Student social workers and wellbeing
Following a successful pilot, the youth
charity’s Working for Wellbeing scheme, funded by Zurich Community
Trust, will give student social workers first-hand experience with
vulnerable young people...
The scheme hopes to bridge the gap between social care
professionals and those who most need their support.
Student social workers have a lot to offer on the Team
programme. The main benefit is that they have the time and
commitment to provide one-to-one support with a range of personal
issues (e.g. family accomodation, criminal justice issues etc).
Social work students can also provide additional support to our
young people who are having difficulty with aspects of their
work on the programme and can offer our Team Leaders an 'extra
pair of hands' with elements of the programme such as sourcing
work placemens for Team members.
Furthermore, it appears that the student social workers are
able to retain a percentage of our young people on the programme by
supporting the Team members' emotional and well-being needs.
Being on Team as a student social worker
has developed me both personally and professionally. I really do
hope another student gets the opportunity to go on
a placement like this (Student Social Worker)*
Team Programme
Team is a 12-week personal development
programme. Young people aged 16 - 25 who are unemployed,
educational underachievers, (ex) offenders or care leavers, are
eligible to take part. To find out more about Team, please
click here.
After
that session [with the student] I felt
I could talk to her about anything. I had been in Team for
4 weeks and had not talked to anyone. (Team
member)
Working together, the Prince's Trust and Zurich Community Trust
aim to:
- Increase awareness of mental health issues for those involved
in The Prince's Trust Team programme
- Improve emotional wellbeing of young people on the Team
programme
- Give the next generation of social workers a greater
understanding of mental health issues and how to handle them
- Enable Prince's Trust staff and Team Leaders to be more able to
identify those displaying mental health issues on the programme and
be more equipped to respond accordingly
Student Placements
What The Prince's Trust can offer:
- Suitable learning opportunities for qualifying social workers
to demonstrate the National Occupational Standards for Social
Work
- Opportunity to develop the social work students'
interpersonal skills
- Materials designed specifically for the students to ensure
they understand their role
- 2 days Mental Health First Aid training for all students and
practice educators on these placements to support the emotional
well-being agenda
- Direct working with young people on a 1:1 basis and the
opportunity to assess the wellbeing needs of those young
people
What a student social worker's time on the Team
programme could include**:
- Opportunity to assist with issues such as well-being, domestic
abuse, housing, counselling, finances etc
- Develop professional working relationships with young people
through 1:1 and group work settings
- Providing information to individuals to support young people to
make informed choices, by signposting and suggesting specialist
agencies
- Share their knowledge, skills and experience with our Delivery
Partners
- Opportunity to plan, manage and assess the risk in all
situations that may arise within the Team
Excellent opportunity to develop the kind of
skills that they [student social
workers] need to work with service users.
(University of Central Lancashire)
* All quotes are from the University of Salford
Research 2010
** A more detailed mapping process has been completed and we
have suggested possible activities for all NOS Key Roles. More
information can be found in the Student Induction Pack
For more information, please contact
Jessica
Young
Evaluation
Two evaluations have been completed to date on this project:
2009 & 2010 - both have been undertaken by the University of
Salford.
Evaluations show that Team members have benefitted significantly
from the practical help Social Work Students offer around welfare,
personal and emotional issues.
Case Studies
Press Coverage