscience has plenty of research to tell us it is so.

My morning routine has changed since we got a dog because she won’t wait for her walk until I’ve sorted myself out!! So my mindfulness and visualisation takes place while I’m in motion!

But it used to look something like this….. On waking I’d start with some deep breathing – this is before I’ve even got out of bed. Next, I’d press play on the music that is the backdrop to my yoga stretching the Om Mani Padme Hum (Ven. Dharma Nauka). I do sun salutation, downward and upward dog, pigeon pose (which I completely struggle with!), cat and cow pose and some additional stretches for good measure ….and it usually takes me the time of the full mantra to do this. I then sit on the floor for more deep breathing and some meditation – just for a few minutes. I still do this as often as I can… but now after the dog walk! She sometimes joins in and shows me how to do both downward and upward dog… and she’s much better at it than I am.

Next – water. Then – coffee and settle down to read for quarter of an hour or so – something that’s currently intriguing me about the human condition ….and then I’m done ….and all ready for breakfast!

The reality is, for me anyway, is that I still fit all of these things in at various points but it has to be flexible. With a little planning I generally don’t have to miss too much.

And what are the benefits? For me (at my age!) I feel physically ready for the day. I feel aches and stiffness when I wake up – but if I get my stretching in early I feel none of it for the rest of the day. But more than this I feel energised and ready to face the day in a state of calm. It certainly benefits me as if I miss too much of this out I’m convinced I don’t have as good a day. If I do these things, including the dog walk, I feel I’ve activated my body, activated my mind, and started my day by achieving a great deal. And that’s before I start on the other things that are waiting for me.

Start your day well and your day will go well – I’m convinced of it!

Running… my best friend!

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Admin

Ask me why I run and I’ll tell you “Because I have to!”

I’ve ran since I was about 17 when I decided as a slightly curvy teenager that I needed to do something. And I’ve ran all of my life. It’s a bit of an addiction I guess. But, a good addiction. Does it sometimes hurt? – Yes. Does it sometimes leave my muscles sore and aching? – Yes. Does it always make me feel great? – Yes! (Mostly!) It gives me a great sense of achievement and a huge well-being boost. When I get in from work feeling sluggish, or wake up on a morning feeling less than refreshed, or I need to get out and have some fresh air, a run always pays me back for the effort of putting my trainers on and going out. It’s a stress buster, burning off the cortisol that’s flooding your body after a stressful day at the office!

There is plenty of evidence that running as some great health and life benefits. Runners World tells us that running makes you happier, benefits your joints and bones, keeps you mentally alert, adds years to your life, and can even reduce the risk of cancer. It also says that it gets you fitter…. Well, er, yes… I’d imagine it would.

I can’t vouch for all of these things but I can say that after a run I feel psychologically more positive and more alert. I know that I’m fitter and healthier as a consequence, and that, with the right stretching after I feel stronger and more ‘in control’ of myself physically when demands are made on my body. And there also seems to be evidence that exercise in general helps you look younger…. Now I can definitely vouch for that!

I make sure I get at least a weekly fix by going to my local Parkrun. Have you heard of Parkrun? It’s a world wide phenomena! Check out the Parkrun website to find one near you. Register and print yourself a bar code and you’re off and running …literally! Parkrun is a 5k (3.1 mile) run that starts at 9 a.m. every Saturday. It’s a great distance as it’s achievable but testing for most (don’t embark on it unless you’ve checked with your doctor if you’ve not exercised for a while or have a health condition yaddah yaddah yaddah… I’m going to assume you’ll be sensible… if it’s hurting stop… well… until you get to the point where you want it to hurt!). Also, the fact that you’re running with other people is a huge boost. My advice… start at the back and you’ll soon settle into the field where you feel comfortable. And, if you want to walk a little, then walk – you won’t be on your own – so that’s cool. Everyone doing their own thing. It’s not a competition. It’s very friendly and supportive. And there’s always a tail walker so even if you’re at the back you won’t be lonely. You’ll get your bar code scanned at the end. Don’t run without one. And then you’ll get your time sent to your phone or email! Brilliant! Do it every week and see how quickly you come on!

So get running! Look young, feel great, stay sharp! Get your running shoes on and get out there!

Work smarter, not harder

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Admin

Productivity

Work Smarter Not Harder

Organisation skills and productivity

Firstly, in talking about and exploring organisation skills and productivity, and self care and its impact on productivity, my intention is not for social workers to be given more. It is to try and give social workers the skills and ideas to be more efficient at what they are doing, more organised, more disciplined maybe, so that they can get out of the door on time (emergencies aside) confident that all is in order (not necessarily done but in order) and all is as well as it can be. The pay off for this is an increased ability to be able to switch off. You know everything is in order ready for you to pick up the next day – so, hopefully, more often than not, you can put it out of your head. The same is true and more important I feel for a weekend so that you have the time to recharge. So that’s my motivation – I can’t see a problem with that. I can see how managers might hi-jack the idea and see it as a way to give people more… or we could give the majority of managers I know the credit and accept that they’d rather manage happy staff. Managers are not evil. Well not all of them 😉

Being Organised is a skill to hone

We teach student social workers communication skills when to a greater or lesser extent they can already communicate. Why? Because professional communication is different. We teach student social workers report writing skills. Why? Because professional writing is different to letter writing, or academic writing. So why not teach them ‘being organised and productive’ skills because… being organised and productive as a professional does require a skill set and a knowledge base different to what people already may know. And I know from talking to students and practitioners that some of them are productivity ninja’s and some students turn up to start their social work degree without a diary because they hadn’t thought they’d need one…. and a whole range in between. Because if you don’t know, you don’t know.

Backed by science

There have been huge advances in brain scanning and imaging that means we can see what’s going on in our heads when we’re stressed, or when we are meditating, or when we are in the flow. We know what works and we know the impact of what doesn’t work – unmanageable stress and sickness. All of the ideas I put forward are backed by science and research

There are some ideas here on Social Work Shorts – click Productivity or Self Care at the top of this page to find them. There are a some ideas there to get you started. I feel I need to pull them all together into a ‘method’ to show how they all fit together so that’s coming soon.

Try these:
The stress isn’t going away so what are you going to do about it?

The Two Minute Rule

Frogs, Elephants, and the 2 minute rule

The Power of Small Wins

Do you care? The importance of looking after yourself

Also if you click the link right at the top you’ll find some podcasts covering similar material

Or click here

Enjoy! Go get your day!

Liam Neeson, ethnicity, and oppression

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Admin

Liam Neeson is in the press today (Tuesday 5^th February 2019).
You may have seen that he has told a reporter that during a difficult time in his life he had walked the streets for a week with a knife hoping, he says, to take his anger out on any black man who approached him. The fuel to this fire was the rape of someone close to him by a man who was black.

What do you make of this?
Personally, I think it’s a very honest and brave statement to make. People seem to be talking about the fact that this is racist. Well, yes, indeed! It’s wrong to attach the acts of one member of any ‘group’, be that colour, religion, sexuality….. to all members of that ‘group’. But we all run the risk of falling fowl to prejudicial ideas when our backs are against the wall and we, or our ‘own’, are threatened.

Evolutionary biologists argue that the human animal is built to discriminate to ensure the survival of its own family unit and group over that of those considered outsiders. The ‘other’ in our midst. Giphart and Van Vught (in their book ‘Mismatch’) state that “in present times traces of our tribal brain can still be found in men especially, who continue to be tribalistic.” They go on to state that men are much more motivated to protect their ‘group’.

Barack Obama in his book The Audacity of Hope says “Old Habits die hard, and there is always a fear on the part of many minorities that unless racial discrimination, past and present, stays on the front burner, white America will be let of the hook and hard fought gains may be reversed….. during difficult economic times it is possible that the imperatives of racial equality get shunted aside”. Here he acknowledges that these ideas are entrenched in some way. Do I need to point to some of the views of the latest American President?

So, is discrimination then an inherent ‘quality’ of being human…. Do we move towards people who are the same as us, whatever ‘same’ means, and exclude people who exhibit difference, whatever that means!

This idea of everybody being equal and there not being some sort of ‘natural order’ to things – man stronger than woman, whiteness better than blackness, able-bodied valuable and disabled not valuable – is actually a relatively new idea. You only have to go back to 1960’s America to find segregation based on colour, or 1990’s South Africa to see the same. It wasn’t until 1928 that women were given the right to vote. These, in the history of humanity, are very recent events. Look at the division’s based on religion we see today, and I’d argue that the Brexit vote, in the mainstream population, is founded on ideas of ‘closing the borders’ to keep the ‘others’ out.

I’m sure, as social workers, or student social workers, you feel you wouldn’t have such views, but I’d suggest we need to mindful of the potential for bias leading to discrimination and oppression if indeed evolutionists are right and we are predisposed to such bias. For me, as someone brought up in a very white Britain I live in the North East of England – not renowned for it’s mix of cultures and ethnicities – there may be a drip drip effect of racism, an undercurrent if you like, that does have an impact on my view of those of different cultures. Consciously it doesn’t, I can assure you, but maybe I need to be aware that for most of my life I may have been fed stereotypical views of people of a different colour, or sexuality, or gender, to name a few.

Let’s link this to social work practice.
If there is an inherent ‘quality’ to discrimination then we need to mindful that such things can influence our own views of others. We need to look at what we understand of the world and ask ourselves how that view is shaped. But, more than this, when we are working with individuals we are also working with people whose views of themselves have been shaped by the same forces. People are susceptible to stereotypes of others and also to being influenced by stereotypical ideas of themselves.

Discrimination is a multi faceted and complex phenomenon. It is there at the interplay between individuals but also between organisations and people, and between different organisations. As someone working in one of those organisations we may take on board the discrimination established by that organisation. Just as an example…. It’s not unusual to find the ceiling on care packages (which really shouldn’t exist) for older people to be significantly lower than those for other service user groups. What does that tell us about the value of older people in society and the readiness, based on finances, to propose a care home? Is that not discrimination?

Thompsons ‘PCS model’ explains that discrimination and oppression operate at a Personal level in individual thoughts and attitudes leading to prejudice and an inflexibility of mind. This is embedded in and influenced by Culture where a consensus about what is right and ‘normal’ is established. And for me, most worryingly for social work, this is woven into the fabric of society at a Structural level in organisations, laws, and the ideologies of those with power.

So, how do we practice in an anti-oppressive way?

Clifford (in Adams et al “Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debates” 2^nd edition 2002, pg. 229) offers the following principles:

We have to work with and understand social differences not as a negative but simply as a state of how it is. Social difference often leads to disparities of power between dominant and dominated groups within the major divisions we’ve just seen but it’s more complicated than these large groupings. What about the region of the country you’re from, what about your personal experience of mental health, what about what it’s like being a single parent? All of these can constitute difference but may not be as obvious as the other things.

The personal and political need to be linked. Personal stories need to be viewed within the context of family, peer groups, organisations and communities – for example the problems of ageing aren’t just about how you as an individual view yourself but are seated within ideologies of old age, policies, practices, ideas about retirement, and health systems

Power operates at personal and structural levels and is dependent on many factors. As a social worker you may have the power of the law, or the power afforded to your status but the service user maintains the power to say no in the majority of circumstances. We should be upholding the service users right to use this power but we may act in a way that disempowers. I feel the most significant area of power the social worker has is that of information and how much they share about options. Case law around the Mental Capacity Act shows us that sometimes we only present one option where multiple options may exist.

The individual life experiences of you as the practitioner and of the service user must be placed in the context of prevailing ideas, social facts and cultural differences. The impact of someone’s situation needs to be seated in the reality of the moment it is happening in. For example, the government’s ideology of the importance of the family may impact negatively on the position of a single parent or the political view regarding benefits and the necessity of work may leave some disabled people in poverty. You need to understand this in order to understand the oppression someone may be facing while having an awareness of how your own values lead you to consider social difference and the use of power in your involvement with service users.

How do you sleep?

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Admin

It is estimated that 1 in 2 people are not getting sufficient sleep! Sleep is crucial to our wellbeing. Physically our body uses the time to recover and replenish and sleep has an essential role in the consolidation of memories. So, what advice is out there on getting to sleep!

Keep to a regular bedtime routine
As a parent I’ve said it myself and heard others say it. “Babies, they love a routine! Keeps them right!” It’s not just babies that need a routine it’s any human being. Much as we kick against it as adults we are creatures of habit and routine. Your body is programmed into a chemical routine that does its best to achieve sleep, rest, and waking. And what do we do!? We ignore it. We stop up late and wonder why we are tired the next day. We get up late and wonder why we then can’t get to sleep the next night. We self medicate with alcohol and caffeine to get that little bit more out of the day and out of our social life. And all we achieve is the disruption of our programmed chemical clock. And when we don’t attend to it for long enough the situation becomes chronic.

Sleep at regular times
Walker (2017) suggests that we need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night and that we should be sleeping from about 10 to 10.30 until 6 to 6.30. These timings are in tune with our natural rhythm. So that’s your starting point. You should also maintain this 7 days a week.

Don’t go to bed hyped
While exercise is an important aspect of self care you should avoid it for 2 or 3 hours before bed time. A good way to wind down is to have a warm bath – again…. isn’t that part of the routine we give babies. This is a clever little trick to prepare your body for sleep. It’s not the heat on its own that creates the sleepy mood. It’s the impact of the heat on your core temperature. Do you feel cold when you are tired or when it’s late on a night? Part of your programmed sleep preparation is a drop in core body temperature. The hot bath draws the blood to the surface of your body and therefore reduces your core temperature. Clever body!

Do something that relaxes you
There are a huge range of yoga and relaxation CD’s and Apps out there that might help you. Anything that calms your mind and distracts you from your ‘racing’ thoughts. You could try audio books, or read a book, or maybe listen to the radio. You should try to avoid TV and smart phones as, not only do the stimulate, but the light they emit kids your brain into thinking it’s not dark out there!

Be comfortable and create a ‘clean’ environment
It sounds obvious I guess, but, have the best mattress and pillows you can afford. Try different numbers of pillows and different types. You may find a harder or softer pillow helps. You should keep your bedroom for sleep (and sex…. unlike most other vigorous activity sex makes you sleepy!) Avoid distractions like TV’s and ticking clocks and keep the room tidy. Make your bed when you first get up so when you eventually get to bed after that hard day it looks clean, tidy, and inviting. Your bedroom should be cool (between 18 and 24 centigrade – but go low) and dark. No glowing lights from inside or outside the bedroom.

and my favourite…. Write ‘to do‘ lists for tomorrow
One of the main things that keeps people awake is trying to remember things they need to do tomorrow. Before you go to bed (or ideally at the end of your working day) write down everything you need to do the next day, safely leaving them so you can find them when you need to, without having them going round and round in your head. Keep a note pad by your bed. If you think of something while in bed, write it down. There’s good evidence that externalising memories in this way can help us ‘put them to bed’ to help put us ‘to bed’!

What else…
Inevitably for some making such self care changes isn’t enough. These ideas are effective for many and you need to give them a good month or so to see what the impact is. But if you find that you are consistently trying these things and they are not working then you should seek medical advice. Walker (2017) has concern that this simply leads to the prescription pad and, in his view, drugs don’t work as they don’t achieve the right sort of sleep but are more of a sedative than good quality sleep. So, you feel you have been asleep, but have missed many of the benefits. Your GP should be able to refer you to sleep specialists. It would be useful while trying to make changes that you keep a sleep diary. This should detail what you have done during the day, how you have prepared for sleep, what it is that’s keeping you awake, how often do you wake – make sure you document as much as you can.

Try these things out… what have you got to lose?

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Part of the problem or part of the solution…..?

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Admin

When I was a practitioner and then a social work manager I was fond, when times were difficult, of asking myself, “Do I want to be part of the problem or part of the solution?” I remember this acutely during the time the local authority I was working in were ‘rolling out’ new processes to deliver the personalisation agenda. They were difficult times and social workers and care managers were rightly complaining about a myriad of things – mostly the administrative aspects of the change. During this time I was always left with that question – do I want to be part of the problem, or, part of the solution? And then, and now, I have always endeavoured, to try at least, to be part of the solution.

The problem we seem to keep returning to in social work is the misappropriation of social workers time. Social workers are directed towards report writing, case recording and a whole host of other procedural documents taking them away from relational work with service users. Those who insist on spending time with service users are then left picking up the paperwork on an evening and a weekend which is simply not a sustainable solution. Findings vary, but it is not uncommon to hear social workers talk about spending at least two thirds of their time at the computer. This position is enshrined in culturally embedded phrases like ‘if it isn’t written down it didn’t happen’ (Gibson 2016). This of course is simply rubbish. It did happen. You just didn’t write it down. And how does actually writing it down help prove anything. I ask you, – if in court, confronted with a service user who claims you said one thing, while you claim you said another – how does it being written down by you help in this situation? The reality is it probably does because you have an advantaged more powerful position. Well, after all you are a professional, and to be completely trusted, and service users in court aren’t. Is that how it is? Probably. No offence, but social workers sometimes mis-remember things. We all do. And sometimes may ‘interpret the facts’ of a situation in a particular way. It’s hard to avoid. We are both professional and human! But the mantra of ‘if it isn’t written down it didn’t happen’ forces us into an administrative approach to social work practice that demands we record it all so that our backs are well and truly covered. This happens at the expense of contact time with service user. And wasn’t that what you came into the profession for?

Gibson (2019) provides an excellent analysis of this in a qualitative case study of a child protection team. Firstly, he notes the importance of the administrative function within social work drawing on Wilson (1887) who stated that such things are a necessary part of institutional and social life in the same way that machinery is part of manufacturing. No one is denying the importance of appropriate recording and report writing.

The impact on practice though is palpable in the comments that Gibson (2019) reports from interviews he undertook. He discovered that administration was embedded as a primary task with this being prioritised at the expense of relationship building with service users. The primary focus of the social workers interviewed had to be focussed on the expectations of the agency rather than the service user. He suggests that such a focus also shifts the function of direct practice from relationship building to a more transaction based approach with the practitioner “interested in discrete transactions for the purposes of collecting information or ensuring agreed obligations had been met as laid out in some procedure or plan” (Gibson, 2019, p. 1191). This approach flies in the face of person centred work and what I personally see as the core social work task, that of relationship building in order to empower people. It hardly seems personalised to approach any interaction with a service user with the starting point being the agency requirements. Surely you start with the requirements of the person? This leads to disillusionment when professionals feel unable to make a difference in peoples lives (Gibson 2019) and leads to an ethos of ‘processing people’.

The neoliberal agenda that brought us performance indicators and what some considered the McDonaldsisation of social work – everyone gets the same but at least everyone gets something – was intended to provide fairness and equity and no ‘post code lottery’. The unintended (hopefully!) consequence of this is that what people get from social work is often, at best, adequate. And if we are happy with adequate then fine, but I don’t think most of us are. I think we want to be able to offer more. Surely we want people to thrive and achieve not get simply enough that only just suffices. The problem with such an approach is it often means we end up with practice being dominated by crisis intervention rather than supportive, life enhancing, planning.

Back to where I started this article…. my preference is always to try and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. The problem and the solution were brought into sharp focus for me recently when I invited two social work practitioners into the University I work in to talk about their lives as social workers in their particular role. The contrast was different and was nothing to do with the practitioners, who are both wonderful people, with nothing but a desire to support service users and do their best for them at the heart of their practice. One seemed liberated by the way their employer was asking them to approach the social work task. They had time to spend with people and time to help people with the practical aspects of getting back on their feet again after something had happened. The agency, for a large part required only the essential recording. Many interventions were simply case recorded without the need for long justification reports. I got a sense the social worker had the capacity to get on with the job. The other social worker seemed to be working in a more bureaucratic, process driven way, and seemed less content with this. I got a sense that maybe the paperwork was getting in the way of the social work task and as a consequence the social worker was frustrated by this.

The 3 Conversations Model, which is the framework that the first social worker was working within, was developed by Partners for Change who developed the model with a number of councils claiming it “has demonstrated how you can give a better deal to people and families who need support, create liberating and exciting jobs for staff, and also dramatically reduce the costs of the overall social care system. The 3 conversations approach is a great way of delivering on the demands and opportunities of the Care Act 2014” Partners for Change (2018)

The first conversation is focussed on finding out what really matters to the person and looking, with them, to see how they can use their own resources and the community around them to meet their outcomes. The second conversation, often when there is a crisis, seeks to create stability from which people can find their own solutions with support. This again could involve their own resources and those of the community but could also include some short term commissioned services. Crucially though the social worker ‘sticks like glue’ (to use Partners for Change’s words) to the person to make sure the plan works and if it doesn’t seeks to change it. The third conversation seeks to build a ‘good life’ for the person where there has been a significant change or development. It would still start with the persons own resources and the community but may well include a more extensive package of care. In the example described to me conversations one and two rely mostly on case recording of information, decisions and services with only the ‘full force’ of bureaucracy occurring during conversation three where extensive packages of care with significant financial consequences are required.

The impact of this seemed to me to be an increase in face to face work with people and less time in front of the computer. There seemed to be a much more person centred focus starting with the strengths of the person and their networks. This was refreshing as I hear many people claim that they work from a strength based approach but then describe their work, or the work of their teams, from an assessment of risk perspective. Starting with risk rather than strength shifts the way you think and therefore shifts the way you can support the person to think.

The 3 conversations model is being trialled in several local authorities and time will indeed tell if it proves to be the ‘solution’. I’m certainly hopeful of the opportunities it presents.

References:

Gibson, M. (2016) Social worker or social administrator? Findings from a qualitative case study of a child protection social work team Child and Family Social Work 2017, 22, pp 1187–1196

Partners for Change (2018) Home Page http://partners4change.co.uk/ (accessed 4th Nov 2018)

In consideration of sleep….

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Admin

In a way what I’m about to write is more a book review because everything I’m going to point you to are things that struck me while reading Matthew Walker’s exceptional book ‘Why We Sleep’

In an article on self care I recently quoted Walker saying….“Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer. Insufficient sleep is a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you develop Alzheimer’s disease. Inadequate sleep – even moderate reduction for just one week – disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic…” and the list goes on [from Matthew Walker’s ‘Why We Sleep’ (Page 3)]

When I quoted this I was thinking mainly about how social workers manage themselves away from work in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to improve their ability to, well, live! But more than that how to be productive as social workers, husbands, wives, parents etc etc….

But it got me thinking about sleep and the impact on adults who become users of social services and I pondered, in the myriad of things we ask people about, how often do we ask about sleep. Maybe we do? I worked with older people so I would routinely ask about how well they were sleeping but I don’t think I ever really did anything with this or considered it’s impact. Nothing at least beyond suggesting a trip to the doctor. And Walker would probably say to me that that might be the worst thing to suggest as doctors are quite prone to reach for the sleeping pills to resolve such an issue. And as Walker talks about in his book sleeping pills do not promote the right sort of sleep. They promote (and he puts it much more eloquently than I will here… and in more detail) a medical cosh that doesn’t in anyway reflect the right quality of sleep we require.

Walker suggests (p.148) that lack of sleep doesn’t necessarily throw us into a negative mood state but may well lead to a sea-saw of emotions. He points out that any extremity of emotion, positive or negative, can be dangerous. He points out that depression can lead to feelings of worthlessness and a questioning of the value of ones life. I wonder how often when working with someone with depression we truly understand the impact of lack of sleep. He states that “studies of adolescents have identified a link between sleep disruption and suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and, tragically, suicide completion in the days after” (p.148). He also links insufficient sleep to violent acts in children across the age range and within the adult prison population.

Psychiatrist, Walker says, has always considered that sleep disruption is a consequence of mental illness rather than exploring whether it is actually a factor, or the factor, causing it (p.149).

In relation to older generations and thinking about my particular area of interest dementia Walker points out that “lack of sleep is fast becoming recognised as a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease” (p. 157). He explains that deep sleep deteriorates with age and a lack of this type of sleep is linked to a decline in memory. He notes that poor sleep often precedes the onset of Alzheimers but this isn’t often picked up. To compound the problem he says that 60 percent of patients with Alzheimers have at least one clinical sleep disorder with insomnia being particularly common. Note also that this will have an impact on the care giver in terms of the quality of their sleep with all of the negative impact on health that goes with that (p.158).

I would definitely recommend his book in terms of both your own self care and thinking about the care of others. It is illuminating, fascinating, and a real call to arms with regard to improving sleep quality.

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Get yourself organised, get yourself productive!

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Admin

Yesterday I pointed you to some blogs of mine about self care ….and today I’d like to point you to some blogs about being productive. It’s part of the modern workplace and indeed modern life that we have more to do. It’s a curse and a blessing I feel. It’s great that we have so many opportunities and it’s great that in our job as a social worker we can help many people. But that comes at a cost. And that cost is often our well being. Stress manifests itself and we feel overwhelmed. Stress is not necessarily a bad thing. A certain level of stress, often referred to as eustress (‘eu’ is a Greek language prefix for good) can motivate and stimulate. As you will know if you exercise putting your body under stress is good. You get those aches and pains but also you feel good. The stress had a positive impact.

Mental stress can also be a good thing. Our stress responses are rooted in our fight or flight response and this can motivate us to get on with things. Read about it here.

However when we are stressed all of the time, our body constantly on high alert, awash with adrenaline, this can have a negative impact on our emotional and mental well being.

One of the things we can do to help in this area, both at work and at home is to be organised. By having a method that helps capture everything you need to do, for example, a comprehensive calendar, you can reduce some of those feelings of overwhelm. Yes, you will spot you still have a lot to do, but you won’t be worrying about forgetting things. So setting time aside to plan your diary and break your workload down into tasks at the start and the end of the day may feel counterintuitive… ‘I don’t have time to do what I have to do Stephen! And now you want me to set aside 20 minutes twice a day to plan!!!!’ Yes I do! There’s a Zen adage that says, “You should sit in mediation for 20 mins a day. Unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for 1 hour”.

And the same is true for planning. The more you have to do, and the less time you have to do it all, the more time you should spend planning what to do. Because then you will know exactly what it is that you need to do and what it is safe to do later. Doing this will stall procrastination in its tracks and you will just get on and ‘do’ – ticking things off your list as you go!

There are some other things that might help….. And you can read about them in the following places…..

The Two Minutes rule – read about it here

Setting Goals – read about it here

Eating Frogs and Elephants

And there’s some stuff here about diary management and tasks

And there’s some ideas below about being productive

https://www.selfcareshorts.com/2019/07/10/emails-the-modern-tool-or-the-modern-scourge/

https://www.selfcareshorts.com/2019/09/05/making-a-start-is-the-hardest-part/

https://www.selfcareshorts.com/2019/10/26/game-plan/

https://www.selfcareshorts.com/2020/01/25/autonomy-one-of-the-keys-to-success/

….oh no …another thing ….think about priority as a singular not a plural word. A priority is the thing you are going to work on right now…. so there can only ever be one priority. If you try to have more than one then you’ll try to multitask… and that diminishes your productivity. Trust me! It does. I’ll tell you more about that in a blog soon!

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