Following the release of the Personal Learning Networks Building your Personal Network animation - which depicts Kristina's (a fictional character's) experience of using social media - we invited individuals and organisations to take up a challenge to learn more about using social media in their role.

Debbie Lucas, staff development officer in a local authority social work department took part in the challenge and offers her reflections on using social media both in her own role and to support colleagues.

The recently published special issue of the Journal of Integrated Care features articles from practitioners involved in the collaborative PROP - Practitioner-research: Older people project.

Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin celebrates the aims and outcomes of practitioner-research in a recent blog post Improving care for older people - together.

The web is now firmly established in the workplace and it is vital that the workforce knows how to use it. Social media, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, offer great opportunities for connecting, conversing, collaborating and learning from one another.

A new animation from NES (NHS Education for Scotland) and Iriss was officially launched on 24 July by Malcolm Wright, NES Chief Executive and Alison Petch, Director at Iriss.

We have published a set of cards that have been designed for those who work with or support older people. The cards have been produced as part of Plan P, an Iriss project focusing on preventing social isolation and loneliness amongst older people.

'Wellbeing is about how things are going for children and young people in their lives'.

Playlist for Life bases its work on the premise that music is for everyone and that it can be used as a powerful tool to improve the lives of people with dementia, either in the early or advanced stages. It encourages families and other caregivers to offer people with dementia a thoughtfully compiled and personal playlist of music that has been meaningful to them during their life. This is delivered on an mp3 media player device such as an iPod. Playlist for Life can be used in home and residential settings.

The Board of Trustees and the staff group of Iriss are delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Macleod as the new Chair of the Board. Peter is currently Director of Social Work in Renfrewshire and brings a wealth of experience from both a local and national level. He was President of the Association of Directors of Social Work (now Social Work Scotland) in 2012, has been instrumental in commissioning local research on outcomes for children, and is involved in a number of national strategy groups.

On 12 June 2014, the Scottish Recovery Network (SRN) launched its Write to Recovery website at The Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. The launch forms part of the organisation's 10-year anniversary celebrations. It was a very inspiring day that featured guest speakers, Linda Gillard, an acclaimed, self-published fiction writer who spoke about the importance of writing in her recovery journey; and Robin Ross, a man who has experienced some 'serious life challenges' speak about how he has managed to turn his life around through writing and telling his story.

The Discovering Desistance project was placed second in the Outstanding Impact in Public Policy category of the Celebrating Impact Awards, organised by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) on 5 June 2014.

Creative Quarter is part of an Iriss project to understand and learn from disciplines that specifically recognise creativity as a central feature of their identity, so that we can inspire and stimulate creativity in the sector to promote better outcomes for people who use services. The project combines consideration of how people think about creativity, what stimulates it in social services and what this means in practice for people using services and practitioners.