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Background Given the globally ageing population, care homes have an important role in delivering palliative and end-of-life care. Advance care planning (ACP) is promoted to improve the quality of end-of-life care in this setting. While many professionals can be involved in ACP, little is known about what influences multi-professional involvement and how multi-professional working impacts the ACP process in the UK. This study investigated multi-professional practice in relation to ACP in nursing homes. Design and methods An ethnography was undertaken in two UK nursing homes using multiple methods of data collection: observations, interviews and document review. Participants included the following: nursing home residents (n  = 6), relatives (n  = 4), nursing home staff (n  = 19), and visiting health and social care professionals (n  = 7). Analysis integrated thematic analysis, mapping of resident ACP trajectories and documentary analysis. Findings This paper suggests that multi-professional and relatives' involvement in ACP was disjointed. Continuity and coordination were disrupted by misalignment of visiting professional and nursing home organisational structures. Findings show a 'knotworking' approach to teamwork and power imbalance between nursing home staff and visiting professionals, such as general practitioners. While residents wished their relatives to be involved in their ACP, this was not formally recognised, and limited support existed to facilitate their involvement. Conclusion The structure and organisation of multi-professional and relatives' involvement in ACP led to fragmentation of the process. This marginalised the voice of both the resident and nursing home staff, thereby limiting ACP as a tool to enhance quality of end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cognitive ergonomics, laboratory experimentation using computer-based simulations (microworlds) has played a significant role in understanding human decision making and reasoning. In this paper, we describe the design and deployment of a social work microworld (BRIGIT), which simulates the electronic recording systems now widely implemented in UK children's services. BRIGIT provides a fabricated but realistic social work environment, enabling the fine structure of professional information processing to be studied in response to experimental manipulations, such as time pressure, etc. A preliminary experiment is described here, which shows BRIGIT to provide a convincing psychological experience and a useful research tool. As well as demonstrating its face and external validity, the results highlight BRIGIT's utility as a way of probing ‘practice culture’ and for examining different patterns of professional sense making. We conclude that the microworld paradigm provides a valuable and innovative approach for researching social work practice. A range of possible applications are discussed, not only in fundamental research, but as a practical tool for use in the workplace, such as for supporting staff selection. There is also obvious potential for ‘design research’ aimed directly at improving the usability and effectiveness of electronic systems, which is important given the widely reported problems of current ICT systems in social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A key issue for the social work profession concerns the nature, quality and content of communicative encounters with children and families. This article introduces some findings from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) that took place across the UK between 2013 and 2015, which explored how social workers communicate with children in their everyday practice. The Talking and Listening to Children (TLC) project had three phases: the first was ethnographic, involving observations of social workers in their workplace and during visits; the second used videostimulated recall with a small number of children and their social workers; and the third developed online materials to support social workers. This paper discusses findings from the first phase. It highlights a diverse picture regarding the context and content of communicative processes; it is argued that attention to contextual issues is as important as focusing on individual practitioners' behaviours and outlines a model for so doing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the key findings from the first piece of research in the UK to focus exclusively on ‘stress, support and well-being of social work students’ (n = 76), with findings from a cohort of Indian social work students studying in the Tamil Nadu region in Southern India (n = 235), using the same questionnaire. This comparative international study highlights a range of differences in the key outcome variables, namely British students reported significantly higher levels of demands and significantly lower levels of support than their Indian counterparts; however, despite the lower levels of demands and higher levels of support reported by Indian students, they had significantly poorer well-being than their British counterparts. In the Indian study, there were no significant correlations between the main outcome variables of demands, support and well-being; however, in the British study, support was negatively correlated with well-being (measured using the GHQ-12), indicating that those who reported higher levels of support also reported better well-being. This study draws particular attention to the potentially differing contexts of ‘support’ amongst both groups, and raises questions concerning the challenges of using questionnaires to capture culturally specific stressors and support mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The contribution of mental health social work (MHSW) to multidisciplinary care delivery has been subject to political pressures for change since the introduction in the UK of the National Service Framework for Mental Health in 1999 and subsequent New Ways of Working (NWW) initiative in 2003. Culminating in the new 2007 Mental Health Act for England and Wales, Approved Social Workers have been replaced by Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) with the role and remit extended to other disciplines. Given this political context, this study uses an ethnographic methodology to draw together qualitative data from four reconfigured mental health teams to describe and debate the MHSW contribution to NWW. This contribution was of particular interest to the authors, as both were mental health social workers by background, with one of the authors having worked as a MHSW in Sri Lanka and the other having practised as an Approved Social Worker (ASW) and supervised ASWs in a multidisciplinary team England. Participant observations of team meetings/activities, together with joint home visits and interviews, provide an understanding of the social work contribution from a range of perspectives. Thematic analysis of data reveals that MHSWs experience a clash between their unique social work contribution and their role as generic care co-ordinators. Furthermore, there is stigma and reduced status associated with being a MHSW when compared with colleagues from other disciplines. Political issues beset the roles and responsibilities of MHSWs impacting at the level of pay and conditions of employment. The paper concludes with recommendations for managing the political schism in a service that is dominated by health and where local authorities play an increasingly peripheral role in managing and supervising seconded staff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the impact of online Irish traditional singing sessions on health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Singing sessions are unique facets of Ireland's music tradition that saw dramatic closure, interruption and digital transition in response to COVID-19 social distancing measures. This study highlights a gap in health promotion literature with regard to traditional singing sessions as a group singing activity and examines the potential for online group singing activities to have positive impacts on the health and well-being of participants. While traditional singing sessions foreground solo performances, they are quintessentially group activities, and include community engagement and active participation from singers and listeners alike. Through an online survey (n  = 108), and ethnographic interviews (n  = 3), this study explores potential health and well-being implications of online traditional singing sessions, and reveals four main areas of impact: social connection, enjoyment, cognitive motivation and timekeeping. The study suggests that online traditional singing sessions can promote health and well-being in participants, particularly during times of isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]