scholarly journals ”Vi möter de ofrivilliga” – socialsekreterare om äldre personer med missbruksproblem

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evy Gunnarsson ◽  
Lis-Bodil Karlsson

”We meet the involuntary” – social workers talk about older people with alcohol problemsSocial workers working in addiction teams in the municipalities rarely have documented collaboration with elder care managers despite the fact that older people with alcohol problems have become more common within elder care, especially home care services. There are few studies of older people with alcohol problems, and knowledge on the subject is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers within addiction treatment talk about older people with alcohol problems. Six group interviews and three individual interviews have taken place including a total of 18 social workers. The social workers came from seven different municipalities. Social workers usually meet older people with a long history of abuse and several institutional stays behind them. Many are reluctant to have further contact with social services. In the case of older persons with alcohol problems it is seldom considered appropriate to initiate treatment interventions. Older persons could however sometimes get a place at an abuse institution to get in better shape. In the interviews elder care is often looked upon as a way to get a better situation around an older person with alcohol problems. There are few treatment programmes aimed at older people with alcohol abuse problems. According to the social workers there is a lack of adequate institutional care and various social activities. Nor do older people with alcohol problems fit into activities organized by elder care. One conclusion is the need to develop different treatment interventions targeted at older people with alcohol problems as well as to develop cooperation between elder care and addiction teams.

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Rita Khamadeeva ◽  
Natalia Bolshakova

The article considers the role of social partnership in the modernization of the social service system for older people. It is noted that changes in the social sphere are necessary not because the social service system does not cope with its tasks, but because the changed reality, social problems and needs of older people make new demands on it.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-85
Author(s):  
Nicole Horáková ◽  
Jan Kajfosz

The European society is getting older and nobody knows how to deal with this problem. There are different models from family care, special housing for elderly to professional institutional care, which has the disadvantage of being very expensive. In Germany we have noticed in the last two or three years a special trend to send old people suffering from dementia to foreign countries, because these people need intensive care and the social services for example in Poland have a high standard. The aim of our survey is to dismantle, by the example of the private care institution situated in Poland, Upper Silesia which specializes on German customers, the social practices associated with placing the elderly in such institutions and also the methods of constructing meanings of these practices providing clarity in the various groups that take part in this process. To reach this aim we used qualitative field research, including discourse and narrative analysis of various materials (interviews, promotional texts, websites), which beside other things allowed us to reconstruct the media image of the surveyed residences for the elderly and show it in a wider context.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110028
Author(s):  
Emmy Högström Tagesson ◽  
Carina Gallo

This article examines how seven social workers within the Swedish social services describe intimate partner violence between teenagers (IPV-BT). The article adds to the literature by examining IPV-BT outside a U.S. context, where most studies have been conducted. Based on semistructured qualitative interviews, the authors analyze descriptions of IPV-BT in relation to Charles Tilly’s notion of category making through transfer, encounter, negotiation, and imposition. They also analyze how the social workers’ descriptions of IPV-BT relate to the intersection between age and gender. The results show that the social workers mostly described IPV-BT by referring to encounters with teenagers and by transferring knowledge and theoretical definitions from their specialized working areas, primarily intimate partner violence between adults (IPV-BA) and troubled youth. More rarely, the social workers based their definitions of IPV-BT upon negotiating dialogues with teenagers. Also, those who worked in teams specialized on IPV had the mandate to impose their definitions of IPV-BT to other professionals and teenagers. When taking age and gender hierarchies in consideration, the results show IPV-BT risks being subordinate IPV-BA on a theoretical level, a practical level and in terms of treatment quality. The study suggests that social work with IPV-BT needs to be sensitive to the double subordinations of the teenage girl and of the teenagers who do not follow gender expectations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
David J Gilbert ◽  
Raja AS Mukherjee ◽  
Nisha Kassam ◽  
Penny A Cook

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is one outcome from prenatal alcohol exposure. Social workers are likely to encounter children with the condition, due to the greater likelihood of prenatal alcohol exposure among children in social services settings. This study explores the experiences of social workers in working with children suspected of having FASD and the support offered to social workers, the children and their families. Semi-structured interviews followed by qualitative framework analysis were conducted with seven child and family social workers along with one child protection solicitor who had experience of handling FASD cases. The two main themes that emerged from the data were a lack of knowledge about FASD and the paucity of diagnosis. Lack of knowledge among the social workers was linked to difficulty in managing children suspected to have the condition, feelings of frustration and normalisation of challenging behaviours. The paucity of diagnosis led to an under-emphasis of FASD in assessments, a dearth of specialist services and confusion about its specific effects in contexts of multiple substance misuse and harmful socio-environmental factors. The need for increased FASD awareness within social services and the development of FASD-targeted support for children and families is highlighted. Social workers would benefit from the inclusion of FASD-focused training in their curricula and professional development plans. Improving the diagnostic capacities of health institutions would address the paucity of diagnosis and raise the profile of FASD, especially in the social services setting.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radka Bužgová ◽  
Kateřina Ivanová

This study focuses on issues of elder abuse in residential settings. Violation of ethical principles is shown in the results of this quantitative study aimed at defining the extent, nature and causes of such abuse by employees’ unethical conduct towards clients in senior homes (i.e. residential nursing homes) in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic. The research sample comprised 454 employees and 488 clients from 12 residential homes for older people. The data were collected from interviews with clients, who also received a questionnaire concerning their satisfaction with the institution. Two questionnaires were administered to the employees, one based on a pilot qualitative study and a second to investigate burnout. Outcomes were assessed according to the extent and form of elder abuse, the causes of elder abuse and the violation of basic ethical principles. The responses, in particular those of employees, revealed both psychological and physical abuse of older clients, and thus violation of two basic principles: respect for the person and non-maleficence. The group at risk of elder abuse comprised aggressive and dissatisfied clients, as well as those with mental problems and dementia. The employees most at risk of being abusers were those who had been employed in institutional care for more than five years, had inadequate knowledge about social services and suffered from burnout. The prevention of elder abuse is recommended to be through education focused on ethical principles, increasing employees’ satisfaction by promoting a friendly and safe organizational culture, and providing adequate working conditions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Gibelman ◽  
Philip H. Schervish

The authors review the current status of the social work labor force within the public sector by means of an analysis of the National Association of Social Workers member data base for 1988 and 1991, with additional data drawn from a 1993 member survey. Changes in the proportion and composition of the public social services labor force are documented, including education, experience, gender, and ethnicity. The decreasing professional social work labor force within public social services is discussed within the context of the realities of public social services practice and social work's historic place within this sector. The authors encourage debate about the implications of these trends, focusing on whether social work should influence labor-force trends or be influenced by them.


Author(s):  
Olga Vasilyevna Zayats ◽  
Nadezhda Vladimirovna Osmachko

The paper reveals the essence and significance of digital socialization of older people, the importance of overcoming social exclusion by older citizens in terms of access to digital technologies. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the role of social service centers for the population, which act as agents of digital socialization of older people (based on the materials of a sociological study). The objects of the study were elderly people receiving social services in the Primorsky Center for Social Services of the Population, and senior citizens who were trained in computer literacy courses. The authors set the fol-lowing tasks: to determine elderly people’s interest in mastering computer literacy and how effective the “Internet ABC” program is. In addition, it was sup-posed to establish the importance of integrated cen-ters of social services for the population in ensuring computer literacy of pensioners. As a result of a sociological study, it was found that older people show a significant interest in modern information technologies. Computer courses organized on the basis of the center for social services help elderly people to get information about state and municipal services, work with the websites of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insur-ance Fund, Public Services and Multifunctional Cen-ter.


Author(s):  
Maryna Lekholetova

The article presents an analysis of different approaches of domestic scientists to the interpretation of the concept of «social work management». The author surveys the features of management as an object of governance in the activities of a social worker. Features include the social nature of management information; the need for motivation methods that effectively influences and motivates professionals to better results in social work; availability of social workers' professional competence; the presence of problems with forecasting the results of management in the social sphere; the importance of current and final management results. The author proves the necessity of social workers' self-management skills (time management, motivation, stress resistance and recuperation, development of emotional intelligence) for the effective performance of management tasks in professional activities.  The article highlights the principles that should be followed in solving organizational and managerial tasks in social work management (purposefulness, ability of realization, adaptability, efficiency). The researcher presents the structure of social work management methods in the study (economic, administrative, social counselling, psychological and pedagogical influence, social influence). Research characterizes the methods of social work management while working with recipients of social services (methods of individual social work, methods of group social work, methods of community work, methods of social service design).


2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 488-499
Author(s):  
Yunxian Huang ◽  
Weijia Tan ◽  
A. Ka Tat Tsang

Social workers were introduced to funeral homes in China amid the transition and expansion of both the funeral home industry and the social work profession and are proving to play a valuable, though under-researched role in serving not just clients but also communities and funeral home staff. Funeral home social work fills gaps in after-death care and mental health and is distinct from palliative, hospice, end-of-life, and bereavement social work. Based on the experiences of funeral homes that employ social workers, this article argues that this innovation may bring new ideas to bridge some of the service gaps in after-death care in China and globally. This article outlines the support that will be needed from funeral homes, social work service agencies, and educational and research institutes to facilitate further development of funeral home mental health and social services and to promote the professionalization of funeral home social workers in China.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Carney

This article consists of a topical/historical compilation of events surrounding the protests that stalked the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) prior to and since its publication in May 2013, including a national boycott launched in February of this year. To summarize, the new DSM has been challenged for its lack of construct validity and its poor interrater reliability; for its reliance on the biomedical model to explain causality, to the exclusion of environmental and psychosocial factors; for its medicalization of the disorders it proposes to include in the new DSM and its consequent reliance on psychoactive medications for treatment of these disorders, again to the virtual exclusion of other largely psychosocial treatment interventions; and, ultimately, for its continued pathologization of human behaviors ordinarily considered normative. This article concludes by questioning the hegemonic role assumed by psychiatry in determining the categorization of disordered behaviors with no input from other professions and mental health system stakeholders. Social workers and the organizations that represent them, particularly the National Association of Social Workers, are also challenged for their continued passive acceptance of a very flawed DSM.


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