Social worker safety during a home visit
A social work workshop can use the same case twice. The first meeting takes place at the office, the second in the client’s home. Comparing them reveals differences in access to colleagues, familiarity with the space and options for ending an appointment.
Agree on arrangements before leaving
Choose a sample visit and map who knows what to expect. Which arrangements are confirmed with the supervisor, and which are assumptions? Include the colleague who answers the office phone. Their role begins before the practitioner meets the client.
Rehearse ending a conversation
In a role-play the client repeats a demand while the practitioner needs to close the meeting. The team tries several phrases and checks which are understandable and fit their responsibilities. The debrief examines when the decision was made and how it was shared with a colleague.
Preparation starts before leaving the office
When planning training, discuss what information staff have before a visit and how their work plan is shared. A useful scenario includes changes on arrival: additional people present, no opportunity for a calm conversation or a need to end the meeting. The aim is to practise decisions and communication within the institution’s arrangements.
After returning, staff need a way to report difficult incidents without having their resilience judged. The team can agree which information will help plan the next contact. Anonymised examples are enough for programme design. Service users’ records or details identifying a particular family are not needed to prepare exercises.
Separate observations from assumptions
Compare two descriptions: “he was dangerous” and “he moved closer and repeatedly raised his voice”. The second gives colleagues more to work with when discussing another visit. Training examples can be anonymised so the family cannot be identified.
WCSiB · Samoobrona Poznań · Samoobrona Warszawa