Why do you do what you do?

Kibble’s conference, “Why do you do what you do?” was held in partnership with Euroarc at St Mirren’s conference suites. It was organised and catered by the KibbleEvents team, an event-organising enterprise under the KibbleWorks umbrella, which offers work experience and training to unemployed young people aged 18 to 24.

The focus of the conference was evidence-based and evidence-creating practice and the event featured an impressive breadth and quality of research and presenters:

• The Ross Programme: Effectiveness with young people in residential child care(Suzanne Lee, Chartered and Registered Forensic Psychologist, Kibble)
• Back 2 Front: Elevated risk in restraint positions(Joe Holmes, Service Manager, Kibble)
• Children in Residential Care: Development and mental health(Professor Jorge Fernández del Valle, Professor of Psychosocial Intervention, Dept. of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Spain)
• Meeting my Needs? Kibble young person’s profile 2011(Claire McCartney, Operations Manager, Specialist Intervention Services, Kibble)
• Promoting Family Work as a Protective Factor: Relationships with families(Amanda Jordan and Peter Sullivan, Programmes Workers, Kibble, with two parents of children in residential care at Kibble)
• Making it Work: From research to practice(Joan Mackenzie, Head Teacher, Kibble)
• Knowledge Exchange (KE): Universities and practitioners working together(Mark Smith, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh)
• The Art of mental Health: Promoting positive mental health in secure settings in Scotland through art activities(Catriona Campbell, Education Manager, Kibble Safe Centre)
• Young People’s Experience of Participating in Programmes(Mhairi Gallagher, Programmes Worker, Kibble)
• What Critical Success factors are Necessary and Sufficient for Provision of Developmental Care for each Young Person in Irish Child and Youth Care (Gay Graham, Lecturer in Professional Practice and Group Work, School of Social Sciences and Law, Dublin Institute of Technology)
• Practice in the Absence of Research: Secondary sources, heuristics, cognitive bias and the KibbleWorks experience(Jim Mullan, Strategic Manager, KibbleWorks
• Issues in the measurement of wellbeing by questionnaire(Professor Colin R. Martin, Chair in Mental Health, University of the West of Scotland and Adjunct Professor, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia)
• The relationship between health, anxiety, depression and quality of life of young males with behavioural and emotional difficulties in a residential setting(Denise Carroll, LAC Nurse, Kibble)

Delegate/presenter comments:

‘Importance of learning from practice: good to see this coming through clearly in all the presentations.’

‘Leadership that promotes and embeds research - that's what is significant about events like today's - i.e. "Pracademics".’

‘Range and depth of conference most impressive.’

‘Great sense that Kibble is focused on working with individual young people -i.e. needs-led care.’