Partnership Working in Health and Social Care adopts a thematic approach to health and social care partnerships. With chapters by leading international commentators, the book covers key topics in partnership with a dual focus on both policy and practice.

The relationship between health, social care, and the teaching of disciplines such as sociology, social work, and social policy are increasing in many regions worldwide. This book explores the relationship between wider social theory and social welfare though an understanding of how power and resistance impinges on how helping professions operate in health and social spaces in the twenty-first century. The book presents a critical analysis of major Foucauldian theories and social issues in the construction and practice of health and social welfare. It discusses important theoretical and substantive contributions to current debates and presents an engaging, comprehensive, and innovative perspective to address both how power and resistance shape the way we live and how the way we live shapes the way in which we understand social relations among professionals, policy makers, and user groups in comparative contexts. The purpose of this book is to critically inform debates concerning the abstract and empirical features of health and social care examined through the lens of innovative theoretical perspectives emanating from Foucauldian theories.​

In this fascinating book, leading international experts in gerontology and social work examine the conditions of older people in their respective native lands--Australia, Canada, West Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In response to the need for world-wide sharing of information and research on one of the most dramatic developments of the twentieth century in the United States and throughout the western world--the aging of the populations--these professionals offer an international dimension and cross-cultural knowledge to social gerontology and gerontological social work. Emphasis is placed on the social service delivery system in each country together with an analysis of social work roles and activities. The informative articles include demographic notes, the socioeconomic characteristics of older people in each country, and the author’s forecast of trends, issues, and future directions. These timely reviews of what has worked elsewhere may spark greater creativity among educators and practitioners in social work and gerontology in finding alternative solutions to the many problems professionals face as advocates and service providers for older adults. Social work practitioners and educators examine social services for seniors in eight different industrialized countries. Each chapter--focusing on a different country--features: a review of the social service delivery system, providing information about its historical evolution and current organization a look at home care programs, as well as community based and institutionally based services a review of service availability and accesibility with consideration of how social services are coordinated with health care and other human services special attention is given to social work roles within the social service system, including an examination of direct service and planning/management roles a consideration of the importance and usefulness of social work in service provision for each country a brief analysis of current trends and furture directions for gerontological social work and social services for the elderly. The cross-national perspectives will highlight global trends in the industrial world and illuminate distinctions among countries, based upon a particular historical, political, and cultural context. Gerontological Social Work provides a wider base for understanding and evaluating policies and programs in one’s own country. Each analysis suggests new and different ways of solving problems and providing services. Social work professionals worldwide will learn successful methods of enabling the elderly to maintain maximum self-sufficiency and participate actively in society, thus insuring improved quality of life.

Mental distress is not exclusive to any particular group but touches the lives of people in all societies and walks of life; one in four of us will be affected by it in our lifetime. Yet the field of mental health is complex – fraught with differences in understanding and experience, variations in service provision, political agendas and professional discourses. This wide-ranging book explores a range of themes in the development of mental health policy and practice, in order to promote critical reflection and enhance understanding. Drawing on an international evidence base, it explores the historical, legal and socio-cultural dimensions of mental health, including: - Anti-discriminatory practice and the ethical tensions posed by legislation, particularly in relation to safeguarding and human rights - Trends and concerns in the field of child and adolescent mental health - The gender, ethnicity and age-related dimensions of mental ill-health - The challenges posed by dual diagnosis and faced by families and carers International Perspectives on Mental Health offers a multi-dimensional view of mental health and wellbeing, with the aim of opening up debate and inviting a more holistic conception of the field. It is required reading for students of mental health on professional and academic courses, as well as for practitioners in the health and social care field.

Universal health care and social services are fundamental building blocks of the welfare state. Invariably they are discrete organizational systems. The problems of clients, however, often overlap. This international volume examines, country by country, the relationship between the health service and the social services. `This volume is a welcome addition to the literature that examines the provision of health and social services from an international perspective...the book is useful at two levels: first, as an introduction to the different health and social service delivery systems; and second, as an exploration of the factors that inhibit the establishment of linkages at the service delivery level. Students, teachers, pla

This is the first comprehensive book that provides accessible, international knowledge for practitioners, students and academics about social work in health emergencies and spans fields of practice across world regions with particular reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. Divided into three sections: • Regional, Historical and Social Work Perspectives takes a journey through world regions during the first six months of the pandemic as it unfolded, explores the lessons found in the history of pandemics and situates public health social work practice in the values of the profession. Situating the diversity of challenges and opportunities in context, in turn, influences current and future social work practice. • Social Work Practice, Issues and Responses explores social work practice innovations and responses across eleven key practice fields. International authors feature social work responses during the COVID-19 health emergency from different regions of the world. • Preparing for the Future analyses broader concepts, innovations and the implications for future practices as social work enters a new era of service delivery. The 20 chapters explore the convergence of pandemic, politics and planet which is critiqued within a framework of the profession’s ethics and values of human dignity, human rights and social justice. Social work’s place in public health is firmly situated and built on the premise that the value social work brings to the table deserves recognition and should be documented to inform the development of the profession and future practice and how social work must carry lessons forward to prepare for the next pandemic. The book is relevant to a wide range of audiences, including practitioners, educators and students in social work, human services, international development and public health, as well as policy makers and researchers.

Numerous studies suggest that people with a variety of health concerns are increasingly turning to online networks for social support. As a result, the number of online support communities has risen over the past two decades. Global Perspectives on Health Communication in the Age of Social Media is a critical scholarly resource that examines the illness and pain-and-suffering narrative of health communication. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as social networks, patient empowerment, and e-health, this book is geared towards professionals and researchers in health informatics as well as students, practitioners, clinicians, and academics.

In the new health care environment, social workers are being called upon to act as case managers, coordinators, evaluators, therapists, and researchers. International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care brings together academics and practitioners to discuss what managed care, cost containment, corporatization, and pre-payment portend for social work’s survival. Its explanatory pages will help you understand the need for skills in networking, mediation, and advocacy, how to link communities and institutions, and how to conceptualize, quantify, and measure the outcomes of social work interventions. In an effort to transcend traditional organizational and intellectual boundaries, International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care explores conflicts inherent to social work, the need for new theoretical and practice models, social work administration in changing health care organizations, and developments in health social work research. Seeking to unite policy and practice, this guidebook addresses key issues, trends, and innovations in social work, including: services that enhance community health the transformation of health care in the U.S. into a market commodity a broader approach to health and health care to correct gender biases lifestyle changes and health promotion helping clients overcome patterns of denial, fear, and anger individual casework vs. group/community practice patterns of social work service provision in a rehabilitation hospital environment the effects of heterosexism on health and mental health services to lesbian and gay clients International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care acts as a forum for contributing authors and readers to exchange and gain information and learn from each others’experiences and expertise. This is the book to help social work academics, educators, and practitioners work together to meet the demands and challenges of the increasingly complex health care environment.

This book is a follow up to Social Capital and Health (2008), edited by Kawachi, Subramanian & Kim. Global Perspectives on Social Capital and Health provides a timely update on emerging topics in a fast-growing field, and features contributions from an outstanding international team of scholars, selected from a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds including: social epidemiology, medical geography, social psychology, social welfare and gerontology, pediatrics, political science, economics, and medical sociology. The book is organized in three parts: Part 1. Emerging directions in social capital research. This section highlights novel directions in social capital research. These include: a) novel settings for conducting research on social capital (workplaces, schools), b) new approaches for causal inference in social capital (instrumental variable analysis, twin fixed effects designs); c) cutting-edge directions for social capital research, including studies of the origins of community social capital, the use of social network analysis to investigate social capital, and novel methods for investigating the link between social capital and crime. Part 2. Social capital and health policy. The three chapters in this section highlight implications of social capital for interventions and health policy. Part 3. Social capital and health in global perspective The four chapters in this section look at research on social capital and health from a global perspective. The authors summarize the empirical studies on social capital and health conducted in each country/region, or each population group; discuss how the concept of social capital “translates” across different cultures; and identify challenges and future directions for research.