Service user involvement in social work education: Enhancing student learning about intimate partner violence

Men who use intimate partner violence (IPV) are often excluded from service user involvement approaches, including those provided in social work education. This article outlines Australian research in which men who use IPV developed a learning resource, the resource was shown to social work students and student feedback sought through pre- and post-test questionnaires and group discussion. Students reported increased knowledge regarding interpersonal violence, greater awareness of the skills required to engage service users who use IPV and willingness to work alongside service users who are involuntary and/or have multiple issues in future social work placements and practice. The findings suggest, when risks are well managed, it may be possible to incorporate the lived experiences of men who use IPV in social work education with positive benefit for student learning. The ramifications of these findings for social work education and practice internationally are discussed

Collaborative inquiry with men who use intimate partner violence: Service user perspectives on expertise in domestic violence services for men

Concerns have been expressed regarding the efficacy of services for heterosexual men who use intimate partner violence. In addition, there has been limited research into the perspectives of these men regarding their use of services. The Australian study outlined in this article sought to examine the experiences of heterosexual men who use intimate partner violence (IPV) when they access domestic violence services. Collaborative inquiry was undertaken with men who were attending a residential domestic violence service to explore the research question; What does expertise look like in domestic violence services for men? When discussing expertise, twenty men identified four themes: lived experience and book knowledge, services and supports, professional helping skills and expertise, and non-professional helping and expertise. These collaborative researchers described expertise as a product of book knowledge and lived experience knowledge, indicating these knowledges could be located within the one person or shared between professionals and service attendees. The informants suggested cultural mentoring, peer support and co-production are important inclusions in men’s domestic violence services. They also highlighted positive peer affirmations as supporting their behaviour change and suggested sociological frameworks are central to successful interventions with men. Men who use IPV may have important insights about expertise in domestic violence services for men which can inform future practice

Working with the enemy? Social work education and men who use intimate partner violence

This article examines service user involvement in social work education. It discusses the challenges and ethical considerations of involving populations who may previously have been excluded from user involvement initiatives, raising questions about the benefits and challenges of their involvement. The article then provides discussion of an approach to service user involvement in social work education with one of these populations, men who use violence in their intimate relationships, and concludes by considering the implications of their involvement for the social work academy

Men waiting for heart transplant: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Clinical research portfolio

Background: Heart transplant candidates may wait a considerable and usually indeterminable length of time for a donor heart, uncertain if they will live or die. Despite this, there appears to be little research exploring how people experience this wait. Method: A qualitative design employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Male patients (n=7) on the routine waiting list for a heart transplant at an advanced heart failure service in Scotland participated in a semi-structured in-depth interview. Results: Three major themes, each with inter-related sub-themes were produced from the data. 1) ‘Threatened self identity’: this theme covered the challenge posed to the mens’ identities as a consequence of illness and their wait for transplant. This included a ‘diminished self’ and an ‘unwanted ill self’. 2) ‘Uncertain life or death’: this theme concerned the continuing uncertainty men had to live and cope with, and included ‘contemplating dying’ and ‘the unknowns of transplant’. 3) ‘Complex coping’: this theme covered the challenges of coping during the emotionally and physically challenging wait for transplant. Conclusions: The importance of finding meaning in waiting is discussed in relation to the revised transactional model of stress and coping, and the implications for health care professionals are discussed. There is a need for health care professionals to appreciate the individual meaning patients ascribe to their experiences

Professional education and Mad Studies: Learning and teaching about service users’ understandings of mental and emotional distress

This article considers the inclusion of mental health service users’ experiences and perspectives in professional education classrooms. After brief introductions to the authors’ backgrounds, the article discusses professional expertise and knowledge and the accreditation of professional education courses. It then goes on to explore service users’ understandings of mental and emotional distress and the development of Mad Studies, which, at first sight, may appear incompatible with professional education courses. Discussion then turns to the development and trial of a living experience learning resource, which portrays the first author’s knowledge and understanding of having voices. The article concludes by arguing for the inclusion of Mad Studies knowledges in professional education classrooms.Points of interest This article discusses including mental health service users’ experiences and knowledges in professional education classrooms. The article discusses service users’ own understandings of mental and emotional distress and the international development of Mad Studies–the cooperative study of mental health service users’ experiential knowledges. The article also describes how we produced a learning resource (video film) which portrays the first author’s understanding of having or hearing voices. The learning resource was used in research with seven first-year social work students and we found that the students’ understandings of mental illness changed after viewing the resource. Mad Studies offers mental health service users hope and the possibility of change. It is therefore important that Mad Studies knowledges are included in professional education

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Not for me without me: co-designing assistive technology with people affected by dementia

Dementia is a degenerative disease of the brain that impairs an individual?s memory, language, mood, and logic. With the number of people living with dementia expected to double every twenty years, increasing strain has been placed on care facilities to provide better care. Designers are providing new and exciting products to help improve the lives of people with dementia. However, there is a deficiency of collaboration between designers and people affected by dementia in the design process, due to the symptoms of dementia. To address this problem, this study explored the feasibility of co-design with people affected by dementia. Six co-design workshops were designed and conducted with a small group of people affected by dementia and a member of their family. Qualitative data was analysed from the process to recruit partners, create a dementia friendly toolkit, and facilitate co-design workshops and user tests with people affected by dementia. The resulting data helped identify what people with dementia value, give evidence to suggest that people with dementia are able to contribute to the design process, and suggests that co-design can be an empowering and positive experience for people living with dementia

Not for me without me: co-designing assistive technology with people affected by dementia

Dementia is a degenerative disease of the brain that impairs an individual?s memory, language, mood, and logic. With the number of people living with dementia expected to double every twenty years, increasing strain has been placed on care facilities to provide better care. Designers are providing new and exciting products to help improve the lives of people with dementia. However, there is a deficiency of collaboration between designers and people affected by dementia in the design process, due to the symptoms of dementia. To address this problem, this study explored the feasibility of co-design with people affected by dementia. Six co-design workshops were designed and conducted with a small group of people affected by dementia and a member of their family. Qualitative data was analysed from the process to recruit partners, create a dementia friendly toolkit, and facilitate co-design workshops and user tests with people affected by dementia. The resulting data helped identify what people with dementia value, give evidence to suggest that people with dementia are able to contribute to the design process, and suggests that co-design can be an empowering and positive experience for people living with dementia

Is there a place in social work education for men who use intimate partner violence? An evolving collaborative inquiry

The research described in this thesis provides an exploration of power and knowledge in social work education, with a focus on service user involvement in social work education by groups with complex issues. The inclusion of service users in social work education can offer opportunities to rebalance power between academics, students, and service users. Yet there is a lack of inclusion of service users in social work higher education (Askheim, Beresford, & Heule, 2017). Service users who live with complex issues have a lower likelihood of inclusion despite evidence they may make important contributions to student understanding about complex social issues (Raikes & Balen, 2016). My research explored if there is a place and space in social work education for one service user group with complex issues, men who use intimate partner violence (IPV). The epistemology that framed my research was feminism, social constructionism, and critical realism. Within this frame I designed a qualitative research project using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology with four action research cycles. In the first stage of this cyclical research process, I used questionnaires and focus groups to explore the perspectives of higher education staff, social work students and men who use IPV regarding service user involvement in social work education. For the second and third stages, I initiated two collaborative inquiries (CI) with groups of men who use IPV as co-researchers, where men who use IPV discussed their experiences of domestic violence services and then developed a learning resource for social work students. For the final stage, social work students participated in focus groups where they viewed the learning resource, providing feedback through questionnaires and group discussion. The research findings suggest there are few policy-based or person-based barriers to service user involvement in social work education. The findings also suggest service users with complex issues and students can successfully engage the other using mediated approaches. Men who use IPV identified positive outcomes of service user involvement. These included the use of peer affirmations, increased responsibility-taking, and ongoing commitment to being involved in the education of social work students. Students reported decreased stigmatisation of men who use IPV, increased likelihood to use co-production approaches and an increased willingness to work alongside groups with complex issues in practicums and practice environments. This thesis highlights the challenges and complexity that can arise when service users with complex issues are engaged in service user involvement in social work education. It also identifies this challenge as offering opportunities for the radicalisation of knowledges in higher education. As a contribution to fostering service user involvement, the thesis closes by proposing a new methodological approach to service user involvement in social work education, Evolving Collaborative Inquiry (ECI). ECI offers opportunities to create knowledge exchange between social work students, service user groups with complex issues and social work academics. By engaging with complexity, social work academics may build new knowledge for social work education, practice, and research