Professional curiosity

Professional curiosity is looking, listening, asking questions, checking out information, and reflecting on information received. It means being curious and seeking clarity around a situation, bringing together information from different sources to gain a better understanding of a person’s circumstances and level of risk.

Applying professional curiosity can help practitioners to identify the less obvious signs of abuse and neglect.

A recurring theme within Derbyshire Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) is a need for professional curiosity to be applied when safeguarding adults who have care and support needs.

Key principles of professional curiosity:

• Do not make assumptions
• Have an awareness of your own personal bias and how may affect the way you view a set of circumstances.
• Remain open minded
• Obtain information from different sources rather than taking information from one source at face value
• Make sure you have an understanding of the person's past history
• Ask clear questions in a respectful manner
• Challenge the information you are being given if contradicts with what you have seen

Research in Practice has a range of resources and tools to support practitioners to apply professional curiosity to their role.

Professional curiosity resources

The Safeguarding Adults Boards Manager Network has produced a suite of resources called 'Have you thought about professional curiosity?' which is attached to this page.

Our 7-minute briefing, which is also attached to this page, is a simple guide to explain professional curiosity and how it helps professionals spot hidden risks and make better decisions.