The Changing Futures Programme strongly advocates for Reflective Practice as one way to support workforces that are supporting people and working relationally with those experiencing Multiple Compound Needs.

Reflective Practice (RP) is one way to invest in and support workforces in a trauma-informed way. RP seeks to reduce compassion fatigue and burnout amongst the workforce whilst increasing staff retention and satisfaction. Through building a culture of compassionate care and support for workforces, we are better placed to deliver compassionate and effective services which meet people's needs.

RP provides a space that is protected for people within their professional roles, where they can think and reflect on action rather than in action. RP is about creating time to pause rather than 'do' so that people can have space to think about their work, develop self-awareness and learn from others.

RP is not about the performance of team members; there are other channels for addressing such issues. RP is also not for responding to a crisis, although this may be the catalyst for initiating RP within a team or organisation. RP should sit alongside other support for the workforce, such as clinical supervision, critical incident de-brief, employee assistance programmes and so on.

There are numerous models of reflective practice, depending on the roles of people within the group and the sector of the work. Sometimes, it takes on more of a supervisory approach where challenging service user scenarios may be explored in a solution-focused or action-learning way. Other times, clinical supervision takes place separately, and the RP space is purely there for reflection rather than solution, and sometimes the purpose is a combination of these two elements.

Throughout Social Care and Health settings, particularly in Sussex, one of the favoured models for Reflective Practice is the Head, Heart and Hands model, developed by Gillian Ruch, Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Social Care at the University of Sussex.

This model aims to increase your capacity to think from multiple perspectives and keep in mind multiple versions of the ‘truth’. It is a ‘psychologically minded’ approach which enhances social work skills:

• Head (theory, analysing, hypothesising)

• Heart (empathy, humanity, compassion) 

• Hands (the synthesis and practical application of the head and heart work)

It requires developing the skill of being present to what is happening in the heart and really paying attention to feelings.