Developmental Social Work in Disability Issues

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masateru Higashida
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Rehabilitation ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Colour Version

(This is a full colour version.) In this ambitious book composed of the author’s published articles, he develops practical and theoretical frameworks for social work in disability issues. He explores practical strategies for promoting social and economic participation of disabled people from the perspective of developmental social work, whilst examining the situation of their socioeconomic participation in rural Sri Lanka. Based on these theoretical and practical frameworks, together with policy analysis of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), the field research was undertaken collaboratively with local stakeholders in three districts. The findings suggest that developmental social work practices, including an indigenous approach, social investment, and a multi-sectoral approach, could address the vicious cycle of inadequate education, poverty, and marginalisation. This book also explores the implications of these findings for policy and practice in other contexts.

scholarly journals Citizenship and Learning Disabled People: The Mental Health Charity MIND’s 1970s Campaign in Historical Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Toms
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Mental Hygiene ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Mental Deficiency ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Post War

Current policy and practice directed towards people with learning disabilities originates in the deinstitutionalisation processes, civil rights concerns and integrationist philosophies of the 1970s and 1980s. However, historians know little about the specific contexts within which these were mobilised. Although it is rarely acknowledged in the secondary literature, MIND was prominent in campaigning for rights-based services for learning disabled people during this time. This article sets MIND’s campaign within the wider historical context of the organisation’s origins as a main institution of the inter-war mental hygiene movement. The article begins by outlining the mental hygiene movement’s original conceptualisation of ‘mental deficiency’ as the antithesis of the self-sustaining and responsible individuals that it considered the basis of citizenship and mental health. It then traces how this equation became unravelled, in part by the altered conditions under the post-war Welfare State, in part by the mental hygiene movement’s own theorising. The final section describes the reconceptualisation of citizenship that eventually emerged with the collapse of the mental hygiene movement and the emergence of MIND. It shows that representations of MIND’s rights-based campaigning (which have, in any case, focused on mental illness) as individualist, and fundamentally opposed to medicine and psychiatry, are inaccurate. In fact, MIND sought a comprehensive community-based service, integrated with the general health and welfare services and oriented around a reconstruction of learning disabled people’s citizenship rights.

scholarly journals The role of the community-based rehabilitation worker within the primary health care service of the ODI district

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. Taukobong
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Service ◽  
World Health ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
District Health ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Rehabilitation ◽  
The Disabled

Introduction: There has not been agreement within the Health Care Services regarding the role of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers. The training of CBR workers continues although the process was not widely supported and the CBR worker’s function has not been clarified yet CBR programmes are included in the training of students.Aim: The aim is to identify and describe the role of the CBR workers within the Odi District Health Service (DHS) and determine whether they are fulfilling the rehabilitation arid development functions envisaged by the WHO model of CBR programmes.Methodology: Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. These included a questionnaire; observations of the daily tasks of the CBR workers and interviews with members of the District Health Service (DHS) of the Odi district, clients and CBR workers. Open and axial coding were used in data analyses. Data from the different sources were triangulated to ensure trustworthiness.Results: The skills performed by CBR workers have produced a change in the lifestyle of the disabled people and the initiated projects are benefiting the families of the disabled people within the CBR programme as well as their community. There seems to be a break down of communication between the District Health Manager (DHM) and the supervisor of the CBR workers. A lack of communication within the DHS affects the functions of the CBR workers.Conclusion: It is concluded that, although the tasks of the CBR workers within the Odi DHS are not supported, they produce a positive impact on the quality of life of the disabled within the CBR programme. The CBR workers’ contribution towards community development, although on a small scale, proves that they operate within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for CBR.

scholarly journals Developmental Social Work for Promoting the Socioeconomic Participation of Persons with Disabilities: An Application of the Capability Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-117
Author(s):  
Masateru Higashida
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Community Based Rehabilitation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Capability Approach

The promotion of the socioeconomic participation of persons with disabilities is an important concept of developmental social work in community-based rehabilitation (CBR). This approach can be used to tackle poverty and inequalities, and to foster inclusion and empowerment. However, since discussions in the literature on common frameworks for developmental social workers in CBR appear inadequate, this review article aims to develop a practical framework that promotes the socioeconomic participation of persons with disabilities by applying the capability approach. First, the concept of socioeconomic participation and some of its dimensions are discussed and analytically framed using the capability approach. Following this, the practical framework for developmental social work is laid out. It is suggested that developmental social workers consider the complex dynamics between capabilities, functionings, resources, conversion factors, and other factors, with an emphasis on the social dimensions of practice. Thereafter, some theoretical and practical challenges and recommendations are identified.

Making any difference? Conceptualising the impact of safeguarding adults boards

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Michael Preston-Shoot
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Plans ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Criticisms of the effectiveness of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) led to legislative reform in the shape of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. Given parallels between the mandates for LSCBs and Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs), the onus is on SABs to demonstrate their effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to explore how SABs might more effectively demonstrate their impact across the range of their mandated responsibilities. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on definitions of impact from social work education, healthcare and from university research, exploring their relevance for capturing different types of data regarding the outcomes and impact of SAB activity. The paper also draws on frameworks for the process of capturing data and for implementing strategies designed to change practice and develop adult safeguarding services. Findings The paper argues that SABs have struggled to identify their impact and need to consider what types of impact they are seeking to demonstrate before choosing methods of seeking to capture that information. The paper also argues that SABs may have given insufficient thought to the process of change management, to the components needed to ensure that desired outcomes are embedded in procedural and practice change. Research limitations/implications This paper explores the challenges for SABs of identifying their impact and offers some theoretical frameworks that have defined different types of impact. The paper also draws on frameworks that identify the different components that are necessary for achieving change. This paper offers a contribution to theory building and is a response to the challenge of demonstrating the value that SABs add to adult safeguarding policy and practice. Practical implications A case study reviews the findings of the longitudinal service development and practice change initiative to embed making safeguarding personal in adult safeguarding. The findings of that initiative are mapped against the frameworks for identifying impact. Experience of implementing the initiative is mapped against the frameworks for effective implementation of change. Originality/value The paper presents frameworks for identifying the different types of outcomes and impact that SABs may achieve through their strategic business plans and for ensuring that the different components are present for the successful implementation and maintenance of change. The paper argues that the legal, policy and financial context within which SABs are located presents challenges as well as opportunities with respect to achieving and demonstrating impactful change. However, it also suggests that a more informed understanding of different types of impact may generate different approaches to data collection in order to capture what has been achieved.

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