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Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living: Avoid drift

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living: Avoid drift

Drift is the term used for when we become unfocused, when we lose sight of what we are doing or what we are trying to achieve. Ever gone upstairs and, when you get to the top of the staircase, you have no idea why you went upstairs; your mind is blank? That’s drift. Ever been on the way to a meeting, got distracted then found yourself wondering where it was you were going? That’s drift. But there are more serious versions of drift. For example, an important meeting can get bogged down in detail and lose track of what was supposed to be discussed. A worker can lose sight of what they are trying to achieve or what their role…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 23, 2017
How poverty affects people’s decision-making processes

How poverty affects people’s decision-making processes

As poverty continues to be a feature of the social and economic landscape in the United Kingdom, attention is turning towards the potentially damaging role played by individual decisions made in low-income contexts. This report summarises the most recent evidence on the relationship between socioeconomic status and the psychological, social and cultural processes that underpin decision-making, it highlights: the results of 15 systematic reviews of recent evidence on the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychological, social and cultural processes underpinning decision-making; insights on the impact of poverty on thinking, behaviour patterns, facing challenges and engaging with the social world; a discussion of what these relationships mean for decision-making by those living in or near poverty; how decision-making in contexts of…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 23, 2017
No-one should be denied human rights – scrap the DoLS

No-one should be denied human rights – scrap the DoLS

The Law Commission is a statutory, independent body set up to reform the law. We want to ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple and cost-effective as possible. Three years ago, the Department of Health came to us with a problem. A few months before, a Supreme Court decision called Cheshire West had had a massive impact on what is called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Sometimes people with conditions like dementia or learning disabilities need to be confined or made subject to restrictions in a place like a care home when it is in their best interests. For example, a person with dementia may be kept in their care home to prevent them from wandering off,…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 23, 2017
Wrexham’s prison opens – A life changing oppportunity?

Wrexham’s prison opens – A life changing oppportunity?

This is our full film on the opening of Wrexham’s Prison, HMP Berwyn, explaining how things are being done differently locally. With the prison opening, many have voiced a range of opinions over the balance of retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. In forthcoming legislation (the Prisons and Courts bill) rehabilitation is for the first time enshrined in law: “…a key purpose of prison is to reform and rehabilitate offenders, as well as punish them for the crimes they have committed.” We asked a range of questions, from how Governor Russ Trent feels about being in charge of the biggest and newest prison in the UK, about using certain language such as rooms not cells, and even about security around New…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 23, 2017
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Be clear about what you value

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Be clear about what you value

People who suffer from depression often feel as though nothing matters any more. It is as if life has become so difficult or painful that they just want to be cut off from it. And yet, ironically, it is generally because something we value – something that is really important to us – has been offended, undermined or even destroyed that people become depressed. This raises important issues about what we value, about what really matters to us. Values are often seen as abstract, and therefore disconnected from real life to a certain extent. However, seeing values that way is a big mistake, a very big mistake ... Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
March 9, 2017
Social Work in 42 Objects (and more)

Social Work in 42 Objects (and more)

Can the story of social work be told through Objects? Might a collection of objects be more illuminating than a formal text book or a dry definition?  In this engaging, photographic book, Mark Doel curates a collection of 127 objects contributed by people from around the globe to evoke a sense of social work - past, present and future. Written as a Guide to an Exhibition of Social Work, this is the ideal book to introduce social work to newcomers, and to entertain those with long experience of the profession. The objects are presented by a diverse group of people with different perspectives on social work, but with a common imagination. The objects in this book are a gift to social…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 9, 2017
NHS tasks are creeping into social care without funding or legal clarity

NHS tasks are creeping into social care without funding or legal clarity

Discussions around what constitutes NHS healthcare and what constitutes social care can be traced back to the original post-war legislation that separated responsibilities for health (the NHS Act 1946) and (the National Assistance Act 1948). This statutory separation has been maintained ever since and in many ways it is artificial and not helpful to the person in need of care. Integration is regarded as the way forward. However, as we rush to align, co-locate or integrate, local authorities need to consider the issue of administration of medication by social care staff in the context of local authority-commissioned care for people in their own homes... Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
March 9, 2017