Creating a comprehensive, easy to use online problem-solving toolkit for people in the caring professions

1. “Give us the Tools and We’ll Finish the Job”
Creating a comprehensive, easy to use online problem-solving toolkit for people in the caring professions
References
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Image Credits
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prisonbars.PNG
http://de.forwallpaper.com/wallpaper/panorama-purple-
sunsets-365991.html
http://clipart-library.com/clipart/457663.htm
Description of the website
The project uses a website that guides users
through the process of helping by asking simple
‘yes/no’ questions. Depending on the answers,
users will be guided to another question or a
task.
The site provides practical tools and the
theoretical models on which the tools are based
so that users can be assured that they are using
good practice.
Conclusions
Although this model is primarily focused on
social work, it is not limited to that. As a
Networked Practitioner, there is a commitment
to ‘practice what we preach’, and focus on the
sharing of tools to solve problems and create a
better society.
The new technological tools that have been vital
to the development of this tool create new
opportunities and new threats to society. They
disrupt the traditional ways of doing things and
create a demand for new ways of doing things.
This model and this presentation are therefore
part of a wider social trend, from a reliance on
experts and technical fixes to one of smaller,
more personalised and more values led approach
to personal and social change. Whilst there is no
guarantee that this will succeed, this model
offers us a toolkit to create a better way to help
people solve problems.
What’s the Point?
Social work is a profession that is rooted deeply
in a values base. Its stated aim is to bring about
change that will enhance well-being, and in its
broadest sense it aims to promote social justice
(IFSW, 2014). Despite this, there is a crisis in the
profession.
Many social workers feel deeply unhappy in their
work, (Community Care, 2014) and a number of
organisations have identified retention as a
major problem for the profession (BASW, 2011,
DoH, 2014). Social workers go into the profession
with the desire to make a difference, and then
leave when they find that their capacity to do
that is severely limited.
This raises a key question as to why this should
be the case.
The Problem With Social Work
The harsh reality for social work is that it is a
profession without a clear identity. Most people
will be able to identify what a nurse or a teacher
does, but have little understanding of what a
social worker does (Arkley and Jones, 2014,
p218).
Social work has struggled to develop a unifying
set of knowledge or skills that mark it out as
separate from other ‘helping professions’, and it
is about to have its third professional regulator in
a little over a decade (ParliamentUK, 2016).
The net effect of this is to leave social workers
feeling under attack from many sides with little
sense of certainty about their role or purpose.
This is a situation that benefits no-one, not the
social workers, those they work with, the
services who employ them, or the tax-payers
who fund them.
In 1992 Webb raised concerns about the failure
of social work education and training to provide
practitioners with “the excitement of excellence”
(p 182), relying instead on an ever changing a
surface-level focus on measurable competences
or capabilities.
In 2006, Koprowska posed the question, “Has
social work outsourced its heart?” (p126) This
question comes from an analysis of social work
as being rooted in the desire to help people, but
being increasingly driven to focus more on
administering systems, not impacting on people’s
lives.
This trend has only continued as social work
struggles to find a place in a time of austerity.
The result is a profession in crisis needing new
models that can restore professional pride.
That is the focus of this presentation.
A Vision of Social Work
The global definition provides a solid start point
for a vision for social work. It recognises that
many people face “life challenges” which
diminish their well-being, and that the reasons
for this are complex and multi-factorial. Social
work aims to work with people in these
situations and co-create social just ways to
overcome these challenges and enhance well-
being (IFSW, 2014).
As has been stated, many social workers believe
in this, but are in need of practical strategies to
achieve this. There is a need for a practical vision
for social work.
What this presentation aims to do is to introduce
a powerful, flexible, and yet simple approach to
working with people to help them solve their
problems. The belief is that once social workers
are equipped with such an approach, and the
necessary tools to get it to work, then it can form
an identity that will support social workers in
staying in and developing excellence in their
profession.
Building Bridges
from current
realities to
preferred futures
The Art and Science of
Problem Solving
Reclaiming Problem-Solving
Whilst many books exist on social work theories
and models, Problem-solving remains curiously
under-explored. This presentation will put
forward a case for reclaiming problem-solving as
powerful unifying model for social work. This
model is one that provides clear yet flexible
guidance on how to help someone work through
a process of problem-solving.
Overview of the Model
The proposed model of problem-solving uses a
series of simple yes/no questions to guide a
worker through the process of helping someone
find a solution to their problems. Each answer
will lead to either another question or a task.
The process flows from relationship building, to
problem exploration, to solution generation, to
evaluation and refinement of solutions, to
closure.
Despite the focus on simplicity the process itself
can be challenging and cyclical when used in
practice. The yes/no questions require great skill,
personal integrity, and self-awareness to answer
well. The tasks may need to be done repeatedly
before the person reaches a solution to their
problems.
The video below provides more details of the
model itself.
Applicability and ‘Stickability’
Providing a model does not guarantee that
anyone will be able to apply it. Models may make
sense in the abstract, and yet struggle when
tested in the world of everyday social work
practice.
In the same way, training people in individual
techniques may give them useful tools, but these
tools decay if not applied. Much training is of
limited usefulness as the learning does not ‘stick’
unless it can be fully integrated into practice.
(Clarke, 2013) This approach aims to address that
by having a twin-track approach, a simple model
that the worker can return to, and a practical set
of tools with build on the worker’s existing skills
and give easily accessible, practical guides to
when, how, and why to use specific additional
tools.
Taken together this ensures that learning can be
applied and that it ‘sticks;.
An Evolutionary Process
The central aim of the project is to adopt an
evolutionary process, where ideas are tested,
feedback is collected, and this feedback is used
to refine and develop the model and the tools
used. The website then becomes a collective hub
for pooling practitioner wisdom and a base for
ensuring social workers have a tried and tested
toolkit to help people solve their problems.
Preparing to Present
The H818 conference will be the next stop in this
evolutionary process. The conference
presentation will provide a multi-media
demonstration of the model, showing how it
helps workers move from building a relationship
to successfully closing a working relationship
having supported someone else as they generate
their own solutions.
A central message of the presentation is that
collaboration and values lie at the heart of the
helping process. Instead of the traditional
models of helping, where the intelligence and
skills of the helper are the main focus, the
presentation will focus on the importance of
‘Extelligence’ (Steward and Cohen, 1997), the
distributed and social supported range of tools
available in a network of relationships, is central
to the problem-solving process.
The presentation will also reflect on the ways in
which the H818 module has itself helped in
shaping and refining this process.
Video Introduction to the Model
To visit the website click here
Click on the above image to visit the website
Venning, 2013