The Social Work team at the University of Winchester has delivered a highly successful and well received series of study days for qualified social workers employed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust.
Contextualising Social Work was aimed mainly at social workers working in mental health in environments where they are may be the only non-medical professional present and might find it hard to make their voices and opinions heard over those of doctors and consultants.
Fifty social workers – most with more than five years’ experience in the profession – took part in one or more of the three sessions which covered the following topics:
Participants were asked to rate each session from 1 to 5 on how useful it would be to them in their practice. The average score across the three sessions was 4.7 with Cultural Humility scoring a perfect 5.
After each session those taking part were also asked to use three words to describe their days. Adjectives included ‘insightful’, ‘inspiring’, ‘empowering’, ‘informative’ and ‘engaging’.
They also had the chance to offer more detailed feedback on sessions, and comments were very favourable overall:
“Today provided me the time and space to reflect on my professional identity and the power / value in asking questions
“Really inspired by excellent tutors to constantly use these skills to be a more inclusive practitioner
“It has reminded me of my professional identity, why I do what I do, how I can do it better.”
Social Work Lecturer and Deputy Head of School Kathleen Butler said: “This course showed the power of partnerships. The NHS gave us some general ideas of what they wanted and then it was a collaborative process to put together the sessions.”
Kathleen added that she hoped to be able to offer the course to other social worker cohorts, perhaps from other health authorities, as well as teachers and nurses.
Students were set to benefit too as the social workers taking part had provided valuable first-hand experiences and knowledge which could be fed back into the social work programme at the University.
“Lived experience is the most valuable learning that students receive,” said Kathleen. “We have to involve the voices of those delivering social work services and the voices of those people receiving the services.”
Nikki Whatley-Walsh, Associate Director for Social Work at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust is proud to acknowledge its valued collaboration with the University of Winchester in delivering a highly successful CPD series for our dedicated social workers.
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