Look out for...

Inform is still very much in it’s infancy and we really appreciate all the feedback that is steadily streaming in from local authority users. You may have noticed Community Care magazine re-launched the magazine earlier in the year, and as a result changed some of their content. We are now able to publish the new Research Realities and Proven Practice articles in the Inform practice section. Research Realities looks at the latest research findings on social care analysed by a team of researchers. Proven Practice provides information about evidence-informed social care practice, it looks at the latest evidence underpinning practice across all social care subject areas. Look out for both types of article alongside the risk factor, practice panel and expert articles that are regularly published on the site. We are making good progress with the “guides to…” section of the site (also found in the practice section for the time being). We have recently published a guide to teenage pregnancy; sexually transmitted disease/infections and a guide to street drugs. You may wonder why we commissioned a guide to street drugs. This arose from a conversation with a piloteer during a feedback session. The social worker explained to us that when they have to work with family members who substance misuse, they need to be aware of the effects different types of drugs have on the individual. They also need to have an idea of how much different types of drugs actually cost. This is important as it provides the social worker with a rough idea of what the drugs cost the parent on a daily/weekly basis and the financial implications this has on the family. More content is expected to be loaded this week, look out for the series of reference manuals; guides to and research review on safeguarding.