Social Work students have several reasons to be interested in the new welfare policy and support package announced by the University. As practitioners-to-be, the issue of how support is provided and how it is offered or communicated are key concerns.
As members of the Social Work Division, you might feel a stake in this because Pam Alldred’s research has fed into the development of student support at Brunel. The USVreact project saw over 80 staff trained to respond well to disclosures of sexual violence and to avoid victim-blaming, and to support survivors to make their own decisions and access support. This training is available to all staff via Staff Development now and there will be a shorter online version in future to raise awareness.
The bigger vision for Brunel, is that we are a supportive community, aware of sexual harassment, violence and coercion and reflexive about how power operates within an organization. Like the Dementia Aware vision for Brunel, community education should be lead by a university. As Pam often reminds the Welfare team and other university staff, the Social Work Masters must be one the most intensive programmes we run because it requires post-graduate level academic study, as well as placement success - and self-care is crucial for those who will support others in the future. In addition, we can feel proud of being able to recognize and ask for help when needed and help combat the stigma sometimes felt around mental health issues.
Download our Student Wellbeing and Mental Health policy here.
This month has seen new training for staff on mental health awareness and the Student Support & Welfare Team has a new online platform for reporting welfare concerns and flags a range of different issues for students or staff to seek support for themselves or someone else.
Reported by:
Dr Pam Alldred
+44 (0)1895 267270
Pam.Alldred@brunel.ac.uk