# Introduction

This free course, Introducing social care and social work, will introduce you to different social care and social work practitioner roles. It will develop your understanding of the context in which social care and social work take place in the United Kingdom (UK). Social work and social care practitioners have a vital role in supporting and protecting people in society. There are many services that work with people of all ages and for varied reasons. This includes children, young people, and their families; older people; people experiencing mental health distress; and people with learning or physical disabilities.

The course is designed for people who are interested in and curious about social care or social work practice, or who might be thinking about working in these professions in the future. The activities within the course will help you think about practitioner roles, your own and other people’s identities, skills of reflection, and the legal framework that guides practice.

The course is made up of four sessions and should take you around twelve hours to study. The four sessions are:

1. Understanding social care and social work: roles and services
2. Understanding yourself and others: how identities shape and develop
3. Supporting and protecting people in social care and social work
4. The law in social care and social work

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K123 Foundations for Social Care and Social Work Practice.

OpenLearn - Introducing social care and social work
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