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The social work role with older people
- Authors:
- LYMBERY Mark, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 19(2), June 2007, pp.97-113.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper focuses on the role of social workers with older people, drawing on a project carried out in a Midlands Social Services Department. It argues that this role has never been clearly defined, even though the advent of community care ensured an increase in the numbers of practitioners employed in this area of activity. It also suggests that the introduction of care management has tied social workers to the discipline of assessment and has not enabled them to carry out the more detailed and in-depth work that would be common with other service user groups. The authors suggest that the adoption of a grid defining the proper contribution of qualified social workers to practice with older people might both enable scarce resources to be used more productively while clarifying the specific aspects of work on which a qualified social worker should concentrate. They also reflect on the importance of considering the adoption of approaches to practice that go beyond the individualistic focus that has become the staple of social work with older people.
United we stand? Partnership working in health and social care and the role of social work in services for older people
- Author:
- LYMBERY Mark
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 36(7), October 2006, pp.1119-1134.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The concepts of ‘partnership’ and ‘collaboration’ have become amongst the most critical themes of ‘new’ Labour’s social policy, particularly in respect of the delivery of health and social care. Although the terms are rarely precisely defined and hence have become problematic to analyse, in most understandings successful partnerships rely upon good systems of inter-professional collaboration. Through revisiting the extensive literature on the sociology of the professions, and the nature of inter-professional working, this paper will argue that effective collaborative working within health and social care is hard to achieve, particularly in the light of the vast differences in power and culture between various occupational groupings, and the inherently competitive nature of professions jostling for territory in the same areas of activity. It suggests that these issues cannot be resolved unless they are properly understood; a rhetorical appeal to the unmitigated benefits of ‘partnership’ alone will not produce more effective joint working. In addition, it notes that an appropriate role for social work in the context of partnership working has yet to be defined and proposes specific tasks and values that distinguish the social worker from other related professionals.
Perceptions regarding the use of physical restraints with elderly persons: comparison of Israeli health care nurses and social workers
- Author:
- WERNER Perla
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interprofessional Care, 16(1), February 2002, pp.59-68.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In view of the difficulty involved in decision-making regarding the use or removal of physical restraints and the recent pattern encouraging the use of interdisciplinary teams for elder care issues, the present study compared the perceptions of Israeli nurses and social workers in health care settings regarding the use of physical restraints. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 50 nurses and 69 social workers working in long-term and acute care settings. The findings indicated that participants in all professions attributed moderate to low importance towards the use of physical restraints. Social workers' perceptions were similar to those of nurses in psychiatric hospitals and slightly more favourable to the use of physical restraints than those of nurses in nursing homes. Patients' safety (as reflected in the scores of the items related to protecting an older person from falling and protecting an older person from pulling out a catheter) was the most important reason for using physical restraints for both groups. Increased attention should be given to the role of social workers as team members in the process of decision-making regarding the use or removal of physical restraints, especially as mediators between the elderly person, family members and staff members.
Measuring attitudes elated to interdisciplinary training: revisiting the Heinemann, Shmitt and Farrell "attitudes toward health care teams" scale
- Authors:
- HYER Kathryn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interprofessional Care, 14(3), August 2000, pp.249-258.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article reports findings from an exploratory factor analysis on the 21 item "attitudes towards health care teams" (Heinemann, et al., 1999) are reported. Using data collected as part of an innovative educational program on geriatric team training in the United States, the authors report on exploratory factor analyses for 913 student trainees. The Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) program funded by a United States philanthropic foundation, the John A. Hartford Foundation, requires medicine, nursing and social work students to learn about geriatric teams. A 3-factor solution with all 21 items is obtained. These factors are labelled to reflect normative team constructs: team value, team efficiency amd shared leadership. Though conceptually these factors map onto those identified by Heinemann et al., some important philosophical and methodological differences are noted. Implications for interdisciplinary education and for the construct validity of this scale are discussed.
Interprofessional collaboration in Swedish health and social care from a care manager's perspective
- Authors:
- DUNER Anna, WOLMESJO Maria
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 18(3), 2015, pp.354-369.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The aim of this study was to study interprofessional collaboration in health and social care for older people and persons with disabilities from a care manager's perspective. The empirical data was collected at a workshop held during a national conference for care managers and through focus group interviews in two Swedish municipalities. The results showed that the care managers collaborated in different ways with many different professionals from different organisations. The care and discharge planning meetings emerged as the most typical situation where care managers collaborated with different health care professionals. Interprofessional collaboration was seen as a means for care managers to fulfil their assignment and carry out their work. The care manager role encompassed role strain, a relatively weak professional identity, and differences in professional status among those involved in interprofessional collaboration. (Publisher abstract)
Resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes: social worker involvement and collaboration with nursing colleagues
- Author:
- BONIFAS Robin Patchell
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Work, 40(3), 2015, pp.e101-e109.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Resident-to-resident aggression (RRA) is the most common form of abuse occurring in nursing homes. A staff referral to the facility social worker is a common intervention approach used to manage this behaviour, yet studies are nonexistent regarding how nursing home social workers respond to such referrals or how their efforts link with interprofessional team members. The purpose of this study was to identify assessment and intervention strategies social workers use to address RRA and how they collaborate with nursing colleagues in the RRA management process. Semi-structured interviews were completed with social services and nursing personnel (n = 90) from 10 nursing homes. Interview questions focused on the participants' role in addressing RRA and associated interprofessional partnerships. Thematic analysis of three a priori categories, social work assessment, intervention, and collaboration, identified that (1) assessment approaches include gathering information, applying knowledge of causal factors, and determining psychosocial impact; (2) intervention approaches comprise determining appropriate interventions, applying preventive approaches, and delivering psychosocial interventions; and (3) collaborative strategies include mutual assessment consultations, joint intervention planning, tandem intervention delivery, and maximising professional strengths. Findings illustrate social workers' extensive involvement in responding to RRA incidents and the importance of social worker-nurse collaboration, especially with direct care workers. (Publisher abstract)
Integrating health and social care: implications for joint working and community care outcomes for older people
- Authors:
- DAVEY Barbara, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interprofessional Care, 19(1), January 2005, pp.22-43.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In England, the theme of promoting collaborative working between social and primary health care remains high on the policy agenda. The underlying assumption, largely untested, is that a greater degree of structural integration benefits service users. This paper reports the findings from a feasibility study comparing two models of joint working and examining the relative impact of personal characteristics, service use and co-location on the likelihood of older people remaining in the community. Baseline standardised interviews with 79 older people aged 75 + with complex needs in two social services departments were carried out following referral, covering social circumstances, physical and mental health and services received, with follow-up interviews after six months. Contacts between social workers and primary care were tracked. The findings suggest that co-location does not necessarily lead to substantially closer interprofessional working in terms of greater contact between social workers and GPs or social workers and community nurses. Factors affecting outcome were degree of cognitive impairment, intensity of home care received and whether the older person lived alone. Whatever the model of collaborative working, its effects on remaining in the community must be assessed in the wider context of the characteristics and services received by older people.
The recognition of and response to dementia in the community: lessons for professional development
- Authors:
- ILIFFE Steve, MANTHORPE Jill
- Journal article citation:
- Learning in Health and Social Care, 3(1), March 2004, pp.5-16.
- Publisher:
- Blackwell
Adult learning approaches require professionals to identify their learning needs. Learning about dementia syndromes is a complex task because of the insidious onset and variable course of the disease processes, the inexorability of cognitive and functional loss, and the emotional impact of neurodegenerative disorders on those experiencing them and on their family and professional carers. This report describes the ways in which learning tasks were understood and articulated by 774 community-based professionals from different disciplines, working in nominal groups in 24 settings across the United Kingdom, and explores how these groups set about identifying their learning needs. These groups focused on being insufficiently skilled to carry out educational functions, on solving problems of limited resources and inflexible systems, and on carers rather than on people with dementia. The groups' solution hinged on multidisciplinary learning being the best route to achieving system change, but such an approach to learning was dealt with uncritically. Three themes received scant attention: the impact of practitioners' own emotional responses to dementia on their clinical or practical skills; the educational potential of voluntary organizations; and the value of learning from the person with dementia, as much as from their carers. Professional development should therefore widen the debate about recognition of dementia to improvement of timely responses. It should concentrate on developing capacities not only around diagnosis, but also around communication and support.
Psychiatric nurse practitioners in long-term care: role function and relationship to social work practice
- Authors:
- WOLD Kathleen, WOLD Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work in Long-Term Care, 1(1), 2002, pp.53-67.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
In the USA psychiatric symptoms and illness are commonly found in the elderly in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), but there is limited access to mental health professionals willing to care for this population. The use of nurse practitioners is new and has been shown to be effective. Nurse practitioners provide a holistic approach to the assessment and management of the elderly due to their advanced education in pharmacology and pathology of diseases. The relationship between nurse practitioners, social workers, and nurses in LTCFs needs to be collaborative and complementary. The biopsychosocial goals for LTCF residents are to reduce suffering maximize function, improve the quality of life, and enhance the sense of well being.
Knee jerk journalism about social work in Romania and Britain
- Author:
- JACK Raymond
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Europe, 3(1), 1996, pp.40-42.
- Publisher:
- Russell House
Gives an optimistic account of the present state of social work and social welfare in Romania. Looks in particular at recent initiatives in social work education which are helping to re-assert social work as a profession in Romania which has the respect of its population. Also argues that social work in the UK could benefit from a more supportive environment.