On Tuesday 19 March, Manx Care hosted a World Social Work Day conference which brought together social work colleagues from within Manx Care and other Government Departments. The theme was ‘a shared future for transformative change’ and the day was intended to celebrate excellence and recognise the achievements of positive outcomes for children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families/carers. The day offered an opportunity to reflect, to connect, and to learn about examples of best practice across the island.
The day was varied, with a combination of presentations from a range of guest speakers and activities associated with staff wellbeing, good practice and resilience. The invitation went out to all social workers and other colleagues connected to social work, across Manx Care and beyond. Time was given to exploring how social workers work with different agencies and stakeholders, encouraging an open discussion about where multiagency working is a success and where there are challenges.
Sessions included:
- Positive attitudes to work – how to remain positive despite challenges and setbacks
- Making Safeguarding Personal – ensuring the people remain at the heart of the work we undertake in supporting them
- Using Positive Behaviour Interventions in working with people with learning disabilities
- Why Life Stories matter – in supporting children and young people to make sense of their past and to work through trauma
- Colleague welfare sessions discussing challenges, exploring choices and barriers to self-care
The event has proved very popular with social care colleagues and was well attended. Manx Care would like to extend sincere thanks to Douglas Golf Club and Pavilion for facilitating use of the venue and to Premium Care Ltd for providing attendees with Continuing Professional Development booklets.
Special thanks to Samantha Murphy (Group Manager for Adult Social Work), Ed Coates (Group Manager for Fostering and Adoption), Bradley Chambers (Principal Social Worker – Adult Social Work) and Esther Gardner (Business Support) for their hard work in planning the day.
Manx Care’s CEO, Teresa Cope said:
‘This was a wonderful day and incredibly important to show the brilliant work done by our social care teams. Transformative change is what we aim to provide for our service users. Changing their lived experience by offering support, appropriate interventions and person-centred care planning.
I am so proud of our social care teams and the work they do and look forward to celebrating this event again next year!’
Bradley Chambers, Principal Social Worker, Adult Social Work said:
‘The most powerful message of the day was provided by a carer who attended and spoke to us about the impact which social work has played in her life and in those that she provided care to. It was tremendous to hear a first-hand account of how social workers and other social care professionals have been able to undertake effective assessment and care planning, ensuring that first rate services have been delivered in the right way and at the right time.’
