Safeguarding Adults Week is a time for organisations to come together to raise awareness of important safeguarding issues.
We believe that working in partnerships allow us to share our knowledge of safeguarding, learn from others and ultimately create safer cultures.
During Safeguarding Adults Week 2024, we’ll be collaborating with our partners to explore a different safeguarding theme each day. The themes will encourage us to consider how we can work together to establish safer cultures within our workplaces and communities.
Monday – Look, Listen, Ask – Developing Professional Curiosity
Professional curiosity is where a practitioner proactively recognises and asks questions to try to understand what is happening within a particular institution, family or for an individual, rather than making assumptions or taking a single source of information and accepting it at face value.
To achieve safer cultures and communities, practitioners and members of the community should be professionally curious. This involves looking, listening, asking direct questions and reflecting on ALL of the information received. We need to be recognising signs that harm could be occurring, asking questions to learn more about what is happening and talking to others within and outside of our organisational context, where necessary, to follow-up concerns.
Tuesday – How do we listen to people?
It is important to be person-centred within safeguarding practice and actively listen and respond to those we work with. Co-production features in the Care Act (2014) for England, the Social Services and Wellbeing Act (2014) for Wales and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment framework. Co-production is something all organisations should incorporate into their practice.
Today, we are focused on exploring how we can embed co-production within our practice and actively listen to people with lived experience. We are encouraging organisations to share challenges and successes about how to effectively listen and respond to the voices of people they work with.
Wednesday – Establishing Professional Boundaries
Developing good quality relationships are important across all organisations and communities. Professional boundaries help us to understand what good quality relationships look like both within and outside of work. Thinking about professional boundaries encourages us to establish clear foundations about the nature of working relationships from the outset.
On this day, we are encouraging people to think about what appropriate professional boundaries look like in your sector, organisation or community. What power imbalances exist that could impact professional working relationships? What could be the signs that professional boundaries are being blurred and how should you respond if you are concerned?
Professional boundaries can also go beyond our relationships with colleagues or service users and include boundaries between our work and home life. We will also be exploring what good practice looks like in transitioning from work to home life.
Thursday – Recognising exploitation: The ladder of criminality
Criminal exploitation is the deliberate abuse of power and control over another person. It is taking advantage of another person or situation for criminal purposes or personal gain. Criminal exploitation could also include other forms of harm and abuse such as modern slavery, sexual exploitation or cuckooing.
On this day, we want to encourage people to think about how they would work together to recognise the signs of criminal exploitation and how to respond. Specifically, we will be focusing on how practitioners can spot the signs and respond to people with learning disabilities who are subjected to criminal exploitation.
Friday – Professional and Organisational Learning
To effectively safeguard adults and establish safer cultures, it is important for organisations and individuals to be engaged in a process of continual learning and development.
On this day, we want to encourage organisations and individuals to reflect on their practice. What have been the successes and the challenges in safeguarding adults? What work do we still have to do and how can we continue to extend our learning?