Birgit Goodman

Birgit Goodman is a dedicated Danish link worker, placed within an area of high deprivation within Edinburgh. She has worked tirelessly for the last eight years with Cyrenians, relishing the complexities of her work and pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a link worker. I had the good fortune of meeting with her to discuss the challenges and joys she faces in her work, physical activity, and the scope of her work within the Whole System Approach (WSA). 

What She Does

As a link worker, Birgit’s position is to connect people with resources they need in the community. She is an all-knowing, almost omnipresent authority concerning social care opportunities for those who need support. Frequently, she provides more than just practical advice to her clients, but through a relationship based approach she offers emotional support as well. Birgit’s approach to work is to foster trust and confidence with those she works with. 

“Developing relationships and trust with clients doesn’t always happen in the first appointments. If you go straight for the ‘I’ll tick boxes’ [approach] it won’t work, it has to be person centred.”

This emphasis on trust is key, as she works predominantly with those who come from addiction, homelessness, anxiety, depression and inactivity. This often means she works to help reframe mindsets. In particular to inactivity,  people in these types of vulnerable situations don’t have the capacity to see past their immediate needs. Helping people get to a place where they have the privilege to think about what they enjoy doing in their free time, and how they can move more within their community requires persistence.

“[People] don’t know how to become active as well, [it’s about] reframing and reset thinking about activity. People are good at putting themselves down.”

“Quite often [you find] through conversation, people get lost in their situation and themselves, they don’t know what they enjoy. They lose track because they are focused on survival first.”

She tends to take on the role of investigator, working with patients to discover how she can help them return to themselves beyond their circumstances. Birgit finds this rewarding in every aspect, even when some people don’t show up to sessions. She simply tells herself, “Nonengagement is a form of engagement,” a mantra she learned from an instructor, that gets her through particularly challenging clients. She tends to have 6-8 appointments with her clients, longer than the average, because she is committed to ensuring they have the support they need for the next phase of life. Be it connecting people to programmes or applying for funding for washing machines, Birgit’s role is to show people what they can do to help themselves. 

Movement in Her Work 

“It all adds up…[you] don’t need to sweat, [you] don’t need to take two hours out of the day, it’s the little things.”

Movement is incredibly important to Birgit and those she works with, including her colleagues at Crewe Medical Centre and her clients. She is constantly signposting people to every possible movement programme she can. She frequently likes to direct people to Pilton Community Health Project, which has lunch clubs, women’s groups, yoga, wellbeing in nature and more. She focuses on directing people towards low cost or free options so that things are as accessible as possible. 

“[Movement is] always encouraged but not always a priority. Quite often physical exercise or moving is not a priority for clients or patients.”

She takes part in movement when she can, participating in full marathons and made the most out of bike schemes when they were available. Additionally, the GP Surgery she works at initiated walking groups at work, which reflects a major priority to promote movement not just for patients but for professionals

Whole Systems Approach 

In discussion with Birgit, she also talked at length about her love of collaborating with other people within the system. She works closely with GPs, nurses, physiotherapists and more in the course of her every day work. This highlights a theme which is prominent within the Whole Systems Approach (WSA), that collaboration is absolutely necessary within as well as in between sectors. 

“I love the partnership work, the collaborations and working with other practices. Working within hospitals you compliment others skillsets and it becomes team work…You learn so much as everyone has different approaches, but being in a GP surgery is ideal. I take referrals from everyone.”

Within the WSA, link workers play a crucial role in directing people to the available interventions offered. This work ensures that those who need the most care are given the opportunity to do so. Creating high quality movement programmes depend on target populations knowing about what they do and having the confidence to participate in what’s on offer. Link workers such as Birgit play an integral role in ensuring this takes place within the system.