October 2008 - Fighting Monsters

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The Eve of All Hallow’s Day

31st October. In my day, it was different. Now I really do feel old - but more of that later! We didn’t do much at home. It is a pagan festival and was considered somewhat sacriligious and although I didn’t grow up in a particularly religious...

Published 31 Oct 2008 5:13 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: all hallow's day, bonfire night, Guy Fawkes Night, Halloween, Holidays, Mischief night, mizzy night, personal, Trick or Treat, uk
Moving Day

Today is moving day. Although I have barely started the handover of case work, the actual physical move from one office to another is starting today. As I was in the somewhat more fortunate position than others of moving into an empty desk and not having...

Published 30 Oct 2008 4:53 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: health, local authority, mental health act 1983, mental health, moving, office, social work, work
Assessment for Guardianship

I mentioned a Guardianship application I had in the works a few weeks ago. Nothing happens quickly around here at the moment with changes in the teams being imminent and what with trying to co-ordinate attendees, I finally managed the Guardianship application...

Published 28 Oct 2008 6:23 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: assessment, ASW, elderly, Guardianship, health, long-term care, mental health act 1983, Mental disorder, mental health, mental health act, social care, social work, social work assessment, work
Elderspeak

I admit, I had no idea what ‘Elderspeak’ term meant until I read this article in the Telegraph. Apparently it is defined by researchers as overly caring, controlling and infantilising communication - bears many similar traits to “baby...

Published 27 Oct 2008 5:49 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Age Discrimination, ageism, babytalk, dignity, discrimination, elderly, eldertalk, health, health care, Human, Languages, Linguistics, New York Times, old age, older people, respect, social care, social issues, socialcare, work
The Interview

We are in the midst of a reconfigure. The desks are shifting at the end of this week. We are (well, those affected anyway) handing over people we have been working with. In one of those funny twists of fate that I partly attract but for which I can’t...

Published 27 Oct 2008 5:33 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: 2005 Mental Capacity Act, change, job interview, mental health act 1983, mental capacity act, mental health, mental health act, social care, social work, socialcare, temp, work
Five a day

We are advised to eat five portions of fruit and/or vegetables a day to keep healthy. Good sound advice. mjorge at Flickr The Times reports today on a different kind of five-a-day target that relates more specifically to mental health. The advised steps...

Published 25 Oct 2008 7:09 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: advice, Britain, debt and mental health, fruit, good mental health, health, howto, Mental disorder, mental health, positive mental health, recession, United Kingdom, work
Leading Horses to Water

I was going to make a post specifically about Mr P but I never got around to it. He is an elderly man with depression. He lives alone in one of the ‘nicer’ ends of the patch that I cover. His flat though, is one of the worse I’ve seen...

Published 24 Oct 2008 6:07 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: assured shorthold tenancy, depression, elderly, house, housing, Landlord, local authority, london, old age, older, older people, Property, regulated tenancy, sheltered housing, social care, social issues, social work, uk, work
Finding places

I was on the ward yesterday, chatting to the wife of one of the patients with whom I am currently working. It’s a difficult point for her. Her husband, Mr P, has a fairly advanced dementia. He was admitted to hospital after displaying increasingly...

Published 23 Oct 2008 6:00 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: elderly, family, health, hospital, house, local authority, long-term care, Marriage, nursing, nursing home, old age, older people, psychiatric hospital, residential placement, social care, social work, work
Changes

The Guardian are publishing a supplement on both recent and proposed changes within the social care sector to coincide with the opening of the National Children’s and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool. Not having seen a printed copy of the...

Published 22 Oct 2008 5:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: carer support, carers, health, Independent living, individualised budgets, informal care, John Evans, local authority, local government, london, long-term care, national children's and adult services conference, newspaper, older people, personalisation, social care, social issues, social services, social work, social worker, the guardian, uk, United Kingdom, work
Training

It’s a fairly busy month in the Mental Health teams with the impeding (3rd November) changes in the Mental Health legislation in England and Wales. Having attended my ASW (Approved Social Worker) to AMHP (Approved Mental Health Professional) conversion...

Published 21 Oct 2008 6:39 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: approved mental health professional, approved social worker, care services improvement partnership, csip, England, England and Wales, health, mental health act 1983, mental health, mental health act 2007 amendments, mental health legislation, social care, social work, training, uk mental health, work
Sick Days

I have been off work sick this year more than any other year in my working life. I am currently up to six days this year. Four of those days were in a block a couple of weeks back. Usually sickness makes me feel guilty. I think of the work piling up....

Published 20 Oct 2008 6:23 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: depression, Employment, health, Illness, mental health, mental illness, Shaw Trust, sick day, stigma, stigma at work, stress, time off work sick, work
Voting for a President

If you’re feeling a bit left out on the election stakes, there’s a site called If the world could vote? where you, too, can cast a vote in the US Presidential Elections from outside the US. I heard about the site on the BBC but can’t...

Published 17 Oct 2008 6:41 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Barack Obama, BBC, Burkina Faso, election, government, John McCain, Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia, social issues, vote, world voting
Bolstering Adult Protection

Adult protection legislation and investigations have always had fewer teeth than the equivalent in children’s services. This is something that has niggled me for all the years that I have been responsible for conducting Adult Protection (now called...

Published 16 Oct 2008 6:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: abuse by children, adult protection, Bank, Bank account, cash, changing in adult protection, elderly, financial abuse, Financial services, Financial Services Authority, government, local authority, money, old age, older people, safeguarding adults, social care, social issues, social services, social work, uk, work
Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008

Today is Blog Action Day when it is hoped that a collective conscience can be turned towards one subject - Poverty. I thought about a brief dabble into the different thoughts it conjures up for me, personally. I could talk about personal experiences because...

Published 15 Oct 2008 6:35 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: benefits, blog action day, deprivation, icd-10, inflation, joseph rowntree foundation, old age, oxfam, personal, politics, poverty, Save the Children, social care, social exclusion, social issues, social work, uk, Unicef, United Kingdom, world health organisation
No roads in the City of London

I went to visit a man yesterday, who worked for Royal Mail for most of his working life. He lives in a high-rise in the centre of the city on his own. He had been married many years but his wife died just a couple of years back - about the same time his...

Published 14 Oct 2008 5:56 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: City of London, England, Google, london, no roads in london, older people, roads in london, Royal Mail, social work, travel, Travel and Tourism, United Kingdom, work
Healthcare for Asylum Seekers

I read in The Guardian yesterday that the government is to abolish her plans to tighten regulations that allow asylum seekers to seek free primary care. To be honest, I was horrified when I heard it had been proposed at all. What kind of society are we...

Published 13 Oct 2008 6:55 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: asylum seeker, BMA, British Medical Association, doctor, England, failed asylum seeker, free nhs health care, General practitioner, health, health care, immigration, National Health Service, nhs, Refugee, social issues, social work, uk, work
On Inspection

The Commission for Social Care Inspection have a system of rating residential and nursing homes. I have written about it before. I possibly didn’t state obliquely how cynical I have become of this system even though the cynicism was always there...

Published 11 Oct 2008 5:06 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Care of residents, cmht, Commission for Social Care Inspection, cpn, csci, elderly, England, health, Inspection, inspections by csci, local authority, long-term care, nursing home, older people, registered residential home, residential home, social care, social work, uk, work
World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day with a focus on promoting positive mental health. Wellbeing in the East of England (perhaps not the catchiest of monikers.. ) have produced a series of short films that have been put out on television in.. yes, you guessed...

Published 10 Oct 2008 6:12 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: Battersea Park, health, Institute of Psychiatry, mental health, Mental Health Foundation, Mind, positive mental health, social care, social issues, uk, work, World Mental Health Day
Revisiting

I have been in my current team for a couple of years. I worked in the same local authority before that though for about three years. The geographical boundaries of the areas that I work in don’t strictly overlap so I haven’t had it happen...

Published 8 Oct 2008 6:15 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: approved social worker, ASW, elderly, health, hospital, mental health act 1983, Mental disorder, mental health, old age, older people, psychiatric hospital, sectioned, social care, social work, vascular dementia, work
Dangerous Hamsters

Not related to work I know, but I read this story in the Guardian today which warns about dangers that exotic pets pose to children’s health. About 11% of salmonella illnesses in children are thought to stem from contact with lizards, turtles and...

Published 7 Oct 2008 6:39 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: children, dangerous animals, Exotic pet, hamsters, health, health dangers to children, pet, work
Men Needed

Perhaps it is unsurprising to learn that the majority of people who work in ’social care’ are women. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a report last week explaining why it was necessary for the sector to reach out and attract more men...

Published 6 Oct 2008 6:15 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: care, caregivers, discrimination, equality, Joseph Rowntree, joseph rowntree foundation, Labour, local authority, long-term care, male care workers, men, Minimum wage, pay, politics, social care, social exclusion, social issues, social work, United Kingdom, Welfare, working conditions
Quick Update

I’m sick. Not just the ’sick enough to be off work’ but the sick so I need to physically lie down and sitting in front of the computer gets to be painful! Nothing serious but just in case the updates are a little less frequent and the...

Published 3 Oct 2008 8:51 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: work
A change is as good as a rest

I am moving to a different team shortly. I have mentioned it before but there were no times set in stone - so much needed to be done and organised before we could ‘move ahead’. dominiccampbell at flickr Now the dates are set in stone and there...

Published 2 Oct 2008 6:05 AM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: change, health service, local authority, nhs, organisations, social work, work, working in organisations
A duty to die

Sarah Wootton wrote a piece in the Guardian, a few days ago, considering Baroness Warnock’s comments in the Church of Scotland’s magazine, Life and Work, in which she stated that dementia suffers may have ‘a duty to die’. Uproar...

Published 1 Oct 2008 5:45 PM by Fighting Monsters

Filed under: alzheimers, Baroness Warnock, elderly, Euthanasia, health, Lady Warnock, mary warnock, National Health Service, OAP, old age, older people, power of attorney, right to die, sarah wootton, social care, social issues, social work, work

October 2008 - Fighting Monsters

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives

The Eve of All Hallow’s Day

Moving Day

Assessment for Guardianship

Elderspeak

The Interview

Five a day

Leading Horses to Water

Finding places

Changes

Training

Sick Days

Voting for a President

Bolstering Adult Protection

Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008

No roads in the City of London

Healthcare for Asylum Seekers

On Inspection

World Mental Health Day

Revisiting

Dangerous Hamsters

Men Needed

Quick Update

A change is as good as a rest

A duty to die