For World Mental Health Day a new Research in Practice guide aims to support social care practitioners to repair, maintain, grow and sustain their mental health and wellbeing.
Mental health can affect people at all stages of their life course – the guide draws on up-to-date research and resources to help practitioners in developing a self-care action plan and assemble a personalised ‘tool-box’ of strategies that will support physical, mental and social wellbeing.
The guide aims to help manage stress, prevent burnout and support wellbeing at an early stage of intervention. It’s important to emphasise that practitioners who are experiencing trauma or mental health difficulties should seek professional support from occupational health, employee assistance programme or their general practitioner. Guidance on managing stress is also available from the NHS and organisations such as Mind.
The following resources aim to support practitioners, and the people who they support, to sustain positive mental health and wellbeing. We hope the guide and resources will allow practitioners to flourish and continue to support others effectively in professional practice.
The role of leaders in supporting mental health and wellbeing
Social care practitioners who feel better supported tend to be more resilient and mentally and physically healthy. Recent findings from the Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD) survey have indicated that flexible working is most beneficial for work-life balance, wellbeing and productivity. The Research in Practice Leaders’ Briefing on supporting wellbeing remotely provides evidence-informed guidance to help leaders in social care organisations support wellbeing. In addition the Recorded Webinar on recovery, work-life balance, wellbeing: how to switch off highlights some strategies to help people develop healthy boundaries between their work and personal life.
A video with Carole Brooks considers the De Bono’s Hats model and how working and thinking styles can affect the way we work. This model emphasises the role of leaders in creating the organisational conditions where diverse thinking styles and collective skills are valued. This can support building a strong team to underpin wellbeing and resilience.
The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic (SWORD) consists of a survey and accompanying workbook to improve organisational resilience in social care. The framework, co-produced with practitioners, aims to support social care leaders and managers to create a workplace climate that builds the capacity for resilience and promotes optimum social care practice.
Supervision and wellbeing for practitioners
Supervision is an important mechanism to discuss wellbeing and any additional support that may be needed. The 4x4x4 model, reflects the key principles of good supervision. It recognises that relationships are central to this, and that critical reflection underpins helpful discussions. Gerry Nosowska outlines the model and its key elements in our new video.
The Supervisor Development Programme (SDP), commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, supports practice supervisors in developing their supervision skills. The programme aims to enable and empower those responsible for delivering and overseeing effective supervision within local authorities to develop, deliver and disseminate sustainable learning within their local areas. A website contains a range of tools and learning resources to support remote supervision and build resilience.
Practice supervisors play an important role in supporting supervisees to become emotionally resilient practitioners and ensuring that social workers provide an excellent service to children and families. The Practice Supervisor Development Programme (PSDP) supports managers to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence. The accompanying project website contains a range of open-access materials that support the development of practice supervisors (and their managers) everywhere.
Listen
- Digital social care: Podcast
- Virtual supervision: A supervisor's perspective - Podcast
- The Good Assessment Handbook: Podcast
Read
- Good Assessment Practitioners Handbook: Second edition
- Leading with compassion: Supervisors' Briefing
- Supervision: Brief Guide
- Supervision: Change Project
- Supporting wellbeing remotely: Leaders' Briefing
- Virtual Conversations: Practice Tool
- Wellbeing supervision: Supervisors Briefing
Watch
Mental health and wellbeing for children, young people, adults and families
For social care, health and education practitioners, a sound understanding of the varied causes and effects of mental health conditions, good assessment, and a working knowledge of key legislation, can help to improve outcomes for children and young people, adults and families.
Listen
- Adverse Childhood Experiences: What they tell us and implications for social care – Podcast
- Experts by Experience at The Bridge Collective: Audio learning resource – Podcast
- Person-centred approaches to adult mental health: Podcast
Read
- Defragmenting CAMHS - commissioning the children and young people’s mental health system: Strategic Briefing
- Developing and leading trauma-informed practice: Leaders' Briefing
- Embedding trauma-informed approaches in adult social care: Frontline Briefing
- Mental Health Act assessments: Brief Guide
- Person-centred approaches to adult mental health: Frontline Briefing
- Positive mental health and wellbeing in children and young people: Suggestions for practice
- Responding to self-harm among children and adolescents: Suggestions for practice
- Section 117 aftercare services and the Mental Health Act 1983
- Understanding self-harm among children and adolescents: Frontline Briefing
- The wellbeing of children in care and care leavers - learning from the Bright Spots Programme: Strategic Briefing
- Working with people who self-neglect: Practice Tool
Supporting practitioner wellbeing: Practice Guide (2022)
This guide aims to support you, as a social care practitioner, to repair, maintain, grow and sustain your mental health and wellbeing, to allow you to flourish and continue to support others effectively in your professional practice.
The 4x4x4 supervision model
The 4x4x4 model, developed by Morrison (2005) reflects the key principles of good supervision. It recognises that supervision makes a difference to adults and carers, that relationships are central to this, and that critical reflection underpins helpful discussions.
De Bono's Hats
Carole Brooks explains De Bono’s Hats and how it can be used to check for diversity of thought. De Bono expresses different thinking styles as hats, and suggests that considering as many different styles as possible can help us to make better decisions.