Joe Duffy

Innovative Approaches to Involving Service Users in Palliative Care Social Work Education

Service user involvement in social work education is now a firmly established concept in the United Kingdom. As a result, it is common practice for service users to occupy central roles in the education and training of social work students and staff in both qualifying and post-qualifying programmes. This paper describes an initiative, undertaken in Northern Ireland, which compares two methods of user involvement employed with undergraduate and post-qualifying social work students. In both situations the students firstly observed and discussed DVD excerpts of narratives from people affected by cancer and secondly observed a live facilitated interview with a 25-year-old male service user who shared his experiences of being diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Understanding the social work role in palliative care is crucial as all social workers, regardless of practice context, will have some degree of involvement in helping individuals and families to address end-of-life care issues. This paper compares the findings of evaluations from two student groups which may help to inform social work educators about the effectiveness of different teaching methods used to achieve meaningful and effective user involvement with seldom heard groups.

Macro impacts on caseworker decision-making in child welfare: a cross-national comparison

This paper focuses on the factors impacting on decision-making in child and family social work through a cross-national comparison. In doing so, the larger arena of the political and social contexts of both the United States and Northern Ireland are examined. For each of the countries we describe the historical and political context of child welfare, particularly the tension between child safety and family support, and how childrens rights are attended to and interpreted in each country. This discussion also examines the extent to which decision-making in each jurisdiction is influenced by constitutional imperatives, with particular reference to the US Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. From this general comparison we conclude with observations about child welfare decision-making within the national context and offer suggestions for further theoretical development in this area whilst also examining where the practices in each jurisdiction may benefit from review.

Human rights and Decision-making in Child Protection through Explicit Argumentation

A recent judgement in February 2005 by the Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland that a Health and Social Services Trust had breached a parents Article 8 Right to Family Life in the process used to take a young child into care has stimulated major debate about the interface between the Human Rights Act (1998) and professional decision-making in child protection work in Northern Ireland and across Europe. This article examines the interface between the Human Rights Act and the paramountcy principle in the Children (NI) Order 1995 in relation to statutory interventions to protect children. It explores the increasing sophistication required of social work recommendations to courts in complex situations involving conflicting rights and considers the impact of adopting a structured model of explicit argumentation.

Social work education and political conflict: preparing students to address the needs of victims and survivors of the Troubles in Northern Ireland

This paper reports on the evaluation of a European PEACE III sponsored teaching and learning project that was designed to enable social work students to better understand the needs of victims and survivors of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The paper begins with an introduction to policy, practice and educational contexts before reviewing the literature on social work, conflict and trauma. It also summarises key, innovative pedagogical approaches used in the teaching, including the use of ground rules, teaching teams consisting of lecturer and service user dyads, learning exercises and case studies. The paper then explains the evaluation methodology. This involved two surveys which returned 144 student and 34 practice teacher questionnaires. The findings revealed that students were generally committed to this form of teaching and engagement with victims and survivors of the conflict, although some students reported that their attitudes towards this subject had were not changed. Some students also discussed how the conflict had affected their lives and the lives of families and friends; it is argued that such biographical details are crucial in developing new pedagogical approaches in this area. Practice teachers who supervised some of these students on placement reported general levels of satisfaction with preparedness to work with conflict related situations but were less convinced that organisations were so committed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study limitations and a recommendation for more robust methods of teaching and evaluation in this area of social work education and practice.

Service user involvement in teaching about conflict - an exploration of the issues

Service user involvement is now a well embedded feature of social work education in the United Kingdom. Whilst many education institutions have fully embraced the involvement of service users in teaching, there is still work to be done in more fully engaging with service users who are seldom heard. This article highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with innovative work being piloted in Northern Ireland where victims and survivors of political conflict are routinely involved in teaching social work students about the impact of conflict on their lives.

Developing a social work curriculum on political conflict : Findings from an IASSW-funded project

This paper presents the findings from an innovative project funded by the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and undertaken by an international team of academics investigating the development of a global curriculum for social work in the context of political conflict. Coupled alongside the emerging research and literature on the subject, our small-scale survey findings indicate support for the need for social work educators to address political conflict more systematically within social work curricula at both undergraduate and post-qualifying levels of social work education. This paper illuminates the opportunities for creative pedagogy whilst also examining the threats and challenges permeating the realisation of such initiatives. In this way, the implementation of a proposed curriculum for political conflict is given meaning within the context of IASSWs Global Standards for social work education. Given the exploratory nature of this project, the authors do conclude that further research is warranted in regard to potential curriculum development and suggest using a comparative case study approach with more in-depth qualitative methods as a way to address this.

Are We Listening to Children? An Examination of the Child's Voice in Social Work Reports to the Court following Parental Separation Disputes

This paper examines the findings from a recent study investigating how childrens interests and their rights are safeguarded through the representation of social workers in reports prepared for Court following parental separation disputes. A small-scale research study describes the views of family and childcare social workers on how childrens wishes and feelings are reflected in Court-directed assessments in a large Health and Social Services Trust in Northern Ireland. The research employs a multi-data collection methodology involving the use of a focus group, postal questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically analysed in relation to representing the voice of the child, and examined both the social work task and the role of training as a form of support for social workers in this demanding area of work. The findings demonstrate that social workers do seek and represent the views of the child within Article 4 reports, but identify factors that impinge on the accuracy of representing childrens views and promoting their rights. These factors relate to Trust and Court priorities, lack of therapeutic intervention for children, variation in social work practice, lack of training for social work staff in this area and, consequently, the need to increase confidence and support for social work staff undertaking this work. As a result of these findings, suggestions are proposed for informing practice and improving service delivery in this key area of family and childcare social work practice.

A pilot study of the Incredible Years BASIC parenting programme with bereaved families

Purpose – Bereaved parents often face the complex situation of managing their own grief while parenting bereaved children who are at increased risk of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The current evaluation was a pilot study aimed at determining the feasibility of the Incredible Years (IY) BASIC parenting programme as an intervention for bereaved families.Design/methodology/approach – A total of seven parents of children (aged four to 12) participated in a 12‐week IY BASIC parenting programme. Participants completed a range of pre‐intervention, post‐intervention, six month follow‐up measures and semi‐structured interviews.Findings – The results showed statistically significant reductions in parental stress, parental wellbeing, child behaviour problems, and grief.Originality/value – There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of IY with diverse parenting populations but this is the first known study of the programme with bereaved families. The findings support its use with such families w...

Applying the recovery approach to the interface between mental health and child protection services

ABSTRACT There is a range of theoretical approaches which may inform the interface between child protection and adult mental health services. These theoretical perspectives tend to be focused on either child protection or mental health with no agreed integrating framework. The interface continues to be identified, in research, case management reviews and inquiry reports, as complex and problematic. This article proposes that more positive, integrated approaches to service user engagement, risk assessment and management may lead to better outcomes in working with families experiencing parental mental health problems and child protection concerns. It is proposed that the recovery approach, increasingly used in mental health services, can inform the processes of engagement, assessment and intervention at the mental health and child protection interface. The article provides a critical overview of the recovery approach and compares it with approaches typifying interventions in child protection work to date. Relevant research and inquiries are also examined as a context for how to more effectively respond to cases where there are issues around parental mental health problems and child protection. The article concludes with case material to illustrate the potential application of the recovery approach to the interface between mental health and child protection services.

Older people and legal advice – the need for joined up and creative approaches

This paper reports the findings from research conducted with older people in Northern Ireland which investigated whether their needs for legal information and advice were being met. One of the unique aspects of the research involved investigating the potential of the internet as a possible source for advising older people in relation to legal problems. The findings suggest that online legal information may frequently assist older people in identifying potential answers to their legal questions, but may not be an adequate substitute for personal communication and advice. The research also highlights the need for professionals to work together to meet the needs of older persons for legal advice and to safeguard their interests. Such ‘joined up’ approaches are particularly important, for example at the point of dementia diagnosis, where information sharing between health and social care professionals may significantly promote the legal and welfare interests of older people at a vulnerable point in their lives. This paper therefore turns to work by university-based legal clinics in the United States, such as the Elder Law Clinic at Pennsylvania State University, where social work or healthcare professionals, lawyers and law students collaborate to support older people in their search for resolution of legal problems.