The Latest Bulletin

July 19, 2022

Prioritizing employee wellness: How to foster employee health and well-being at work

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that health and well-being should be at the forefront of our personal and working lives. Researchers define well-being as a positive state in life where an individual experiences physical, mental, and social zeal (Roscoe, 2009). This definition includes not only the absence of illness but also a positive state in work and life. As researchers working on employee health and wellness, we advocate that wellness is a necessity in life, not a luxury.

Wellness may seem like an individual concern at first glance; however, researchers argue for the connection between well-being and work outcomes. Poor well-being affects individuals at work, resulting in lower productivity, more time off from work, and making more errors than normal in the workplace. It can also show itself in the form of having employees quit their jobs or needing to leave work because of poor mental health.
Connect with Neil Thompson online! For Neil's blog and more resources

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July 5, 2022

Spotlight – The Managing Stress Practice Manual

A much-needed resource in these pressurised times. Keeping pressures within manageable limits is a very demanding undertaking in these modern challenging times. This manual provides important practical guidance eon managing pressure and keeping stress at bay. Essential reading for all busy practitioners and managers.

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Ensuring every older person is treated with dignity as a unique individual

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July 5, 2022

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Focus on what motivates

When we need to make changes in our lives we can sometimes find it difficult to motivate ourselves. This is often because we tend to focus on what we need to do to achieve the desired change rather than on the change itself. For example, if you want to lose weight, focusing on eating less and/or exercising may seem like a bind, something you are reluctant to engage in. However, if you focus on weight loss and the benefits it would bring, you are far more likely to feel motivated to make the changes. This may seem simple, obvious even, but that doesn’t alter the fact that so many people continue to focus on means rather than the ends and thereby demotivate themselves. The same logic applies to not only motivating ourselves but also to helping others to motivate themselves.

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It’s all about people: visit Neil Thompson’s humansolutions website

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July 5, 2022

Reshaping work environments to promote and protect mental health

Workplaces can be places of both opportunity and risk for mental health. On the one hand, workplaces that promote good mental health and reduce work stress not only enhance mental and physical health but are also likely to reduce absenteeism, improve work performance and productivity, boost staff morale and motivation, and minimize tension and conflict between colleagues. So action to protect and promote mental health in the workplace can be cost–effective.

On the other hand, unemployment, discrimination in accessing or carrying out work, and poor working conditions can all be a source of excessive stress, heightening the risk of developing new mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones. Such negative working environments and experiences are the very opposite of what is needed for staff to do their work.

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A Career in Social Work: Part biography, part overview of social work careers

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July 5, 2022

Calls for dignity for dementia patients

Heather Lawrence was shocked at the state she found her 90-year-old mother, Violet, in when she visited her in hospital.

“The bed was soaked in urine. The continence pad between her legs was also soaked in urine, the door wide open, no underwear on. It was a mixed ward as well,” Heather says.

“I mean there were other people in there that could have been walking up and down seeing her, with the door wide open as well. My mum, she was a very proud woman, she wouldn’t have been wanted to be seen like that at all.”

Violet, who had dementia, was taken Tameside Hospital’s Stamford Unit in Greater Manchester , in May 2021, after a fall. It was there her health deteriorated as she developed an inflamed groin with a nasty rash stretching to her stomach – due to prolonged exposure to urine. She died a few weeks later.

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The Avenue Learning Centre Learning resources from Neil Thompson and colleagues

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July 5, 2022

Seth Godin’s blog – How change happens

For people who aren’t paying attention or actively involved, it can seem like cultural change is sudden. One big shift after another.

In fact, cultural change always happens relatively slowly. Person by person, conversation by conversation. Expectations are established, roles are defined, systems are built.

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The Authentic Leader A new approach to leadership in Neil’s important book.

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June 14, 2022

Spotlight – Lessons for Living

“Where there are people, there will be problems, but there will also be potential” is a key part of Neil’s work. And that is precisely what this manual is all about – equipping practitioners from various professional disciplines to help people address their problems and realise their potential. Part One provides an extended essay on the nature and significance of problem solving to lay solid foundations of understanding. Part Two then offers guidance on using 101 problem-solving tools that can be used in a wide variety of circumstances.

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A fresh look at social work theory and methods

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June 14, 2022

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Perspective taking

We get so used to seeing the world from our own point of view that it is easy to forget that how other people see it can be very different. For example, what is routine and straightforward to you can be quite scary and unsettling to someone else who does not have the experience of that type of situation that you have. So, it is important at all times to remember that other people are not inside your head with you – we need to be careful not to be ‘egocentric’ by assuming that our ‘take’ on the situation is the only way to see it. The idea of perspective taking is that of putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes as far as possible. This can come from a mixture of imagining how they might be feeling and actually checking out with them what their perspective is.

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A practical guide to supervision of students & other forms of workplace learning

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