Social Prescribing
mani festo Link Workers
Social Prescribing Link Workers
1
>
why we are here We exist because human beings are complex, messy, social and emotional. There needs to be a spectrum of response from services to reflect this. We exist so that our nation’s approach to health can be more rounded and wholehearted in response to its population. We exist because the medical model alone is not enough. We exist because we have a valuable skill set and an approach that offers something distinct from but complementary to medicine. We can see that the practice of social prescribing has phenomenal potential and that at its best it co-creates opportunities for people to grow and flourish. We know that social prescribing cannot be done alone and is only as good as the partnerships involved.
This manifesto has been co-produced by Link Workers, Arts Derbyshire and artist Kate Genever as part of the Cultural Prescriptions programme. Funded by Derbyshire County Council Public Health
manifesto
Social Prescribing Link Workers
what we can do
Link Workers and Social Prescribing are and always should be a work in progress. Social Prescribing is not new. Social Prescribing within the NHS is. We are constantly searching for the edges of the work...for its fullest potential...and its nuanced nature means we should always be searching. Social Prescribing is not and should not be prescriptive. What we know right now is that:
1. It is within our power to ‘notice’. It has been said that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Very often, as human beings, not being
seen or heard is damaging to our health and affects how we experience the world. In the business of life it is easy to stop noticing, but we can pay attention...we have time. This is key. Our job is to treasure hunt.
2. We can hold space and leave room. For a while we can be in the moment...not looking back...not looking forward....not striving. Human beings are and will always be works in progress and that’s ok. Just one step in front of the other means, often to our surprise, that not only are we still standing but we have moved. Perhaps it’s our job to simply remind people of this. We can help people to take notice.
3. It is important to help people distinguish their own voice from all the others. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by other people’s voices and expectations in life particularly when we feel different, be that permanently or temporarily. But difference is not a deficit even if society often tells us it is. It is our job to ask ‘what’s your voice?’, ‘what do you want?’ and then depending on what they discover, help them take the next steps.
4. We wrap ourselves round the shape of the individual and what they tell us becomes the service. It’s their agenda, not ours. We leave our assumptions at the door and help them do the same. Our offer is our ability to listen, sit with, understand, and then build solutions with the client, from their place of need and opportunity. We can help in the search for deep wins that last....not shallow ones that bring them back again and again. We see the assets rather than focus on the deficit.
5. We connect. Connection can be hard. Lack of connection or disconnection is at the heart of breakdown...of all kinds. It is our job to help re-establish
connection and interconnection and it is rarely linear. This is between Link Worker and individual and individual and their community, services and opportunities. Most importantly it is between the individual and what matters to them. It is our job to help people connect their own dots.
6. Find the fire in the belly. We can help someone re-find something that has been lost to them or buried along the way.
Or perhaps we offer a chink of
light that illuminates something new and remarkable. We let creativity and passions rise up.
7. Wayfinding. We can help our clients with wayfinding as opposed to signposting.
This can mean many things. For some, finding the way might mean finding who they really are and becoming comfortable with it. For others, it might mean finding local services that offer practical solutions to practical needs or discovering an amazing new experience. It may soothe or provoke action.
8. We digress. The issue might look like one thing but turn out to be another.
We discover this through digression rather than well worn paths. Digressions
often reveal the assets of a person rather than the deficits. We let things bubble up and then we follow.
what we need
Social Prescribing is full of potential on so many levels...for society and for the system and most importantly for communities and individuals. Link Workers are clear that the things they need to achieve the potential of this role are often not in place and this undermines the work. This is what we need.
1. To have our purpose and value acknowledged. We exist because we are needed.
Our offer adds different routes to community health and wellbeing. But our route is not the same as yours. What can be common practice in one sector can seem unconventional in another but that does not mean they are wrong or unpractised. Do not try to make our practice the same as yours. It would be a mistake to build another service that repeats the same gaps that rendered other services ineffective for Social Prescribing clients. Social Prescribing in the NHS is bridging medical and social models so, at best, it is a place of great opportunity for making a huge difference and at worst, a place of great vulnerability and strain.
2. To be able to bring ourselves to the job. We believe that bringing more parts of ourselves to the job helps us and our clients.
We respect the need for professional boundaries whilst simultaneously noting that drawing broadly on our own skills, passions and experiences and sharing them appropriately with the client, helps find the points of human connection that are the crucial bedrock of our work. Bringing a fuller version of ourself, that is not diminished, concealed or bent out of shape, is enriching for everyone.
3. Recognition that our strength is in our spectrum of practice. The work of Social Prescribing Link Workers is a practice. Each Link
Worker will develop their own based on their particular blend of skills, characteristics, knowledge and lived experience. Together we will create a spectrum of practice and this is a strength that will benefit our clients and service. We wish to recognise and cultivate this in a deliberate way.
4. To be able to take the last biscuit; we must look after ourselves. For us to do the job of supporting clients when they need it most,
then a priority has to be that we, as Link Workers, are ok. We bring a social model to sit alongside a clinical one and we have an emerging practice so the job we have to do is complicated and nuanced and involves significant emotional labour. Our support mechanisms, training and professional development opportunities need to reflect the state of the field. They need to value and reflect this complexity, be leading edge, and be drawn from the best and most advanced practice. We need offers that are relevant, robust, well developed, engaging and expertly delivered. These must be respectful and suitable for the beginner as well as stretching for the most advanced practitioner.
5....and we must be looked after. Self care is important but we also expect to be cared for. Too many Link Workers find themselves in situations where
basic rights and conditions are not in place or adequate. Employers should interrogate their practices, have open conversations with their Link Workers and not assume they are getting it right because this not only undermines their sense of value but also their ability to do the job. Link Workers must have proper pay and conditions such as contractual arrangements; a place to work; appropriate kinds of support and supervision; robust systems, policies and procedures; and access to equipment and resources.
6. Understanding that we are not plugs or plasters. We know that to be able to offer our clients time is a privilege. The breadth of work means it’s easy for others to misunderstand our roles and responsibilities and for us to be drawn into tasks that should not be ours. We are generous and are team players, but to continue offering the important time to our clients, the boundaries of our role and remit need to be respected and protected.
7. We need voice. It is our job to become expert at Social Prescribing, evolving as it is. We need to be involved in shaping its practice and in planning any development of our services. For a better service and a happier workforce, make sure we are at the table.
8. We need budget. We are good at our work but we are not magicians. We need financial resources to be able to do some aspects of our work...little things
that make all the difference...and it is unrealistic to think that we don’t.
Tweet your reponse to @artsderbyshire using the #LinkWorkerManifesto or email deborah@artsderbyshire.org.uk
>