Case Studies
Solihull Approach in use
Theory into practice!
Here, Averil Bassett talks about the experience of Northern Ireland.- Here, Cheryl Valentine talks about the experience of North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
- Here, Alison Pritchard talks about the experience across Scotland.
- Here, Clea Thompson talks about the experience of Fife, Scotland.
See how other people have applied the Solihull Approach. (link to posters)
Embedding a model into practice is not easy. Here are some of the issues. If you are writing a project plan for your area, you may wish to consider the following points.
Who are you going to train?
Some areas start with one professional group e.g. health visitors and gradually expand to cover all practitioners who work with children and families, from nursery nurses to firemen. Some begin multi-agency training from the beginning. For examples of areas who have included many different practitioners including firemen see N Lanarkshire and Lancashire.
How are you going to support them to convert theory into practice?
You can watch the videos for ideas from other areas. You can download the Toolkit from N Ireland. You can download the Toolkit from North Lanarkshire.
Here are some key actions:
- Set up work discussion groups.
- Decide whether practitioners should participate in 4 groups post training or 6 groups.
- Decide whether they will receive a certificate after the training or after the training plus work discussion groups.
- Decide whether they should then attend a number per year.
In many areas and for many professional groups, having a reflective space to think about work is not yet built into the culture of the workplace. The Solihull Approach can be used to begin or strengthen the process as the model is all about relationships and having a space to think.
Set up Solihull Approach seminars for practitioners who have completed the 2 Day Foundation training to deepen their knowledge and the application of the model. Should they attend one per year? Current seminars, which are cascadable by the trainers, are the ½ Day Brain Development seminar and the 1 Day Attachment seminar, with a further seminar on Trauma available shortly.
Run the 1 Day Refresher training, cascadable by trainers.
Who are going to be the cascade trainers?
How are you going to support them?
One key action is to set up a trainer’s group. There may be other issues, such as, allocating time from an administrator to book training rooms.
