Who's challenging who? Helping social care staff develop positive attitudes towards challenging behaviour
'The findings were very positive, and showed that staff's attitudes had improved and that they had better empathy'
Who's Challenging Who? is an 18 month knowledge transfer partnership developed in Wales between Mencap Cymru and Bangor University. The project aims to improve learning disability services by helping social care staff develop positive attitudes towards challenging behaviour, and improve how they empathise with the people they support.
Over the past months, volunteers Martin Banks and Claire Bowler (both of whom have displayed challenging behaviour in the past) helped project manager Lisa Hutchinson deliver 10 half-day pilot sessions to a total of 76 social care staff from a number of organisations.
The content of WCW has been informed by findings from the academic literature (i.e. the perspectives of adult service users with challenging behaviour about the services they receive and perceptions of family carers), as well as Martin and Claire's own experiences. The sessions measured attitudes and empathy by asking a series of questions at the beginning of the training, and the same questions at the end to see if there was any difference.
The findings were very positive, and showed that staff's attitudes had improved and that they had better empathy. Encouragingly, over 75% said that they thought training in this area was a good use of their time, and the same number said that they would apply what they learned to their job.
Who's Challenging Who? will be developed over the coming months by Mencap with the hope of delivering it across the UK. A conference was also organised by the project team in June to discuss the research findings, and give delegates the chance to discuss the themes. Another conference will take place in Chester in September.
For more information please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 02920 747 588.
