Social workers' attitudes to privatization in five countries

Scandinavian welfare will be compared to the development in the rest of Western Europe with a view to the future. The break-down of total social expenditure on transfers and services reveals that the Scandinavian countries have a significantly larger share of social resources communicated in the form of personal social services. The Scandinavian countries are affected by the consequences of globalization, and that the “Scandinavian model of welfare” so far it has existed, in the future will take on a more mixed character. In the Scandinavian countries, the public sector pays a larger share and the employers a smaller share. When discussing perspectives of Scandinavian welfare in a European context, it is, however, unavoidable to dig into the welfare modeling business, since future solidarities are already being thematized with reference to different regimes. Market imperatives are reflected; but the solutions recommended are not of a universal, Scandinavian Model type.

BackgroundOlder prisoners are the fastest growing subgroup in the English and Welsh prison estate. Existing research highlights that older prisoners have high health and social care needs and that, currently, these needs routinely remain unmet.Objectives(1) To explore the needs of men entering and leaving prison; (2) to describe current provision of services, including integration between health and social care services; and (3) to develop and pilot an intervention for identifying health and social care needs on reception into prison, ensuring that these are systematically addressed during custody.MethodsThe research programme was a mixed-methods study comprising four parts: (1) a study of all prisons in England and Wales housing older adult men, establishing current availability and degree of integration between health and social care services through a national survey and qualitative interviews; (2) establishing the health and social care needs of older men entering prison, including experiences of reception into custody, through structured (n = 100) and semistructured (n = 27) interviews; (3) the development and implementation of an intervention to identify and manage the health, social care and custodial needs of older men entering prison; and (4) exploration of the health and social care needs of older men released from prison into the community through qualitative interviews with older prisoners prior to and following discharge from prison. Descriptive statistics were produced for all quantitative data, and qualitative data were analysed using the constant comparison method.ResultsThe number of older prisoner leads has increased in recent years but they do not all appear always to be active in their roles, nor in receipt of specialist training. Nearly half (44%) of establishments do not have an older prisoner policy. There is a lack of integration between health and social care services because of ambiguity regarding responsibility for older prisoners' social care. The responsible social service may be located a considerable distance from where the prisoner is held; in such instances, local social services do not co-ordinate their care. The most frequent unmet need on prison entry was the provision of information about care and treatment. Release planning for older prisoners was frequently non-existent.LimitationsThe study used a cut-off age of 60 years as the lower limit for the definition of an older prisoner; evidence has emerged that supports a redefinition of that cut-off to 50 years. Our study examined the care provided for men and this should be considered if contemplating using the Older prisoner Health and Social Care Assessment and Plan (OHSCAP) with older women in prison.ConclusionThe OHSCAP, developed as part of this study, provided a feasible and acceptable means of identifying and systematically addressing older prisoners' health and social care needs. Future work will include the conduct of a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of the OHSCAP in terms of improving a range of outcomes, including economic impact.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

BackgroundSocially excluded groups of people (SEP) live with resources so inadequate that it precludes them from participating fully in the normal acceptable living standards of society. They often have complex health and social care needs yet face structural and attitudinal barriers accessing mainstream healthcare. This can result in ambulatory-care sensitive conditions being left untreated in the community and contributes to the higher use of costly acute services in crisis mode by SEP. Tailored social inclusion primary care (SIPC) services can provide a flexible approach to engage with and meet the needs of this marginalised population. There is little evidence on the economic benefit of these services from the perspective of the publicly-funded health and social services. The aim of this study is to conduct an economic evaluation (cost-consequence analysis) of a single-centre SIPC clinic in the Mid-West region of Ireland over a 12-month period and to determine its value for money. The analysis compares cost outcomes between SEP who have access to a tailored SIPC service with those who do not.MethodsA cost analysis of the part-time SIPC service, based on available Irish-sourced data on the usage and costs of acute care in the Health Service Executive (HSE), and a literature review were used to identify the cost and outcome parameters of the economic framework. A multi-variate probabilistic sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo Simulation methodology was used to assess model uncertainty.ResultsThe cost savings of investing in the part-time SIPC service providing care to 292 individuals, were estimated to be €718,890.90 with an estimated 658 bed days saved over a 12-month period. This represented a return of investment of €3.71 for every €1 spent. The sensitivity analysis supported the estimates with just a 2.2% likelihood of a negative return of investment.ConclusionThis study found that investment in SIPC services, that can meet the needs of a marginalised population, represents good value for money from the perspective of the publicly funded health service. The findings are valuable in supporting stakeholders, policy-makers, and budget holders to make evidence-informed equitable decisions for optimal funding allocation within health and social services.

This chapter highlights recent innovations in social services delivery, as well as online social work training and education. Information and communication technology (ICT) is not new, but applying ICT to social services and social work is rather recent. Social services, schools and social work training centres have been rather creative in using social media and new communication tools in delivering social services and social work training. There has been rapid development in online social work education in China, India, Singapore, South Africa and globally. Online social work training has taken off exponentially and it may potentially be disruptive of traditional approaches to social work education and social service delivery. In highlighting issues relating to online education, the chapter also discusses the questions of ethics and online education as well as the pedagogy needed for effective online instruction and training. The strategy used by the Global Institute of Social Work (GISW) is highlighted as a case study. The vision of the GISW is unconventional with regard to the delivery of quality social work training where it is needed, but especially to social workers in third world nations.

CHAPTER 1 - Introduction

The article describes the organization of social services provision for persons with disabilities by Territorial Social Service Centers in Ukraine. It is determined that today in Ukraine one of the most significant entities of the system of social services provision at the level of the territorial community is the Territorial Social Service Centers (Social Service Provision) (TSS), which carry out work to identify persons with disabilities among the residents of the territorial community who have found themselves in difficult living conditions and provide social services in accordance with their needs. The structure of the TSS is considered, which is determined by the needs of residents of the territorial community in social services and must have at least two departments specializing in certain types of social services. It was found that among the three main groups of social services that TSS can offer to persons with disabilities, the group of social service services is distinguished by the greatest diversity, the most common of which are social home care and day care services. It was found that social support services in most TSCOs are provided as a social service of in-kind assistance and a social service of social adaptation, and social services aimed at social prevention in disability issues are provided as information and counseling services. Since most of the services provided to persons with disabilities in TSCOs are basic, a promising direction of TSCO work has been identified as expanding their list at the expense of specialized services, in accordance with the individual needs of beneficiaries, in particular such a necessary service as a specialized comprehensive social service of temporary rest for persons caring for persons with disabilities.

Journal Article A network of help for Englands elderly Get access Michael J. Austin, Ph.D. Michael J. Austin, Ph.D. Associate Professor School of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Work, Volume 21, Issue 2, March 1976, Pages 114–119, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/21.2.114 Published: 01 March 1976

Introduction: The Healthcare System in Catalonia is a public integrated network with >30 information systems IS. In 2008, Catalonia Shared Electronic Health Record HC31was launched up to allow interoperability among different healthcare providers. The Social care System is organised on two levels: the basic social service, under responsibility of the local authorities, and the specialised social, mostly under regional responsibility. Although Social Service Act of 2017 foresaw the creation of a single Social Record, this has not yet been developed. There are therefore different coexisting IS: Nursing Homes, residential care, daily care facilities for elderly etc. Regarding Catalan Integrated health and social care Plan, interoperability between social services care records and HC3 was prioritized . Short description of practice change implemented: In 2017, a pilot project has started with the basic social services area of Barcelona Council with HC3. Data exchange between Social Services of Barcelona Council and Health Services in Catalonia is now a reality. A professionals’ committee health and social defined the minimum data set to which health and social professionals could have access which will be progressively widened to other territories. Aim and theory of change: The main aims2 to integrate both care systems: To disseminate information among both care systems in an Integrated care environment3. Interoperability with the main local government IS. Connection to central repositories of DW with information on dependent and disabled people that has been formally assessed and recognized by the DW to HC3. Integrate the public owned residential care and nursing homes to HC3. To facilitate HC3 access to teams assessing condition of dependency and disability. Targeted population and stakeholders People in the Region. Timeline: Systems piloted and operational in Barcelona. 80% of Catalan territories will be exchanging data by the end of 2018. Highlights: It will allow exchange of health and social information of citizens in Catalonia who require the use of the system in an Integrated Care environment Comments on sustainability: Each municipality will bear the integration and maintenance cost of the platform and will be supported by HC3. Comments on transferability: Experiences and lessons learnt in terms of legal, technical and functional issues will be made available to other areas of social care records in Catalonia and other EU regions. Conclusions: The completed first phase Barcelona project gave us a lot of knowledge and experience, which will aid in the quick deployment of the project in the Catalonian Region. It will also help increase the cross-platform information exchange and the number of municipal social care services. Discussions: First phase had great impact to establish solid base and make the model sustainable. A common Identification Number has been established by the Catalan government this year facilitating current and future interoperability scenarios related to information sharing and required in implementation of an Integrated Health and Social care Plan4. Lessons learned: Interdepartmental project means that we have to work collaboratively and highly coordinated, emphasizing being respectful in the state of each department, even when there are differences in technological and structural capacity.

Background Older LGBTQ+ people are more likely to have diminished support networks and increased health risk factors, creating a greater reliance on healthcare. Within the literature concerns are voiced that fear of discrimination leads to mistrust and therefore underutilisation of health and social services among older LGBTQ+ people, leading to a lack of understanding of the specific needs and experiences of this cohort of patients. This mistrust of healthcare professionals and systems can negatively impact upon quality of life as older LGBTQ+ people do not avail of the health and social services they need to age well. Methods The author attended an international workshop to hear first-hand the lived experiences of older LGBTQ+ people from five European countries. A systematic literature review was completed to gain greater understanding of the challenges and discrimination faced by older LGBTQ+ people while accessing health and social care services. The author then received training with a leading LGBTQ+ organisation in order to gain insights into the experiences and concerns of older LGBTQ+ people in Ireland. Practical learning was gained on how to foster inclusion, provide education and create change within older persons services. Staff and patient engagement, feedback and evaluation was used to establish requirements for education, training and service development. Results LGBTQ+ education and training was developed for all disciplines working across acute, rehabilitation and residential older persons services in a large academic teaching hospital. This education is now delivered monthly to drive inclusion in older persons care. Staff feel more equipped and confident to provide inclusive care. There has been improved staff well-being and pride as the hospital moves towards being an inclusive and safe space for all. Conclusion There is a need for sustained education and training to equip staff with the skills and confidence to provide inclusive care to older LGBTQ+ patients accessing health and social care services.

Comparative studies on child protection decision‐making highlight the implications and determinants of differences in child welfare systems internationally and reinforce discussions regarding child protection practices and family support when a child is exposed to inadequate parental care. To date, Italian child protection studies have highlighted a system characterised by a strong degree of variability related to the absence of practices shared nationally. Differently, this comparative study focuses more on similarities within the Italian context, seeking to understand how they influence practices. The opinions of 188 Italian social workers with respect to the substantiation of maltreatment, risk assessment and intervention recommendations were compared with the results of a recent study involving practitioners in Israel, Northern Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands. The main outcomes show that Italian social workers prefer a family support orientation, meaning that children are usually removed from their home only if necessary and generally with the aim of reunification with their families. The study also reveals that Italian professionals are more in favour of residential care than foster care.

The second decade of the XXI century has seen major changes concerning the activities of non-profit organizations. First, the status of non-profit organizations (NPOs) as a subject of social policy has significantly improved, aided by some changes in the socioeconomic structure of various states after the global crisis. This trend is characteristic of most developed countries in the world. Secondly, the NPOs have become more popular among the population: as a result, both the number of NPO members and their professionalism have increased. Thirdly, government agencies are responding to modern challenges and become actively engaged in the development and implementation of mechanisms supporting and enabling socially oriented NPOs. All these factors show that the activity of non-profit organizations is becoming an integral part of socio-economic processes that improve the quality of life of the population. A list of public utility services provided by NPOs covers the main range of indicators of quality of life of the population. About 60 percent of the more than 223 thousand NPOs registered in the country have received the status of socially oriented nonprofit organizations (SONPOs), which allows them to rely on state support. To further enhance the effectiveness of socially oriented non-profit organizations one should: improve the regulatory framework, including preferential loans and banking services for socially oriented NGOs; develop the supportive infrastructure for socially oriented NPOs; share experience, e.g. through the establishment of advisory centers and implementation of mentoring in the field SONPOs; include SONPOs in assessing the effectiveness of the authorities in the field of social policy; inform citizens about the possibilities to receive services from the SONPOs and their activities in general.

The authors investigated the impact of organizational justice on social workers' intention to leave Korean social service agencies. Specifically, this study concentrated on the moderating effect of organizational justice on the relationship between burnout and intention to leave. The authors surveyed 218 front-line social workers from 51 social welfare service centers in Korea. Data were collected from a sample of social workers indentified through a multistage cluster sampling process. The authors used a linear mixed model to analyze the multilevel data structure. This study had three major findings. First, higher levels of burnout of individual social workers corresponded to increased intention to leave. Second, higher levels of organizational justice of social welfare service centers corresponded to decreased intention to leave. Finally, and most important, the organizational justice of social welfare service centers moderated the impact of burnout on individual social workers' intention to leave. On the basis of these results, the authors discuss the importance of organizational justice to social service agencies. KEY WORDS: burnout; intention to leave; moderating effect; organizational justice ********** Within a human service agency, the primary workforce is social workers (Sung, 1993). Frequent turnover among social workers causes practical problems for social work agencies in terms of service discontinuance and loss of skilled practitioners (Carmeli & Weisberg, 2006; Loewenberg, 1979). Given the high costs of social worker turnover, finding effective strategies to reduce turnover rates has been a great concern and challenge in social work settings (Abu-Bader, 2000; Curry, McCarragher, & Dellmann-Jenkins, 2005; Vandervort, Pott Gozalez, & Coulborn Failer, 2008). Previous literature has consistently demonstrated that intention to leave is one of the strongest predictors and an immediate precursor of social worker turnover (Harrington, Bean, Pintello, & Mathew, 2001; Vandervort et al., 2008). A number of social work administrators and professionals have attempted to determine the factors that affect social workers' intention to leave social service agencies (Chiu & Lai, 1997; Ulrish et al., 2007). Several studies have revealed associations between the psychological and demographic characteristics of individual social workers and their intention to leave (Drake & Yamada, 1996; Harrington et al., 2001). Generally, the results of these studies have determined that burnout of social workers significantly increased their intention to leave (Drake & Yamada, 1996; Harrington et al., 2001). These studies, however, have focused primarily on individual factors of social workers as the predictors of intention to leave, ignoring the influence of the social-environmental context of social work agencies. Currently, organizational theory emphasizes the leverage effect of organizational factors on intention to leave among organizational members (Acker, 2004; DePanfilis & Zlotnik, 2008). As George and Jones (1996) pointed out, the impact of individual factors on turnover may be moderated by other organizational factors, such as a supportive organizational climate. Current organizational research has shown increasing interest in organizational justice as a potential factor that creates benefits for both organizations and their individual members (Judge & Colquitt, 2004; Lain, Schaubroeck, & Aryee, 2002). Other fields--including education, public administration, and business--have investigated the dynamic between organizational justice and the intention to leave or turnover rates among organizational members. Prior studies conducted in these fields have indicated that enhancing organizational justice is an efficient strategy to decrease intention to leave or reduce turnover rates and, therefore, increase service quality and clients' satisfaction (DeConinck & Bachmann, 2005; Foley, Ngo, & Wong, 2005; Kickul, Lester, & Finkl, 2002; Parker & Kohlmeyer, 2005). …

Workplace violence and threats from social service users towards social workers (client violence) is a problem in Sweden and internationally. This article explores the circumstances that make client violence stressful to social workers who exercise public authority in Swedish individual and family social services. The empirical data are based on qualitative interviews with social workers (n = 19) who, according to their own perception, have been threatened or assaulted by a client in relation to work. Theory on cognitive appraisal of threat and harm is used. The results, analysed by Inductive Thematic Analysis, show that client violence is stressful because it poses a threat to social workers’ professional identity and private life, and occurs in uncertain and repetitive ways. The results suggest that a negligent safety culture in social service agencies, characterized by normalization of client violence and limited organizational support, may contribute to stress related to client violence. The results are discussed in light of how social workers and social service agencies transact and affect each other.

BackgroundSocial problems of patients such as family or work-related conflicts as well as financial difficulties affect the individual health situation and the treatment of diseases in general practice. General practitioners (GPs) would like to have direct access to professionals in social care services. In Germany, there are many different social care facilities for people with a wide range of social problems. As the social and health care systems hardly interact collaborations between social professionals (SPs) and GPs are rare exceptions.This study explored perspectives of GPs regarding their patients with social problems in combination with the perspectives of SPs. Aim of this study was to explore how a systematic interprofessional collaboration between GPs and SPs could be realised.MethodsWe carried out a participatory sequential qualitative study design consisting of two focus groups with GPs, two with SPs and two mixed-professional focus groups with GPs and SPs. The focus groups were conducted with semi-structured moderating guidelines and analysed with a qualitative content analysis approach using inductive and deductive categories.ResultsGPs view themselves as the first point of contact for their patients' social problems. For persistent social problems, they expressed a desire for support and SPs were willing to provide this. We developed a stepped care implementation model for a systematic cooperation consisting of nine collaboration strategies. These strategies included: index or website of social care services, referrals to the social care system, using flyers and posters of social care services, direct contact/hotline to local social care services, participation in meetings of social care facilities, involving physician assistants, external social care advice service in GP rooms, implementation in education and training and access to volunteers.ConclusionsOur stepped care implementation model for a systematic cooperation of GPs and SPs could be a feasible need- and resource-oriented approach for the collaborative care of patients with social problems to improve their medical treatment in most western healthcare systems. GPs and SPs are ready to generate the necessary evidence for policy makers in high quality RCTs.

Drawing on a preliminary study guided by the principles of the Job Demands-Resources Model, the aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of secondary traumatisation (ST) of social workers supporting traumatised children and their families. In partnership with the Lazio Regional Chapter of the National Council of Social Workers in Italy (CROAS Lazio), the research team analysed a small sample of in-depth interviews with social workers engaged in community-based and justice-related services for children and families. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and submitted to theoretically-oriented thematic analysis. The narratives analysed appeared to blur the lines between ST and burnout, a more widely recognised professional risk among Italian social workers. However, traumatic symptoms of ST are particularly pervasive when working with sexually abused children in specific situations, such as family separations or trials. Our findings show that participants identified personal, work-related, organisational, and interorganisational factors that function either as job demands or resources, influencing the reinforcement or mitigation of ST risk. The findings offer insights into developing targeted strategies to prevent ST, thereby fostering sustainable and supportive work environments. IMPLICATIONS Systemic interventions are crucial to addressing secondary traumatisation among social workers, including specialised training throughout their careers, particularly in high-risk contexts like court trials and removals of children from the home due to abuse and neglect. Policy reforms should focus on reducing caseloads, enhancing professional supervision, and fostering team collaboration. Improved interprofessional and interorganisational co-operation can further alleviate the isolating nature of the profession, promoting social workers' wellbeing and improving care quality for vulnerable children and families.