The Latest Bulletin

It can feel like there’s little to be grateful for these days. Many of us are stressed about our health, our finances, and our jobs and these worries can create a vicious downward spiral, impacting our physical and mental health, hurting our performance at work, and straining our relationships. When we lose sight of the positive and focus on the negative, we’re more likely treat our colleagues poorly; we might insult them, talk about them behind their backs, and ignore or exclude them. These uncivil behaviors are a widespread and expensive problem for organizations. Unfortunately, research offers few practical solutions to reduce mistreatment in organizations and most of those that do exist are pricey, time-consuming, and have shown limited effectiveness.…

National bereavement charity Sue Ryder and a coalition of MPs, charities, businesses, faith leaders and healthcare professionals are calling on the Government to introduce a minimum of two weeks statutory paid bereavement leave for all UK employees grieving the loss of a close relative or partner. Currently, in the UK there is no legal requirement for employers to grant bereavement leave, except for parents who have lost a child under 18 years old. It is otherwise entirely at the employer’s discretion. Research conducted in October found that in the past 12 months, 7.9 million people in employment (24% of all employees (1)) experienced a bereavement. Economic research conducted by Sue Ryder has found that grief experienced by employees who have…

The Government has published promising new proposals to change mental health law in England and Wales which could result in fewer autistic people being wrongly sent to mental health hospitals. This is a huge step forward. We and hundreds of thousands of campaigners have been calling for changes to mental health law for years, so it respects autistic people’s rights. At the moment, it allows people to be sectioned because they’re autistic – even though autism isn’t a mental health problem. The proposals will change this in some really important ways. Click here to read more

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Values are at the heart of best practice. This important manual offers a successful blend of theoretical understanding with very helpful practice guidance to enable readers to make sense of the complex but vitally important issues. This is an ideal resource for anyone involved in types of work where success depends on effective engagement with people. Available for purchase here or here

There are some obvious signs of aggression and potential violence, such as reddening of the face, threatening gestures and so on. However, it is important to realize that there are many other, more subtle clues that can alert us to the potential for aggression and violence. In situations where we anticipate someone may become aggressive (where we have to deny their request, for example), we need to be using our nonverbal communication skills and watching carefully for signs that tension is growing. There is often an escalation. For example, it may start with something quite minor and normally imperceptible (drumming of fingers, moving about uneasily in their seat and so on). There are things we can do to minimize the…

The Open University’s free learning site, OpenLearn has launched a new hub page to offer fresh perspectives on race, racism and ethnicity. The Race and Ethnicity Hub will host existing and new content, including articles, videos, audio recordings and courses, which draw on expertise from across the OU’s core faculty areas. With support from the OU’s academic community and Black and Minority Ethnic Network, the hub will be constantly evolving and growing with new content being added regularly. It’s hoped that it will be a ‘living’ page, which will offer insight, thought-leadership and up-to-date reactions to current affairs and the wider world. Click here to read more  

BCN promotes care issues by engaging with a wide range of influential actors at the national, regional and international level. This includes convening conferences and workshops to share learning on issues such as strengthening national care systems, improving family-based care and collecting evidence on children’s care situations. BCN also collaborates with other international and national organizations to advocate for the inclusion of children’s care and protection within international policy frameworks such as United Nations’ resolutions on children’s rights, and the Post-2015 Development Framework. Click here to read more

Employees who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth are more likely to quit their jobs and suffer from impaired work performance. Pregnancy loss is not just a personal issue, but a workplace issue. With recent celebrity disclosures of pregnancy loss making headlines, including Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s opinion piece in the New York Times announcing her miscarriage, more women are taking to social media to share similar stories of pain and disclosure. Their shared experiences underscore the reality that one in four pregnancies ends in loss. Miscarriage and stillbirth (pregnancy loss before and after 20 weeks, respectively) are remarkably common and can have pervasive impacts on work and life. Click here to read more

Facebook page Facebook Social Work Focus group LinkedIn Twitter YouTube channel Neil’s website The humansolutions website