Podcasts
We have been working hard behind the scenes for some months now to learn the way of podcasting. We’re now ready to launch our very first box set of episodes - all about the Visiting, Meaningful Connection and Anne’s Law project.
The Anne’s Law project advisers have spoken with real-life people about real-life stories that will resonate with all of us. People like Jenny, manager at Glennie House; Ken, a care home resident; Natasha, the daughter of Anne, who Anne’s Law is named for; professionals from across the sector and many more. Packed with insightful, thought-provoking ideas and tips to stay connected with your loved ones, these podcasts have something for everyone.
Listen anywhere, anytime to the episodes that interest you. Listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts. Alternatively, you can listen on our website.
What's the Anne's Law project all about?
Barbara Lawson and Sheri Kerr introduce this podcast series and what the Anne’s Law project is about, how this will support connection for people living in adult and older people’s care homes.
Useful links:
Meaningful connection - Literature review
Meaningful connection - factsheet
Meaningful connection - Engagement report
The impact of social isolation and loneliness
Barbara Lawson and Sheri Kerr introduce findings from their literature review on meaningful connection. This episode focuses on the impact social isolation and loneliness has on our physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
Useful links:
Meaningful connection - Literature review
Webinar on supporting meaningful connection
Factsheet to accompany webinar on meaningful connection
The road to Anne's Law
Sheri Kerr welcomes Natasha Hamilton from Care Homes Relatives Scotland to share the background to the Anne’s Law campaign.
Useful links:
Meaningful connection factsheet
Anne's Law petition
Anne's Law consultation information
Anne's Law consultation responses paper
New Health and Social Care Standards for care homes
Twitter – Care home relatives Scotland
Partners in care - including family carers
Barbara Lawson and Sheri Kerr focus on how family carers can be included as partners in care.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage
Meaningful connection - Literature review
Meaningful connection - Engagement report
Meaningful connection - Self-evaluation tool
Webinar on family carers as partners in care
Factsheet to accompany webinar on family carers as partners in care
New Health and Social Care Standards for care homes
Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
Scottish Human Rights
The right to connect
Sheri Kerr and Cathy Asante (Scottish Human Rights Commission) discuss the importance of a human rights-based approach and how this can support meaningful connection for people who live in care homes.
Useful links:
Scottish Human Rights website
Scottish Human Rights - Care about Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
Human Rights Act 1998
Webinar - A human rights based approach including the Health and Social Care Standards
Factsheet to accompany webinar on A human rights based approach including the Health and Social Care Standards
Scottish Human Rights - Human Rights Based Approach
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Human Rights Bill Scotland consultation
Safe to visit
Barbara Lawson speaks with Andrea Wyllie (CEO of Greenock Medical Aid Society) to find out how visiting was introduced and supported during the pandemic. Andrea shares the background to the human rights-based approach that influenced and ultimately supported all care homes to enable safe visiting during this time of crisis.
Useful links:
New Health and Social Care Standards for care homes
Scottish care home team’s efforts to bring loved ones together during pandemic wins nursing accolade (qnis.org.uk)
Open with Care: supporting meaningful contact in adult care homes – principles
The chance to connect
Barbara Lawson and Dr Edel Roddy, My Home Life Facilitator, explore how meaningful connection can be enhanced by recognising opportunities to be present with someone, how connection can be enhanced for people living with advanced dementia.
Tools and resources can help people recognise everyday opportunities to be present and capture the moment of connection and emotion.
Useful links:
My Home Life Charity resources
My Home Life Charity - A place in the fun
My Home Life Charity - lingo of connection
My Home Life Charity - rights made real
Hearts and Minds
Namaste Care
New Health and Social Care Standards for care homes
Care Inspectorate - Come on in
Positive peer relationships
Barbara Lawson and Sheri Kerr look at what research tells us about positive peer relationships in care homes, how services can create a culture of connection to enable friendships through intentional practices, such as know your neighbour, lounge and meal experiences, and how some barriers can be overcome through thoughtful personal planning and consideration.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage
Meaningful connection - Literature review
Meaningful connection - Engagement report
Webinar on positive peer relationships
Factsheet to accompany webinar on positive peer relationships
The Kings Fund - Is your care home dementia friendly?
Health and Social Care Standards
Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
Supporting loss
Barbara Lawson and Jenny Karimlar manager from Glennie House Care Home, explore death and dying and how services can support people living in care homes with the loss of a peer.
Useful links:
Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
Anticipatory care planning guidance
Getting out and about
Barbara Lawson and Louise Kelly from the Care About Physical Activity (CAPA) project discuss the importance of getting out and about to support wellbeing and connection. They explore ways to connect with nature, becoming aware of the seasons, the benefits of bringing the outside into the care home and including intergenerational opportunities.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Care about Physical Activity
Trellis Scotland
Paths for All
Ken's story
Barbara Lawson and Ken Graham who moved into Glennie House Care Home during the pandemic. He shares his story and what is important to him to remain active as someone living in a care home.
Useful links:
Guide for providers on personal planning
The Hub - Care about physical activity
Person-centred personal planning
Barbara Lawson and Sheri Kerr discuss the importance of person-centred personal planning and how this can support meaningful connection.
Useful links:
The Hub - Health and Social Care Standards
The Hub - Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
The Hub - A quality framework for care homes for adults and older people
Care Inspectorate - Come on in
Mental Welfare Commission - Rights, risks, and limits to freedom
A family carer's perspective
Sheri Kerr is joined by Catharine Fletcher, who is a family carer and Care Inspectorate volunteer. Catharine shares her experiences and gives her views on what is important.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage
How inspection supports connection
Barbara Lawson, Sheri Kerr and Marie Paterson (Chief Inspector for Adults Regulation at Care Inspectorate) discuss the values of connection and how the inspection process and ways of working support this.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage
Meaningful connection - Self-evaluation tool
The Hub - Improvement support section
The Hub - A quality framework for care homes for adults and older people
Scottish Government - Open with Care
New Health and Social Care Standards
Webinar on family carers as partners in care
Factsheet to accompany webinar on family carers as partners in care
What our inspectors are looking for
Sheri Kerr and Barbara Lawson explore what inspectors in adult services would look for when considering care and support around meaningful connection.
Useful links:
The Hub - A quality framework for care homes for adults and older people
The Hub - Health and Social Care Standards
The Hub - Improvement support section
The Hub - Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
Meaningful connection - Self-evaluation tool
Technology enabled care
Sheri Kerr is joined by Nicky Cronin, who is Care Inspectorate’s Senior Improvement Adviser for Technology Enabled Care. They discuss why technology has become increasingly important to support people’s human rights and the need for a person-centred approach to support meaningful connection.
Useful links:
The Hub - Technology practice guide
The Hub - Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
Connecting with dementia
Sheri Kerr and Gareth Hammond Care Inspectorate Service Manager highlight some considerations around supporting people living with dementia in a care home to remain connected.
Useful links:
Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage
Care Inspectorate - Enriched model of psychological needs poster
Care Inspectorate - Come on in
The Hub - Guide for providers on personal planning for adults
The Hub - Dementia
The Bradford Wellbeing Profile
The Kings Fund - Is your care home dementia friendly?
Scottish Government - Coronavirus (COVID-19): living with dementia in care homes
Infection prevention and control
Barbara Lawson and Marie McKerry (Care Inspectorate Chief Nurse) look at some of the considerations around infection prevention and control, and why essential visiting is important.
Useful links:
National Infection Prevention and Control Manual
The Care Inspectorate - Meaningful connection webpage.
Scottish Government - Open with Care
New Health and Social Care Standards
Public Health Scotland
Read moreUpdate - September 2023
What we have done so far
Following the notification of the thematic review, we issued a survey to social work teams across Scotland. By mid- august we had received responses from all 32 local authority areas. We are now looking at the information from the survey. This is helping us to build a picture about social work’s contribution to how well disabled children and young people’s needs are assessed, planned for, and met.
We have been reading national reports and research to find out what disabled children and young people have already said what is important to them, and about their experiences of support.
Conversations with our key stakeholders, are helping us to develop our ideas about our engagement approaches with children and young people. We are keen that we explore opportunities to ensure that our approach is rights based, accessible and is inclusive.
We will use all the information we have gathered so far to help us identify our focus during the next stage.
Next steps
Four areas have volunteered to help us better understand children and young people’s experiences and the difference social work services are making to their lives. We are pleased to welcome them to this next stage of the review. The areas are:
Aberdeen city
Dundee city
Dumfries and Galloway
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)
We will be working with these social work teams from September 2023 to March 2024.
More information can be found on our website here.
If you have any questions for the review team, they can be contacted via email on:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in this review.
Read moreDisabled children and young people: Thematic review 2023-24
On this page you will find information about our national thematic review. We will keep this page updated as we move through the different stages.
Our approach
In April 2023 we notified all local authorities of our intention to undertake a national thematic review with a focus on disabled children and young people up to the age of 18 years. Within the scope of our review, we will focus on the experiences of children who are considered disabled under article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“Persons with disabilities include those who have long term physical, mental intellectual or sensory impairments which any interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”
We will provide a national overview of social work’s contribution to how well disabled children and young people’s needs are assessed, planned for, and met. This will include hearing from children about the things that are important to them, their experiences of participation and of receiving care and support. To do this we will structure our review under the following two statements:
- Children and young people are actively heard, informed, and meaningfully involved in decisions about their lives.
- Children’s and young people’s wellbeing has been promoted through high quality child centred planning and bespoke support.
We will carry out the review between May 2023 and May 2024. We will publish a national report in Spring 2024.
More information about the thematic review can be found in the following links:
Working with four local authority areas – a deeper dive
Read more
Archived updates
Archived Updates
- Covid-19 FAQ's
- Covid-19 notifications
- Inspection during Covid-19
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Near Me video calls
- Registrations
- Operating your care service
- Information for people and their carers
You can find older updates by clicking the relevant year below:
Read more