Dr Simon Abbott

Contact

Simon Abbott
About
Teaching and learning
Research
Business, knowledge transfer and international
Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact
Leadership and management

About

My research, teaching and practice interests involve mental health social policy and practice. This focuses on the social factors and mechanisms that contribute to mental distress, and how mental health professionals and others can respond to this. This includes a focus on person-centred and rights-based approaches to mental health social work, such as strengths based recovery-oriented practice and supported decision-making.

I am interested co-producing research with people who have lived experience, such as those with mental health problems who have experienced compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital.

I am a member of the Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research, Kingston University & St. George's University of London.

My doctoral research was undertaken at the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research, University of Sussex. My doctoral thesis involved a hermeneutic phenomenological study on how social work Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) use the law in practice. This involved an in-depth qualitative study, across three different London boroughs. 

I am  a registered social worker. I remain active in practice as an Advanced Social Worker and Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP). My career has focused on the mental health field of social work practice. This has involved practice in community mental health teams; specialist community services for people experiencing psychosis; and as a forensic social worker, working with mentally disordered offenders in regional secure services and in the community. Prior to qualifying as a social worker I worked in the voluntary sector in the fields of mental health and a harm minimisation community drugs service.

Academic responsibilities

Senior Lecturer

Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Social Work, University of Sussex.
  • Masters of Applied Social Studies.
  • LL.B (Hons)
  • Diploma in Social Work

Teaching and learning

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Module leadership on the Masters of Social Work: 

SW7004: Legal, Ethical and Policy Frameworks for Social Work Practice

Joint module leadership on Post Qualifying Social Work:

SW7035 Best Interests Assessor

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

Grants and Projects

2020-21

Kingston University & St George's University of London, £10,000. This will fund a study to explore the contextual factors driving demand and provision of adult social care and mental health services in England. I will be working on this project over the next 12 months with colleagues, Allie Goldacre and Dr Rick Hood. The study builds on the department's growing expertise in secondary data analysis and the application of systems ideas to social care.

Kingston University QR Strategic Priorities Funds for policy research projects, £8,500. This study engages policy-makers with evidence on implementation of the new Approved Mental Capacity Professional (AMCP) role under the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. I will be working on the study with departmental colleagues, Maria Brent, MSW student Rebecca Salama, and Professor Rick Hood.  The study will involve people with lived experience of social care in all aspects of the research, connecting policy and evidence to the experience of service users.

Co-Investigator, What Works Centre for Children's Social Care, Improving the quality of decision-making and risk assessment in children's social care: a brief evidence review.

I am a member of the Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research, Kingston University & St George's University of London.

Publications

Jump to: Article | Book Section | Conference or Workshop Item
Number of items: 5.

Article

Abbott, Simon (2021) A study exploring how social work AMHPs experience assessment under mental health law : implications for human rights-oriented social work practice. British Journal of Social Work, ISSN (print) 0045-3102 (Epub Ahead of Print)

Hood, Rick, Brent, Maria, Abbott, Simon and Sartori, Daniele (2019) A study of practitioner–service user relationships in social work. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(3), pp. 787-805. ISSN (print) 0045-3102

Book Section

Abbott, Simon (2020) Navigating practice at the interface between mental health and social care law. In: Braye, Suzy and Preston-Shoot, Michael, (eds.) The Care Act 2014 : wellbeing in practice. London, U.K. : Learning Matters. pp. 113-128. (Transforming Social Work Practice) ISBN 9781526446879

Conference or Workshop Item

Abbott, Simon (2018) Using the law in mental health social work practice in a changing national and global context : challenges and opportunities offered by a therapeutic jurisprudence lens. In: 8th European Conference for Social Work Research : Social Work in Transition : Challenges for Social Work Research in a Changing Local and Global World; 19 - 21 Apr 2018, Edinburgh, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Abbott, Simon (2017) Using the law in social work AMHP practice to navigate coercion and care. In: 7th European Conference for Social Work Research : Challenges in Social Work Research – Conflicts, Barriers and Possibilities in relation to Social Work; 19 - 21 Apr 2017, Aalborg, Denmark. (Unpublished)

This list was generated on Sat Jul 24 07:07:46 2021 BST.

Business, knowledge transfer and international

Development of Best Interests Assessor Module, working with department colleague Maria Brent. Recent successful tender to provide best Interests Assessor module in partnership with Kent County Council. 

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

Active in practice, as an Advanced Social Worker and Approved Mental Health Professional in South London.

Peer reviewer: British Journal of Social Work, European Journal of Social Work.

Evidence Reviewer: National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

Mental Health Advisor, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines Committee: Advocacy services for adults with health and social care needs. 

Approved Mental Health Professional National Research Conference 2021

A study exploring how social work AMHPs experience assessment under mental health law: Implications for social work policy and practice.

The paper has subsequently been published in The British Journal of Social Work: See under publications.

European Social Work Research Association: European Social Work Research Conference (ESWRC):

Abbott, Simon (2018) Using the law in mental health social work practice in a changing national and global context : challenges and opportunities offered by a therapeutic jurisprudence lens. In: 8th European Conference for Social Work Research : Social Work in Transition : Challenges for Social Work Research in a Changing Local and Global World; 19 - 21 Apr 2018, Edinburgh, U.K.. 

Abbott, Simon (2017) Using the law in social work AMHP practice to navigate coercion and care. In: 7th European Conference for Social Work Research : Challenges in Social Work Research – Conflicts, Barriers and Possibilities in relation to Social Work; 19 - 21 Apr 2017, Aalborg, Denmark.

Leadership and management