How to Become an Agent of Change in Safeguarding Adults and Children

Di Galpin
Stevie Corbin-Clarke
Sandra Adye
24th June 2022

Safeguarding adults and children is a complex and challenging area of practice that requires professionals to have the skills, knowledge and awareness to make informed and ethical decisions. However, many professionals may not have access to the latest research, evidence and best practices that can help them improve their safeguarding practice.

That’s why the Risk and Decision Making in Safeguarding Adults and Children unit is a must for anyone working in a safeguarding context or in a related role. This unit is designed to provide professionals with the opportunity to learn from experts, reflect on their own practice, and develop new skills and strategies that can enhance their safeguarding practice.

The unit is based on the principles of Practice Informed Evidence (PIE), which means that professionals are encouraged to use their own experiences and insights as a source of evidence, as well as drawing on relevant literature and research. The unit also uses an autoethnographic approach for the assignment, which allows professionals to critically examine their own practice and identify areas for improvement.

The unit has been piloted with a diverse group of professionals from different sectors and backgrounds, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. All professionals who undertook the unit reported an increase in knowledge and awareness across all measures taken, and many of the skills acquired throughout the unit have a wide range of applications in practice and support practice development.

The unit can be described as transformative in relation to facilitating attendees to become ‘agents of change’ within their organisations and those who attended the unit are keen to recommend the unit to their professional colleagues, to encourage joined-up working within the sector.

If you are interested in taking this unit or learning more about it, here are some recommendations from the pilot evaluation:

  • All professionals working in a safeguarding context or in a related role would benefit from taking this unit. High level learning was experienced by everyone who took the unit, regardless of their professional context.
  • This unit has a unique offering – it was not similar to other programmes that professionals had previously taken, and it was clear that they benefitted from the new and unexplored content. The unique nature of the course was partly due to the experience levels of the tutors and their engagement with the unit development.
  • The autoethnographic approach of the assignment, and the focus on Practice Informed Evidence (PIE), should be used in future units to allow further opportunities for professionals to engage in this process, as this was key in the further development of their learning, as seen from respondent’s response.
  • This unit should be rolled out to further cohorts, as professionals are keen to use their learning from this unit, however they require their colleagues to have the same experience for there to be maximum benefit, and to encourage joined-up working.
  • All related future units should incorporate an embedding feedback cycle throughout the unit as this was key to the improvement of the unit throughout the pilot.
  • Future cohorts would benefit from increased levels of group working and more opportunities to engage with the other course members, in order to support integration between Health and Social Care professionals.

If you want to read the full report on the pilot evaluation of this unit. You will find more details on the aims, objectives, content, delivery, assessment and outcomes of this unit, as well as testimonials from some of the participants.

Don’t miss this opportunity to become an agent of change in safeguarding adults and children. Enrol today and join a community of professionals who are committed to improving their safeguarding practice.

Meet the author(s)

Di Galpin

Lecturer in Social Work (Safeguarding)
Di was Senior Lecturer and programme lead in Post Qualifying Social Work/Safeguarding Adults at Bournemouth University for 9 years, and Academic Lead for Social Work at the University of Plymouth until July 2020. Previously, Di practiced for 14 years in mental health, disability and older people services.
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Stevie Corbin-Clarke

Research Assistant
Stevie Corbin-Clarke is a research assistant in the Department of Social Work and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University. She graduated with a degree in Primary Education (BA Hons) from the University of Chichester in 2017 and joined BU shortly after. She works across multiple research centres, including the NCCDSW and The Centre for Seldom Heard Voices and Marginalized Communities. She has a passion for qualitative research methods and engaging with vulnerable groups and sensitive issues.
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Sandra Adye

Business Support Manager
Sandra is an experienced and motivated manager, renowned for her enthusiastic approach to challenges, empowering and motivating others and inspiring change. Sandra has a background in managing Work Based Learning Programmes and proven experience in working with external stakeholders.
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