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Professional accounts of services for disabled children in the context of the 1990s Finnish economic recession
- Author:
- VEHKAKOSKI Tanja
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 19(5), August 2004, pp.501-518.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study examines professional accounts of services for disabled children and the ideologies behind those services in the context of the European economic crisis of the 1990s. The study is based on interview data which were collected among professionals of municipal and central government sectors working in the same Finnish town. The methodological starting-point is that of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The professionals first suggest in their discourse that their services are provided on the basis of uncontrollable, general framework, and ideal professional- or client-based principles, but accounts are recorded in which services were rendered which were in conflict with these ideal ideologies. The study concludes that the discourse of the professionals involved in the study consists of various, conflicting accounts and ideologies.
Multi-agency working in services for disabled children: what impact does it have on professionals?
- Authors:
- ABBOTT David, TOWNSLEY Ruth, WATSON Debby
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 13(2), March 2005, pp.155-163.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Whilst agencies in many sectors have been encouraged to work together to better meet the needs of service users, multi-agency working is now a central feature of government policy. In relation to children's services, the National Service Framework, the English green paper, 'Every Child Matters' (DfES, 2003) and the Children Bill (DfES 2004) give a high priority to an integrated approach to service provision. This paper focuses on multi-agency working for disabled children with complex health-care needs, a group of children who, perhaps even more than most, require the many professionals who support them and their families, to work more closely together. Drawing on the findings from a 3-year qualitative research study, this paper examines the impact of working in a multi-agency service on professionals. Interviews with 115 professionals concluded that staff were overwhelmingly positive about working as part of a multi-agency service. They reported improvements to their working lives in areas such as professional development, communication, collaboration with colleagues, and relationships with families with disabled children. However, whilst professionals felt that they were able to offer families a more efficient service, there was concern that the overall impact of multi-agency working on disabled children and their families would be limited.