Humansolutions Bulletin - November 8th 2018

Neil Thompson is a highly respected writer and developer of online learning resources, with over 40 years' experience in the people professions. His titles are firm favourites on the Red Globe Press Social Work list: from the popular guide to reflective practice (co-authored with Sue Thompson) The Critically Reflective Practitioner, to specific explorations of complex ethical issues within the field of Social Work, such as Promoting Equality, Social Problems and Social Justice, and Anti-Discriminatory Practice. To celebrate 25 years of Neil Thompson's publishing on the Red Globe Press Social Work list, they are offering 25% off all his titles when you use code THOMPSON25 at the checkout. Click here to browse the range of titles and place an order

As human beings we are very effective information processors. Our senses are exposed to a huge amount of data every minute we are awake. If you don’t believe me, just look around the room that you are in. Look at the colours, the shapes, the textures. Add to that what you can hear, what you can smell and what you can touch. And, of course, the raw data is just the surface – we also need to look below that surface to take account of the meanings we attach to each of those bits of sense data (and how those bits fit together to make a coherent whole). So, on a daily basis we are processing and filtering a huge…

We're drowning in email. And the many hours we spend on it are generating ever more work for our friends and colleagues. We can reverse this spiral only by mutual agreement. Hence this Email Charter ... Click here to read more  

When somebody becomes terminally ill and begins to approach the end of their life, they are likely to need various forms of care and help. They may also have aspirations and hopes for the time they have left. It can be a traumatic, challenging and complex time, but equally some people say they experience moments of great joy, often by being able to make the most of the time they have left. To enable someone to live as well as possible for as long as possible they will need help with the relief of their physical symptoms and pain, but also support with emotional and spiritual needs. This will help them plan and give them the best chance of realising…

Mental wellbeing at work is now top of the HR agenda in many private and public organisations, with the Office of National Statistics highlighting that stress, anxiety and depression is costing the UK economy 15.2 million sick days, with presenteeism (workers turning up to work ill or job dissatisfied but contributing little-added value in terms of their performance) estimated as twice as costly as absenteeism. The OECD calculated that mental ill health costs the UK economy £70 billion per year, equivalent to 4.5% of GDP. These health and economic costs, together with the UK seventh in the G7 and 17th in the G20 countries in productivity per capita, make a clear human and financial case for businesses doing something about mental…

Why? It’s a question all of us should ask ourselves. Why do we do what we do? In particular, why do we do the work that, for many of us, occupies most of our waking hours for our entire adult lives? Ralph Waldo Emerson left us a quote worthy of one of those inspirational wall posters: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” That thought may feel warm and fuzzy, but the question remains: Why do we do the work we do? Click here to read more