scholarly journals Organizational Context and Healthcare Reforms: What Effect on the Professional Distress of Canadian Social Workers and Social Service Provision?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maude Lévesque ◽  
Lilian Negura
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Clinical Social Workers ◽  
Organizational Constraints ◽  
Healthcare Reforms

This study examined the lived experience of Canadian clinical social workers in light of the organizational context in which they work. The literature indicates an alarming rise of occupational psychological distress in social workers, which aligns with the rise of the neoliberal ideology within the Canadian healthcare sector. While we know that organizational constraints and structural reforms affect social worker’s workplace well-being, it remains unclear how these changes are represented by front-line practitioners and how they affect the provision of social services in healthcare settings. To deepen our understanding of this issue, we conducted a thematic analysis of thirty semi-directed interviews with social workers currently practicing in three Canadian cities (Ottawa, Moncton and Winnipeg). Discussions of daily work life, responsibilities, autonomy and subjective understandings of the social worker’s role revealed which organizational constraints were the most significant in everyday practice and how they relate to their professional identity and mandate. Provincial healthcare reforms were generally found to have negative effects on clinical social workers, whose struggles for recognition were impaired by the fundamentally neoliberal ideologies behind the large-scale restructuring of service provision, themselves at odds with the humanistic principles of social work. Our findings further suggest that structural changes under the New Public Management frame could be detrimental to both the quality of services provided by clinical social workers and their well-being. Overall, this investigation highlights the importance of organizational improvements in the workplace through systemic changes that would concurrently target managerial expectations, resources allocation, autonomy, work-life balance and respect for professional values.

scholarly journals BEHAVIOR THERAPY PRINCIPLES, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 116-121
Author(s):  
Lilian Chemutai Kimaiyo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Behavior Therapy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Clinical Social Workers ◽  
Behaviour Therapy ◽  
Therapy Approach ◽  
Recent Developments

Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods through regular interactions (counselling sessions) with clients to help them change behaviour and overcome problems with the aim of improving their well being and mental health. Psychotherapists may be psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers or professional counsellors. This paper examines Behaviour Therapy approach which is one form of psychotherapy available for use by practitioners. It outlines the key ideas of behavior therapy, recent developments in the field and contributions in the field of behavior medicine.

A Phenomenological Study of the Office Environments of Clinical Social Workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie K. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Clinical Social Workers ◽  
Psychotherapy Practice ◽  
Office Space ◽  
Therapy Room ◽  
Client Behavior ◽  
Office Environments ◽  
Insight Into

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning and uses of the office space among licensed clinical social workers in private practice. Background: Previous research suggests the importance of the office space in clinical practice in regard to therapeutic alliance, client behavior, and the well-being of the therapist. However, therapist offices contain much variation in design. This study looked further into specifically how the therapy room is important through the perspective of the licensed clinical social workers in order to identify common themes. Methods: Seven licensed clinical social workers in private psychotherapy practice were interviewed in their offices. Phenomenological research methods were used to explore and analyze their experiences. Results: While the offices contained many physical differences, the intentions behind the designs were similar. Three themes emerged regarding how participants used and designed their spaces. First, participants used their offices to provide care for clients and themselves. Second, participants used their spaces to communicate therapeutic messages and to reveal and/or conceal aspects of themselves. Third, participants also used their space in direct practice. Conclusion: This phenomenological study provided insight into the importance and use of the psychotherapy office space. These findings may be helpful for therapists designing or redesigning their own practice spaces.

scholarly journals Socialarbejdere i et spændingsfelt mellem politik og brugernes behov

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Bømler
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Sick Leave ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Regulatory Constraints ◽  
The Social

This article discusses the obligatory job activation measures directed toward workers receiving temporary sickness benefits, a policy that took effect on 1. January 2010. The requirement that workers on sick leave be subject to activation measures so they can return to work more quickly indicates a change in attitude about how we become well again. The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze how social workers in the Danish municipality of Aalborg work with activation of workers on sick leave. It describes how they manage the professional and ethical dilemmas they experience due to the specific activation requirements directed toward workers on sick leave. The problem takes its point of departure in our lack of specific knowledge about how the municipal job counselling centres manage the activation of those receiving sick leave benefits. This article is a part of a pilot project, and therefore based on a limited amount of data. The pilot project should be seen as a preliminary phase of a larger qualitative study of the methodological challenges in the sick leave sector. The article is based on a focus group interview with five social workers in a job centre in the municipality of Aalborg. The results of the pilot study have been surprising. Even though there are professional and ethical dilemmas facing the social workers in the job centre, these are of less importance than the New Public Management based restructuring that has been taking place in the Danish public sector for nearly thirty years. Regulatory constraints, budget controls and standardization of the methods of social work are experienced by the social workers as the greatest obstacle to carry out professionally qualified social work. The requirements connected with regulations, standardized methods and budget controls have placed the social workers in a field of tension between politics and their clients’ needs. Hence, the professional social sector workers find themselves compelled to manoeuvre in an organizational context that places contradictory demand on their activities.

scholarly journals DOES PERCEIVED LONELINESS MATTER FOR DIVERSE OLDER MEN AND THEIR PROSTATE-SPECIFIC-ANTIGEN TESTING BEHAVIORS?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S641-S641
Author(s):  
Tamara J Cadet ◽  
Shanna L Burke ◽  
Jamie Mitchel ◽  
Kyaien Conner ◽  
Frances Nedjat-Haiem
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Cancer Screening ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Prostate Cancer Screening ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Clinical Social Workers ◽  
Screening Participation ◽  
Cancer Screening Participation ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Evidence suggests loneliness is associated with poorer health practices and fewer health promoting behaviors, yet may be associated with greater use of the healthcare system. This dichotomy highlights the lack of understanding in the literature about the relationship between the experience of loneliness in early disease detection behaviors, such as prostate cancer screening and appropriate clinical interventions to support older men. Utilizing a series of logistic regression models, this investigation examined the relationship between loneliness and prostate cancer screening in 2008 and 2012 among White, Black, and non-Hispanic men, ages 50-74 years, (n= 4,875 for 2008 and 7.063 for 2012). The data source as the Health and Retirement Study. Findings indicate that White men were less likely to participate in PSA screening in 2008 if they felt left out or isolated. There was a reduced likelihood of screening among Black men who feel as though they have a lot in common with those around them in 2012. Utilizing approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused practice, clinical social workers can have shared decision-making conversations to understand this phenomenon. Clinical social workers have unique training in the person-in-environment model that emphasizes the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors that influence behaviors such as cancer screening participation, that can help to understand men’s experiences, feelings or needs related to cancer screening participation. Given the lack of focus on men’s, this study provides formative data to test interventions to increase the well-being of older men.

scholarly journals One more has been killed: Implications for service provision for persons with intellectual disability in recent Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282098592
Author(s):  
Lee Mei Yin
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Living Together ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
Difficult Cases

A tragedy occurred recently in Hong Kong as the attack of COVID-19 rocked the whole society. This brief note intends to call for local and international discussions about difficult cases caused by the infection control measures. Current social distancing practice requires social work practitioners to detect high-risk cases not only for those living alone but also for those living together, and to assess the risks to care. In addition, social workers should join forces with stakeholders’ associations to advocate suitable and sufficient service provision in order to enhance well-being of families of children with intellectual disabilities.

scholarly journals “We All Really Need to just Take a Breath”: Composite Narratives of Hospital Doctors’ Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2051
Author(s):  
Jennifer Creese ◽  
John-Paul Byrne ◽  
Edel Conway ◽  
Elizabeth Barrett ◽  
Lucia Prihodova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Telephone Interview ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
The World ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Shed Light

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a challenge to the physical and mental well-being of doctors worldwide. Countries around the world introduced severe social restrictions, and significant changes to health service provision in the first wave of the pandemic to suppress the spread of the virus and prioritize healthcare for those who contracted it. This study interviewed 48 hospital doctors who worked in Ireland during the first wave of the pandemic and investigated their conceptualizations of their own well-being during that time (March–May 2020). Doctors were interviewed via Zoom™ or telephone. Interview transcripts were analyzed using structured thematic analysis. Five composite narratives are presented which have been crafted to illustrate themes and experiences emerging from the data. This study found that despite the risks of contracting COVID-19, many doctors saw some improvements to their physical well-being in the first wave of the pandemic. However, most also experienced a decline in their mental well-being due to anxiety, emotional exhaustion, guilt, isolation and poor support. These findings shed light on doctor well-being during COVID-19, and the ways in which they have been affected by the pandemic, both professionally and personally. The paper concludes by highlighting how doctors’ work life and well-being can be better supported during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work-life and safety support among construction workers: Effects on health and well-being

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Hammer ◽  
Donald Truxillo ◽  
Todd Bodner ◽  
Mariah Kraner
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Health And Well Being

Policy Review: Dubai Health Authority’s COVID-19 Rapid Response

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (Special) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Rapid Response ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
World Health ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
First Case ◽  
The World

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is the entity regulating the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Dubai, ensuring high quality and safe healthcare services delivery to the population. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020, indicating to the world that further infection spread is very likely, and alerting countries that they should be ready for possible widespread community transmission. The first case of COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates was confirmed on 29th of January 2020; since then, the number of cases has continued to grow exponentially. As of 8th of July 2020 (end of the day), 53,045 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed with a death toll of 327 cases. The UAE has conducted over 3,720,000 COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents over the past four months, in line with the government’s plans to strengthen virus screening to contain the spread of COVID-19. There were vital UAE policies, laws, regulations, and decrees that have been announced for immediate implementation to limit the spread of COVID- 19, to prevent panic and to ensure the overall food, nutrition, and well-being are provided. The UAE is amongst the World’s Top 10 for COVID-19 Treatment Efficiency and in the World’s Top 20 for the implementation of COVID-19 Safety measures. The UAE’s mission is to work towards resuming life after COVID-19 and enter into the recovery phases. This policy research paper will discuss the Dubai Health Authority’s rapid response initiatives towards combating the control and spread of COVID-19 and future policy implications and recommendations. The underlying factors and policy options will be discussed in terms of governance, finance, and delivery.

Work Life Balance and Job Satisfaction - A Structural Equation Modeling

GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 156-162
Author(s):  
Dr. D. Shoba ◽  
Dr. G. Suganthi
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Study Results

Work-Life balance has its importance from ancient days and the concept is very old, from the day the world has been created. There was a drastic change that has occurred in the market of teachers and their personal profiles. There are tremendous changes in various families which have bartered from the ‘breadwinner’ role of traditional men to single parent families and dual earning couples. This study furnishes an insight into work life balance and job satisfaction of teachers working in School of Villupuram District. The sample comprises of 75 school teachers from Government and private schools in Villupuram District. The Study results that there is increasing mediating evidence in Work-life balance as well as Job satisfaction of teachers are not affected by the type of school in which they are working. Job satisfaction or Pleasure of life will be affected as a whole by Work life balance of an individual which is the main which can be calculated by construct of subjective well being.

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