Social Care and Support Work

The theoretical and legislative frameworks governing social care practice in the UK — the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act, Children Act, and the Health and Social Care Act. Person-centred care, asset-based approaches, and the distinction between health and social care systems and their respective responsibilities.

Physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development from infancy through to older age — drawing on Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Bowlby, and Bronfenbrenner. Students apply developmental theory to case studies of individuals at different life stages.

Verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, open questioning, the communication cycle, and adapting communication to the needs of individuals with cognitive impairment, sensory loss, autism, or limited English proficiency. Students practice through structured role-play scenarios.

The Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics, direct and indirect discrimination, unconscious bias, and the specific challenges of providing culturally competent care to diverse communities. Students evaluate real-world cases of discriminatory practice and propose remediation.

Definitions and categories of abuse, indicators of harm, safeguarding legislation (Working Together to Safeguard Children, Care Act safeguarding duties), reporting procedures, and the role of the multi-agency safeguarding hub. Mandatory reporting obligations and professional accountability.

Social determinants of health, public health models, behaviour change theories including Prochaska's Stages of Change and Motivational Interviewing, and the role of the care worker in supporting healthy lifestyles across different population groups.

Mental health conditions covered by DSM-5 and ICD-11, stigma reduction, the recovery model, the role of medication and therapy, and the distinction between mental health support work and clinical mental health treatment.

The ethical principles governing care practice — beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Professional boundaries, dual relationships, managing personal disclosure, whistleblowing duties, and the ethics of restraint and deprivation of liberty in regulated care.

The Mental Health First Aid England framework applied to care settings. Crisis recognition and de-escalation, supporting individuals during a mental health episode, suicide and self-harm risk assessment, and referring appropriately for specialist clinical support.

Models of disability (medical versus social), the Equality Act duties in relation to learning disabilities, communication adaptations (Makaton, Easy Read, PECS), behaviour that challenges, positive behaviour support plans, and supported decision-making under the Mental Capacity Act.

Types of physical disability, assistive technology and environmental adaptations, moving and handling legislation and practice, physiotherapy support roles, and the rehabilitation team's composition and function. Students complete a manual handling practical assessment.

Types and stages of dementia, impact on cognition and communication, life story work, sensory approaches, meaningful activity provision, and the ethical challenges of capacity assessment in dementia care including best-interests decision-making.

The scope of a social care worker's role in relation to medication: administering, recording, monitoring, and reporting. Medication types, routes of administration, common side effects, controlled drugs legislation, and accurate MAR chart completion.

Identifying risks across physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains. Writing outcome-focused support plans, goal-setting in partnership with individuals, the review cycle, and maintaining care records to a professional and legally defensible standard.

Carer assessment under the Care Act, working in partnership with families, managing family conflict in care settings, young carers' rights, and supporting family members of individuals with dementia or terminal illness through the stages of grief.

An introduction to therapeutic frameworks used in social care: CBT-informed approaches, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, mindfulness-based interventions, and narrative therapy — with specific application to social care contexts rather than clinical settings.

Leadership styles in care (transformational, servant, distributed), supervision models, managing staff performance, team dynamics in high-pressure care environments, HR processes relevant to care managers, and CQC compliance management.

Qualitative and quantitative research design, ethics in social care research, literature searching and critical appraisal, interview and focus group methodology, thematic analysis, and presenting research findings to professional audiences.

Child development in adversity, adverse childhood experiences, attachment theory applied to care practice, the looked-after children system, child protection conferences, and the role of the independent reviewing officer in care planning.

The principles of palliative care, advance care planning, the spiritual and cultural dimensions of death and dying, supporting bereaved family members, ethical challenges at end of life, and the self-care needs of staff working in terminal care contexts.

Asset-based community development, social prescribing link workers, community health navigators, and the role of the voluntary sector in reducing health inequalities. Students design a social prescribing pathway for a defined community.

The role of the advocate in care settings, independent mental capacity advocates, independent mental health advocates, self-advocacy, and the application of the Human Rights Act 1998 to care practice decisions.

Working across health and social care boundaries: MDT meetings, shared care planning, information governance across agencies, professional role clarity, and managing professional disagreement in the best interests of service users.

Quality improvement methodology (Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles), root cause analysis, care audit, benchmarking against CQC inspection standards, and designing and implementing a quality improvement project in a simulated care setting.

The history and structure of the welfare state, the political economy of social care, comparative welfare systems internationally, the impact of austerity on care services, and the future of social care funding and commissioning in the United Kingdom.

Organisational strategy in care settings, change management in regulated environments, managing stakeholder relationships, strategic workforce planning, and the commissioning of care services by local authorities and the NHS.

Learning from serious case reviews and domestic homicide reviews. Systemic failures in multi-agency working, professional curiosity, disguised compliance, and the application of serious case review findings to organisational practice improvement.

Detailed application of social care legislation to complex cases: Mental Health Act 1983, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, inherent jurisdiction, Court of Protection proceedings, and the interface between criminal law and social care responsibilities.

Writing at Level 6 (undergraduate degree) and Level 7 (postgraduate) academic standard. Literature review methodology, argument construction, referencing conventions, and the specific writing requirements of social work and social science disciplines.

Critically appraising research evidence, implementing evidence-based interventions in care settings, practice-based research design, and the professional obligation to contribute to the growing knowledge base of the social care field.

An independently designed and conducted research project on an original topic in social care — from ethics application and literature review through to data collection, analysis, and a written report of 8,000 to 10,000 words.

The Social Work England registration process, continuing professional development requirements, social work qualifying programme applications (BA Social Work, Masters in Social Work), and university transition preparation for all health and social care degree routes.