Entries with tag social work .

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Blair McPherson
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24 Sep 2019 - 11:46

null World Alzheimer’s Day September 21st

Anyone who lives alone – and over the next 20 years that could rise to nearly one in seven people in the UK – may be highly alarmed by the prospect of dealing with dementia. By 2039, the number of people with dementia in the UK living on their own is forecast to rise from 120,000 to about 240,000, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. That sounds like a terrifying prospect. But when I... See more
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Blair McPherson
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18 Oct 2018 - 09:00

null Should students be warned about the reality of their chosen profession?

  It’s in no ones  interest if students drop out of courses or leave the profession a couple of years after qualifying. It may seem counter productive for those trying to fill courses or recruit people to the profession but rather than just emphasis the ability to help people and make a real difference to their lives we should be frank about the frustrations, limitations and how they... See more
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Blair McPherson
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20 Feb 2018 - 21:01

null The bad guys in the black hats

    In the old westerns you could always tell the goodies from the baddies by the colour of their stetsons. The bad guys wore black hats. On my social work course there was an option on philosophy and ethics perhaps it should have been called best practice and doing the right thing because that is the language of social work. At the time most students thought there was no need... See more
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Blair McPherson
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16 Nov 2017 - 15:21

null Back when social work rocked

Back when social work Rocked Don't laughter but when I became a social worker it was seen as a Rock and Roll profession. Righting wrongs, fighting injustice, challenging the system, speaking up for people. We took on the housing department, the benefits agency and the juvenile court. Whether in court or in the head teacher's office we argued for a second ( or third) chance. When the... See more
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Blair McPherson
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16 Nov 2017 - 15:11

null Has grandad got a drink problem?

   Has grandad  got a drink problem?   The baby boomer generation has a drink problem according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr Tony Rao chair of the substance misuse in older people working group said that ," The latest (ONS) statistics are a wake-up call to the rising problem of alcohol misuse in a generation of baby boomers".  Excessive... See more
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Blair McPherson
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13 Sep 2017 - 11:04

null Can the public ever learn to love social workers?

In books, films ,TV soaps and dramas there are inspirational teachers. Sure there are bad teachers and lazy teachers, well meaning but ineffective teachers but there are also passionate, dedicated and inspirational teachers. Social work also has passionate, dedicated and inspirational professionals, just not on tv. Nurses on tv are skilful, caring, professionals who get to know their patients... See more
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Blair McPherson
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10 Aug 2017 - 06:41

null Fostering v Boarding school

  I worked in a residential boarding school run by the local authority for boys with poor school attendance and behaviour problems where it was thought they would benefit from being removed from their environment ( family). Typically they were young boys who came to the attention of the education welfare service before social services. Interestingly if they had come to social services... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Jul 2017 - 18:48

null What's the difference

  The integration of health and social care teams has led some senior managers to question whether there is any real difference between social workers and OTs and whether their common skills and shared values make the roles interchangeable or at least mean a professional background in either discipline is appropriate to manage an integrated team. The example often given is working with... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
29 Jun 2017 - 14:45

null The awkward squad

  "Opinionated"  that's the word my placement supervisor used to describe me when I was a social work student. Is it so bad for a social worker to be opinionated?  According to a recent guidance note from the D of H, ADASS and the chief social worker for adults, social workers provide an essential role in an integrated system by challenging other professionals who's training... See more
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Blair McPherson
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23 May 2017 - 15:47

null What's in a name

  What's in a name ?    Many in the health care world want to dump the term "patient". The progressive view is that "patient" is too passive a description in our consumer society where the modernising public sector is encouraged to adopt private sector ways and think of people as customers. Other parts of the public sector have "agonised" over language. In social services we... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 May 2017 - 11:42

null What does a social worker believe?

  Social work has changed a lot but have social workers? The articles in the social work press reflect  the changing world of social work, new policies, new legislation, new guidance, new structures, new way of working, new technology, fewer resources, yet the on line comments by social workers reflect attitudes and beliefs that social workers from an era before social media,... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 Mar 2017 - 21:10

null No lying necessary

  When I first became a specialist social worker for people with dementia I took a very purest view to lying to clients. All to often staff who cared for some one with dementia would collude with the the individuals confusion and memory loss as away of placating them when they were anxious or agitated. The individual insists on leaving the care home  to pick up her children from... See more
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Blair McPherson
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22 Sep 2016 - 14:43

null It's Criminal

  I am a big fan of crime fiction and one of my favourite authors is Peter Robinson and his detective DCI Banks. Many of the books have been successfully televised and no doubt his latest "When the music is over " will also be turned into a two part thriller, if so I hope the tv producers rewrite the social workers cameo role from the inaccurate, poorly researched, stereotype, into... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Apr 2016 - 11:25

null The poor need an accountant more than a social worker

  I remember a lecturer on the social work course who was fond of saying " The rich and powerful have their own accountant but its the poor and those on benefits who most need them ". Her point was the rich employed an accountant to reduce the tax they pay even though they could afford to pay it. The benefits system is as complicated as the tax system but the poor have to rely on free... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Mar 2016 - 19:03

null Is this Leadership or Bullying

  One participant, a young woman , immediately volunteered an account of how she had confronted a member of her team about the standard of their work.  " I challenged her and she left - walked out of the building the same day". The woman said. " I had really prepared using feedback from the role play we did . It was really effective. I think I was able to stand my ground better. I... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Jan 2016 - 12:48

null How training as a social worker made me a better doctor

  My favourite opening sentence this week comes from the Guardian. " Sharon D Clarke studied to be a social worker before becoming a doctor..... on Holby City." At first I thought this was going to be an interesting angle on the integrating health and social care debate. How training as a social worker has made me a better doctor. But no. Sharon is an actor and Holby City is a tv hospital... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:09

null Educating Yorkshire

What's it like to be a teacher in today's state schools? What's it like to be a pupil in 2013? We all went to school and many of us are parents of school children so we all think we know something about schools, how they used to be, how they should be. The government, the media and most of the general public think education is about exams results, if Educating Yorkshire is representative... See more
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Showing 1 to 17 of 17 entries.