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<\/a><\/p>\n1. Promote reassurance, not fear or anger.<\/strong><\/strong> 2. Choose inter-dependency, allow and enable people to \u201cgive\u201d.<\/strong> <\/strong> 3. Choose to see strategies, not behaviors. <\/strong><\/strong> 4. Choose honesty. <\/strong><\/strong> 5. Choose relationships, they matter.<\/strong><\/strong> 6. Build connection.<\/strong><\/strong> <\/p>\n Human services will go one of two ways. Some will hold on to the humanity of our work, preserve the intimacy of relationships and help workers and the people supported to hold on to those. Others will suffocate under changing rules, guidance and procedures. There\u2019s more than one kind of \u201chealth\u201d for us to maintain. Rules place emphasis on physical health, for good reasons, but mental health matters too. Choose physical and mental well being.<\/p>\n With the right approach it\u2019s just possible that a pandemic could release people from old stories. Extraordinary circumstances offer extraordinary opportunities. Let\u2019s be brave, focus on that possibility and use crisis as leverage we have always needed to build a future that we didn\u2019t manage to out of the ordinary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By Judith North<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Judith has worked in social care since 1986 and now runs Orenda. Orenda provides training and consultancy focused on improving the lives of people who use and work in human services organizations. Judith is featured in and helped to write ‘Autism’ and ‘Autism and Sensory Processing’ for Open Future. More about these modules:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Autism: <\/strong>This module combines a straightforward introduction to autism with a broad range of practical strategies and approaches. The short films within the module balance the personal perspectives of people who have autism with the opinions and experiences of a number of leading professionals.<\/p>\n
\nMany workers will be scared, as will the people we support. Fear is more infectious than COVID 19. Frightened people need reassurance. It\u2019s hard to give to people supported when we can\u2019t dig deep and find the strength to reassure ourselves and our families. So, build the future you want to be part of.<\/p>\n
\nA lifetime of dependency leads to dependency. Perhaps it\u2019s time to think about inter-dependency and work out how people we support can \u201csupport\u201d the people who support them. That would be a great outcome from the pandemic. Power relationships finally equalized. All that work we\u2019ve done on \u201cgifts and talents\u201d should support us to work out how.<\/p>\n
\nFrightened people express themselves more emphatically. When routines that people rely on to understand their world begin to disassemble (they surely will as services close and shift from individualized support to basic cover and risk management) some are going to express their fear emphatically, potentially to workers who don\u2019t know them like regular staff or family. Let\u2019s choose to see \u201cconfused, scared and frightened\u201d as strategies people use to cope, NOT \u201cbehaviors\u201d. Let’s \u201cNormalize the worry\u201d and rewrite people\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n
\nPeople who find things difficult to understand need stuff explaining in simple terms. Nothing new there. Adults need to be treated like adults and not cosseted to ease our working life. The rule of thumb is \u201ctell it like it is, simply, and then help people to work things out in a way that makes sense to them\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019ve talked forever about the importance of continuity in human services without really agreeing what we mean. For some it means an \u201cactivity timetable\u201d and for others \u201ceveryone saying the same thing\u201d. In unprecedented times continuity fundamentally means \u201cpeople who know me and relationships I can trust\u201d. If everything changes let\u2019s make \u201crelationships\u201d the bottom line. \u201cRelationships I can trust\u201d. Keep them intact. If you can\u2019t be there in person you can still get to someone by Skype, Facetime or a similar platform. You can still offer connection when self-isolated. You can still support your colleague who doesn\u2019t know someone as well as you do.<\/p>\n
\nHuman services support some lonely people. Some have no-one in their life who isn\u2019t paid. Brilliant support services have worked hard to build community connections for people many of which, like clubs and groups, will now be suspending activity. Maybe it\u2019s time to reach beyond the activity to secure individual \u201cconnections\u201d. It\u2019s what we always meant to do, but the current crisis allows us to be blunt and \u201cask\u201d for help and connection. Get brave. Ask people in your community to help!<\/p>\n