English

for Social
integration

UNIT 2

Meet
the team
INICIATIVA Y COORDINACIÓN
Centro de Estudios CEAC

© Planeta DeAgostini Formación, S.L.U.

Barcelona (España), 2017
 CONTENT

2 Meet the team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1. Introducing a new colleague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2. Working in mental health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3. The Manual for Integrated Social Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4. V
 ocabulary. Social Integration Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

5. V
 ocabulary. Duties and responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

6. D
 ecision-making in a mental health context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

7. Speaking in public (presentations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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 2 Meet the team

OBJECTIVES

In this lesson you will:

■■ Learn who your colleagues are

■■ Study vocabulary about skills and duties

■■ Make decisions about a case

■■ Listen to a presentation and take notes

■■ Read about the best way to make a presentation.

1. INTRODUCING A NEW COLLEAGUE

Look at the dialogue about a person being introduced to their new

colleagues.

Stella: Listen everybody, this is Martin! He is the new Support Worker for Com-
munity Mental Health Centre. I want you to welcome him to our team!

Several people: Hi Martin! / Welcome!

Martin: Thanks everybody. Pleased to meet you. I hope I’ll remember all your
names by the end of this week!

Stella: Martin is not new to social work; he’s joining us from Green Park Resi-
dential Care Services. But he is new to working in a large team, so he will need
to learn what you all do, and he will need to learn it really fast. Martin, would
you introduce yourself, please?

Martin: Sure, thank you Stella. Well, I’m Martin Granger and I’m happy to join
your team. As Stella said I was working in residential care and specifically with
older people but as I just finished my part-time master in Mental Health Coun-
selling I feel ready to move into my specialised area.

Stella: As you will soon notice, this is a very busy place and we very much work
as a team, so you will need to get up to speed quickly. We always have a
­meeting every Monday to plan the week ahead and I’m always available if you
have any doubts. You will report to Ben, he’s the manager at the centre.

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 Meet the team

Ben: Hi Martin, we met at your second interview. I’m really pleased to have you
on the team. For today I’ll introduce you to each team member so that you can
get a feel of the place.

Martin: Great, let’s get started!

Now decide if the following questions are True of False. The fist has been
done as an example.

1. Martin is joining the team as a manager. False – he is a Support Worker

2. Martin has never worked in social work before.

3. Martin recently finished studying. t

4. There is a sometimes a meeting on Monday.

5. Martin has met Ben before.

2. WORKING IN MENTAL HEALTH

Read the following text and match the underlined words with the
definitions below. The first has been done as an example.
Mental health social workers 1. empower individuals with mental illness—and their
families, carers, and communities—to lead 2. fulfilling, independent lives.

Through therapy, support, and 3. advocacy, they enable people to manage

the social factors in their lives—like relationships, housing, and employment—
that allow them to get well and stay well. They may be living with a wide va­­
riety of illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and personality
4. disorders such as being bipolar. Their mental health problems can some­
times be associated with other issues such as physical illness, 5. addiction, or
6. homelessness.

Social workers can work in a variety of mental health 7. settings, inclu­

ding work in specialist mental health settings like forensic services and
child and adolescent mental health services, but the main focus is
on experience in adult community mental health teams. These are
8. multi-disciplinary teams which can include social workers, nurses,
support workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, and psy­
chiatrists.

1. combining or involving several academic disciplines or pro­

fessional specializations in an approach to a topic or problem
= multi-disciplinary

2. the process of enabling people to express their views or look

for information

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English for Social Integration

3. to make people stronger and confident

4. situations where physical or mental processes do not function normally

5. the situation of having no place to live

6. something which is satisfying

7. a condition where a person participates in activities which cause physical

or mental damage such as drug-taking or gambling

8. the context or environment of a situation

3. THE MANUAL FOR INTEGRATED

SOCIAL WORK

Read the following section from a Manual and decide which the best title
for each paragraph is. The first has been done as an example.

1. Ensure people’s safety

2. Provide guidance and therapy

3. Build relationships with people

4. Stand up for people’s rights

5. Improve community services

6. Arrange support and care

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 Meet the team

As a social worker in community mental health services, you will:

A. Build relationships with people

You will visit the individuals you work with regularly, usually in their homes
(including supported accommodation and residential homes) or in hospital. By
listening and building trust, you will come to understand their needs and aspi­
rations.

As well as getting to know them, you will also build relationships with their
fami­lies, friends, loved ones, children, and caregivers.

B. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................

You will spend time working with people on a one-to-one basis, exploring their
situation with them and looking together for ways to move forward.

This will include supporting and constructively challenging them to think about
the social factors in their lives, and helping them to establish their own goals
for positive change. For example, you might set goals together about main­
taining and growing positive relationships with friends and family.

To give people the tools to achieve their aspirations, you will use socially-fo­
cused therapies and interventions.

C. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................

You will be responsible for assessing individuals’ needs and creating a unique
care plan to help them achieve their goals. You will then work with colleagues
in your service to put the right support in place.

■■ Arranging funding to provide direct support, for example to allow easier

travel to work or to see friends and family.

■■ Consulting with and involving other professionals in your service, such as

nurses, psychologists, or psychiatrists.

■■ Bringing in help from other services, including the local council, the police,
housing associations, charities, and faith groups.

D. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................

A vital part of leading on someone’s care is keeping them safe. You will assess
whether they are a risk to themselves, or at risk of abuse or neglect from
­others, and if necessary take action to safeguard them.

You will spend some of your time on duty as the first line of response in crisis
situations – for example if someone’s mental health deteriorates suddenly, or
if their support network of friends and family breaks down.

E. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................

You will take the lead on understanding the law and ensuring that people’s
rights are upheld. It will be your job to be an advocate for the individuals you
are working with, and stand firm when their rights are not being respected –
including being assertive with other professionals.

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English for Social Integration

To fulfil this role, you will become an expert on the legal framework, including
the Mental Health Act, the Mental Capacity Act, the Care Act, and the Human
Rights Act. You will have a formal role in Mental Health Act tribunals.

F. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................

When there are unmet needs in the community where you work, you may be
involved in changing services or designing and implementing new initiatives to
meet those needs. This often involves working with other services, charities,
and community groups.

4. VOCABULARY.
SOCIAL INTEGRATION SKILLS

Read the following words

These are the skills necessary to work successfully in social integration.

1 Assessment Skills

2 Communication Skills

3 Advocacy and Leadership

4 Problem Solving Skills

5 Critical Thinking Skills

6 Respect for Diversity

7 Intervention Skills

8 Documentation Skills

9 Organizational Skills

10 Understanding of Human Relationships

Answer the following questions. The first has been done as an example.

1. Which skill means that you are good at explain things and talking to people?
Communication skills

2. Which skill means that you are good at writing down all the important
information? ......................................................................................................................................................................

3. Which skill means that you are good at making plans and schedules? .........
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

4. This means that you are happy for people to be different. .........................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

5. This means that you are able to manage situations and offer support to
people. ....................................................................................................................................................................................

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 Meet the team

6. This skill means that you are good at evaluating situations. ......................................
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

7. Which skill means you know how to mediate in situations? .....................................

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

8. This skill means that you can consider information clearly and objecti­
vely. .............................................................................................................................................................................................

9. This skill means that you are empathetic to people and how they interact.
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

10. You find solutions to difficult situations..............................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

5. VOCABULARY.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Read the following expressions. They describe the duties of a psychiatric

social worker. Focus on the verbs that are used to talk about the
duties. Some of the verbs are missing. Complete the chart from
the following list.

■■ review ■■ maintain

■■ help ■■ develop

■■ arrange ■■ monitor

■■ conduct ■■ provide

1 .................................................. interviews in order to determine the appropriate services

2 .................................................. care plans that include counselling, support services, treatment

methods and referrals

3 periodically .................................................. their patient and patient family situations

4 make changes to the care plans as necessary

5 explain treatment plans to patients and their families

6 .................................................. patient records

7 prepare reports

8 .................................................. progress toward treatment goals

9 offer individual and group therapy sessions to patients

10 instruct other mental health staff in therapeutic techniques

11 .................................................. crisis interventions

12 .................................................. for services from referral agencies

13 .................................................. patients ease back into the community after leaving inpatient
programs.

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English for Social Integration

6. DECISION-MAKING
IN A MENTAL HEALTH CONTEXT

Mental health social workers face important and challenging decisions on

a daily basis.

Look at three scenarios based on the experiences of practising social

workers and choose which you think will be the best solution. Try to think
of why you would follow this course of action.

1. Callum’s hallucinations

You are having a meeting with your client, Callum, regarding his employ­
ment benefits, and what you can do to support him. He is telling you about
his latest job applications when suddenly he begins to talk about some hal­
lucinations that he has been having. You can see he is becoming increa­
singly nervous. He talks about seeing faces in strange places in his every­
day life. After telling you about this, he asks you: “Don’t you believe me?”

Which action do you take?

1. Say that you believe him and ask if he would like to talk any more about
it.

2. Explain to him the effects that hallucinations could have on his psycho­
logical wellbeing.

3. Ignore the question, and instead try to reassure him and calm him down.

4. Tell him that you will ask a psychiatrist to get in touch with him.

2. Debate with Niraj

You are in a meeting with two of your colleagues regarding the detention
of a service user. Niraj, the psychiatrist, knows this individual and their
condition well and believes that detention is necessary. However, you wit­
nessed the incident that has caused this meeting and you believe it was
not serious enough to merit this course of action. The discussion becomes
rather heated as you debate the best approach.

Which action do you take?

1. Explain your reasoning clearly and persevere with your argument.

2. As Niraj knows the service user better than you, agree to his suggested
course of action.

3. Try to get your other colleague to agree with your analysis, to give your
argument more weight.

4. Take a break and try to find another colleague who knows the service
user to provide their perspective.

3. Achebe’s mother

You have previously agreed a care plan with Achebe, who lives with her
­parents, and you have arranged a visit to their house to talk it through with

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 Meet the team

all of them together. When you arrive you are met by her mother, who tells
you she doesn’t agree with what’s happening and wants something different
for her daughter. You know how important it is to keep her mother involved,
but want to make sure you are focused on Achebe and her best interests.

Which action do you take?

1. Spend the visit listening to Achebe’s mother and trying to address her
concerns.

2. Speak to Achebe and her mother together, to see if you can reach a
compromise.

3. Arrange to meet Achebe’s mother separately, and make it clear that

this visit is about Achebe’s care plan.

4. Take Achebe to one side to speak with her first, before speaking fur­
ther with her mother.

7. SPEAKING IN PUBLIC (PRESENTATIONS)

First, watch the complete video here. Then listen to the recording in the
biblioteca /Life as a Refugee/. You can follow the script here.

We have highlighted the main points.

When watching or listening to a presentation, remember to take notes of the

main points.

Social integration is the process where all members of the refugee commu­
nity are included and assisted in settling in the already existing Canadian mul­
ticulturalism to achieve and maintain strong relations between different indi-
viduals and to help them benefit from different available opportunities,
without falling into subcategories.

When newcomers or refugees first arrive in Canada we have to keep in mind

that they have already been through traumatizing experiences and struggles
and coming into a new country they struggle with different things such as lan­
guages…the cultural clash…It’s a completely new culture to them and they are
completely unfamiliar with the Canadian system and as youth integrate into
the community they might be unable to express themselves because of the
language barrier. They don’t know how to speak the language properly.

Or they might think some of the Canadian rules are foreign to them, and their
strange ideas and ideologies and they can’t seem to, kind of, integrate into this
society properly. Or they might feel that their own culture is not familiar to the
Canadian society, therefore they feel like they might be isolated…but not neces­
sarily from the Canadian system but they might feel that they need to isolate
themselves so they do not associate with people from other cultures.

And that leads to social isolation that might lead to potential mental health
problems such as depression and I recently started studying about social
­an­xie­t y which is huge because being isolated from the society will make you
feel shy and not want to express yourself properly in front of people. And that

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English for Social Integration

affects you in the long term. As well as stress, and add on top of that the
post-traumatic stress disorder that they might be already suffering from.

I went through some struggles, maybe not so much with the English language
because I was fortunate to be in an English immersion school back home but
maybe with the cultural clash, trying to find my identity in new country, in a
new society. But having a supportive system around me made a huge dif-
feren­ce and if it wasn’t for my teachers, and my colleagues and my class-
mates I wouldn’t be where I am today.

And I just want to stress how important it is for the settlement sector to be
part of that support system because including but not limited to the home­
work club, I was part of the homework club and a lot of newcomers would
come and they would struggle with English or with math or science so they
might already know the information but the English part is what they struggle
with…and conversation circles which is an amazing programme that I was part
of where…we help newcomers and immigrants with pronunciation maybe gram­
matical…things that they might struggle with while speaking as well as net­
working which is also extremely important…helping the newcomers and refu­
gees network and communicate with each other and connect with other
refugees and newcomers and the Canadian society as well.

Making a presentation to children.

Working in Social Integration means having to work with different age groups
as well as people from different cultures. When you are presenting to children,
keeping them interested and engaged in what you are saying can feel like a
constant battle. Keeping multiple students engaged at the same time, while
still getting important material across, without becoming a dog and pony show
is difficult. So what are some ways to improve a presentation so the kids stay
interested, and you aren’t completely worn out by the middle of the day?

Here are some ideas.

■■ 1. Relate Subjects to the Students

History and math can quickly become boring if students don’t under­
stand why these subjects are important to them or how they relate to
their lives. Try to introduce a subject by first discussing a common pro­
blem the kids might face that relates in some way to the subject being
taught. Incorporating that problem into the homework and other school
tasks will help students remember why it is important as well.

■■ 2. Get Active

Not even adults like to sit quietly all day. Instead, have students stand
up, clap, chant, and sing. These are things that every student can par­
ticipate in at once and directly involves them in the learning process.

■■ 3. Use Humour

Humor is a great attention getter, relieves tension, and can help stu­
dents relax into a difficult subject. Find clever ways to incorporate

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 Meet the team

humor into the presentation so it doesn’t get you off topic but helps to
convey the important information.

■■ 4. Use Technology

There are many options today for teachers to use technology to keep
students engaged. YouTube offers a host of educational content that
can bring a subject to life. There are also presentation programs that
are more interesting than a basic PowerPoint, such as Prezi. Course­
ware can be used for small groups of students that are either ahead of
or behind the rest of the class, and holding surveys via electronic
remotes ensures that every student is thinking about a problem, not
just the one that raises his or her hand.

■■ 5. Provide Structure

Children, especially younger children, need structure to know where

they are supposed to be and how they are supposed to act. Start early
setting this structure by requiring every all students to be sitting qui­
etly at their desks before you begin. Make the ending of a presentation
obvious by providing a clear transition, such as switching seats or ­giving
a call to action.

■■ 6. Use Visuals

Visuals are a great way to grab the attention and engage them in a dis­
cussion about a topic. Pictures, cartoons, puppets, or other small
­displays are especially important for younger children who have a hard
time grasping difficult concepts with words alone.

■■ 7. Be Engaging

The presenter also needs to be engaging or the students will imme­

diately shut down as soon as the funny video or survey discussion is
over. Alternate the pitch and tone of your voice frequently, use hand
gestures, and show your own interest in the subject. Doing these things
may be outside of your comfort zone, but remember teaching is about
the students, not the teacher, so think about how you can change your
teaching style so students start to get more out of presentations.

Match a highlighted word in the text to one of the following definitions.

1. a situation in which you feel content but unchallenged

2. make people take notice

3. a large number of

4. typical and frequent

5. changing

6. completely lose interest

7. unrelated to the subject

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 THE ANSWERS

1. Introducing a new colleague 4. Vocabulary.

1. False. He’s a support worker. Social Integration Skills
2. False. He was worked at Green Park Res­ 1. communication skills
idential care Services. 2. documentation skills
3. True. 3. organizational skills
4. False. There is always a meeting on Mon­ 4. respect for diversity
days.
5. advocacy and leadership
5. True.
6. assessment skills
7. intervention skills
2. Working in mental health
8. critical thinking skills
1. multi-disciplinary 9. understanding of human relationships
2. advocacy 10. problem solving skills
3. empower
4. disorders 5. Vocabulary.
5. homelessness Duties and responsibilities
6. fulfilling
■■ review 3
7. addiction
■■ help 13
8. settings
■■ arrange 12

■■ conduct 1
3. T
 he Manual for Integrated ■■ maintain 6
Social Work
■■ develop 2
1. d
■■ monitor 8
2. b
■■ provide 11
3. a
4. e
5. f
6. c

Las soluciones a los ejercicios de autocomprobación están al final del módulo. En caso de que no los
hayas contestado correctamente, repasa la parte del capítulo correspondiente.

14
 The answers

THE ANSWERS

6. D
 ecision-making in a mental 7. Speaking in Public –
health context presentations
1. Callum’s hallucinations Making a presentation to children
Correct answer: 1. - Say that you
1. a situation in which you feel content but
believe him and ask if he would like to
unchallenged –comfort zone
talk any more about it.
2. make people take notice – to grab the
Social workers need to be able to react
attention
appropriately to disclosures of informa­
tion like this. You should act with empa­ 3. a large number of –a host of
thy towards Callum, and aim to keep him 4. typical and frequent - common
comfortable enough to talk to you further
if he wants to.
5. changing - switching

2. Debate with Niraj 6. completely lose interest – to switch off

Correct answer: 4. - Take a break and

7. unrelated to the subject – off-topic
try to find another colleague who
knows the service user to provide
their perspective.
Social workers regularly work with a
range of other healthcare professionals,
including nurses, psychiatrists, and psy­
chologists. Sometimes they may disagree
on the best approach. As a social worker
you must be confident in your views, but
also ensure that you make ev i­
dence-based arguments and maintain
professionalism. This course of action
should keep things calm and bring in
more evidence.
3. Achebe’s mother
Correct answer: 3. - Arrange to meet
Achebe’s mother separately, and
make it clear that this visit is about
Achebe’s care plan.
Social workers often build relationships
with people’s families, friends, and other
carers, and it’s right to take everyone’s
needs and desires into account. However,
your first responsibility is to the indivi­
dual under your care. That means it’s
important to try to achieve your intended
objectives for this meeting.

Las soluciones a los ejercicios de autocomprobación están al final del módulo. En caso de que no los
hayas contestado correctamente, repasa la parte del capítulo correspondiente.

15