This Social Care - Skills Course has been structured so that students can choose exactly the area they need to develop by setting their own learning priorities. These courses can be used by qualified social workers in practice as a source of professional updating, as well as by trainers, lecturers and practice teachers as a source of learning material.

They can also be used by individuals who are eager to learn more about a particular area of Social Work.

The aim of this course is to encourage you to explore the theory and practice of supporting people. This apparently straightforward concept is often taken for granted in social work, but in fact both the meaning and practice of supporting people are complex.

There are many concepts and practices which are sometimes in apparent contradiction but which are fundamental to social work intervention - for example the sometimes conflicting requirement to both care for and exercise control over people who are subject to statutory intervention under the Mental Health Act (1983) or Children Act (1989).

Nonetheless they have to be understood and integrated in order to promote effective practice.

By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• Identify what support means
• Describe three sources of support - personal, community and institutional
• Identify the factors which influence the sources of support people choose
• Explain why some forms of support are stigmatised while others are not
• Explain the social, psychological and practical implications of receiving institutional support
• Understand the potential powerlessness of people receiving institutional support from social work
• Describe how to provide social work support in partnership with service users so as to balance the power in the social work relationship
• Describe three social work methods which can support people without disempowering them.

The Meaning of Support and its Various Sources

Factors Influencing Choice of Support Network

Receiving Institutional Support Through Social Work

Supporting People Without Disempowering Them

Qualification 1: Supporting People In Social Work (Skills Course) Certificate

Supporting People In Social Work (Skills Course) Certificate issued by Stonebridge Associated Colleges, entitling you to use the letters SAC Cert after your name.

In order to offer our students the most convenient and flexible distance learning courses, Stonebridge Associated College offers you the option to study for your course via two methods:

• 1. Via the traditional paper-based method.
• 2. Through the online method via ElearnUK.

When you study through ElearnUK you can quickly access your course material online and submit all of your question papers to your tutor online, using your unique student account. You have access to all of your course material immediately, and when you submit question papers, your tutor sends you an email containing your results and feedback.

With this course you will have unlimited access to your own personal tutor who specialises in their field of study. It is your personal tutor's role to ensure that you receive constructive feedback and to deal with any queries you may have. You are more than welcome to telephone, fax or email your personal tutor.

You will also have access to a dedicated and friendly team of administrators and course advisors who offer sound and professional guidance and advice when you need it. This ensures that you will never feel neglected and that you will always succeed!

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.

This is only an approximate figure and is dependant upon how much time you can dedicate to your studies and how well you grasp the learning concepts in the course material. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson there is a question paper that needs to be completed and returned to your tutor. You should allow at least 1 - 2 hours of study to complete each question paper.

The approximate amount of time required to complete the course is: 20 hrs.

Assessment Method

After each lesson there will be a question paper, which needs to be completed and submitted to your personal tutor for marking. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal tutor can consistently monitor your progress and provide you with assistance throughout the duration of the course.

What's Included

• All study materials
• Study Guide
• Full Tutor and Admin support

Below you will find a list of courses that previous students have taken to complement their course. We hope that this list will give you some idea of the types of progression courses we offer, or alternative course options that may be of interest to you.

• Accountable Social Work - The units each describe an aspect of accountability in social work practice. At every stage in each unit examples are given of the application in practice of the theories, methods and issues under discussion and activities ...
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• Assuring Quality In Social Work (Skills Course) - This Social Care - Skills Course has been structured so that students can choose exactly the area they need to develop by setting their own learning priorities. These courses can be used by qualified social workers ...
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• Caring At Home - When it comes to caring at home, physical care is likely the type of care that comes to mind most readily. This involves helping people to attend to their personal needs, such as bathing and dressing, ...
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• Caring for Older People - The care of older people is a complex and skilled branch of health care. To be effective, carers need to be knowledgeable, flexible and positive in their interventions. This course's objectives are based on the idea ...
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• Caring for People with Learning Disabilities - Thanks to advances in medical technology, we are living in an era when more people with learning disabilities can now live functional lives. As more of the learning disabled are at home rather than in hospital ...
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• Social Work Competence In Practice - In order to be accountable to society, any profession must maintain clear standards against which acceptable practice can be measured. "Competences" are the widely accepted form of measurement for the social work profession, and the subject ...
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