Fighting Monsters

April 2008 - Posts

• The Last of the (New) ASWs…

  I finished my portfolio for my ASW course yesterday. It’s the last time the ASW course will run because the next lot in the autumn will be doing the AMHP training. And it got me thinking a little bit… Naturally we spoke a little about the... Posted Apr 30 2008, 04:46 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social work, work, ASW, mental health

• Money matters

  New technology is a wonderful thing. Most of the time. Chip and pin? A fantastic way to improve security for bank cards and accounts. Giros always went missing anyway, much better the ‘direct payment’ with benefits going straight into bank... Posted Apr 29 2008, 10:24 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social issues, older people, socialwork, finance, socialcare

• Who is watching?

  I see that the Alzheimer’s Society having published a book called ‘Enabling’ which provides models for observation in residential care facilities in order to improve care, as there was an article about it in Care and Health. I think... Posted Apr 29 2008, 06:16 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: residential care, social care, social work, social issues, older people, dementia

• Care or Control?

  I spotted this story on the BBC today which reported that anti-psychotic drugs are being used, perhaps too much, perhaps inappropriately, in residential and nursing care homes for residents with dementia. This is an area that is fairly close to my heart... Posted Apr 28 2008, 04:18 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: residential care, social care, work, medication

• Angels and Demons

  I went to a friend’s birthday party and as a part of the general conversation, was discussing the differences of perceptions in the eyes of the general public at least, between nurses and social workers. You can probably guess which are the angels... Posted Apr 28 2008, 12:45 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social care, social work, work, nursing

• Who pays for care?

  Paying for long term care might not be the sexiest issue to be raised in political circles but, probably because it’s something that I deal with on a daily basis at work, it is nonetheless a key one. I think it’s easy for politicians to say... Posted Apr 26 2008, 01:57 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social care, work

• Tragedy and Responsibility

  This tragic story about a man with learning disabilities and his mother who were both found dead left me with a couple of thoughts. Obviously it is an enormous tragedy and apart from speculation there are few facts available. My thought though was on... Posted Apr 25 2008, 07:17 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social care, carers, learning disabilities

• The curse is better than the cure

  One of the things that was emphasised strongly on the course, is that someone should never be sectioned because they ‘refused to take medication’. That just isn’t a reason. It seemed to be almost natural to comment on that in the assessment... Posted Apr 22 2008, 09:31 PM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: work, medication, side-effects, ASW

• Asylum

  It’s interesting that the meaning of Asylum as a place of safety is often lost amid political footballing of the term, backwards and forwards. I was trying to read through some work-related articles to get some more information for my current work... Posted Apr 22 2008, 08:24 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: social care, social issues, immigration, asylum

• And on and on..

  Moving into the final stretch now and I’m wavering between feeling fairly confident and feeling completely incapable of finishing off the work. I think I’ve got things in hand more or less - but then I worry about the pieces that I haven’t... Posted Apr 18 2008, 09:11 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: work, ASW, training, asw course, study

• To the end..

  Yesterday was the last day of the ASW course - well, the last ‘official’ day. It was funny but I spoke more to some of the people and on a more ‘real’ level than I had during the last few months! Anyway, the Presentation went OK... Posted Apr 17 2008, 07:48 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: work, ASW

• Eastenders!

  Community Care’s Social Work Blog discusses the throwback of the Bianca Jackson storyline in Eastenders, where her children were put into care by Social Services because she was homeless (due to non-payment of rent). Honestly, I was annoyed when... Posted Apr 16 2008, 05:39 AM by Fighting Monsters Filed under: Uncategorized