Earlier this year the Connecting People study team successfully obtained an additional grant from the NIHR School for Social Care Research (who are funding the study) to produce training materials and short films about the
Earlier this year the Connecting People study team successfully obtained an additional grant from the NIHR School for Social Care Research (who are funding the study) to produce training materials and short films about the Connecting People intervention model. The films and training package will be made available on the Connecting People study website in the early autumn for anyone to use.
In the course of the filming, we have captured the perspectives of practitioners and service users about how the Connecting People intervention process works and what its outcomes are. We are finding out more about this in the study itself, but the films vividly capture individuals’ experiences of the impact of the model on their work and lives. The first of these films will be uploaded shortly to YouTube as a taster of what’s to come.
Anticipating the release of these film clips, The College of Social Work interviewed Rob Goemans (Professional Social Work Lead) and Jackie Stallard (Mental Health Social Worker) for the July edition of their online magazine Social Work Matters. Rob and Jackie both work for the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust where they are piloting the Connecting People intervention model.
Rob described Connecting People as “more than just an intervention. It’s an overall framework of how social workers, other professionals and services work with people with mental health needs”. He went on to speak about his hopes for the model in providing an overarching framework for mental health social work backed up by research evidence.
Jackie spoke about how the model provides hope to mental health social workers who, in many places, have become disillusioned by mental health trusts obsessed with targets and squeezing out social perspectives. “My priority is the person I’m working with and helping them achieve the best quality of life they can,” she said.
The full article and clips from the interview can be viewed online in Social Work Matters (flash is required).
Alternatively, a PDF version of the magazine can be downloaded here.
Social Work Matters is a magazine for members of The College of Social Work, but is reproduced here with the kind permission of its editor, Mark Ivory.