Supporting social workers in 2021
Social workers have played an invaluable role in the UK’s response to Covid-19, supporting families and vulnerable groups who have been pushed into crisis by the pandemic.
They have carried out these vital duties with increasingly limited resources, and often without the right personal protective equipment. They have conducted complex home visits and assessments over Zoom and discussed difficult and distressing information in their own homes, without the supportive presence of their colleagues and supervisors.
Many practitioners have also seen their caseloads soar to unmanageable levels while they, like the rest of the country, try to juggle the pressures of life and work in lockdown.
Free interactive guide
This commitment to public service has taken its toll, with research revealing rising levels of stress and anxiety among social workers – public servants whose contribution throughout the pandemic has never been recognised by the government or mainstream media.
In recognition of the acute challenges facing the sector, and to thank all social workers for their incredible work, Community Care has joined forces with UNISON, the public service trade union, to produce a free expert-written resource, full of advice, tips and guidance.
Supporting Social Workers in 2021 is an interactive digital guide, specifically designed to provide social workers with tools to help support their mental health and wellbeing.
The 20-page guide, which can be read like an online magazine or downloaded as a PDF, features comprehensive extracts from five of Community Care Inform’s expert guides (normally available to subscribing organisations only). You will find guides to managing stress, working when you’re frightened, developing emotional resilience and navigating online practice, as well as tips, quizzes, exercises and podcasts.
Podcast: ‘we have taken social workers for granted’
To mark the launch of Supporting social workers in 2021, UNISON and Community Care recorded a short podcast to explain why the guide was commissioned.
You’ll hear UNISON’s national secretary, Jon Richards, tell Community Care Inform’s head of content, Camilla Pemberton, why the trade union is determined to build bridges with the sector after taking social workers “a little bit for granted”.
You can listen to the podcast, and read and download the guide, from any desktop, mobile device or tablet. If you access the guide from a desktop, you will be offered a quick tutorial at the beginning to help you find everything you may need.
A full transcript of the podcast will also be available very soon.
These free resources are part of Community Care Inform’s ongoing commitment to social workers during the pandemic. If you have a licence through your employer or institution, you might also find the links below particularly useful at this time.
Read more about World Social Work Day 2021.
More from Community Care Inform
Community Care Inform Children and Community Care Inform Adults provide online resources for subscribing social workers and social care professionals.
Self-care and Covid-19: podcast and transcript
Use of self and emotional intelligence: quick guide for practice educators
Fear and social work: podcast and transcript
Loneliness and isolation during the pandemic: podcast and transcript
Not sure if you have a licence?
A large number of local authorities and universities work with us so do ask your manager, principal social worker or learning and development team if you have access, or contact our helpdesk by email or phone (0203 915 9444). You can also enquire about new subscriptions.
You can read extracts from other Community Care Inform resources here.