Typical day as a social care worker

No two days in social care work are the same, so it is very difficult to describe a typical day. Read these case studies to get a flavour of the kind of work that you might be doing.

Case study 1

Aman is 59 and has Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s. She lives with her elderly parents and comes to the day centre three days a week. The social worker has been listening to Aman’s parents who want to see her settled in a place where she is safe and can stay for the rest of her life.

They know they will not be able to care for her much longer and want to see her safe and happy before they pass away. The social care worker’s job is to talk to Aman about this move, help to monitor potential places for her to stay and provide a realistic picture of her needs and how to meet them.

Aman’s needs are quite specific and there are no local homes that could meet them, so they are seeking a Shared Lives arrangement. Aman can understand Punjabi and English but her speech is very limited. She is used to going to temple and her parents would want this to continue as she gains so much pleasure from it.

The family that the social worker has found understand Aman’s cultural needs and go to the same temple, so Aman has seen them before and her parents know the couple well. The first step is to take Aman to meet them in their home. If that goes well the social care worker will take Aman more often. The hope is that gradually Aman will settle and the family will be able to offer short breaks until such time as Aman moves in with them permanently.

Case study 2

Tia is an Early Help support worker. Her job is to support families who are struggling to manage childcare. Families are referred to her through schools, social workers or health visitors.

Tia can spend the morning helping a single parent with three children, two of whom have physical disabilities. She helps with getting the children up, washed, dressed and fed. She has had training to help her with specialised tube feeding for the children.

Once the children have gone to school or nursery, she spends time with their parent working out a plan for the rest of the week, including shopping, budgeting and fitting in any after school activities or medical appointments.

Tia has to write up her activity for the records and then moves to another family where mum misuses alcohol and drugs. She has a small child and it is Tia’s job to check on the safety of the child and the current state of the mother. If Tia has any concerns about the child’s safety she has to report this straight away to her manager.