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Giving homelessness a home in social work, education, training & practice

Giving homelessness a home in social work, education, training & practice

By Gerry Skelton It has been a personal and professional contention for most of my social work career (as practitioner and lecturer) that homelessness has been something of a taboo in social work education, training and practice. Homelessness is an increasing problem, with an average of 18-19.000 households presenting as homeless annually in Northern Ireland and almost doubling in this millennium. So much of what causes or results from homelessness is obviously rooted in what is surely the general reason d’être of social work and what it seeks to alleviate. This includes interpersonal violence, abuse, relationship breakdown, mental illness, self-harm, addiction and leaving care. Unfortunately more often than not, any focus on homelessness is generally subsumed in academia within the…
Dr Neil Thompson
April 5, 2018
Workplace wellbeing: Our impact so far

Workplace wellbeing: Our impact so far

In 2015, we (British Psychological Society) issued our Call to Action and Briefing Paper on Work Capability Assessment Reform. This was the start of a prolonged campaign to push for end to end reform and better use of psychological evidence to develop appropriate assessments and training for job coaches, as well as greater recognition that returning to work or gaining employment is not always an appropriate end goal for individuals with mental health conditions and disabilities.Clearly a one size fits all approach is not fit for purpose. This also resulted in a considerable amount of joint activity with the other main psychological therapy organisations (the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, the UK Council for Psychotherapists, and the British Association for Behavioural…
Dr Neil Thompson
April 5, 2018
The barber helping men with dementia

The barber helping men with dementia

Lenny takes his pop-up barbershop to dementia care homes, providing a much-needed service to the men who live there. But Lenny does more than cut their hair: he unlocks their emotional memories by recreating the barbershop experience of their youth, with Dean Martin on the jukebox and a spray of lemon cologne in the air. "He doesn't rush you and he makes you feel so at home," says Sidney, 92. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
April 5, 2018
Underpaid disability claimants to receive up to £20,000

Underpaid disability claimants to receive up to £20,000

Tens of thousands of severely disabled and ill claimants are set to receive backdated payments of up to £20,000 after being wrongly underpaid for years by social security officials, the government spending watchdog has revealed. An estimated 70,000 claimants were underpaid about £340m between 2011 and 2014 after being transferred from older benefits on to employment and support allowance (ESA) during a government overhaul of incapacity benefits, the National Audit Office (NAO) said. The error occurred when officials at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to follow their own legal guidelines governing the transfer process, meaning that in many cases they failed to properly check claimants’ full entitlements. Click here to read more  
Dr Neil Thompson
April 5, 2018
Now available! The Social Worker’s Practice Manual

Now available! The Social Worker’s Practice Manual

Now available! The Social Worker’s Practice Manual. Neil’s latest publication is not a textbook; it is a hands-on manual that distils his decades of experience in social work. Click here to order your copy now! Are you a social worker who uses Facebook? If so, why not join Neil’s Social Work Focus group? A group for discussion, support, learning and sharing. Just click here.
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Don’t let fear of failure hold you back

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Don’t let fear of failure hold you back

Fear of failure is a very powerful emotion that can do a lot of harm. It can prevent people from trying new things and therefore lead to them missing out on some potentially enriching and empowering experiences. In the same way that you can’t win a raffle if you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t benefit from an experience if you deny yourself the opportunity to have it. As is often the case in life, a vicious circle can easily arise: I am not confident enough to get involved in a particular activity because I am afraid that I will fail. I limit my opportunities for learning and development. I may feel I am letting myself down for not getting…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018
How HR can combat workplace loneliness

How HR can combat workplace loneliness

We live in the most technologically-connected age, yet the rates of loneliness continue to rise, according to Marcela Slepica, Director of Clinical Services at AccessEAP. “Chronic loneliness has a negative impact on both physical and mental health and this epidemic is hurting wellbeing and workplace performance,” said Slepica. “Chronic exhaustion, burnout and an unsupportive workplace culture are some of the common causes of loneliness in the workplace so it’s important that workplaces are doing what they can to combat these issues.” Indeed, a recent Australian survey found that 60 per cent of respondents often felt lonely and more than 80 per cent believing that the feeling of loneliness is on the increase in our society. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018
I volunteer to help vulnerable people the jobcentre lets down

I volunteer to help vulnerable people the jobcentre lets down

I’ll never forget the day myself and a team of volunteers decided to stand outside Ashton Under Lyne jobcentre on a weekly basis.It was 2014. My daughter, who was 19 at the time and heavily pregnant, had just attended her weekly appointment at the jobcentre. Her advisor sanctioned her for three years for attending a workfare appointment and telling the interviewer she was expecting a baby. In the week that followed, we encountered a further three pregnant women who left the jobcentre distraught because they too had been sanctioned for various reasons. Click here to read more  
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018
The best way to help is often just to listen

The best way to help is often just to listen

A 24-hour helpline in the UK known as Samaritans helped Sophie Andrews become a survivor of abuse rather than a victim. Now she's paying the favour back as the founder of The Silver Line, a helpline that supports lonely and isolated older people. In a powerful, personal talk, she shares why the simple act of listening (instead of giving advice) is often the best way to help someone in need. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018
How a terminally ill man is leading the fight against inhumane universal credit

How a terminally ill man is leading the fight against inhumane universal credit

A terminally ill man is set to take on the government – and with it, the disastrous universal credit (UC) policy. Known only as TP, a 52-year-old ex-City worker – who has non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the lymph node condition Castleman disease – is launching a landmark challenge at the high court after becoming financially worse off under the new benefit system. This couldn’t come sooner. In October, I warned of the hidden cut within UC for disabled people: thanks to the abolition of both the severe disability premium (SDP) and enhanced disability premium (EDP). As a result, according to the disability charity Scope, the move to UC will see claimants lose as much as £395 a month. The outcome of the legal challenge could…
Dr Neil Thompson
March 22, 2018