"You come because it’s an interesting place” : the impact of attending a heritage programme on the well-being of people living with dementia and their care partners

Promoting access to heritage settings has been acknowledged as a way to promote wellbeing in the UK for people living with dementia and their care partners. Yet there is a lack of information available internationally on the contribution of heritage sites to promote wellbeing and social inclusion for those living with dementia. This paper addresses this gap by reporting on the impact for 48 people of participating in the ‘Sensory Palaces’ (SP) programme run by Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court and Kew Palaces in the UK. Two primary data sources were used; postsession interviews involving 30 participants (the person living with dementia and/or their care partners), and 131 sets of self-complete pre and post session mood questionnaires administered directly before and after SP session attendance. Analysis of the data sets is presented under three themes: Enjoyment and Engagement; Connecting and Learning and Place, Space and Time. The findings demonstrate participants highly valued the heritage sessions and reported positively on the impact this had for their individual wellbeing and their relationships with one another. This paper highlights the opportunity for heritage sites to contribute to promoting wellbeing for people living with dementia

‘Food, fuel and hope’ evaluation of the ‘Bare Essentials’ Project in Rochdale

Bare Essentials (BE) is a partnership project between the BB and CAB and is intended to provide tools and opportunities for people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and to improve the life chances and health outcomes of those living in the private rented sector in Rochdale (Bare Essentials, n.d.).The project focus is the relief of food and fuel poverty by means of maximising income and building the skills and knowledge of users of the service, and in so doing, improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and households.This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the Bare Essentials project on behalf of The Bond Board (BB) and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Rochdale. The evaluation was commissioned part way through the project and was carried out over a three month period between January and March 2015. The report is based largely upon qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the project and on documentary material held by both the BB and the CAB

Evaluation of the Virtual Independent Visitor Pilot Project : November 2017The Children's Society and the University of Salford

This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the Virtual Independent Visitor pilot scheme, on behalf of The Children’s Society. The project was piloted in Rochdale and Oldham, and offered a ‘virtual’ alternative (vIV) to the traditional face to face (tIV) Independent Visitor Service. The Children’s Society approached the University of Salford who undertook to carry out the evaluation pro bono. The objectives of the evaluation were as follows: - To explore and compare young people’s experience of the two models for delivering IV service - To provide information for The Children’s Society to support their decision making concerning their provision and development of IV and vIV services

Longitudinal study of local authority child and family social workers (wave 1) Findings from a 5 year study of local authority child and family social workers in England.

The longitudinal study investigates recruitment, retention and career progression in local authority child and family social work over 5 years. This is the first of 5 reports. It provides workforce information for employers and policy makers. Topics covered in this report include: •entry routes into local authority child and family social work •current employment and career history •workplace wellbeing •management, supervision and working environment •job satisfaction •career progression and future career plan

Longitudinal study of child and family social workers (wave 3)

In 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned a consortium led by IFF Research, working with social work academics at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford, to conduct a longitudinal study tracking the careers of local authority child and family social workers in England. This landmark study aimed to collect robust evidence on recruitment, retention and progression in child and family social work by tracking individuals over a five-year period. In Wave 3, new questions were added about the impacts of Covid-19 on child and family social workers’ workplace wellbeing, access to learning and development, flexible working, relationships with colleagues, and relationships with children, families and carer

Longitudinal study of child and family social workers (wave 2)

In 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) commissioned a consortium led by IFF Research, working with social work academics at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford, to conduct a longitudinal study tracking the careers of local authority child and family social workers in England over five years. The landmark new study aimed to collect robust evidence on recruitment, retention and progression in child and family social work by tracking individuals over a five-year period. In Wave 1, 5,621 local authority child and family social workers took part in the survey, comprising almost one in six of the population. 1 This report covers the second year of the research

Dressing the part? The significance of dress in social work

This paper explores practice educators’ views about the significance of dress for social work in the context of UK social work education. The findings, drawn from three focus group discussions, suggest that practice educators regard dress as an important way in which social workers demonstrate values in action. Dress is also seen to play a part in the development and maintenance of a professional social work identity, and is relevant to the physical and bodily experiences of ‘doing’ social work. Social workers should be aware of the significance of dress and self-presentation, and where student social workers fail to demonstrate such awareness, practice educators may have questions about their understanding of the complexity of practice. The paper notes that while participants expressed similar views about the meaning and impact of dress, these are based on the observation and experience of practice, and there is little research evidence specifically concerning dress in social work. The study contributes to an understanding of why practice educators consider that dress may be relevant in the assessment of a student’s practice readiness, and suggests areas for further research about this everyday yet significant aspect of a social worker’s working life