Social work and social policy
mhhe has held two events on learning and teaching about mental health in social work - in conjuntion with the Social Policy and Social Work subject centre of the Higher Education Academy.
- Spotlight on mental health - January 2005
- Towards a new vision for social work educaiton - June 2007
You can view the New Ways of Working for social work pages here.
SCOPING ACCOUNT - Please help us keep this up to date - Contact us with improvements & amendments.
Authors:
Ian Shaw, Reader in Health Policy
School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham mailto:ian.shaw@nottingham.ac.uk
Jerry Tew, Senior Lecturer
Institute of Applied Social Studies, University of Birmingam mailto:J.J.C.Tew@bham.ac.uk
Scope
The types of programme that are the subject of this review include
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses in social policy
- DipHE / Diploma in Social Work programmes (last entry for these in England will be September 2004, but they will continue longer in other countries of the UK)
- Pg Diploma / MA / Diploma in Social Work programmes (last entry for these in England will be September 2004, but they will continue longer in other countries of the UK)
- BSc / BA in Social Work (new social work degree starting from September 2003 in England) · Pg Cert / MA in Social Work (new social work degree starting from September 2003 in England)
- Post-Qualifying Award in Social Work and / or Approved Social Worker Training (Mental Health Officer in Scotland)
1. Undergraduate and Postgraduate Social Policy teaching
Mental health is taught as a module within social policy undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at many, but not all Institutions. The modules may form a part of the core, but are more likely to be elective modules and they may be taught at any level. The focus may actually be upon mental health policy or upon a sociological approach to mental health and illness. These will be informed by sociological theories of deviance.
The thrust of the modules may range from `constructivist' (where mental illness as such does not exist other than as a means of controlling deviance) to `realist' (where medical definitions and diagnosis in mental illness are generally accepted) in approach. The majority of teaching probably falls somewhere between the two. A critique would usually be offered of the positivist versions of `madness' held within medicine (and perhaps also within social work) but there would also be a recognition that such constructivist accounts should not disregard the materiality of the human body and mind, and the disturbances to which its biology may be subjected.
2. Social Work
a) Qualifying level training social work is, and will continue to be, an entirely generic professional qualification. There is no external specification of learning outcomes in relation to mental health, either generically for all students, or in terms of a discrete mental health pathway within social work. Thus, it has been acknowledged that:
"A wide diversity of approaches to the location of mental health in curricula is possible. Experience has shown that this may be set predominantly or even solely in a legal framework, or perhaps placed generically within sequences on such topics as Community Care, Disability or Health. In fact, it may be difficult to identify 'mental health' inputs or clearly differentiate teaching in this area. In other instances, however, mental health may be subject to a specialist block of teaching" (CCETSW 1994 pp10-11).
Social work qualifying courses are now restructuring in response to the Government's introduction of a new 3 year undergraduate (or 2 year postgraduate) degree in England, and parallel developments are taking place in the other countries of the UK. In both the benchmarking statement for social work (QAA, 2000) and the Draft National Occupational Standards for social work (TOPSS, 2002), it was decided to retain the generic character of social work. No specific standards in relation to mental health learning are included, nor any specific expectation that students are able to apply their generic knowledge and skill base within the field of mental health. Only in a very general sense has the Department of Health required that, in England, social work education providers "will have to demonstrate that all students undertake specific learning in ... human growth, development, mental health [and] disability" (DH 2002 p.3).
The subsequent development of National Occupational Standards for mental health may potentially fill this gap to some extent. Although an opportunity was missed in terms of making these two sets of standards compatible and interlocking, it may still be helpful to undertake an exercise to pull out those Standards which might apply
- to all generically trained social workers (thereby clarifying the Department of Health requirement) and
- to students undertaking a specialist mental health elective.
In order to take stock of what was actually taking place within Higher Education, CCETSW conducted a questionnaire survey of current practice across the UK (Webber et al, 2000). Workshops were convened in which these findings were discussed with a broad range of HE and Local Authority partner representatives, and the summary of notes from these is appended.
Only 13 out of the 57 courses that responded "made explicit reference to the integration of mental health teaching across their curricula" (p.5). In general, students would receive input on mental health law, typically within a generic law module (probably at Level 1), and also, less frequently, within other policy, theory and practice modules. However, even where teaching was mandatory, assessments would often allow students to choose between a range of areas of interest.
Input around mental health practice was less consistent, with learning focussing more on adults than young people - and typically being located within elective teaching rather than within the core curriculum. 16 of the courses that responded offered a Level 2 elective in mental health - usually involving a specialist mental health placement linked to module(s) of specialist teaching.
The survey concluded that "there is concern about what constitutes the appropriate level and depth of mental health teaching at qualifying level" (p.19), and that "it cannot be assumed that all qualifying DipSW students have been offered teaching and learning opportunities which address the mental health needs of service users" (p18). Given that there is, so far, no explicit specification of mental health content for the new social work degree, there is no reason to believe that the overall picture will change significantly.
b) Post-Qualifying level training
Much of Post-Qualifying training is pitched at Level 6 and consists of a foundation and consolidation element (PQ1), followed by specialist learning that is usually oriented towards qualifying the student to work as an Approved Social Worker / Mental Health Officer. Beyond this, some students may access Masters programmes which may or may not be accredited as bestowing the Advanced Award in social work.
There is much clearer specification of mental health knowledge base and learning outcomes at the level of Post-Qualifying training where it is linked to a competency based framework for Approved Social Worker / Mental Health Officer practice (CCETSW, 2000). However, it may be argued that this is designed to equip practitioners for the specialist role of the Approved Social Worker / Mental Health Officer, rather than the broader demands of mental health social work within the context of a multi-disciplinary team providing a range of therapeutic services.
The new professional body for social work in England, the General Social Care Council (GSCC), is currently consulting on the new form of post-qualifying training that will follow on from the new degree. Logically, this will have to be repositioned at Post-graduate Diploma / Masters level - perhaps with some form of top-up at the point of entry for those currently holding only a DipHE qualification.
c) User and carer involvement in the design and delivery of social work education
By 2000, 64% of UK social work qualification programmes reported direct input by service users and carers, suggesting that this is now bedding in as mainstream practice (Webber et al, 2000). Up to 1/3 of programmes reported involving users in curriculum development and assessment as well as in direct delivery.
It is likely that, with the Department of Health requirement that users be involved in all aspects of designing and delivering the new degree (DH, 2002), that there will be further rapid development in this area, particularly in more innovatory areas such as involving users in curriculum planning and student assessment.
At post-qualification level, active user involvement in programmes is even more established - particularly in Approved Social Worker training.
d) Interprofessional learning in social work
This has been relatively slow to develop at qualification level. Nationally, there is only one programme offering a joint social work and nursing qualification in mental health - and it is intended that this will continue with the introduction of the new social work degree. However, the new Requirements for Social Work Training specify that all students should learn "partnership working ... across professional disciplines" (DH, 2002 p.4), and this is providing the impetus for some courses to develop interprofessional modules with students from other disciplines at Levels 1, 2 and 3. It is generally acknowledged that, unless interprofessional learning is embedded at all Levels, uniprofessional attitudes, stereotypes and behaviours may very quickly become dominant again, undermining whatever may have been learned in a joint module.
Many of these interprofessional modules will not have a specific mental health focus, although at least one University has now established a joint mental health pathway at Level 2/3 with BSc nursing students.
At post-qualification level, there is a much more established set of programmes offering interprofessional learning opportunities to a range of mental health professions including social work. However, social work take-up of these has tended to be low because of social services departments' perceived priority of just training workers in their statutory (ASW) roles. Interestingly, at least one University are now offering interprofessional modular Masters programmes which, given the right permutation of modules, can deliver an ASW qualification, as well as giving more generic learning opportunities in relation to mental health practice.
Depending on the outcome of the Draft Mental Health Bill, the Approved Worker role may become open to other professions. The likely implications of this would be that Approved Worker training would become multi-disciplinary, and that post-qualifying training for social workers might be more broadly focussed around contributing social perspectives to the work of multi-disciplinary teams. This would suggest that interprofessional modular Masters programmes, linked to a new GSCC Post-Qualification structure, are likely to become the preferred route in the future.
e) Cutting edge areas of practice / development / research
Through the impact of the recovery movement and the Social Perspectives Network, and their incorporation within the overall thinking of the National Institute for Mental Health in England, there is now more support to develop coherent and well-researched social and experiential perspectives that may stand alongside biomedical approaches. This involves a reappraisal of more traditional 'social models', incorporating an understanding of issues of power, discrimination and oppression, and engaging with the knowledge base and perspectives arising out of the service user movement.
In terms of teaching and learning, this implies a new partnership approach in which planning and delivery involves a more equal partnership between service users, practitioners and academics with their respective areas of knowledge and expertise.
f) Journals / Conferences / Websites
The key Journal for teaching and learning in social work is Social Work Education, and there is a close link between this and the annual Social Work Education Conference in which there is normally a series of workshops / paper presentations on mental health topics. The principal websites for social work are those of SWAP and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).
References
CCETSW (1994) The mental health dimension in social work: guidance for social work programmes. London: Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work
CCETSW (2000) Assuring quality for mental health social work: requirements for the training of Approved Social Workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and of Mental Health Officers in Scotland. London: Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work
DH (2002) Requirements for Social Work Training. London:Department of Health
QAA (2000) Subject benchmark statement for social work. Gloucester: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Tew, J and Anderson, J. Ideas in Action: The Mental Health Dimension in the New Social Work Degree: Starting a Debate" Social Work Education Vol 23, No 2 April 2004 pp 231-240
TOPSS (2002) Draft National Occupational Standards for Social Work. Leeds:TOPSS England.
Webber, R., Wright, P. and Chauhan, B. (2000) Mental health teaching and learning within qualifying level social work education. London: CCETSW