Research in Social Work with Professor Martin Webber

Martin is Professor of Social Work at the University of York.

He is the host of the Social Work Research Podcast and the link to his blog is here. 

In this episode we talk about:
-Martin's career journey
-Perceptions of research in practice
-the value of understanding research in practice
-how social workers can connect with research

In this episode I talk about social work students student bursary campaign. You can find out more on the BASW website here.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to social work sorted the podcast. I'm Vicki. I host this podcast and I found it social work, sorted. In 2021.

As an online platform for newly qualified social workers. 

I develop and create and provide resources that support newly qualified social workers predominantly in children's services. In and around practice skills. And I focus on providing 

realistic and tangible advice that really makes a difference for you. In that first year of practice. In this episode today, I'm going to be talking about assessments. I talk about assessments a lot, and that is because as a newly qualified social worker in children's services. The thing that overwhelmed me the most was this influx of child and family assessments. 

And all they way it had some experience in this in placement. It was very different experience. And this is a newly [00:01:00] qualified social worker. And my learning and the support that I'd had at university enabled me to. Understand concepts around assessment, but when it came to being faced with. a form a document that I needed to complete and an expectation that I needed to do this holistically with children and families. 

It was a lot. And so, so much of what I do focuses in and around assessment skills for newly qualified social workers.

The reason I started social work sorted. If you don't know much about this is because I had an idea for writing a guide to support with assessments, which I. Eventually produced. And is currently undergoing some changes, but we will be available soon. And I have a CPD accredited training focusing on assessment skills. If you want to know more about that, I will link a separate podcast in the show notes. But I'm talking about assessments in this episodes in [00:02:00] particular, because I have been running a summer series of masterclasses. 

Which are available to students and newly qualified social workers. The focus of this summer series for me, was to provide. High quality. Training. Sharing knowledge, underpinning practice skills with theory and research 

and doing all of that in the most accessible way that I can. At the lowest possible investment at the lowest possible cost to you. Students in newly qualified social workers. And. 

The first of those masterclasses has already happened. It was a focus on home visits. And I just wanted to share some of the feedback for that because I'm really proud of it. And I think we should share feedback when we get it. 

One of the attendees said, I really enjoyed this masterclass. I wish I'd had something like this prior to placements. Another attendee said. The masterclass provided practical tips and advice that you could put straight to practice. Perfect for students like me. Who might not get this type of information and want to be ready [00:03:00] for placement on the ASYE. 

People who attended said the masterclass was informative and that I provided helpful real life and thought provoking examples. And. I'm sharing that feedback. Cause I think I agree with it in terms of the fact that I know how much work I put into. Packing these masterclasses. With actionable advice and knowledge, they are underpinned with theory, I talk about theory because theory has to be accessible towards our students in new social workers. 

I also provide a reference and reading list of relevant research because I believe. Again, I'll link. A podcast episode that I did all about research in social work practice, but I believe that we should try as much as possible to continue. Working with our critical evaluation and research heads and I try my masterclasses to allow you to do this without it feeling overwhelming for [00:04:00] you. 

The second of the summer series masterclass is a focus on managing meetings that is now sold out. But the third and final masterclass in a summer series is all around assessment skills. And I am making tier 1 tickets, which had 10 pounds available throughout the whole of July. Again, because I know I'm the majority of people who either follow me on social media or sign up for emails. 

Or listen to podcasts. 

Talk to me about their worries in and around assessment. Often in children's services, a, child and family assessment is the first point of contact with a child or a family for a social worker. It is important it matters, but quite often I see in here of students and newly qualified social workers. 

Heading into placement and practice. Not feeling a hundred percent clear on things like legislation and policy and how that actually applies day to day, feeling unclear around issues of consent and the [00:05:00] nuances in and around consent. And how lines can become blurred in children's services, not feeling clear about information sharing and also feeling worried about written skills. 

How do you complete a home visit? How do you complete a piece of direct work, but then go on to turn that into written form into an assessment that is going to be read., most importantly, by a child by a family might be read by other quote, unquote professionals, people working with that family. A manager, a senior manager

And it won't just be read now. It's going to be read in 10 years in 20 years from now, it's going to be read when that child potentially accesses their records. There is a lot on the shoulders of students and newly qualified social workers. And I recognize that, and I am putting all of that, all the answers or the support or the resources into one masterclass, which is on the 23rd of August. 

If you are interested in attending that masterclass and if you are listening in July, then you can still access the tier one tickets at [00:06:00] 10 pounds. All the information and the link to get them is in the show notes. And if you've got any questions, you can send me an email. But in keeping with talking about assessments. I wanted to share four steps to starting an assessment. These are things that are going to be useful for you to think about in practice and in practice placement. 

The first thing to think about is explaining an assessment. Really try and go back to basics, you know, think about if somebody was coming to your house, not even necessarily a social worker, you know, It's not comparable, but think about if someone was knocking on your door and saying that they needed to check the gas meter. 

What would you need to know before you allow that person into your home? What's their name? Who do they represent? What's their role? What organization are they from? What is the purpose of them? Being present outside my door, , why do they need to come into my house? What exactly are they going to do? How long is it going to [00:07:00] take? What sort of things are they going to carry out? Is there anything I need to do? , is there anything that I need to be aware of that might be different to somebody else come into my home? 

Really think about all those questions and then work backwards, , how would you answer those questions for somebody that you are going out to visit? If you are getting ready for placement, I don't think there would be an expectation that you'd be doing that thing. By yourself on your first day, but it's still really helpful. 

For you to start to think about, because you're going to observe lots of people in practice, and you're going to be able to reflect on how well or not well that other social workers do it. It's going to help you learn. Similar. If you are a newly qualified social worker, think about what you've observed. Think about what you have done so far in your practice. Not about beating yourself up at all, but just really reflecting. How many of those questions, potential questions are you answering in advance for people? 

It's about getting really clear on. Your legislation, your policy, [00:08:00] how that applies in practice. How can you support people to understand what their rights are as well because the people whose homes you are going into have rights, they have human rights. There are issues around GDPR and consent. 

 And it's not that you stand at somebody's door and give a huge, huge explanation. It's important to do things like that in small steps, but by asking those questions, you are going to feel much more prepared. 

The second step to starting an assessment. Is being clear on what you need to know. So we've talked about what that other person needs to know what the family needs to know before you come into their home. And before they invite you into their home. What do you need to know before you do that? What is the information that you need? 

Two. Got the, what is your purpose? You know, I've said this so many times in different. Trainings or another podcast, but if you're not clear on the purpose of your visit, how are you going to be able to explain it to a child or to a family? [00:09:00] Do you understand? The process that has led you to doing this . How's it come off the back of a referral from somebody. 

Is it part of an ongoing process that is already happening? Is it part of an assessment that's already open? Is it because there's been a specific incident, has somebody asked you to go and do that visit and check? Be really clear on your purpose. So you can explain it and understand the information that you need to gather when you are there. You know, do you need to check who lives in a home? Do you need to check? You know who people are. Do you need to check how you spell people's names and what their dates of birth are. Do you need to check information about who else is involved with their family? Do you need to know something specific or have an explanation of an incident or a report or a referral that you've had. Preplan, all those things. 

Go through the assessment form that you have to complete. And give yourself a refresher of the information [00:10:00] that you need. The third step is to think about what information you already have. Is there anything that you can read to support you to understand what might be happening for a family? 

Is that a chronology that is available to you? Are there any records that are available to you that you can read in advance? And once you've done that. Be really clear about viewing and that information in context. You know, I've read assessments before, where I have had the impression that the person writing the assessment. 

Had a particular view, might've been a particular negative view about a parent. And that has been really obvious in the assessment. So whilst I've read it and advance of me doing a separate assessment or a new assessment, I've also been critically reflective about what's been in front of me. 

So that I don't then adopt a perspective that isn't my own. So there's almost two steps to this step being clear about the information you [00:11:00] already have. But placing that information in context, thinking about your systems theory, we thinking about the different influences. Thinking about subjectivity and objectivity and information that you have. 

And making sure that whilst you can't think about the information that's provided to you. If it is from the voice of somebody who isn't that child or that family. If the information that you have on a record. Is lacking in that person's lived experience, maybe that's information that you need to fill in pieces of a jigsaw. 

And the fourth thing that I would suggest or the fourth step to starting an assessment is to think about physically what you need with you, which might sound like a funny thing, but you almost think mentally about the information that you need. But physically, what do you need with you to start our assessment? 

Do you need a blank copy of a form. Which sounds really basic. And I hope lots of people are doing this anyway, but I've definitely come across social workers where this [00:12:00] is a new idea, or this is something they've not done before or something they haven't seen, or the social workers. do, 

if you are meeting somebody and you are explaining. An assessment that you might need to undertake. It's really helpful to have a copy of the written document that is going to be produced. Because that will help you and support you to explain it and literally let somebody view it, let them look at the language, let them look at. 

The questions that might be asked, talk that through. It's a really helpful thing to have a couple of blank copies printed out. So you can bring that with you. Do you need other forms with you? Like consent forms, , forms for certain information or referrals. Again, you need to be really clear about. 

Any difficulties people have, might have 

In terms of their literacy. 

 If you were practicing in England. Written forms will be in English. How accessible is that to a family or a child that you were working with and how can you support them to have an understanding of the forms and what is written in them? 

Do [00:13:00] you need. Activities or a little children's book or games that you can have that might help you. I build relationships, rapport direct work. One of my favorite books, um, in terms of direct work, I will link it below. The, the writer, social worker talks about having a specific key ring on her bag. 

Which is then a talking point and opening point for conversation for. 

When they met new families, , sometimes thinking about the physical objects is also about thinking what you don't need. Do you need to bring a giant bag with every single thing in it, in your lunch for the day and everything else. Or can you bring something that is smaller and maybe less intimidating? 

You know, do you need a notebook? Do you need pens? Do you need a computer for any particular reason? 

And then once you've thought about the physical things that you need go full circle back to step one about what that person needs to know. You know, think about the example that I gave you. Someone was coming to your home to check the gas. Would they need a piece of equipment and [00:14:00] would they then need to explain why they have that piece of equipment, which is as simple as you saying, I am going to bring a notebook or I've got a notebook to write things down because I want to make sure that I get certain things correct. Maybe like the spellings of a name or dates of birth. 

And I want to make notes about what you say,

and I'm going to share those things with you. So that, you know what I have written down. 

That are so many. Steps, not just 4, to starting an assessment, but I think these are a really good place to begin. As I said, if you are a student and you are heading out on placement, these are things that you can start. Building in when you are observing things that you can start reflecting on. And similarly, if you're a newly qualified social worker, start to think what you are already doing. Start to think what you could be doing differently. 

Think about what you've observed in practice. Uh, whether that has been supportive or not supportive. and, rather than listening to this podcast and thinking, oh no, there's loads of things I need to do and need [00:15:00] to change. Just pick one thing because you already have enough. On your caseload, you have enough pressures. You have enough stress to continue stressing yourself out, trying to do 10 different things at once. Pick one thing I'm focused on that for a week or for two weeks. 

And that is the way that you will begin to make changes to your practice and be much more reflective about it. 

If this episode has been helpful for you or any of the other episodes, then I would invite you to leave a rating or review or send me a piece of feedback. It really supports me in terms of knowing what is helpful for you. It supports the podcast. 

It enables me to continue producing this resource. And feedback on what I am doing well or what you would like me to do. differently helps me to get better at what I do. And so I always welcome constructive feedback.

If you are listening to this and you are still worried about undertaken assessment, if you feel like you need. [00:16:00] A refresher in and around assessment skills, looking at legislation policy, your written skills. Anything to do with assessment in practice, then the assessment skills master class is for you. 

It is a full hour on zoom of online training, a presentation with me. You get seven days access to the recordings so you can watch it as many times as you need to. There was a Q and a at the end, and also with all of my master classes, I send out a questionnaire in advance of the masterclass. 

So if there are specific issues you want me to cover in the train and then ID that it's for example, Before the home visits masterclass, somebody filled in the questionnaire 

 And they said one of their biggest worries about home visits was the awkward bits, you know, asking to check somebodies cupboard or check certain rooms in the home. 

And whilst I would have absolutely answered that if it came up in a Q and a, what it meant was there was an entire slide focusing on the awkward bits. It just means that the masterclass is completely tailored to [00:17:00] you in advance. 

And I essentially just wanted to make sure that it is as helpful to you as possible. 

There's heaps of information in the show notes for everything that I've talked about today. But as I always do before ending the podcast. I invite you to slow down with me. But just a minute. Close your eyes. If you feel comfortable.. 

And just focus on. Uh, spot or an area in the room. Wherever you are. 

Again, only if it feels comfortable. Take a focused. Deep breath. 

Well, just try. For a couple of seconds to empty your mind a little bit. 

Enjoy this pause in your day, know that you can come back to it whenever you need to. Thank you so much for listening. Take care.