'I Never Asked You to Call' ... a Training Handbook for Social Carers Who Work With Reluctant Service Users

By Margaret Kindred

This book hopes to:
- help busy practitioners understand the current social care climate, and how they can best use such understanding in their work with involuntary service users
- raise the profile of involuntary clients, who are sometimes disliked, and often misunderstood
- counteract the demoralisation of workers caused by overwork, constant criticism, and stress
- offer a diy training course, which includes information, implications for practice, and substantial exercises to ‘ground’ the theory
- highlight the positive threads interwoven in the current scene

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326474430

Book preview

'I Never Asked You to Call' ... a Training Handbook for Social Carers Who Work With Reluctant Service Users

I Never Asked You to Call… a Training Handbook for Social Carers Who Work With Reluctant Service Users

Copyright © Maggie Kindred 2015

Printed by Lulu Press Inc for Kindred Games and Books

Acknowledgments

To all clients and colleagues with great affection and respect. This book exists only because of their contribution.

To partner Michael, for all his wonderful 'behind the page' support, and for laughing at the humorous bits.

Of related interest

Developing teamwork

- how to make your team life more satisfying and effective

Once upon a team exercises

- a whole DIY teamwork course in one book

So, you`re on a committee now

- essential committee skills in light-hearted style

Once upon a group

- an original best seller for all groups

A Practical Guide to Working with Reluctant Clients in Health and Social Care

- theory base for this subject

For further details visit:  www.kindredgamesandbooks.co.uk

1 Introduction

This book has grown out of my experience in working with people who have been forced onto the books of social care agencies either because of infirmity or the direction of the courts.  'Social care' has been broadly defined in this book as all efforts to help people, inside the family and out, who are defined by others to be in some sort of need - it is therefore as relevant to informal carers as to probation and child protection officers.

We live in an era where 'choice' is the social care keyword, but what about those who have not chosen?

… the choices that are available to many who rely on the welfare state will often be very limited, especially for those designated as ‘involuntary clients’.

Ferguson 2007, online

Working with this contradiction

This book hopes to:

- help busy practitioners understand the current social care climate, and how they can best use such understanding in their work with involuntary service users

- raise the profile of involuntary clients, who are sometimes disliked, and often misunderstood

- counteract the demoralisation of workers caused by overwork, constant criticism, and stress

- offer a diy training course, which includes information, implications for practice, and substantial exercises to ‘ground’ the theory

- highlight the positive threads interwoven in the current scene

My main premise is that 'force' is not a necessary evil, but a positive tool, as it can give service users much needed attention, and enable them to access help they badly need. Can you remember being grateful in retrospect for something you were obliged to do?

How to use this workbook

Each section contains information and learning exercises, which may be used individually or in a training group.  As some of the content overlaps, you may use it in any order.

Much of the information in the workbook is based on official documents or on excerpts from expert writers, so that you can be confident that it has some authenticity. A reference list is given for your guidance. 

A note on web material

The theoretical references in the workbook are there to authenticate what is basically practical training material. If you intend to use any of them in academic work, be aware that they might have disappeared from the web by the time you need them. So it is best to use the textbooks which are quoted, rather than web articles, for college work.

A note on leadership and groupwork

It is helpful, but not essential, to have someone to lead/facilitate the exercises in a training group.  However, all the exercises are designed to be used by ‘non-experts’ in group work, as I believe that anyone can lead well if she/he has a sensitive manner and knows certain basic rules.

Foundations of all group and team work

These include what are sometimes called ground rules, and like the foundation of a building they are fundamental to its healthy existence. They are very basic - so how is it that they are so often ignored?  Perhaps behind such apparently obvious points lie some issues which are not at all simple - making these transparent is what this workbook is about.

Groupwork is working in a group but working in a group is not necessarily groupwork - preparation is essential!

Preparation checklist

Ask yourself:

- What is the exact purpose of the group? You will need to make this quite clear to members.

- Clarity is the key to success.

- When will the group meet? Time, date and number of meetings. Remember shift workers, people with children.

- Where will the group meet?

- Is the meeting place accessible to all?

- Are there any members with disability, either evident, e.g.: a person in a wheelchair, or hidden, e.g. someone with a phobia about being on the upper floors of a high-rise building?

- What is the time contract to be?

- Will you keep to time boundaries? Starting and finishing on time will mean that members know what to expect, and those who have commitments at the end of a meeting, such as getting back to take a babysitter home, will not be inconvenienced.

- What arrangements will you make about confidentiality? You need to agree with the members about what is for their ears only, and what may never be talked about outside the group. Unless this is established at the beginning and reinforced when necessary, members may be inhibited in what they say or do.

- What feedback will be allowed to people outside the group? This is not the same as confidentiality. The group may at times be working on something which, for the time being, needs to be kept within the group, so that it can be worked out properly.

- Who will lead the group? The person who does a lot of the preparation may not be the group leader and this needs to be clear to prospective members.

- Who will be responsible for which jobs? There are some jobs which may not be the leader's responsibility, such as sending out notices and organizing refreshments.

- Will the meeting room be comfortable? Consider temperature, ventilation, draughts, seating accommodation and lighting level.

- What about audibility? Some rooms may be too big and have an echo.  One person in ten has some degree of hearing impairment.

- If refreshments are to be served, what will they be?

- Will food and drinks suit various cultures and customs?

- Is equipment in working order and are power points available? Check that CDs, DVDs, and software will work on the equipment you will be using. There is no substitute for rehearsal.

- How will you handle lateness? If anyone arrives late, it is better to continue with what the group is doing, rather than stop to bring a latecomer up to date, which can be frustrating for those who have arrived on time.

- How will you deal with smoking? Smoking is banned in public places but this is not the end of the issue. Training takes place in a variety of places, including people's homes. It takes only one smoker to spoil the atmosphere for any number of non-smokers. 'Smoker breaks' need to be planned into the agenda of the meetings.

- How will you cope with on/off attendance? Groups work best when membership is stable and committed. You may need to state on the notices which go out to prospective members that those who join the group are expected to commit themselves to full attendance, and that they are to let the group know when absence is unavoidable.

- Have you made sufficient copies of any handouts?

- Have you made a list of what materials you need for each meeting?

- Have you checked the 'messages' in your materials?

- Do they give a positive view of black people?

- Do they convey the message that not everyone is slim, young and able-bodied?

- Do they convey the message that there are gay and lesbian people as well as those who are heterosexual?

- Do they convey messages which place women in an equal position with men?

- How will the ending of the group be marked? The ending of a