Digital social care

[Introduction] 

Dyfrig: Welcome to the Research in Practice Podcast. I'm Dyfrig Williams, Head of Learning at Research in Practice and I'm joined today by Katy Shorten, our Research and Development Manager for adults' services. This podcast will be looking at our work this year on digital social care. Welcome, Katy, can you say a bit more about yourself?  

Katy: Hi, yes, thank you, Dyfrig. It's great to be here, and I'm really excited to be talking about this topic. As Dyfrig said, I'm the Research and Development Manager here. That means that I oversee the development of all our new learning resources on the Adults side of our organisation. Anything that we do is informed by our partner network, so this is either through an annual topic consultation survey that we complete or the regular catch-ups that we have with our partners through our relationship-based approach to account management as well, of course, as using our wider connections across academic contacts in universities and the national local policy agenda. So, it's a really exciting and interesting role and I really enjoy it.  

[Why Research in Practice are focusing on digital social care] 

Dyfrig: So, in today's podcast, we're going to be talking about digital social care. Can you tell me why in particular we're looking at this area?  

Katy: Yes, so, when I was thinking about this question, I was also thinking more broadly about Research in Practice as an organisation and what we do, and one of the great things about the work or Research in Practice and this role is that as well as spending a huge amount of time and commitment to the development of evidence-informed resources, because we have an ever-growing suite of extensive resources on the website that we've developed, we're increasingly able to use these as a foundation for developing resources that are quick and responsive to more immediate priorities and challenges that our network partners are telling us about. So, this, kind of, this position that we've found ourselves in was super helpful when we were facing and were living and working within the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to mobilise what we had already and what we knew into things that supported learning and development in this new context. One of these, of course, was this very rapid shift to digital social care and the need to be working virtually with colleagues, with adults and carers themselves, and with our partners, multi-agency partners. So, really, that's why this topic area has had such a focus more recently and why we've given it, yes, the attention and the developing new resources against that this year.  

[Who digital social care affects] 

Dyfrig: Brilliant. It's interesting, you were saying about how it's changed the working environment, I suppose, for social care practitioners. Can you tell me a little bit more about who the topic affects?  

Katy: Yes, I mean, pretty much everyone this digital social care topic will affect, and anyone that's involved in adults' social care, whether you're a practitioner who is adjusting or adapting to the work that you're doing directly with adults and carers and thinking about how those interactions and conversations might feel differently, or indeed as a practitioner adjusting yourself to a new way of working, working from home in a different environment and adjusting to those different relationships with colleagues, and how you might manage your own work-life balance and boundaries. It also, of course, affects people, adults and carers themselves, who have had a significant shift away from the way that they shaped or received their care and support. Also, of course, anyone in a leadership or a strategic role was faced with some challenges around thinking about how they meet the duties that they need to meet in terms of adults' social care provisions, support and provision for people, but also the responsibilities to the well-being of their teams and individual practitioners. So, across the board, it affected pretty much everyone and, I mean, I think one of the interesting things about the experience was that, whatever part of the system or the sector you were working in, you were affected by this shift and this change and you were all learning and growing together.  

So, I think one of the things that certainly we noticed when we talked with practitioners or with adults and carers, and there's a great, kind of, speech from Clenton Farquharson in the Link Officer Annual Meeting from last year where we were really trying to unpick and learn from the virtual experiences. He was saying, you know, 'We understand and we're growing and learning together, and we'll be patient and kind to each other as we develop.' None of us are on our own with this. It might feel different for everyone and people are having different experiences, but we're not alone, we're on the same sea. In different boats, but on the same sea, he used that great analogy, so I would recommend having a listen to Clenton's speech at last year's Link Office's Annual Meeting.  

Dyfrig: That's really interesting. It's also an analogy that Professor Brid Featherstone used in some of the Child Welfare Inequalities Project events, so interesting to see how that is going to reflect it in different places, in different ways. In that sense, it was again about people's experiences of the pandemic and people who access services being in different situations and how we all might be experiencing the same thing but different lived environments can shape how we respond to that, and equity or equality of response. So, definitely worth people checking that out too. You mentioned there about us all going through this at the same time, and that's something that I think is worth us, kind of, picking up on in terms of as experiencing this and how that might change how we experience it. So, I suppose, why do you think it's particularly important, this piece of work, at this particular point in time?  

Katy: Okay, so I think particularly important at this point in time is in terms of practice, direct practice with adults and carers themselves and the people who we serve. It's really felt like and what we've definitely heard through the experiences that the digital and virtual communication has been a lifeline for many people, but it has been a new area. Any change like this, particularly when it happened in such a challenging context and over such a short period of time feels like there is a learning curve and it felt like a very steep learning curve at the time. 

But I think why it's particularly important at this point in time is that we were going through it then and there's been a huge amount of learning and, actually, the digital world and technology growth and advancement is a really important part of the future of adults' social care. So, it feels particularly important at this time to reflect on that learning and that growth, and continue to be alongside practitioners in that journey feeling more comfortable about working with people in the virtual world, and making sure that we're being the best that we can be and holding that space for people. So, I think it's particularly important at this point in time in terms of how we've used the experience to grow and develop practice directly with people.  

The other reason why I think it's particularly important to focus on it at this point is that digital divide that the pandemic has highlighted, and to some extent, exacerbated. So, when we look at some of those Office of National Statistics reports around the proportions of different people who have access to the internet or use the internet, or have access to devices, it has felt very stark. So, particularly important is that we're able to encourage and support social care practitioners to feel more confident about virtual methods of technology so that they're then in turn able to ensure and enable and support people to use that technology themselves. It feels like it's going to be a greater part of adults' social care going into the future, and I think just talking about and mentioning here, and thinking about the rights-based and social justice roots of adults' social care, we are really keen here at Research in Practice to do what we can to ensure that practitioners have the skills, the knowledge, the equipment to access and get the support that they need and have a right to in the best way that suits them.  

That's, kind of, the second reason why I think we're focusing on it in particular at the moment, but the final reason is also thinking about resilience, that word, resilience of people working within adults' social care. So, it's been very challenging on lots of different levels over the last 18 months, and the move to that digital world has been very impactful on practitioners in terms of the connections that they have, or haven't been able to maintain with colleagues, as well as, kind of, that new balance and work-life boundaries that they've had to find when working at home. Through the work that we're doing, we're identifying things that people could do as individuals, but also we have got ideas and thoughts from the evidence around how leaders or people within a supervisory role can support practitioners and teams in terms of their wellbeing when working remotely as well. So, just, kind of, continuing those messages around resilience and well-being into the future as the virtual world and digital world continues.  

[The digital social care resources that Research in Practice have developed, or that are in development] 

Dyfrig: That's brilliant. There's lots of stuff there that I think is really interesting. I've heard in previous roles around the digital divide being described as narrowing but deepening so that the people, we've got less people not using online ways of working things than ever before, but those who don't, or those who use it to access services, are more excluded than they've ever been. I think that's a really, kind of, powerful thing to reflect on. I heard something really interesting as well in terms of what you're saying about resilience.  

There's a really interesting paper from Y Lab which is a Nesta project around data poverty, which I think might be of interest to people around how people are excluded financially through, kind of, data use and accessing the internet. I think that's definitely something that's worth reflecting on, and there's something as well around resilience. The Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic work that we've done, which is really interesting, fantastic resources which are well worth people having a look at. Also, Professor Gail Kinman who worked on the Sword Project and did a fantastic webinar for us on practitioner well-being as well, which is well worth people checking out. So, can you tell us a little bit more about the resources that have been developed or are in development to address the digital social work agenda?  

Katy: Yes, absolutely. So, in terms of the practice of working with people digitally or virtually, what we have done is we've gathered learning and experiences from practitioners and adults and carers who were supporting people during the pandemic. We use this work to work with writers and actors to create a series of scenarios which we then filmed. So, we have a new video called Digital Meetings, and that's with actors, Gavin and Camille. This is the second in a series of videos, so you might remember that we did a strength-based working video last year with Gavin, so this is the second in that series focusing on digital meetings. It brings together experiences that practitioners and adults and carers had during the early stages of the pandemic and it summarises this learning into one place. It is a light-hearted look at what happened, so it is likely to be familiar to you if you were working during the pandemic, and can be a really useful reminder of that learning. But we're also hoping that it will be a good resource for ASYEs (Assessed and supported year in employment) or newly qualified social workers or people who are new to the social care role who perhaps didn't go through that, kind of, formative experience of digital working and virtual conversations in the early stages of the pandemic. But they will benefit from the learning that we did because the video really does bring it to life, those experiences to life.  

Accompanying this video, we've also developed a more formal publication, a practice tool, and this includes some more background information and evidence around virtual conversations and some specific tools which will support practitioners to think about the ethics of going virtual in a conversation with an adult or carer because, of course, it has to be a conversation around a conversation and a joint decision, and a decision that's going to be better for the adult and carer themselves and that they would like to do. There's also a tool on what you might want to think about in terms of your own capabilities or learning and development needs as a practitioner. These are set out against the BASW (British Association of Social Workers) Digital Capabilities Framework. There's a tool on the different methods of virtual conversations that you can have and how to choose the right one with the person that you're working with, as well as some practicalities for actually holding the conversation in the top tips which link back to Gavin's video that I mentioned earlier. So, those are a couple of resources that are ready and available and up on the website, and the links will be in the show notes on the web page, so please use those to go and find those resources. They're already available and focusing on direct work with adults and carers.  

We are also developing, and in development is a digital inclusion practice tool. So, this, kind of, responds to and talks to that piece we were mentioning earlier around that digital divide. So, this is a practice tool that we're really excited about. We're co-producing it with Claire, Emma and Steph, who are three women who have learning disabilities and/or autism. They are writing with us about their experiences of transferring a domestic abuse prevention programme that they ran before the pandemic online. They transferred all of the materials and the session materials from face-to-face online. Through that experience, they identified issues, challenges and solutions to digital social care and virtual working in its broadest sense. So, they're using that experience to develop this practice tool for adults, so a wider adults' social care audience, and it's going to highlight what practitioners and people can do to help adults and carers get online in the first place and feel confident online to stay safe and to get the best out of online conversations. So, now, we're super excited about that as a practice tool. In preparation for that, we do have a blog on the website just sharing Claire, Emma and Steph's experiences of the process of writing the practice tool with our colleague at Research in Practice, Jess Wild, so that's one to look out for.  

In terms of the resilience piece that we mentioned earlier, a really important part of this topic is supporting the remote working for individual practitioners, supervisors and leaders. So, as Dyfrig mentioned earlier, stealing the thunder for this one a little bit, we did work with Professor Gail Kinman on a webinar called Switching Off Recovery and Work-life Balance. She worked with us, as Dyfrig said, and Dr Louise Grant on the development of Social Work Organisational Resilience Diagnostic, or SWORD, and she used this work and other research and evidence to talk through in that webinar the pros and cons of working virtually and the importance of managing boundaries in a way that works for you as an individual. People are different and have different styles, and so understanding what that might be and some of those strategies for ensuring you're getting the breaks that you need and ensuring you're getting the space to reflect that you need. She talks about the difference between reflection and rumination, how to know the difference and how to ensure that we're focusing on reflection in the best way we can. So, yes, she talks about those pros and cons of working virtually and provides at the end some really great hints and tips.  

In true strength-based working fashion, I particularly loved the reminder that it does help to celebrate success, particularly when we're working on our own in our living rooms or in our bedrooms. She suggests having a jar of joy by your desk or recording, keeping a record, of those sparkling moments so that you can remind yourself of all the good work that you're doing in this context. Accompanying that webinar, which is already up online, again, the link will be in the show notes, we are preparing at the moment a leader's briefing around supporting remote working in teams. So, this is from a more strategic angle, focusing in particular on the process of returning to the office in a different or potentially more hybrid way, so that's coming up with some, kind of, more organisational and strategic key messages. Another good place to look on the website for resources to support remote working for individual practitioners and supervisors is the Supervisor Development Programme website, which you can get a link to through the show notes. There's a whole section on that website. Again, it was developed in the early stages of the pandemic, but there's a publication on different types of technology to use.  

There's a video which models a group supervision process session, and also we've got a podcast on there from Shabnam Ahmed talking about her experiences of virtual supervision and the importance of adjusting and adapting to it and how to best support your teams and individual practitioners. Of course, in addition to that, there are lots of blogs providing updates and comments on digital social care that were written both in the early stages of the pandemic and more recently, so it's well worth having a look at the news and views section of the website and doing a bit of a search around digital or virtual working. There are plenty of comments and think pieces on there as well.  

[Why resources developed for face-to-face practice continue to be relevant and useful] 

Dyfrig: There's some really cool stuff in there. I used to have a happy folder in my e-mail inbox in a previous job and, yes, used to save nice e-mails in there. I might have to kick-start that again, that was a good thing to look back on. Yes, and the other thing that's worth you saying as well is Shabnam Ahmed presented at our partnership conference and she was brilliant there, and her school of Shabs YouTube channel has got lots of really, really useful resources that are well worth checking out as well. One thing I think is worth, kind of, picking up on, I suppose, is that in this new digital world, you feel like some stuff, you know, so much has changed, but then there's so much stuff that's just stayed the same as well. I suppose there's something about looking back at the resources that might have been designed for face-to-face work with people or with colleagues but actually is still really appropriate in this, kind of, new environment that we find ourselves in. Can you tell us a little bit more about how people might use older resources?  

Katy: So, we've been through a huge journey of growth and development and experiences in terms of working in the virtual world, but a thread through all of these resources that I've picked up from all the conversations I've had with adults and carers themselves or with practitioners and leaders who are working in adults' social care is that one of remembering that social care practice is absolutely about human interactions. So, working with people as individuals within their own contexts, thinking about their own strengths, goals, desires, aspirations and the resources that they have either individually or in a community alongside them. Just a bit of a reminder that it might have felt really different during the pandemic and it might continue to feel really different working in a digital world, but remembering the roots of social care in rights-based and strength-based practice, focusing on developing relationships and maintaining relationships which is absolutely at the core of practice. So, all the skills that you know and learn and have used from your experiences of face-to-face work absolutely can be transferred into practice in a digital world. So, please do remember that you've got this, it might feel different, but what is at the heart of social care is also at the heart of working virtually with people, and, of course, just a plug for the Research in Practice resources that we have on strength-based working, on assessment, on safeguarding, on relationship-based practice because they're all absolutely relevant to the digital world in the same way that they're relevant to the face-to-face world that they might have originally been produced for.  

[Outro] 

Dyfrig: Amazing, thanks so much, Katy. Cheers for taking the time to chat about this with me today. All resources that you've mentioned, and from which I've stolen your thunder from, will be in the show notes on the Research in Practice website. To say thank you to everybody for listening as well. Please let us know if this, kind of, podcast wrap-up has been useful for you, and we'll look at how we might produce similar resources with you in the future if so. Thank you very much.