Words have the power to lift us up or tear us down, and nowhere is this more true than in our closest relationships. Understanding how language shapes our emotional connections can make all the difference between feeling deeply loved or feeling disconnected. One of the most potent tools for enhancing intimacy and trust in a ... Read more

The post Building Lasting Relationships Through Words of Affirmation appeared first on LifeHack.

Connecting with others is an essential part of both our personal and professional lives. Whether you’re meeting someone new, looking to break the ice at an event, or aiming to deepen an existing relationship, conversation starters can be more than just a casual question to fill the silence. They can be powerful tools for building ... Read more

The post How to Use Conversation Starters to Make Meaningful Connections appeared first on LifeHack.

Self-love is a topic we hear about often, but putting it into practice can feel elusive, like trying to hold onto something that keeps slipping away. You know it’s there, but it’s hard to hold on to. The concept of self-love involves valuing oneself and letting go of toxic influences. It’s about stepping back from ... Read more

The post A Guide to Self-Love: From Overcoming Doubt to System-Based Growth appeared first on LifeHack.

Breaking up with someone is often one of the most difficult experiences we face. It can feel as though your entire world has shifted, leaving you disoriented and unsure of what comes next. But even amid the pain, a breakup can also be a profound opportunity for growth. This journey—one of rediscovering who you are, ... Read more

The post How to Get Over Someone: A Step-by-Step Guide to Moving On with Your Life appeared first on LifeHack.

Stress is a common experience that can either drive us toward success or hinder our progress if not managed effectively. What if you could understand stress better and turn it into something you can handle and even benefit from? This article will guide you through practical strategies for managing stress by blending effective techniques with ... Read more

The post Mastering Stress Management: A Guide to Thriving, Not Just Surviving appeared first on LifeHack.

Resilience is the key to transforming challenges into opportunities for personal growth. It’s not just about bouncing back from setbacks—it’s about thriving despite them. Resilience is not something you either have or you don’t. Instead, it is a skill you can cultivate and strengthen over time. In this article, we’ll explore the multifaceted nature of ... Read more

The post How to Develop Resilience: Key Steps for Thriving Through Adversity appeared first on LifeHack.

read more

read more

read more

read more

read more

read more

read more

It makes hosting less stressful and more joyful. READ MORE...

They take no time at all to learn to play. READ MORE...

It's perfect for decorating your tree! READ MORE...

It’s so easy to make and personalize! READ MORE...

Shop the Crosswave Pet Pro for $50 off. READ MORE...

It’ll go perfect with a tiny house. READ MORE...

Change is definitely on the horizon. READ MORE...

I’m running to Marshalls right now. READ MORE...

If you're looking to save big on your next outdoor furniture splurge, now's the ultimate time. READ MORE...

Plus, 24 more to check out! READ MORE...

There’s a new episode of “Staying Home” on today (Saturday morning!) It’s the fifth kid-shot episode, and three of my kids (plus my nephew) are behind the cameras!   When I say “cameras” I mean “iPhones!” It’s amazing what they can do these days.   I remember getting a Kodak Disk camera when I was […]

This research was undertaken by Stuart Fordyce as part of an MSc in Integrated Service Improvement (Health and Social Care) at the University of Edinburgh. It considers the impact of a rapidly ageing population on a Scottish local authority and its attempt to shift the focus to a more contemporary service provision. The aim is to explore what factors are inhibiting the effectiveness of enablement. Using a case study approach the research explored whether: (i) enablement is wholly effective in addressing the increase in current service demands; (ii) the approach adopted by the local authority is undermined as services are now over extended and are attempting to address competing objectives, and; (iii) the paradigmatic change across the sector in the future will materialise if organisations cannot create the capacity and infrastructure to enable change to occur

The Advocacy Project works with older people and other groups across Glasgow and Lanarkshire to ensure their voice is heard, their needs met and their legal rights safeguarded. The organisation identified a low take up of their own service by older people from BME communities, which was generally held to reflect the wider picture in Glasgow in relation to health and social work services. This report was commissioned by them to examine barriers to access to services specifically for older people from BME communities in Glasgow South, where there is a high concentration of people from BME communities.

The Sight and Sound Project used creative sensory methods to explore how young people who are looked after feel that they belong, or do not belong, in the places that they live. In this project the concept of belonging, which is often used in relation to faith or ethnic groups is applied to home spaces. Research suggests that ‘sensory experience can provide a strong sense of belonging’ and that sounds, textures and what people see in the places they live are important in terms of making a person feel “at home’. This briefing focuses primarily on the relationship between the senses (visual, audial and touch) and participants’ feelings of belonging (or not) while looked after and leaving care. It also outlines other key issues raised by the young people, including their relationships with various agencies, notably the police as well as further detail on the creative and sensory methods employed.

While there is a growing body of research about carers’ experiences generally, the needs and experience of those who support individuals in forensic (secure) mental health services (forensic carers) have been neglected Support in Mind Scotland (SiMS) and the Forensic Network commissioned this study from the University of Central Lancashire to examine what they identified as ‘significant gaps and inconsistencies’, focusing in particular on the views and experiences of forensic carers.

Home not Housing was one of five Scottish Universities Insight Institute programmes on Wellbeing. A set of ideas workshops explored the concept of ‘home’ from the perspectives of various academic disciplines – housing, planning, social work, healthcare – in order to develop a common vocabulary that will better inform policies relating to house-building, home-working, home-care and general place liveability. This blog records the discussions and findings of the workshops.

This project aims to identify factors which contribute to effective, child focussed, SMART plans for children by getting the views of social workers who work in child protection and those who chair child protection case conferences. It will consider ways of working in a more inclusive, collaborative way with children and their families, as well as ways to work more effectively in partnership with other agencies. It will also consider whether the Signs of Safety approach to child protection has a role to play in making plans more effective. The project is an IRISS project in partnership with East Lothian Council and is supported by WithScotland and Social Work Scotland. It is anticipated that the final report will assist with further development of positive outcomes for children and young people across Scotland.

This article explores the impact of abandonment abuse and neglect, not only on children but, centrally, on the foster carers, adopters and kinship carers who parent children where it has been deemed that a return home to birth parents is not in their interests. (For purposes of simplicity we will refer to these carers as ‘parenting figures’.) In doing this we aim to provide parenting figures with support and understanding as well as reducing the feelings of isolation that is often integral to parenting ‘looked after’ children.

The topic of domestic violence is an emotive one conjuring visions of child abuse by parents or carers, or marital violence, in general abuse by men of their wives or partners. According to published police statistics in Scotland for the years of 2012 – 13 male violence of women accounted for 80% of all domestic abuse, and in 2014 over 2,600 children in Scotland were identified as needing protection from abuse. This is particularly concerning since the NSPCC suggests that, for every child who has been identified, there are 8 other children who are at risk but who are ‘under the radar’. These statistics, highlighting the underlying nature of inter-family abuse relationships, i.e. the abuse of less powerful and more vulnerable family members by more powerful adults, undoubtedly account for the majority of the abuse situations within family homes. However this is, sadly, not the whole story. Understanding abuse within a family means recognising the impact of sibling aggression on every family member. It also needs to encompass the growing recognition of child to parent aggression and it is this latter aspect of inter-family relationships with which this article is primarily concerned.

Meaningful and Measurable was a Collaborative Action Research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The project brought together three academic organisations, eight practice partners and four national stakeholder organisations with a shared interest: adopting a focus on personal outcomes in health, social care and other human services. The project aims included: 1.To develop and test out in practice approaches to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of personal outcomes data and use of this information for decision making within organisations. 2.To capture emergent good practice in the analysis and use of personal outcomes information and disseminate this widely to practice, policy and academic audiences. 3.To explore the practical, epistemological and political tensions inherent in this work and capture evidence as to the benefits and limitations of different approaches

This report describes the rationale, process and learning from a project led by IRISS which explored the topic of supervision with a group of six partners from across the social services sector. The purpose of this report is to share the learning gathered through the project to provide some evidence, inspiration, and pointers for those interested in improving supervision. Key points from the report can be used to prompt reflection and discussion with teams, to review current supervision practice and to help plan improvements.

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and IRISS that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Elaine Monteith from ENABLE Scotland who participated in the PROP2 programme. What this research paper explores: All women are asked to go to the doctor every few years to get a check for cancer but women who have a learning disability don’t go for these checks as often as other women. The paper explore what barriers there are for women attending for checks and also looks at what could be done to encourage women them to attend.

Explores how the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) promotes the delivery of cost effective social services in Scotland that will support the achievement of positive outcomes for people accessing support. It identifies a number of principles that underpin the work of IRISS and suggests how these facilitate innovative evidence-informed practice. The approach to evidence-informed practice comprises four pillars of activity. The first pillar focuses on improving awareness and access to evidence and is exemplified by the Learning Exchange, the IRISS Insights series, and audio and video recording. The second pillar refers to strengthening the evidence base and is discussed in the context of work on self-directed support. Improving skills and confidence to use evidence forms the third pillar and is represented by work on data visualisation and peer support for self-evaluation. The final pillar is embedding evidence in organisations, through co-production, creating spaces to test and challenge evidence, and through the development of evidence-based products. Supporting people to share knowledge, learn from each other and to collectively produce new knowledge and solutions is an innovative approach but also one which should be cost-effective. Pre-print. Published in Evidence and Policy, 2014 (10)4 as Embedding research into practice through innovation and creativity: a case study from social services

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and IRISS that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by iain Houston from Alzeimer Scotland who participated in the PROP2 programme. What this research paper explores: An explorative case study investigating how completing a life story project affected a person with dementia.

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and Iriss that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Alan Gilmour from Glasgow City Community Health Partnership who participated in the PROP2 programme. This research aimed to gain an understanding of how training and information support contributes to positive outcomes for carers. It provided a range of information to answer specific questions such as: • Do carers feel that their needs are identified appropriately at different stages of their journey? • Does training contribute to the carer’s outcomes? • What are the barriers to carers engaging in training?

Report 68 published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in November 2014. This report will help readers to understand the Learning Together methodology.

Report 69 published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in November 2014. This research, commissioned by the Department of Health (DH), set out to identify what could be learned about current policy and practice in self-neglect, experienced as a highly challenging aspect of contemporary adult social care.

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and Iriss that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Geraldine Ditta from Alzheimer Scotland who participated in the PROP2 programme. People living with dementia are at risk of becoming socially isolated and disconnected from their local communities. Reactions from others on being told someone has dementia can have a significant impact on the person with dementia’s sense of self. This study sought to explore the perceptions of people with dementia in relation to attitudes within their communities and how they subsequently respond. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to examine how they feel about their lives with dementia.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 72 from SCIE Roundtable held on 5 March 2015. This roundtable session explored the kind of leadership required to make the Care Act a success.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) Report 73 from SCIE roundtable discussion held on 26 March 2015. This report considers the potential of technology to transform how health and social care services are delivered.

SCLD brings together some of the most respected practitioners and thinkers from across the learning disability sector who work alongside people who have learning disabilities and their families and carers.The team at SCLD is focused on delivering real change through influencing policy, identifying and sharing evidence and good practice and challenging public attitudes. SCLD aims to be a knowledge hub – offering support, information and new ideas about learning disability in Scotland.

British Institute of Learning Disabilities services help develop the organisations who provide services, and the people who give support.

Evaluation report for the inter-authority learning exchange between Shetland Islands, Falkirk and Glasgow Councils throughcare and aftercare teams. In February 2014 a member of the Throughcare and Aftercare team from Shetland, spent two weeks in each host authority as a means of developing and sharing practice, experience and learning. The report describes the planning process, in-situ experience, and post-exchange learning of participants, it also report highlights the positive learning outcomes and benefits achieved for all participating local authorities. The report identifies ideas for future applications of such a learning and practice exchange model to improve practice for looked after young people and care leavers.

In 2006 Mencap produced a comprehensive review of short break provision. Now, 10 years on, they are revisiting the support available for family carers to see whether recent policy initiatives and investment have delivered the much-needed change. A total of 264 family carers responded to their survey on short breaks provision and experiences of caring. They also sent Freedom of Information requests to all 152 local authorities in England that provide social care services. This report looks at short breaks provision in a climate of cuts to central and local government budgets. It examines the extent to which these cuts have impacted on the lives of people with a learning disability and their family carers. It also looks at the state of affairs for family carers of children and young people across the full spectrum of learning disability; from people with mild and moderate learning disabilities, to people with severe and profound disabilities.

This End of Project Report describes an innovative Transition to Work Programme for young people with autistic spectrum diagnoses and is the result of a pilot programme developed by Lothian Autistic Society (LAS) and Scottish Outdoor Education Centres (SOEC) and made possible through funding from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The pilot had the twin aims of developing employability skills and exploring the therapeutic value of the outdoors. 

The ‘Dementia: More Than Just Memory Loss’ report, was published in 2016, and set out some of the key issues affecting people with dementia in Wales, in particular: • A widespread lack of knowledge and understanding of dementia amongst professionals and the wider public. • A lack of flexibility to effectively meet the needs of people living with dementia and their carers. • A lack of co-operation between services creates unnecessary difficulties and barriers for people living with dementia and their carers. The authors of the report called for a range of actions to address this, and there has been some progress, however, despite a range of changes across society at a policy, practice and community level, there is still a long way to go to transform services and drive the cultural change needed to effectively meet the needs of people affected by dementia.  The author of this report has consistently focused on the importance of meaningful outcomes for people with dementia and their carers, to ensure that their lives have value, meaning and purpose. This is fundamental to ‘Rethinking Respite’ and to delivering the Welsh Government’s vision of ‘a dementia friendly nation that recognises the rights of people with dementia to feel valued and to live as independently as possible in their communities as outlined in the new Dementia Action Plan for Wales. 

This research compares the different approaches to supporting carers of people with dementia across the UK, US and beyond.  Carried out by the University of Birmingham, this work explores the role and experience of carers in different national contexts, highlighting good practice examples and making policy and practice recommendations. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the report highlights just how much we have in common with other countries in trying to make available effective, personalised supports against a backdrop of increased demand and diminishing resource.  Interestingly, the report explores the language of ‘respite’ which it suggests has ‘negative overtones’ and proposes a more creative approache to service provision is needed.