Landmark funding for Moving Social Work programme
An education programme designed by Disability Rights UK and Durham University to encourage social workers to speak about physical activity with disabled people, is expanding thanks to a £1 million investment from Sport England.
Moving Social Work, an evidence-based and co-produced programme, focuses on the role that social workers can play in improving the quality and levels of physical activity for disabled people, to help reduce health inequalities and improve social justice.
Disabled people are at a disadvantage when it comes to moving more due to factors such as inaccessible facilities, medical discrimination, policy barriers, the Activity Trap and a need for upskilling social and care professionals.
Moving Social Work began in 2018 and is based on rigorous research into how best to educate and train social work students and social workers in how to promote physical activity to and for disabled people. To date, the programme has delivered 21 lectures to over 300 social work students and 10 training sessions to social workers across six local authorities. It is a key step towards creating an inclusive physical activity landscape in the social work sector.
This new funding will enable the Moving Social Work project to scale up nationally, embedding a promotion of physical activity into social work’s professional culture and curricula. It will also enable the project to engage social workers and disabled people in championing the benefits of physical activity for disabled people.
The programme is co-produced with partners, including Social Work England, social workers, Disabled people, Disability Rights UK, county council leaders and the NHS. In its next phase, Moving Social Work will also develop and evaluate a place-based model for the project, in collaboration with Social Work England, DPOs, Active Partnerships, NHS and local authorities.
Lydia Bone, Programme Manager at Get Yourself Active said:
“Disability Rights UK are really pleased to be moving onto the second phase of the successful Moving Social Work programme. We know that social workers are crucial messengers to the people they support. By delivering evidence-based and co-produced insight into how to empower social workers to have more frequent and better-quality conversations with disabled people about physical activity, we hope this will, in turn, help tackle health inequalities and empower disabled people to be more active.”
Professor Brett Smith, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Durham University, said:
“Moving Social Work is a powerful investment for tackling health inequalities. It is an excellent example of why we must rethink approaches to physical activity and invest in work that moves beyond ‘more of the same’. Our aim is for Moving Social Work to be embedded in national social work education and training so that social workers, as trusted professionals, can effectively promote physical activity and tackle health inequalities.”
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of Sport England and Government Disability and Access Ambassador for Sport and Activity, said:
“I am delighted that our investment in and support for Moving Social Work is continuing – it has huge potential to change the lives of millions of Disabled people who face daily barriers to activity. In supporting social workers with training, confidence and resources they need to embed conversations about physical activity in their work with disabled people, we want to empower more disabled people to benefit from physical activity in ways that work for them.”
To learn more about the programme, visit the Moving Social Work page on the Get Yourself Active website.
