Jargon Buster - Ways of working Category

A way of working that considers the impact of power, inequality and prejudice on people and seeks to lessen the exclusion of individuals and groups of people.

Anti-oppressive practice may include: recognising the barriers that people might face, such as personal, cultural or structural barriers; recognising a person’s place in a structure or culture and how this might affect other people; working to understand people’s experience of oppression; recognising people’s attributes and contribution; supporting people to realise their rights.

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• Ways of working

A way of understanding what is working well, thinking about what could be better, designing ‘what might be’ and then taking action to make improvements. It is about building on what is good, and what is already working, rather than focusing on problems.

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• Ways of working

A way of helping people by looking at what is present and what people and communities have, rather than what is missing.

This approach helps people make use of their existing skills, knowledge and relationships. It is also called a ‘strengths-based approach’, and can be used as a way of improving local areas, by promoting what is good about an area rather than focusing on problems.

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• Ways of working

Making use of what a community already has (such as existing organisations and resources), and using these things to make the area better for the people who live there. The aim is to look at what communities have, rather than what they lack. It has been described as ‘using what’s strong to deal with what’s wrong’.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Asset-based approach

Working with people and communities to look at the positive things they have, and at what they are able to do rather than what they lack. These positive things – assets – include people’s knowledge and skills, local community organisations and the connections that exist between people.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Asset-based approach

An approach to care planning for people with mental health challenges. It helps mental health services to understand people’s needs and work out how best to support them. The person will have regular contact with a care coordinator, who may be a social worker, community psychiatric nurse or occupational therapist. The coordinator will work with the person to write a ‘care plan’, which sets out what support the person will draw on, and who will provide the support.

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• Mental health
• Ways of working

A way of coordinating care and support around the needs and wishes of a person.

This aims to improve communication and continuity of care and support. It usually means the person has a named worker who has a lead role in coordinating the person’s care and support.

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A way of working where a single, named case manager (sometimes known as a ‘key worker’) takes a lead in coordinating all the care and support that a person requires.

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• Ways of working

The process of designing, delivering and reviewing big changes to the way a team, service or whole organisation works.

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• Ways of working

When different people, teams or organisations involved in supporting a person work well together and with the person. Sometimes a person might have a ‘named worker’ or ‘care coordinator’ to make sure that everyone works together and that care and support is joined up and works well for the person.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Case management
• Integrated care

An approach to working with people who require care and support that looks mainly at what they are unable to do and what their problems are. It focuses on ‘what’s the matter with you’, and is the opposite of a strengths-based approach which starts with ‘what matters to you’, and builds on what is strong rather than what’s wrong.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Strengths-based approach

A family group conference is a meeting where families make plans and decisions about a child or adult.

The meeting is organised and run by an independent co-ordinator.

‘Family’ includes the child or adult the meeting is about, and their family, friends and people from their community who care about the child or adult.

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A way of working where support is offered to the whole family rather than just one member of the family.

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An approach to support people to remain in, or return to, their own home, and to receive assessment, support and treatment there rather than in hospital.

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• Hospital
• Ways of working

A type of flexible working where people spend some of their time in an office or other workplace, and some of their time working from home or from another place.

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An approach used by some councils to support people to live good lives. Local area coordinators are employed by councils to work alongside people, families and communities to identify and build on their strengths and aspirations, and to connect people up with community-based sources of support.

Local Area Coordination prevents problems from getting bigger, reducing people’s need for more formal services and for crisis support.

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An organisation that represents a group of people who are all part of the same profession, such as doctors or social workers. A professional body supports its members and may also make sure that the work they do is of a high enough standard. If people are unhappy with something that an individual professional has done, they may be able to complain to their professional body.

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• Workforce

Where a person working in health or social care explores and tries to understand what is happening with an individual or family rather than making assumptions or accepting information at face value.

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• Ways of working
• Workforce

A process for workers to think about how they work, why they behaved in a certain way or made particular decisions, and the influence of their own values, beliefs and assumptions on their practice.

Reflective practice happens after an event and helps people to learn and develop their approach.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Reflexive practice

Where workers consider a situation in lots of different ways as it is happening, thinking about why things are happening in the way that they are, their own role in the outcome, and how they can make changes.

Unlike reflective practice, reflexive practice happens while an event is taking place.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Reflective practice

A way of making change happen through personal and informal relationships, connections, conversations and actions rather than more ‘traditional’ forms of activism like demonstrations or campaigns.

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• Ways of working

When a social worker makes it a priority to build relationships with the people and families they work with, as the best way of bringing about the changes people may need in their lives and circumstances. It involves recognising people’s gifts and potential rather than focusing on what’s wrong and what people can’t do, and it emphasises working with people as equal partners and as the experts in their lives, rather than doing things to them and making decisions about them without them being fully involved.

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Anything that limits a person’s freedom to move their body, if they are at risk of hurting themselves or someone else. This can include physical intervention, mechanical restraint, use of medication, or seclusion.

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• Ways of working

Related Jargon

• Mechanical restraint
• Physical intervention
• Seclusion

People have a right to have as much choice and control over their lives as possible, to take risks and make what other people might regard as unwise or unusual decisions. However, workers are also required to identify when people are at risk of harm, and to promote their safety.

Risk enablement is an approach where people are supported to make their own choices, and to understand and manage any risks.

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An approach to relationship-centred practice that aims to holistically support people’s well-being, learning, and social inclusion. It focuses on connecting people to society, building community and promoting social justice.

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A way of connecting people to activities, groups, and services in their community to improve their health and wellbeing.

People in England can access social prescribing through their GP practice.

Social prescribing link workers help people to coproduce a simple personalised care and support plan, and support people to take control of their health and wellbeing. They also support existing community groups to be accessible and sustainable, and help people to start new groups.

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• Ways of working

A way of working in health and social care that recognises the impact that trauma can have on people’s lives, and on people’s ability to feel safe or develop trusting relationships.

Trauma-informed practice focuses on prioritising people’s physical, psychological and emotional safety, building trusted relationships and collaboration and shared decision-making. It focuses on what people need, rather than ‘what’s wrong’, and seeks to avoid re-traumatisation.

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A way of working where local councils work with a whole family rather than just an individual person to understand what matters to everyone in the family, and the information, advice and support they would all benefit from to live a good life.

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• Ways of working

Looking at every aspect of how a system works – such as the health, social care or housing – and understanding what each part does, where the connections are and how it all fits together. Looking at the system in this way should help show how things can be done differently and better.

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• Ways of working