Ep. 89 A Case for More Social Workers in the Disabilities Space
J S
0:02
Welcome to Social Work Stories, a podcast exploring social work practice through stories and critical reflection. This podcast is recorded on Aboriginal country, which was never ceded. We acknowledge the traditional custodians and cultural knowledge holders of these lands, and pay our respects to Aboriginal elders past, present and emerging. We offer a warm welcome to any indigenous listeners who are part of our podcast community around the world. If you have thoughts or feedback for our team, or just want to find our whole back catalogue of episodes, check out our website Socialworkstories.com. But for now, on with the episode
MF
Mim Fox
0:53
Welcome, everyone to the Social Work Stories podcast. It's good to be here with you all. I'm Mim Fox, and I'm here with my wonderful co host and gorgeous friend Lis Murphy, Hi Lis.
LM
Lis Murphy
1:05
Hello, Mim. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our April episode.
MF
Mim Fox
1:10
April episode, the sun is shining, but it's got that nice, cool tinge that I like Lis, I love autumn.
LM
Lis Murphy
1:16
I was pondering this the other day like why don't we call spring and autumn off seasons? For me? They're my on seasons, dont you reckon?
MF
Mim Fox
1:25
Absolutely. And now that like it's so much hotter in the summer, this this summer, I just felt like Sydney was exploding in some way. And for me, Autumn just has that, I love, the feeling that cool breeze comes through. And just you know, get back in your jeans. life feels normal again.
LM
Lis Murphy
1:47
You're not walking around like this kind of like exploded grape that's, you know, filled with moisture and heat. And now we can just have the chill of the evening or actually where I live, the big debate is do we start lighting the fire?
MF
Mim Fox
2:00
Ah, that is such a good debate. I'm so jealous of that. I'm just loving that we're sitting here with actual cups of tea. And I'm not feeling too hot to drink a cup of tea.
LM
Lis Murphy
2:10
That's nice. So nice. So we can kind of huddle together now Mim, yeah, we've got our cuppa. And we can encourage our listeners to grab a cuppa settle in, settle in, because we've got, a well I want to say, for the first time in a long time, we don't have a health story.
MF
Mim Fox
2:31
There is a bias. I'm sure our listeners have picked that up that given that I you both of us, Lis, retired health workers.
LM
Lis Murphy
2:42
Well, this episode, we are actually moving out of health and into the non government organization. So the NGO space Yeah, and this particular NGO works in the NDIS space Mim. So that is the National Disability Insurance Scheme. For those of our listeners who don't know about that, but this particular social worker, and we'll explain that in a little bit. But this particular social worker approached us about wanting to talk about what this work looks like, and to promote how valuable it is to use social work values and skills in working with people who are accepted into the National Disability scheme.
MF
Mim Fox
3:28
Yeah and so this is the NDIS that came in a number of years ago now. And it's, it's been a bit of a rough ride for it, I would say like, it's not, this was a huge policy shift and funding shift across the country. And really came from a groundswell of both both lived experience and services and saying that we just cannot support people properly in the systems that we had prior. Right. So this was about trying to level the playing field in some way. But there have been a lot of teething issues as we've gone along. And social work, I think, is one of the professions that has found itself, really trying to find its way over the years.
LM
Lis Murphy
4:11
And look, I want to just say a couple of things that I I heard you say, and that is this is a revolution in terms of disability care that's being provided, right? Yeah. And what I'm going to say to the listeners is when you hear about the complex needs of this particular client, unbelievable the amount of of I guess, health issues that this particular person has, now I know pre NDIS there is no way known that this particular person could have been supported to live at home with their family. Yeah, that's so it like in that way. The fact that this insurance scheme can actually tailor services and supports for someone with such high complex disability needs as this particular client, is wonderful. What I want to say about the social work in this space, you're absolutely right Mim, there's a whole bunch of people that have been working in there with, you know, a real, I guess, a real spectrum of skill set, some probably not trained in this area at all.
MF
Mim Fox
5:26
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. That would be the case. And so when we talk about multidisciplinary teams, we're moving beyond just allied health in the NDIS space, you will have people with teaching backgrounds with physical education backgrounds with a range of different degrees and life experience and work experience that they're bringing to these jobs. And all of them will be called "case manager," or support staff or support worker, or there's a range of different titles that don't actually speak to the professions that the people come from, right. And so what I love about this story, Lis is that this is a very grounded Social Work story set in what is a really a very interdisciplinary, non government setting. And for those of you who are thinking, but I thought you said it wasn't going to be a health story, what we meant was, it's not actually employed within the health system. It is a non government organization, working with people with complex health issues and disability issues. So I think this is a really good story and looking forward to chatting after, after we hear it.
SW
Social Worker
6:38
I'm a social worker who's been practicing in the disability space for 10 years primarily in paediatrics until the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or commonly referred to as the NDIS or NDIA. NDIS funds individuals living with a disability from birth to 65.
SW
Social Worker
6:57
I work for a nonprofit organization based in a community setting. I work as part of a multidisciplinary team with OTs, physios, speech pathologist, and more the nature of social work and disability is incredibly diverse. I sometimes feel as though you're a jack of all trades and a master of none. I once had a therapist describe to me that social work is like the glue within the multidisciplinary team, the part that holds everything together and keeps things moving, you need to know a little bit about everything; a variety of disabilities, the impact across the human lifespan, the way that loss and grief impacts on our families, the barriers in systems and access to community. You need to understand the NDIS and the legislation, but also mainstream services such as health and education.
SW
Social Worker
7:45
I often feel like a detective always trying to uncover barriers and understand my client's needs and goals and really interpret what a quality life looks like for them. And the case I wanted to discuss with you today I will talk about my client and their family. Often in the disability sector, we work from a family centered practice. This means we take into consideration the needs of our clients, but also the needs of their caregivers and the family system. In the NDIS. You'll often hear the word participant used to describe the individual who accesses the scheme however, in this story, I prefer to use the word client. Therefore in this story, I will refer to my client's parent primarily her mother, who was her primary caregiver to protect the identification of my client we will call them Alice.
SW
Social Worker
8:33
Alice is a teenage girl she has a significant intellectual and physical disability. Alice is nonverbal and has extremely limited functional mobility. Alice's also nil by mouth, meaning that all her nutritional needs are met through a peg, a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, quite a mouthful, which basically is a little feeding tube that is inserted into the stomach via a surgical incision in the abdomen. Alice also has compromised airways, which means she requires a tracheostomy to help her breathe. This is a small valve that's inserted into the trachea or windpipe from outside of the neck due to the buildup of secretion that she has an trachea. She requires monitoring and suctioning. Suctioning involves the insertion of a catheter into the neck to remove the buildup. Again, I'm a social worker and I don't have a medical background but as I mentioned earlier, being a jack of all trades we often need to understand the disability and health related needs of our clients.
SW
Social Worker
9:39
Alice because of her lack of physical mobility requires a hoist and sling for transfers. She has a power wheelchair to move about when the community in the home, a high low bed and a shower chair in her home. She requires wide doors and large accessible spaces to be able to move around freely. Alice also requires a disability accessible van for transport.
SW
Social Worker
10:03
The current situation I describe, it was a Friday afternoon when I received an urgent referral to speak with Alice's mother, who we will call Robin. The referral came from her physiotherapist. Her physio mentioned that she had growing concerns for Robin and the family situation. But during that day Robin had expressed that she was experiencing some domestic violence at home and the physio wanted to know if I could speak with her and complete a risk assessment to determine if they were safe to leave that day.
SW
Social Worker
10:33
I met with Robin and Alice on site as it was a last minute appointment. We took the only room available. Robin was gentle natured, she was softly spoken and often avoided eye contact during our conversation together we sat on small blue plastic children's chairs crouched over a knee high table, the walls covered with Velcro words and pictures of animals in is brightly painted. Alice was not in the room with us, she remained in a separate room with the physio keeping her happy while playing bubbles and listening to music. While Alice could have been in the room, it was unclear how much Alice would have understood the conversation or if seeing her mum upset would have caused her distress. Robin describe to me a long history of domestic violence between her and Alice's father. Robin attempted to leave the home two years ago. However, because of Alice's specific equipment needs and Robin's lack of financial resources and informal support she had not been successful.
SW
Social Worker
11:35
The biggest barrier was really around the housing. Robin was feeling further isolated as Alice's disability accessible van was currently unroadworthy, it needed new tires and a service. Robyn shared that her husband had never hurt the children but described the family as being on edge and constantly on high alert when he was home. She advised that he was unemployed and often drank throughout the day, he was easily agitated when the children all arrived home in the afternoon, she was reluctant to call the police due to her previous experiences. She felt that when she called them they hadn't taken her seriously and she felt that a reason because of this was that she was an Indigenous woman. And she felt that this impacted her relationship with the police. She was also concerned about when she called the police the impact that this was having on the children reporting that they became heightened appeared more frightened and scared. Robin felt that when she did call, she was often so distressed at that point that the police had made her feel as though that she was being the unreasonable one.
SW
Social Worker
12:40
Robin shared that she resided in a housing trust property. She felt that she had no tenancy rights. She advised that her husband frequently taunted her with that fact that he had ownership of the property and reminded her that she could leave at any time Robin felt that he knew that she would not leave without Alice and that this was a power move. Robin told me that she had called domestic violence services in the past and they offered her counseling but felt what she needed was practical support. I could sense how hard it was for Robin to share her story and I thanked her for being brave and acknowledged this. I was limited by what I could offer her at this time as we are not a crisis service. I provided her with domestic violence contact numbers, I encouraged her to call the police I suggested that she pack a bag with emergency documents, medications and essentials and have a place that it was easily accessible to grab in the case that they needed to leave quickly together. We also agreed that I would make a report to the child abuse line regarding the risks to Alice and her siblings due to their father's violence in the home. We made an appointment to meet again on Monday morning to work together around what community supports we could engage her with and what would be appropriate and accessible for Alice. We also agreed that we could explore funding options to service Alice's disability accessible vehicle.
SW
Social Worker
14:03
When I returned on Monday Robin did not arrive for her appointment as scheduled. I anxiously called her and she answered on the first ring. Robin reported that she had called the police over the weekend but that nothing had come of it and the police had told her that she was wasting their time. Robin shared on Sunday evening she noticed that Alice's peg had become infected and decided to take Alice to the emergency department along with her siblings. At that time I asked if Robin had spoken to a social worker while she was in hospital. She advised that she hadn't and I told Robin to urgently request to speak to a social worker on the ward. A social worker was immediately allocated and they completed a safety assessment which determined that Robin and Alice were a high risk. After that the hospital social worker called me she commented that Robin was a poor historian finding it difficult to piece together her story.
SW
Social Worker
14:58
The result of the domestic violence assessment ultimately lead to a social admission. A social admission is when a patient is medically well enough for discharge but remains in hospital because they are not safe or that there is risk to discharging. At this point. This can be a challenging space as hospitals are often short on beds and want to discharge as quickly as possible, particularly as Alice's infected peg had been treated quickly and would have been considered medically safe for discharge by the end of the day. I knew at this point, it was important to try and get some traction and explore options for Alice and her family to be discharged somewhere where they would be safe and we could work on exploring longer term options.
SW
Social Worker
15:40
I spoke with the social worker at the hospital who advised me that they were liaising with the domestic violence services and trying to seek alternative accommodation. I knew that this potentially would not be an easy fix due to Alice's complex disability and equipment needs. I suggested to Robin that we call Housing Trust Services together. When we called they confirmed that Robin was listed as a tenant and that if she was able to obtain an intervention order that she would be able to return safely and that her husband would be requested to leave the premise. I wasn't able to attend with Robin due to other competing demands regarding my client caseload. So that afternoon Robin attended by herself to her local police station. At that point, she advised that the police had told her that there was not sufficient evidence to put an intervention order in place. Robin was understandably disappointed with this.
SW
Social Worker
16:34
I want to mention at this time that it was also distressing for Robin to leave Alice unattended at hospital. Robin reported that the times that she had required to leave the hospital she often returned to find that Alice was in a soiled nappy or another time left in her continence aide when nursing staff reported that she had soiled her clean clothes and were unable to find her change bag with additional clothes to place her in. Robin felt that Alice was unsafe without her there. This is something that comes up for lots of our parents with disabled children, particularly those with limited communication means because they're unable to communicate or call for help or express when they're in discomfort they often feel that nursing staff aren't able to appropriately attend to their needs.
SW
Social Worker
17:24
When I met with Robin again, I helped her to call women's legal service where she scheduled a phone appointment with a solicitor. Despite pushing for an urgent appointment, the earliest that we were able to arrange was three weeks away. After 10 days in hospital I received a call from the hospital social worker she advised that the hospital was going to fund seven days in a disability accessible hotel in the city. The family moved into the hotel not knowing what was going to happen in seven days time. Within that week, domestic violence services were able to locate a disability accessible accommodation that the family could move into with Alice. However, the accommodation was over an hour's drive away as Alice's vehicle was still not roadworthy Robin did not want to take the children out of school not knowing how long it would be until they would be able to return home or if they could return home at all.
SW
Social Worker
18:19
After the week had passed, Robin made the difficult decision to move into a friend's house. It was not disability accessible. Therefore, there was no means of showering Alice as they were unable to obtain a shower chair and the bathroom was not accessible. Robin provided bed baths to Alice during this time and the hospital kindly delivered a hoist and sling to allow Alice to be moved from her chair to a bed. I checked in on Robin frequently during this time. She always remained focused on the children, their mental health and well being and school attendance.
SW
Social Worker
18:53
Robin was always thankful when I called and I wondered if it was because she had told her story and finally felt as though she had been heard. Almost two months passed before an interim intervention order was finalized. We provided it to housing trust who responded immediately, locks were changed and the family were able to move home. By this time Robin was tired and emotional but thankful to be home with the children. She assured me that the locks had been changed and despite Alice's father knowing where they were she felt safe enough in the home. I could tell it's been a difficult time for Robin to share her story with me, particularly after her previous experiences feeling trapped, disempowered and believed that telling her story would not change the future outcomes.
SW
Social Worker
19:40
I often wonder if I'd attended the police station with Robin if the outcome would have been different. I understand that police can action and intervention order within a few days whereas accessing one through the solicitor to complete a private intervention order took months. I also think about this situation and I think about how Robin was brave and kept telling her story despite a history of feeling unheard or not believed. I also think back to the word "poor historian" and I consider the use of this and what it really means when we use this word. I think of the immense pressure and stress that Robin must have been under. And considering the basics of neuroscience and the lack of ability to connect with our higher analytical thinking when really we're just in survival mode, and how difficult it must have been for her to clearly and logistically piece together, how she'd come to be in the situation she was, and how leaving any domestically violent relationship is hard. But how Robins situation understandably, had made it feel truly impossible because of Alice's high care needs, and how much more vulnerable our individuals living with a disability in the community.
SW
Social Worker
20:53
I think it's a hard balance. In our line of work, particularly in our conversations, I was mindful to never promise a result or outcome to Robin, not knowing if the systems that were challenged, would be able to accommodate their needs. But I think of the importance of making sure that Robin did not feel like she was alone during this time, and that I would be walking beside her in her journey to try and create a better outcome for her life, and for Alice's and her children's. I think of all the systems that we had to navigate together and tried to imagine how overwhelming and stressful that this must have been for Robin, I think about my clients like Alice who depend on their caregivers, to love them to be their voice for them to advocate for them. And the fear that the caregivers experience around what life might be like for their loved one, if they aren't there to be their voice.
MF
Mim Fox
21:51
Lis this social worker, she blows me away, her tenacity, the way she kept coming back to this case, right? That she could have handed it on. She could have just said, "Okay, there's someone as a social worker now in a different service or in a different situation. I'm going to hand it to someone else from another discipline. I'm going to let this one sit." She doesn't, she keeps coming back.
LM
Lis Murphy
22:14
Yeah, actually, thank you for pointing that out. Because you right, there was a tenacity that was absolutely required. And here was a social worker that just stuck with it and listened to what Robin the mother was saying she required. Yeah. And so I think that was like, at the forefront of my mind was she's right there with that mum, who's actually saying, "I actually need practical assistance, I dont actually need the domestic and family violence counseling at this stage, I actually need a home for for my child who has got complex health needs.' Yeah. And the reST of my kids. Because my partner is actually saying, "you can't stay here, the tenancy is under my name." So here's a social worker, who's, one tenacious but also has a beautiful breadth of skills, who's able to, you know, have expertise in understanding the needs of a person with high complex disability needs, right. But she's also looking at this with a trauma informed lens. She knows the dynamics of domestic and family violence, like here's a perpetrator who's absolutely using a form of control over this family.
MF
Mim Fox
23:28
Yeah, by saying you by saying you're not on the tenancy, and then finally, the social worker find out later on that actually, she was the whole time. I mean, it's a perfect example of coercive control. Right. Unbelievable.
LM
Lis Murphy
23:40
Mim, the other thing I really liked about this, this social worker's approach was the tenacious advocacy that must have been going on. I mean, I think she kind of summarized it, but you and I kind of behind the scenes know that there would have been a whole lot of advocacy going on between the various systems, who were essentially not supporting this woman in what she needed.
MF
Mim Fox
24:05
How frustrating was the police response Lis?
LM
Lis Murphy
24:10
Just breathe.
MF
Mim Fox
24:11
I mean, it was upsetting. Like, I just thought, so this woman keeps being told that there's nothing that can be done that her experience and her story is being downplayed, right. I mean, honestly, this social worker is the person believing her and is the person standing by and validating the severity of what's happening in her world. I just thought, oh, that that I found that really? Yeah. distressing, actually.
LM
Lis Murphy
24:37
Yeah. And the I guess I, I guess I appreciated her reflection toward the latter part of the story where she wondered whether, you know, had she done the right thing in persisting with the going down the Legal Services path, or would it have been better to have actually gone directly to the police and got the ADVO. Great reflective, I guess thinking around it. But anyway, it is what it is. Yeah. So there's a police system that she had to kind of navigate with Robin. Then there was a hospital situation, too. Yes. So I thought that was an interesting, I guess description of her role, because as you know, like there's another social worker that's and and health workers that have come into play in looking after Alice, the young person with a disability. Yeah. What stood out for me was, I guess the reflection that she came back to around the social worker's comment about that Robin was not a great...
MF
Mim Fox
24:46
It was a "poor historian."
LM
Lis Murphy
25:49
And I thought, Mim, I haven't heard that expression from a social worker before. I've never heard that. No, no, no, no, no, in Health I hear that with psychologists and Drs, but I've never heard a social worker using it.
MF
Mim Fox
26:02
My heart fell at that point. Because I thought, please don't tell me that it was a social worker who wrote that. Because if there's one thing we know, in social work practice, it's the power that is in the words that we choose to include in documentation. And, you know, I speak with students about making sure that your documentation is value grounded, grounded in your values, grounded in our code of ethics. So your documentation actually is grounded in social justice, in respect for persons, in dignity and worth, in self determination, right? A statement like that undermines everything that this woman is going through, instead of actually validating her experience and the chaos that she has been living within, and the difficult complex priorities that she is constantly having to juggle. She's being undermined and demeaned by the phrase, a "poor historian."
LM
Lis Murphy
27:08
Yeah. And I think I think the social worker was very trauma informed in her thinking that one through. That's you say, you're living in traumatic circumstances, of course, it's gonna be a little tricky to kind of get that Dateline or that timeline accurate, right? Absolutely. When you've got a sick kid in hospital with high needs, and worrying about whether the hospital are going to be looking after them at the same time, you're worried about, "am I going to have a roof over my head when she's discharged?" And for the other children?
MF
Mim Fox
27:09
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also, knowing that actually, the care that the child was experiencing in the hospital was not the equivalent care to what she would have received at home, knowing that actually, the care she provides is optimum care. But she just wants a safe place to provide that in.
LM
Lis Murphy
28:04
And you know, I Mim, I think this is the value of having a case manager like this social worker, right? So she can hover above all these systems. So you know, in health, that ED social worker's got a little potted little view of what Robin and Alice are like and going through very, very limited. And then you've got the police probably only get called when you know, there is violence, or it's out of control or whatever, another little potted view of what's going on in that household. Where as this social worker flies above it? Right? Yes. And she's able to see that if someone isn't here, helping Robin to kind of coordinating these systems, what the heck's going to happen? I know, I know, what busy mother at the best of times is going to be able to take on some of those systems, let alone someone who's got a daughter with a PEG tube feeding tracheostomy has hoists and slings and power chairs. By the way, when I hear all these, I think I do celebrate NDIS because there is no way this particular person Alice, would be have been able to stay at home.
MF
Mim Fox
29:14
No, no, no. Well, that's right. I mean, actually, in the providing of all that equipment and all those services. I mean, that's phenomenal. I just, and the and the ensuring of there being a case manager that oversees it all. I mean, this is the essence of case management, right? Is that someone is actually being that umbrella person like you beautifully described, and being able to network the different elements in together.
LM
Lis Murphy
29:40
And do you think Mim, I mean, we are completely biased. Let's look,
MF
Mim Fox
29:44
this is an incredibly biased discussion. Yeah, that's fine.
LM
Lis Murphy
29:47
So with that in mind, that is why social work is such a marvelous profession to be working in this field, right?
MF
Mim Fox
29:55
Ah, absolutely.
LM
Lis Murphy
29:58
And the other thing that you and I talked about before we got on mic was the this is a perfect example of intersectionality. Yeah. So, talk to me a little bit more about that concept and what you saw in terms of this particular person's story?
MF
Mim Fox
30:14
Well, I think the conversation we had actually came from a discussion about, you know, often students think, why would I work in Disability Services? It's not a sexy field, right? It's not full of crises and the energy that you might see in, you know, some sort of hospital TV show or, you know, I don't know, chasing the ambulances, though, you know, it doesn't feel that way, right. But actually, it is intersectionality that brings about the point, and the reason why Social Work is important in these roles. So if you take this case, for example, here is a woman who is not only caring for three children, one of whom has profound disabilities, she also is an Aboriginal woman who is experiencing systemic racism at different points in her life. And you can see that very clearly with the police and with other systems that she's interacted with. But you know, we know Lis that that would be a historical experience for her, that would be her entire life, right? On top of that she is experiencing domestic violence, which means that she is isolated in her in her social networks. And in her support system, that probably also then means that she has a financial impact around that we know how far coercive control can work, right? So here is a woman who actually, if you think about all the issues on their own, each one of them is a difficult experience to have in your life, right, each one of them produces profound impacts on your capacity to access services, supports, resources in this world that then improve our quality of life, right. But intersectionality, as a theory speaks to us about how when you combine those things together, that unbelievably exacerbates the disadvantage someone experiences. So when that is the case, what you really do need is someone to do that umbrella, have that umbrella perspective, to be able to say, "Well, it's not just because one of one element or another, it's because this woman is experiencing a range of different impacts." And I can't help Lis as well with intersectionality, to be thinking here about the feminist outlook, that this social worker is embodying that the center of this story is the woman's lived experience. And actually, we are looking at the woman as a carer, as a provider, as a partner, as I support in and of herself. Right. And bringing that focus back to well, what is the woman's lived experience in the center and for me, feminism and intersectionality in this story, as theoretical groundings actually play together, I don't think you can separate them in this story.
LM
Lis Murphy
33:01
I think you're right. And I think, like, there was a little moment there that for me, said a lot in listening to what you've just said, said a lot about this particular social worker's approach. This social worker set up an appointment with Robin right. And you remember, Robin doesn't turn up? Yeah. Now, there'd be a whole bunch of people who just go "fail to attend," get back onto my emails or, you know, go for a walk at lunch. This particular social worker, was able to think through all of those points you identified and go, "No, I'm ringing her, because I need to check that she's okay. Because there's so much going on in her life." Thank goodness, she did, only to discover that, you know, there's domestic violence playing out here. The child's unwell and in hospital, that's right, and was able to engage. And I just think those small acts mean a lot in terms of, you know, supporting someone. And I think we're getting back to her point about this is why she approached us about telling a story, what social work values do we bring to this space? And I think that one was a deep respect and an understanding that sat underneath it, of all of those intersectional points that you raise. You're not going to get that at the local GP?
MF
Mim Fox
34:29
No, you're not. I also think there's an ethics of care lens here on this case, and I'm gonna situate on the example you just gave, Lis. I think, you know, when we think about our ethical base as social workers, we often think about the various principles, ethical principles, we often think about social justice and dignity and worth and self determination. And they can become labeling just labels that actually don't mean anything. You know, you could just say tickbox Yes, the social worker despite demonstrated a, b, and c, but if you apply an ethics of care lens, then actually, what's underpinning the practice the whole time is care for that person in the center. And so that example you've just given is absolutely an enactment of care, right? She's not just ringing her not just having the appointment, because it's the next thing to do. She's having the appointment because there is an agenda of care. And so when that appointment doesn't happen, she doesn't drop the agenda. Right, she follows through, she makes the phone call, she follows up and I think, in the rush and the busyness that happens in agencies, and I mean, this non government organization, where NDIS is happening from would absolutely be in exactly the same situation, right? Massive case loads, very busy environment. If you come at it from an ethics of care ethic of care lens, then there's not even a choice, of course, you're going to make that follow up call, of course, you're going to follow through, right.
LM
Lis Murphy
36:04
Mim my final point will be, I think this is worth considering in terms of a career choice for social workers, you know, like how often we will hear that students have a particular career trajectory they want to actually engage in often, you know, it can be Health, often it could be in child protection. I get a lot of students that used to come and do placements with us at the hospital that are working in the NDIS space and they go back to it, because one, they enjoy the work. But two I'm going to be brutally honest, non government agencies now and in New South Wales, are paying Social workers more. There are career trajectories that weren't there a while back. And I think in supporting this social worker, I think that we actually bring a lot to that working in the in the disability space. And I would be encouraging of students getting out there on their placements giving it a crack, but also considering this as a career path.
MF
Mim Fox
37:08
I hope this is inspiring people actually, Lis like, I think it's really easy to kind of yeah, like I said before, kind of get see the bright, shiny areas of practice and think that they're the, they're the ones you want to chase. But actually, I mean, this story just shows how gritty it can get right?
LM
Lis Murphy
37:24
It does indeed, yeah, yeah.
MF
Mim Fox
37:28
Yeah. Hopefully, if this has inspired you, listeners, let us know.
LM
Lis Murphy
37:32
Yes, let us know. And if you want to do what this beautiful social worker did just contact us and say, "I'd like to actually talk about why social work is a fantastic profession to be working in this particular area of practice."
MF
Mim Fox
37:45
And if you're wanting a bit of one on one time with Lis, she has actually been doing a roadshow doing some quite in depth story work with lots of social workers out there to bring amazing stories to this series. So you know, if you're wanting to have an in depth conversation with Lis Murphy, get in touch. It's the time the time is right.
LM
Lis Murphy
38:09
And thank you future conversation, people.
MF
Mim Fox
38:12
So that's right. That's right. Ah Lis that was a good story, a good discussion. I feel like I went down a bit of a theoretical rabbit hole.
LM
Lis Murphy
38:20
Glad you did.
MF
Mim Fox
38:21
You know some some of the stories bring it out? So that's good. All right. We hope you all take care. Have a good month, speak with you soon. Bye, bye.
JS
J S
38:35
Realigning text with audio
Thanks for listening to the Social Work stories podcast. All of the stories we share are de identified to respect and protect the people involved. We create this podcast because we're passionate about building the Global Social Work community and strengthening our practice no matter the context. If you want to help us grow the podcast tribe, and continue the work we do, we would love it if you can subscribe or follow the podcast in your favorite podcast app. That way, you'll be sure to get every episode as soon as it's released. While you're in your podcast app. If you can leave us a five star rating and write a review. It would mean so much to us. You can connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn where you can share our posts with your friends to help spread the word. And you can always find us at our home on the web, social work stories.com The Social Work stories podcast is made by Lis Murphy, Dr. Mim Fox, Justin Stech, Dr. Ben Joseph and Maddy Stratton. Thanks so much for listening.