Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - 19th July 2026
I can get boring about language, I’ll own that. I know that some of you think a bit more about what you say when you are in my company. Sorry, but Test Two is there for a reason. Words are powerful, not just for how they make us feel, but for how they shape the decisions we make.
Me and Bryony Shannon often muse on the word ‘placement’ as one of our least favourite ‘hmmm’ words, and she’s done her own fabulous blog about it this weekend. We agreed that I’d also share my experience of the word being used in my family.
A couple of years ago, The Girl had a new social worker, Mary.
Mary joined one of the big multi-disciplinary team meetings that we sometimes have - 12 or 15 people on a Teams call thinking and planning (ok, often chasing and procrastinating but that’s another blog). Mary introduced herself at the start of the call, explaining that she had ‘just taken on this case, so hadn’t had the chance to meet the service user yet’. I modelled back, ‘Great to know that you’re The Girl’s new social worker – I hope you can meet her soon’.
It transpired there was also a new person in the health team, Eric, who also hadn't had a chance to meet The Girl. Mary and Eric got into a conversation.
Mary suggested, ‘Why don’t we both go and meet The Girl next week, then we can stay at the placement and have a meeting with each other afterwards?’ That I couldn’t let go. I put on my best smile and asked, ‘Are you thinking about having a meeting in The Girl’s lounge?’
As you know, The Girl lives on her own in her own place. She rents from a social landlord and has a big team of people around her who work for a care and support organisation. If you’re talking about having a meeting at ‘the placement’, you’re actually saying you want to meet in her home – there is no other way of dressing it up.
‘No, it's OK,’ said Mary, ‘we just want to meet at the placement, I'm sure they can find us a room’. She also smiled.
Those of you who know me well will appreciate the effort it took to hold it together. An even bigger smile from me, ‘It's her home you're asking to have a meeting in.’
It went back and forth for a while, and eventually they agreed to meet in a council office. I know they didn’t get why.
They aren't bad people, they weren't trying to be disrespectful, I actually feel pretty sure they wanted to do a good job. The naming of where The Girl lives as ‘a placement’ had enabled them to think it would therefore be fine to have a meeting there.
It’s the same enabling that makes us feel it’s ok to put a desk and chair in my spare room and call it an office.
The same enabling that makes us think it’s ok to put a health and safety poster on my kitchen wall, to keep files about me in my lounge, to label one of my kitchen cupboards with ‘staff only’ so the mugs stay separate.
The power of words.
Then, back in March, The Girl’s landlord served her notice as he wanted to sell up (side effect of the rent reforms) and her housing company needed to find her a new place to rent. We helped her do the usual things we all do when we move house – think about the bottom lines in terms of location and what we need from our home, and she ended up with the choice of two places that were available. While she was in the process of looking at them both and making a decision, I got a call from Mary.
‘I hear The Girl’s placement has broken down?’
Fascinating. I reassured her that, no, she was just moving house, and the same team would be supporting her. All good. Again, a bit of back and forth, and she was quickly very relieved. Joyously, this actually enabled us to get into a conversation about the power of the word placement and where it had taken her. I’m not sure I was able to help her to completely see it, but at least we had the conversation.
Where we live is so important. There’s a reason why the Social Care Future vision starts with ‘We all want to live in the place we call home’ and not ‘We all want to experience a well-managed placement’.
Left to right: Ciaran opening his front door, The Girl out for a walk, and Ciaran at home.