SSKS

Resources selected by NHS Education for Scotland for inclusion in Social Services Knowledge Scotland (SSKS).

SCIE Guide 4: Involving service users and carers in social work education

In 2003 the Department of Health introduced a new qualification for social workers. Previously a diploma, for the first time the social work qualification became a three-year degree course, a move which reflected the difficulty and professionalism of the job. Also for the first time, universities and colleges offering the degree were required to involve service users and carers in the design and delivery of the programme.

SCIE Position paper 2: A framework for supporting and assessing practice learning

In this position paper, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) sets out a skills and qualifications framework that should support practice learning, both in the new degree and across social care organisations. We focus on ways of supporting those whose task it is to assess practice in the workplace ('practice assessors’). We also look at employers’ opportunities for organisational development, improved practice standards and human resource development (HRD).

Seldom heard : developing inclusive participation in social care

A position paper offering a practice framework for social care practitioners to allow the greater participation of 'seldom heard' groups in the social care services available to them. The paper considers four groups in particular, homeless people with addiction problems, black and minority ethnic people, people with communication impairments and people with dementia.

SCIE knowledge review 05: fostering success: an exploration of the research literature in foster care

Foster children have difficult early lives. Their needs are great, their educational performance can be poor, their childhoods in foster care and out of it are often unstable. In their adult lives they are at greater risk than others of a wide variety of difficulties. These 'facts' have led some to conclude that the state is not an adequate parent.