Building better social care in Wales
Doing Adult Safeguarding with Service Users and Carers Presented by: Dr Jeremy Dixon, University of Bath *A discount code will be provided to attendees for those who wish to purchase Jeremy’s book, Adult Safeguarding Observed* This presentation describes social workers’ accounts of doing adult safeguarding work with service users, family carers and paid carers. It… Read More
Championing a research culture within Adult Social Care – How are we making robust decisions without calling upon the research base? Research enriched practice has always been a gold standard within social care. However, making it a natural part of practice within busy frontline local authority teams dealing with complex and fluid situations has always… Read More
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"Children who have relatively short periods of care – and/or who experience care in early or late childhood – commonly face the most significant deficit in their educational attainment compared to those with longer and more stable care experiences. Explanatory analyses suggest suspensions, exclusions and being an autistic learner could explain some of this disadvantage, whereas schools that support disadvantaged children could be a protective factor. Yet, a knowledge gap remains in terms of care movements, educational attainment and “what works”, so we ask three questions: 1. How can we generate new insight into care-experiences using measures such as time in the care system, type of care, and reasons for care? 2. What is the educational attainment (age 7 and 11) for the different types of care identified? 3. What school and individual aspects disrupt or explain the relationship between care-experiences and educational attainment at age 16? Leveraging the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, we have accessed new data and constructed an electronic cohort of children born between 1st September 2000 and 31st August 2003. Using this rich data source, we answer our three questions above. Our talk will discuss: What are common patterns of the "care-experience"? And how do these map on to educational attainment? We highlight some key aspects that may disrupt educational attainment, depending on specific care-experiences (i.e. early adoption vs. late childhood foster care). Policymakers and those working in related sectors should consider these results in relation to school policy and practice to support care-experienced young people reach their potential."
Online, ZOOM
13:00
- 06/11/2024
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New research has found that parent carers may be a high-risk group for suicide. More than 40% have thought about suicide, with some already having attempted suicide. Depression, dysfunctional coping, and feeling trapped in the caring role all increase the likelihood that parents of disabled children will contemplate suicide. This presentation will introduce you to the evidence on suicide risk in parent carers, explore the implications for policy and practice, and provide opportunities for you to discuss your own experiences of supporting at-risk parent carers.
Online, ZOOM
13:00
- 29/01/2025
ExChange Wales Learning Disabilities Conference OCTOBER 2024 This conference series aims to focus on learning disability, highlighting research and innovative work being undertaken in this field. The title ‘Being Seen, Heard and Valued’ was chosen to recognise and illuminate the…
ExChange Wales brings leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences.
Through our conferences, workshops, lectures and seminars, ExChange provides free, high-quality training to support the ongoing development of social care professionals across Wales. Attracting leading national speakers, together we learn and advise on research, impacting both policy and practice. Our events and resources enrich skills while foregrounding the lived experience of care-experienced people.
We have a range of ways that you can work with ExChange. If you wish to host an ExChange workshop, webinar, podcast or blog, simply contact us.
Our third webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health “Supporting people with mental health problems to build social networks and reduce loneliness: lessons for practice and research from intervention trials” Abstract People with mental health problems are more likely to have smaller networks and experience loneliness and social isolation than… Read More
Our fourth webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract The ability to form strong relationships is viewed as central to mental health recovery. Few studies have explored the experiences of people with mental health problems in forming or maintaining romantic relationships. This study addressed this gap through conducting focus… Read More
Our second webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health “Webinar: What works to improve the mental health of care-experienced children and young people: Systematic review evidence” Abstract The mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people remains a major concern. To date, it has not been clear which… Read More
Our first Webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract In this presentation, offered as a basis for discussion, Peter, drawing on his own and other people’s lived experience, aims to help us rethink both understandings of mental wellbeing and distress and helpful ways of addressing the difficulties we may… Read More
Last year, a group of hosts in and around Cardiff, some from CASCADE, worked together to provide Christmas dinner and a celebration for care-experienced people. The team were filled with nerves ahead of the big day, with referrals still coming in up to the week before Christmas. A chef volunteered three days of their time… Read More
** WALES ONLY** Parent Advocacy Online Workshop (Wales) We are inviting social work practitioners and managers, parental advocates, parents, advocacy managers, family support workers and academics in Wales to participate in an online workshop on parental advocacy and its effectiveness in supporting parents whose children are open to social care. The event is part of… Read More
Understanding care pathways and placement stability for infants in Wales with Dr Laura Cowley from Population Data Science, Swansea University on 4 October 12:30-14:00. This presentation provides new empirical evidence about entry routes to care, pathways through care, and placement outcomes for the very youngest children in the care system in Wales. By addressing questions about… Read More
