ONLINE BOOKING HAS CLOSED. HOWEVER, THERE ARE PLACES REMAINING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY CASH ON THE DAY.

Fee includes lunch and refreshments.

A collaboration between the National Safeguarding Office, HSE and the IASW, this half day event will provide a forum for social workers to share learning on capacity building and to make connections with social work colleagues.

Social workers are highly skilled when it comes to supporting and facilitating capacity building with the people we work with. The commencement of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015, has greatly increased the focus of a range of stakeholders on how capacity can be built as well as on the skills, tools, knowledges and professional qualities required to do this work. Nationwide, there are many examples of good practice in this regard. This will provide a platform for social workers to share their knowledge with each other by presenting short snapshots from practice.

EVENT PROGRAMME

Speaker Biographies

Amanda Casey

Amanda joined the Ireland East Hospital Group IEHG in June 2023 as Principal Social Worker for Adult Safeguarding and Assisted Decision Making. Amanda’s background is Medical Social Work and spent 24 years in the Mater Hospital. She has a strong interest in human rights based practice and person centred care and is passionate about the opportunities that the ADM Act creates for patients and healthcare staff to work collaboratively.

Amanda sits on the National Safeguarding Advisory Committee of Safeguarding Ireland and is currently co-investigator on a research project looking at Attitudes and Awareness to Adult Safeguarding Practice in Acute Hospitals. Amanda has a Diploma in Quality Improvement and Leadership with the RCPI and a Graduate Diploma (Black Belt) in Lean Six Sigma for Healthcare with UCD.  Amanda is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social Work in the School of Social Work, Social Justice and Social Policy,University College Dublin.

Ciara Lynam

Ciara has been working in disability services for over 14 years. Ciara currently works with people who are in the process of decongregating from two large institutions in Sligo. Her work involves supporting people, pre and post decongregation, as they move into community living. As part of her role, she sought to re-establish an advocacy group within the residential services. Through her work, she identified the need to develop self-confidence in those she supported to improve their decision making capabilities. Ciara now runs a weekly self- advocacy group alongside her direct work with individuals and families.

Blathnaid McCabe

B.Soc.Sc., M. Soc. Sc. (Social Work), Msc. (Child &  Adolescent Psychotherapy)

Blathnaid has over 25 years of experience as a social worker and psychotherapist. Blathnaid is Principal Social Worker in the Alders at Connolly, Specialist Child Sexual Abuse Service, Children’s Health Ireland. Prior to this Blathnaid worked in the area of youth mental health, childrens and adult hospitals and child protection.  Blathnaid’s special interest and area of expertise is in developing and implementing trauma informed care. She has a special interest in promoting childrens’ rights particularly in the area of child sexual abuse/exploitation. She is currently involved with the Council of Europe and working in partnership with UCC in developing a trauma informed care training programme. She is currently co-investigator in a large scale study on investigating societal attitudes to sexual violence in childhood.

Ciara Reilly

Ciara is a social worker in the Safeguarding and Protection Team, CHO1. With a career spanning 25 years, she has held diverse roles in the public sector specialising in supports for families and older persons. Transitioning into social work in 2020, Ciara has worked in the areas of child protection, children in care, and mental health. She became a member of the Safeguarding and Protection Team, CHO1, in January 2023.

Renee Summers

Renee is Senior Medical Social Worker, ADMA Lead with the NRH ADMA Office / National Rehabilitation Hospital.  Renee holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Roosevelt University Chicago, Higher Diploma in Social Policy from UCD and Masters of Social Work from Trinity College Dublin.  Renee worked as an independent advocate and manager with Sage Advocacy for several years, advocating for the rights of vulnerable adults across healthcare and community settings, before moving to the NRH in 2020.  She worked as a Medical Social Worker in the Spinal and Brain Injury Programmes in the NRH, before moving into her new role as ADM Lead for the NRH in December 2023, where she now works alongside her Neuropsychology colleague in supporting interdisciplinary teams across the NRH to implement the ADMA and embed its guiding principles into everyday practice.  Renee is passionate about social inclusion, disability rights and empowering vulnerable adults to make decisions about their own lives.    

Attendance at the event is limited.