Professionalising Social Care: The Role of a Common Knowledge Base

As social care qualifications make the transition into the Qualification and Credit Framework, generally referred to as the QCF framework, it is clear that the role of knowledge in effective social care practice is being increasingly recognised.

A great deal of work is taking place in social care designed to “professionalise” the work force and the term the “professionalisation agenda” is now in regular use in the field. This professionalisation of social care is important for a range of reasons, particularly to ensure that service users are receiving the best possible support available.

It is widely acknowledged that a core knowledge base is a key component of a profession. Clarifying the common knowledge base of social care is therefore a vital aspect of the professionalisation of social care.

In 2006, Cameron and Boddy drew on a range of research studies which considered the knowledge and education required for effective social care practice. They noted a distinction between three forms of knowledge:

Ø “Tacit knowledge. Sometimes referred to as practice wisdom, this is the knowledge derived from experience and from personal qualities.
Ø Functional knowledge. This is the knowledge which might be specifically required to perform defined tasks to an agreed standard. This is the kind of knowledge which has historically featured most heavily in competence based qualifications.
Ø Professional knowledge. This type of knowledge is described as combining professional skills (including specific competences) and practical experience with a strong theoretical underpinning.”

(Boddy and Statham 2009:13)

Knowledge can also be seen in terms of horizontal and vertical knowledge (Maclean and Caffrey 2009). This is a concept drawn from information technology, where horizontal knowledge and vertical knowledge can be defined in a range of ways. In terms of social care, we would define vertical knowledge as knowledge which is specific to a particular profession - for example, social care, nursing, social work etc. As such, it is knowledge which all social care workers will share - regardless of the service user group they work with (for example, knowledge about values, the principles of social care practice etc.)

Horizontal knowledge on the other hand is specialised knowledge about a particular service user group. This knowledge will not be specific to social care workers but will be shared by a range of different professionals working with a particular service user group. For example, there will be specific knowledge about dementia shared between psychologists, nurses, doctors, care staff and others working with people with dementia.

Knowledge about particular service user groups is vitally important for social care staff. However, this knowledge will be shared between many different professionals. At present, there is a lack of clarity about the knowledge which is specific to social care (what we call vertical knowledge).

Knowledge and Professionalisation of Social Care

We are passionate about professionalising the role of social care workers and see clarifying the knowledge base of social care as a key part of this. We believe that effective practice for service users can best be ensured by social care professionals being clear about the core knowledge they need to perform their roles. This means that social care workers need to be clear about:

Ø What can we do to best support this person?
Ø How do we do it?
Ø What can we bring to the multi-disciplinary team working with the service user?

The QCF framework, with its increased focus on the links between knowledge and practice, is part of moving towards making the answers to these questions clear.

At the present time, qualifications, job roles, multiagency working and financial pressures can mean that many social care workers feel that change is the only certainty in the role. However, being clear as to what constitutes the “common knowledge base for social care” can enable workers who provide social care across the whole diverse range of practice settings to feel confident, empowered in their role and as knowledgeable as other professionals who work with people.

So why do social care workers need to be clear about the general or vertical knowledge which is required across all social care work?

Firstly, knowledge around theory, legal requirements, best practice, social care values and communication can help social care workers to make sense of situations which may be challenging in their work. These could be events occurring within the work setting or issues which present for an individual service user. For example, knowledge of what has worked for other people and how to find evidence to support best practice can help social care workers to generate ideas about what is going on and what might maximise the person’s choices and independence.

It is clear that social care workers need a good level of knowledge to enable their practice to be the best it can be for individual service users and in order for social care work to be more valued in society.

Professional social care workers should therefore be able to describe:

Ø What they did
Ø Why they did it (e.g.: because of legal issues, service policy, a theory which could apply to an individual, knowledge about communication or health and safety etc)
Ø How they applied their knowledge
Ø What worked and what they might do differently in future (to generate learning from practice and increase the evidence and knowledge base for themselves, their service and the social care profession more generally)

This is what makes the difference between someone who is acting as a social care professional and one who acts on instinct or “gut”. If someone is professionally qualified, there is an expectation that they act ethically, with knowledge of why they make certain decisions, and that they are able to justify these, to managers, other professionals, service users and their families or carers.

Article Source: http://www.seoserviceprovider.com/articles

Written by Siobhan Maclean and Rob Harrison, the new book, “Social Care: The Common Knowledge Base: A Pic n Mix Guide” contains an overview of the most up to date knowledge that social care workers need to understand the context for social care today, work towards the new QCF qualifications in social care and use as an easy reference guide throughout their work. You can see full details of the book at www.kirwinmaclean.com/social-care-the-common-knowledge-base.html

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