Turney et al (2011) found poorer assessments typically lacked this comprehensive filling-in of information gaps.ĭoing this work first also helps counter some cognitive biases. Preparing a chronology at the start of your work with someone isn’t just a re-statement of the importance of reading their files in advance – the act of listing what you know chronologically is valuable precisely because it lays out events in order and helps identify which themes are the most persistent, rather than which themes are the most predominant in reports. When you have more time available, it makes sense to start compiling a more formal chronology, typed in the same format that you’ll use when you present it to a wider audience (as ever, imagine this audience includes a judge, and always remember that the document needs to make sense to a service user).Ĭreating the chronology at the start provides points of reference for your visits and other investigations – the partial chronology from your initial reading highlights gaps in your knowledge, or any apparent contradictions or obvious mistakes (eg dates of birth that don’t add up). Making a high-pressure decision ‘against the clock’ is even harder if it’s an uninformed decision. The frequent argument against this is: ‘who’s got the time?’ A chronology seems like a luxury when faced with an urgent situation, an injured child and a ticking clock – surely you have to set the ‘paperwork’ aside and get on with the ‘real work’? The problem is, when you get to the hospital, you (along with the police and your managers) will have to make a major decision, about what to do next. This would often be handwritten and might result from only 20 minutes skimming through key case files – this might be all the time you have before having to be at the hospital, for example, if there are concerns about a non-accidental injury. It provides a useful focus for so many other, vital tasks: reading the case files planning visits planning interviews planning who else to contact.īut even in a ‘duty desk’ scenario, with a matter of minutes between receiving the case and having to rush out on an emergency, I’d always make the time to produce some kind of rough chronology (likewise a rough draft genogram/ecomap). In a non-emergency setting, with some discretion about how to spend your time, I’d see a chronology as the first action upon receiving a case. How much of a chronology to write at the start, and in what format, depends on the context. I’ve never understood it when a social worker says “I’ve done my assessment, now I have to do a chronology” – how can you write the one without the other? For me, the chronology is the start, and heart, of a good assessment. Chronologies are actually an essential part of any good assessment, a vital foundation for analysis, and a useful tool to help a social worker develop rapport with service users. It’s easy for social workers and other professionals to misunderstand the nature and purpose of a chronology, mainly due to the learning and working culture around them that can see producing a chronology as an administrative ‘chore’. Inform Children subscribers can read the full guide. The guide is written by Chris Dyke, lecturer in social work at Goldsmiths, University of London and an independent social worker. This article highlights tips taken from a new guide on Community Care Inform Children on writing chronologies.
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