scholarly journals Dementia Care Involvement and Training Needs of Social Services Directors in U.S. Nursing Homes

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 117-117
Author(s):  
Jung Kwak ◽  
Kevin Smith ◽  
Mercedes Bern-Klug
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Preparation Time ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Care Training ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
And Training

Abstract This study describes social services directors’ involvement in dementia care in U.S. nursing homes, focusing on interest in and needs for dementia care training. Respondents were 841 social service directors from U.S. nursing homes. We found that 87% of social service departments engaged in cognitive assessment; 59% of social services directors were strongly interested in dementia care training, and 23% would need up to 10 hours of preparation time or would not be able to train staff on dementia-related care. Racial minority background, fewer years of experience in nursing homes, and barriers to staffing predicted strong interest in dementia care training. These findings demonstrate social services directors’ active involvement in dementia care and need for training.

An End to Incrementalism? The Impact of Expenditure Restraint on Social Services Budgets 1979–1986

1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Total Budget ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTThe theory of incrementalism is a long-standing and influential perspective on policy making and resource allocation in the public sector. Previous research on social services budgeting suggests that resources are allocated incrementally, although there has been some debate as to whether this would persist in an era of prolonged expenditure restraint. Incremental budgetary outcomes are operationalised as percentage changes in budgets pro-rata with percentage changes in the total budget, and as stable shares of total expenditure for each activity. Data for 99 English social service departments supports incrementalism in that budget shares change by only 1.8 per cent, but percentage allocations depart from pro-rata incrementalism by a mean of 74 per cent. The comparison of the two summary indices over time supports those who have argued that prolonged restraint would encourage non-incremental budgeting, but change in the agency's total budget does not consistently predict budgetary outcomes. The effect of restraint on incrementalism varies with the measure used and across the component activities of the measures, but there is enough evidence to suggest a significant decline in the level of incrementalism in social service departments. In particular, non-incremental budgeting is strongly associated with the growth of day centre expenditure on the mentally ill and the elderly before 1982–3, and after that with the pursuit of the ‘community care’ strategy within state provided services for the elderly and children. Incrementalism as a general theory of agency budgeting is limited in its ability to explain variations in the degree of incrementalism between agencies, between component budgets and over time. The conclusion suggests that further research should seek explanations for these variations in the varying balance of the competing forces which shape outcomes in welfare bureaucracies and in the relationship between these forces and the organisation's environment.

Team Managers in Local Social Service Departments in Israel as Bottom-Up Social Policy-Makers

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Psychosocial Services ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
New Policies

Following on Felice Perlmutter's work on the managerial role of social workers in social services, this article contributes to the still limited knowledge on the role of social workers in middle-management positions in formulating new policies `on the ground`. The study expands knowledge about policies determined by team managers in local social service departments in Israel. It occurs in the nexus between street-level bureaucracy, professionalism and managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews with 28 team managers revealed that they formulated `new` policies with regard to the provision of psychosocial services and material assistance (who gets what, when and how). This occurs when they resist official policy, when it is vague or non-existent. Most of their policy decisions are not documented and draw upon consultations with colleagues and superiors though not with clients. The team managers perceive these policies as a means for achieving balance between clients' well-being and budgetary constraints. Yet their decisions lack transparency, are decided upon without public discourse and may lead to greater inequity between clients

Anthropology and the Social Services

1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-5
Author(s):  
James Green ◽  
Hal Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Policy Planning ◽  
Health And Social Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Training

The articles presented here suggest the diversity of activities pursued by anthropologists working in health and social services. Social services in particular is an area where anthropologists have been more active in recent years. They have been involved at numerous levels—policy, planning, research, direct services, and training. This range of activity suggests that a background in the social sciences, and specifically in anthropology, can be useful to a career in the health and social service professions.

Dementia specialist care units

2017 ◽  
pp. 281-286
Author(s):  
Rebecca Palm ◽  
Sabine Bartholomeyczik
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Psychosocial Care ◽  
Specialist Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Care Services ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
And Training

Dementia specialist care units (DSCUs) provide care for people with dementia and severe challenging behaviour who live in nursing homes. They are an alternative care setting within traditional nursing homes. By providing certain physical design features, employing staff with additional dementia expertise and training, enhancing psychosocial care, and focusing on the active involvement of families, these units aim to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their families. However, research has not demonstrated a clear benefit of DSCUs for people with dementia to date. Nevertheless, they are regarded as an essential pillar of dementia long-term care services and are a topic of several national dementia strategies.

Knowledge and Perceptions of the Social Services

1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Ann Glampson ◽  
Bryan Glastonbury ◽  
David Fruin
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Potential Client ◽  
Problem Situations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Service Departments

ABSTRACTThis article reports on an attempt to discover the attitudes of members of the public towards a range of personal and family problems, all of which could be seen as relevant to the work of social service departments. The data are drawn from two samples: one of current users of a social services department and the other from the general public.Our outline findings show that although users seem more aware of the potential of social service departments than other members of the community, there is nevertheless substantial confusion and disagreement over appropriate services for different problem situations. It was equally clear that for several quite important problems many people saw voluntary or neighbourhood involvement as more relevant than intervention by a statutory agency. On the basis of these findings we discuss the following suggestions for social service departments. Firstly, education programmes are necessary to improve general knowledge about the personal social services, but structured in such a way as to avoid stimulating demand which cannot be met – we are critical of the Seebohm report's analogy of personal social services with commerce. Secondly, more attention needs to be paid to relationships between social workers and other professionals who may be intermediaries in contacts between the potential client and the agency. Thirdly, social service departments should assess their own priorities with greater sensitivity towards the community viewpoint, since we found not only a significant willingness for people to get involved in social service but a keenness to participate in policy making.

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