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The social service workforce has gone through a pandemic that has further stretched staff who were already feeling overworked and undervalued.
If there was a positive to come out of that experience it was the media spotlight that focused on the social services workforce and highlighted the need to prioritise their mental health and physical wellbeing.
We are committed to listening to what workers have to say about their wellbeing and supporting them to have honest conversations about this and the wellbeing of their colleagues. We develop and promote resources and activities which offer guidance on looking after your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.
Effective leadership can play an essential part in supporting personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. We encourage our leadership resources to be used to support the wellbeing of others and to help people reflect on how they keep themselves and others safe.
We deliver workshops to support workers to understand what ‘looking after your own and others wellbeing’ means. As the workforce often work in complex and challenging situations, we promote learning about trauma practice and the resources which are available to support learning in this area.
We are a partner in the National Wellbeing Hub which offers a range of resources and support including the following.
There is also a National Wellbeing Helpline 0800 111 4191, which is open 24 hours a day.
We develop and deliver workshops to support workers to understand what ‘looking after your own and others wellbeing’ means. At these, participants have shared details of the diverse range of activities and resources being used, for example, walking dogs, cooking, mental health first aid courses, swimming, knitting, podcasts and smart phone apps, spending time with family and friends, staying connected with colleagues, and taking time to reflect on, and learn from, experience.
Working in different environments in times of complexity, challenge or crisis and increased pressures can impact on people, their relationships at work, and their wellbeing. Sometimes people will experience trauma.
Scotland has developed an approach to working in a trauma informed way. Our role is to raise awareness of this approach and support the use of trauma learning resources and activity in social services. Sometimes this will be to support workforce wellbeing.
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was asked by the Scottish Government to develop a set of resources to promote and implement trauma informed practice. We work closely with NES to promote the use of these resources in social services.
Effective leadership can play an essential part in supporting your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. You can use our leadership resources to support the wellbeing of others and to help you reflect on your own self-leadership and how you can keep yourself and others safe.
https://wellbeinghub.scot/resource/an-overview-of-our-apps-and-online-programmes/
https://wellbeinghub.scot/the-workforce-specialist-service-wss/
https://transformingpsychologicaltrauma.scot/
https://stepintoleadership.info/
Find out more about registering with the SSSC including what qualifications you need and how much it costs.
Discover our free learning resources and how our work can support your learning and development.
Read more about our fitness to practise process, registrant responsibilities and how to make a complaint about a worker.
