Where are we now?

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-19
Author(s):  
E. Sharland

In 2008, the UK Economic and Social Research Council called for ‘a fundamental step change’ in breadth, depth and quality of UK social work and social care research. This paper reports some of the findings from the ESRC Strategic Adviser for Social Work and Social Care initiative, focusing on the appraisal of the existing strengths and deficits of the research field. Discussion begins with highlighting some of the challenges of identifying and characterising both social work and social care research, explaining how these were addressed. It then outlines thematically the core substantive and methodological strengths and limitations of the field identified by key informants from social work and cognate disciplines, drawing attention to disciplinary and interdisciplinary distinctiveness and synergies. Discussion concludes with pointers to the way forward for research growth and excellence, with the argument that a commitment to developing social work and social care research is all the more crucial in times of economic austerity and challenges to social welfare and wellbeing.

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 657-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN WALKER

This article introduces the seven specially commissioned papers in this special issue of Ageing & Society from the projects funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council's Growing Older Programme. The ESRC Programme has been the largest single investment in social sciences research on ageing in the United Kingdom. It comprised 24 projects and, when operating at full capacity, 96 researchers. The article details the background to the Programme, its commissioning process, its eventual structure and how it operated. Then a selection is made of some of the ways in which the Programme has contributed new knowledge to social gerontology. No attempt is made to achieve comprehensive coverage of the Programme's topics but rather a selection is presented of the new insights generated under its six themes: defining and measuring quality of life, inequalities in quality of life, technology and the built environment, healthy and active ageing, family and support networks, and participation and activities in later life. The projects were spread unevenly across these themes but important new knowledge has been produced under each theme. The conclusion emphasises the scientific contribution of the Programme and especially the extent to which older people's own attitudes, aspirations and preferences have been at the forefront, but it questions whether or not policy makers and practitioners will use this major evidence base.


2020 ◽  
pp. 41-48
Author(s):  
Yu.V. Mikhaylova ◽  
◽  
I. B. Shikina ◽  
T. A. Siburina ◽  
I.Yu. Chukhrienko ◽  
...  

Article is devoted to studying specific needs of persons also their interests affecting quality of their life are more senior than working-age. The purpose of work is to reveal the core vital values and requirements defining quality of life of country people is more senior than working-age of the Kaliningrad region. Within the project of Partnership “Northern measurement” in the field of health care and social wellbeing in 2019 the social research among 211 villagers aged from 60 up to 88 years is conducted. Methods of carrying out work: sociological, analytical, mathematical statistics. Distribution of age and gender structure of the interviewed population reflects universal trends. Social and demographic and medico-social characteristics of country people are studied. Results of a research showed that the quality of life of persons is more senior than working-age most is defined by priority vital values and requirements: state of health and level of material welfare; loneliness; difficulties in use of digital technologies; the disrespect shown from youth i.e. quite objective reasons which solution generally depends on the state measures for support of the senior generation. Significant first 10 vital values at elderly people during the different periods of time are tracked.


1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Ryburn ◽  
Celia Atherton

The quality of relationship between families and professionals is clearly crucial to the development of good social work practice, especially where the care and protection of children are concerned. After tracing the origins of the Family Group Conference in New Zealand, Murray Ryburn and Celia Atherton describe the procedure and explain how this model, based on a commitment to partnership, is being adapted and used in the UK.


Groupwork ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Ivan Gray ◽  
Jonathan Parker ◽  
Tikki Immins

<p><i>Social work in the UK has undergone a period of momentous change in the last decade with the introduction of a ‘modernising agenda’ that has increased managerial approaches to the organisation, development and delivery of services. Whilst posing a threat to some, these approaches are embedded and social workers must find ways of working within them to synthesise appropriate responses that promote the values and cultural heritage of social work within the new context. This paper considers the possibilities offered by communities of practice to develop learning organisations in which a managed and participatory approach to social care can be generated. A super-ordinate model of contending cultures is developed and practice that draws on and is predicated by groupwork principles is presented as a potential way forward</i>.</p>


Epidemiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-242
Author(s):  
Paula McFadden ◽  
Ruth D. Neill ◽  
John Moriarty ◽  
Patricia Gillen ◽  
John Mallett ◽  
...  

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve around the world, it is important to examine its effect on societies and individuals, including health and social care (HSC) professionals. The aim of this study was to compare cross-sectional data collected from HSC staff in the UK at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic: Phase 1 (May–July 2020) and Phase 2 (November 2020–January 2021). The HSC staff surveyed consisted of nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, social care workers and social workers from across the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland). Multiple regressions were used to examine the effects of different coping strategies and demographic and work-related variables on participants’ wellbeing and quality of working life to see how and if the predictors changed over time. An additional multiple regression was used to directly examine the effects of time (Phase 1 vs. Phase 2) on the outcome variables. Findings suggested that both wellbeing and quality of working life deteriorated from Phase 1 to Phase 2. The results have the potential to inform interventions for HSC staff during future waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, other infectious outbreaks or even other circumstances putting long-term pressures on HSC systems.


Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 300
Author(s):  
Elenka Brenna ◽  
Diana Araja ◽  
Derek F. H. Pheby

Background and Objectives: A comparative survey of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) patients was carried out in three countries, with the aim of identifying appropriate policy measures designed to alleviate the burden of disease both on patients and their families, and also on public institutions. The survey addressed demographic features, the economic impact of the disease on household incomes, patterns of medical and social care, specific therapies, social relationships, and the impact of the illness on quality of life. Materials and Methods: Parallel surveys were undertaken in Italy, Latvia, and the UK. There were 88 completed responses from Italy, 75 from Latvia, and 448 from the UK. To facilitate comparisons, 95% confidence intervals were calculated in respect of responses to questions from all three countries. To explore to what extent general practitioners (GPs) manage ME/CFS disease, a separate questionnaire for GPs, with questions about the criteria for granting a diagnosis, laboratory examinations, the involvement of specialists, and methods of treatment, was undertaken in Latvia, and there were 91 completed responses from GPs. Results: The results are presented in respect of sociodemographic information, household income, disease progression and management, perceived effectiveness of treatment, responsibility for medical care, personal care, difficulty explaining the illness, and quality of life. Demographic details were similar in all three countries, and the impact of illness on net household incomes and quality of life. There were significant differences between the three countries in illness progression and management, which may reflect differences in patterns of health care and in societal attitudes. Graded exercise therapy, practiced in the UK, was found to be universally ineffective. Conclusions: There were similarities between respondents in all three countries in terms of demographic features, the impact of the illness on household incomes and on quality of life, and on difficulties experienced by respondents in discussing their illness with doctors, but also differences in patterns of medical care, availability of social care, and societal attitudes to ME/CFS.


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Mongiovi

The rise of European fascism in the 1920s and '30s triggered the greatest migration of intellectual capital the world has ever known. This paper is concerned with the German-speaking economists who formed the core of the original Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. Among émigré economists of the interwar period, those who found refuge at the New School exerted a distinctive influence on American economics, partly owing to their concentration at a single institution, and partly by virtue of the character and quality of their work. The paper has three aims: to provide an overview of the contributions of these economists, to assess their impact on American economics, and to account for the apparent evaporation of their legacy after the onset of the Cold War.


Author(s):  
Linda Bell

This chapter focuses on organisation. Organising social work falls into many different areas, and because social workers are employed in so many different kinds of organisation (statutory local authorities being only one kind) and different sectors (including health and education, as well as the social-care field), the chapter concentrates only on a few areas. It looks backwards and forwards across the 1990s to the present day, as well as on into the future, and also considers social work both internationally and in the UK. It considers some important areas of social work: the development of professional organisation(s), research conferences, and the further exploration of developments in social work/social care education. Finally, the chapter gives two specific English examples: the first links up social work/social care training, research, and related workshops and conferences in the 1990s; and the second explores how recent social work education has been organised via the UK government initiative of funded ‘teaching partnerships’.


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