Workforce Support Winner: PYCIPEDIA: Knowledge Sharing Platform to Connect Specialist Social Workers
To better support the social workers the wiki-type collaborative platform PYCIPEDIA was developed to allow social workers across Sweden to connect, create, browse, and share training materials with each other and with parents of children with intellectual disabilities.
Discover the transformative journey of the Linköping Municipality R&D Centre & IT University of Copenhagen, Sweden, as they share their remarkable story of innovation and community impact through their award-winning project, PYCIPEDIA: Knowledge Sharing Platform to Connect Specialist Social Workers.
What does winning an European Social Services Award mean for your organisation? How do you feel about this recognition and experience?
Coming from a university organization the award is an important example of research impact that goes beyond traditional research dissemination activities like publish scientific papers. The award is a recognition from the social service community that our work is relevant also for them.
Why did you choose to apply for the 2022 European Social Services Awards?
We had a project that we thought matched this year’s topic and it was an intriguing way to talk about, and disseminate, our work to a larger and relevant audience.
How does your winning project support person-centred care?
It supports ‘workforce support’ related to Person-centred care by providing specialist social workers access to a platform that, in turn, allow the social workers to create a community across municipal borders. The platform allows the specialist social workers to browse, create and share training materials for their clients and best practices. A forum and other resources also allow the workers to discuss and exchange knowledge about their work. They can also share relevant material directly with the clients via a smartphone app. The creation of a professional and collaborative community of specialist social workers across municipality borders supports person-centred care.
What were the key reasons for the success of your project?
Active involvement of the target group already in the definition of the project, co-design and engaged social workers, a mix of different competences (social work, IT, design, research, etc), organizational support.
Why should an organisation enter the Awards in 2024?
It is a great opportunity to reflect on what you have done, to disseminate your work (as each nominated contribution must talk about their work to get votes for example), networking, and naturally for the fame and glory.