Family Caregivers for Seniors in Rural Areas

In this article, the demographic characteristics of family caregivers for seniors in rural communities are assessed to examine whether their circumstances could facilitate or impede their well-being. Services available in rural communities for family members providing ongoing care to frail seniors is examined, particularly those that provide health and social services. How families access these services and whether there are specific barriers in service provision are analyzed based on current social work practice and the research literature. Trends for future services are identified as well as whether these trends support new roles for social workers in rural settings.     

Community Based Rural Health Care in India

SUMMARY

India is a large country, geographically as well as popula-tionwise. The majority of its population lives in rural areas, i.e., villages. Again, most of the villages are in remote areas. The State has been making sincere efforts to make the basic social services accessible to all in the rural area. Health being one of the vital services, it has been a challenging task before the State to extend it to the remote rural areas, many of which are not yet connected by motorable roads. As a result of various experiments carried out over the last five decades, the State has developed a fairly well-designed primary health care service, and it is in operation in rural areas. However, there appears to be a striking gap between the delivery of health services in rural areas and utilization of the services by the people. Attempts have been made in this article to apprise the readers of the health service system in India, and it discusses the issue of health service delivery at the village level. The discussion is based on a small study carried out in a rural area in the State of West Bengal (India) where students of social work of the University to which the author belongs are placed for field work. Following the inputs received through supervision of the students' work, the study was initiated and conducted.

This article based on the study seeks to focus on peoples' perception of the health services as provided by the State in rural areas, which in turn gets reflected in the extent to which they utilize the services. Social workers being an integral part of the health set up, their role bears special significance. Discussion, therefore, centres on scope for social work intervention at the community level as well as in institutional level of the health service delivery system to make the services meaningful and effective in rural areas. In fact, it has to take the leadership role in reforming the service delivery system when required.     

Rural and Regional Developments in Social Work Higher Education

Abstract

Social work education has traditionally been taught in urban universities in on-campus programs. In the present paper, the author outlines the nature of social work education at Charles Sturt University, a regional Australian university. The author argues that social work education in a rural/regional university is shaped by rural social contextual issues, as well as by changes in the higher education sector. The author notes that social work education fills a significant gap in that it attracts students who are unable to access urban campuses, adds value to rural service delivery, supports rural/regional research, and highlights issues of rural disadvantage. Despite this, the paper argues that rural disadvantage and higher education sector pressures place the delivery of social work education shaped around and responsive to rural social justice issues in regional universities in jeopardy.     

家庭代际结构变化对社会公共服务体系构建的影响

家庭是社会的基本单元,其现状和变动对社会经济发展会产生直接而深远的影响。近20年来,上海的家庭代际结构发生了诸多变化。其表现在户均人口数持续缩小、空巢老人家庭数量增多、家庭代际关系发生变化、家庭模式呈现多样化等方面,这些都对上海的社会公共服务提出了新的需求和挑战。上海应在"政府支持引导、社区积极参与、供给主体多元、引入市场竞争"的总体思路下构建上海社会公共服务新体系;要优化社区养老模式,大力发展养老服务产业,培育公益性的社区公共服务组织,推进养老服务专业化队伍建设,发展幼托照护及教育事业。     

Accessibility in Rural Social Service Agencies

ABSTRACT

This study explores the degree that social service agencies are aware of the ADA, the degree that agencies perceive they comply with the ADA, and the barriers these agencies face in making their services accessible. The directors of 28 randomly selected rural social service agencies in a midwestern state completed semi-structured telephone interviews. Interviews explored respondents& knowledge of the ADA, barriers rural agencies face in providing accessible services, types of accommodations they have made and degree of fit between the ADA and rural agencies. The findings suggest that while the ADA is not a significant burden for rural agencies, there is a need for enhanced training and outreach.     

Sources of Double Disadvantage for People with Disabilities Living in Remote and Rural Areas of New South Wales, Australia

This study demonstrates how people with disabilities living in remote and rural areas experience double disadvantage in regard to receipt of services. They tend to experience similar disadvantages to other remote and rural dwellers (as compared with their urban counterparts), but these disadvantages are compounded by those associated with living in an environment which does not cater for the needs of people with disabilities. Findings display how geographical, physical, cultural, social and psychological factors within the external environment create disadvantages for the individual. The project involved data collection from people with disabilities, disability groups, service providers, families and carers through consultations and field trips. Major issues emerging from consultations were concerned with: transport and distance, isolation, the need for more consumer involvement, the nature of service provision (appropriateness, flexibility, co-ordination and location), the need for community and professional disability awareness education, protection of rights, carers and respite care, accommodation and housing, education, employment, information dissemination and access to specialised equipment. Comparison with overseas studies indicates that findings from this Australian study have applicability in other countries which have large remote and rural areas.     

The role of the voluntary sector in the provision of rural services — the case of transport

The voluntary sector has become more fully involved in service provision in rural areas over the last 10 years and this paper attempts to assess its impact with respect to one particular group of services, namely transport. The importance of the initiatives which have taken place is outlined in a statement of recent policy changes, including the radical provisions in the 1985 Transport Act, and through a national review of the three principal kinds of voluntary transport services in rural areas — social car schemes, dial-a-ride and community buses. This review is followed by an in-depth analysis of the extent of the voluntary sector involvement in transport provision in Norfolk and Suffolk. Extensive tables are presented and the characteristics of the schemes outlined together with an assessment of the essential ingredients for success or failure.The conclusion reached is that the scope and scale of voluntary sector initiatives in rural areas is small, and they form no alternative to a more general and systematic provision of transport services. Further, voluntary sector activities may even increase the inequalities in service provision. Suggestions are made as to how the scattered developments could be brought together and developed through the parish councils, parish transport groups and the rural transport broker.     

Changes in service provision in rural areas. Part 1: The use of GIS in analysing accessibility to services in rural deprivation research

Previous work has highlighted the importance of public service provision in rural areas particularly for potentially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, unemployed and single parents especially where this coincides with a lack of access to either private or public transport. Disadvantage can often be compounded by limited access to services for such groups with the superior resources of more affluent social groups enabling them to respond and adapt to the increasing centralisation and reduction of services. This paper reviews previous investigations of the implications of changing accessibility to services in rural areas and draws attention to the need for a new research agenda which uses spatial analytical techniques to gauge the current levels of (in)accessibility to key services at the community level. These techniques are illustrated in Part 2 of the paper with reference to changes in post office provision in mid Wales, and the policy significance of incorporating geographical information systems-based measures of provision into traditional area-based indicators of disadvantage is discussed.     

Determining the Need for Social Work Practice in a Public Library

Little is known about social work practice via public libraries. Faced with patron needs, libraries seek creative ways to provide social services. One suburban library carried out community engagement using a community-university partnership. Students reviewed literature, surveyed 32 library patrons, and conducted interviews with five staff members. Patrons identified need for services related to children’s success in school as well as resources needed for health care, food resources, and employment services. They also identified concerns with homelessness, mental illness, and unemployment. Implications support the provision of social work practice at this library to address opportunities to maximize quality of life.     

Social Capital in Rural and Urban Communities1

Abstract Conventional wisdom says that social capital is more common among families in rural communities than urban communities. Using data from the 1988 wave of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we compare the prevalence, type, and extent of social exchanges in these places. Results indicate that families living in rural areas are more likely to exchange exclusively with kin than are families living in urban areas. In particular, families living in rural areas are more likely to receive money help from kin than families in urban areas. Results on patterns of giving are more complex, with rural origin families with younger household heads more likely to give support to kin, and rural origin families with older heads less likely to provide such support, as compared to otherwise similar families of urban origin. Finally, only modest urban-rural differences in amounts exchanged (in dollars) are found among otherwise similar families. Overall, some of the urban-rural differences in patterns of exchange are explained by different family characteristics; however, key urban-rural differences remain, probably reflecting differences in norms and the availability of institutional support services in different areas.     

Necessary Steps in Designing a Successful Contract

Abstract

Parents with a history of serious mental illness are vulnerable in many ways and are therefore likely to be accessing services from a range of government and community agencies. The use of multiple services, sometimes with conflicting practice frameworks, can result in sub-optimal management of these families. This study surveyed 77 service providers from a range of government and non-government agencies targeting their views regarding parents with a serious mental illness (specified in this study as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychotic depression). They were asked what they perceived were difficulties for this population, interventions required to meet the needs of this group and finally, barriers to effective service delivery. We found that service providers reported that current services were inadequate for these parents. Parent-based interventions were seen as being more beneficial than those targeting children. Lack of liaison between agencies and lack of coordinated service provision were seen as the greatest barrier to effective service delivery. The results highlight the need for policy planners and service providers to develop strategies to ensure effective coordination between services that work with this population.     

Rural HIV/AIDS Social Services for Gays and Lesbians

Abstract

The HIV pandemic persists into its second decade, with an untoward toll on rural gays which continues to generate suffering and loss. Rural HIV infections are increasing, and the unique problems of health and social services represent new challenges. Professional social services that would overcome barriers to care for rural gays and lesbians have been historically inadequate or non-existent. The HIV pandemic shows that services for HIV diseases must become part of efforts to strengthen the care delivery services for all in rural America, especially by fostering the power and resiliency of gays and lesbians. The empowerment of rural gays, bisexuals, lesbians and transgendered persons assumes that basic differences occur between those in rural and urban areas, and health and social services must build upon the unique strengths of these diverse groups.     

Rural social work The perceptions and experiences of five remote practitioners

Abstract

Living and working as a remote, rural social worker is a challenging experience. This qualitative study explores the experiences of five longer-term social workers in rural Western Australia. It provides a glimpse of their world including initial experiences, factors which support long-term rural practice, the demands and skills needed, the difficulties working in a bureaucracy and the positive aspects of rural practice. Tentative conclusions indicate that rural practice is distinct, due to the demands of living and working in the same community. Moreover, skills must be applied in the context of few secondary referral points or after hours services, and huge distances. The difficulty of maintaining professional identity and feelings of personal isolation are significant, but are compensated for by families who are settled and reluctant to leave, These findings can be used to inform social work education and improve retention of workers and quality of rural practice.     

Rural Runaways: Rurality and its Implications for Services to Children and Young People Who Run Away

This article debates options for service provision to young rural runaways in the UK. Using data drawn from two national surveys and follow‐on qualitative studies, the authors trace urban myths of rurality and their effects on runaway provision. The authors review models of rural refuge, systemic advocacy and mobile services for rural runaways. Evidence suggests that both young runaways’ services and young runaways themselves are particularly at risk of stigmatisation in the rural context. The authors suggest that in this context of high visibility in a rural area, add‐on services to generic provision may offer a solution.     

The Impact of Racism on Social Work Education

One of the most difficult problems in teaching social services has to do with the development of an analytic framework for an understanding of the delivery of social services within the community. This paper examines a particular systems framework that allows the student to conceptualize and evaluate what services are being delivered, what specific inputs and connections of agency with community act to produce this service, and what changes in the system may be possible. The model allows ready connection with practice, policy, and research components of the curriculum.     

Serving the U.S. Work Force: A New Constituency for Schools of Social Work

Almost 90 million working people and their families have great unsatisfied needs for services. They pay for most present and potential U.S. human service structures in at least seven ways. Working people constitute a great challenge and potential growth area for the profession and for schools of social work. Developments in present industrial social work and social work education are discussed in this paper. Specific new proposals are presented. These include suggestions for meeting urgent needs and opportunities during the economic crisis.     

Social Work within a Community Discourse: Challenges for Teaching

This paper considers the continuing debate about the relationship between social work and community work. We write about our collaboration as educators, one from a social work background and the other from a community work background and discuss the challenge of teaching community work to social work students in a way that is relevant for contemporary practice, and that embraces community work principles and values. Our paper explores Ife's framework of competing discourses of human services and discusses how it has helped us to articulate our thinking and teaching practice in the Irish context. For us, the framework integrates social work and community work within a community discourse that provides a language transcending disciplinary boundaries. This approach represents a means of familiarising students with the community work process and enabling them to take action on issues of social justice. The framework represents four competing models of human service delivery: the managerial, the market, the professional and the community. We discuss how we use this conceptualisation to teach and engage students in a process of critical reflection. The paper discusses methods we use to undertake this process, and the development of our teaching practice over the last two years.     

Transnational social work: using a wraparound model

In this article, we explore the wraparound approach of service delivery as a model for transnational social work. The wraparound model, used primarily within community‐based children's mental health services and child protection initiatives, has been effective when planning services for clients and their families with complicated needs, whose care has to be provided within a multiple provider context. Most social work is delivered nationally or internationally rather than trans‐nationally. In the article we outline how the model could be structured to meet the particular needs of transmigrants, including the involvement of NGOs and INGOs, and identify key obstacles and limitations.     

“协同治理”视角下的社会组织公共服务供给

城市社区建设中的公共服务与产品供给是城市发展中的核心问题。城市社会组织作为一个新的社会化服务网络,开始承载公众生活内容、满足公众社会需求、提高社区居民生活质量,成为城市治理中的一个功能载体,凸显出其在城市社区建设的重要意义。在我国的城市社区建设中,应将社会组织作为社区公共服务供给中的重要主体,建立政府、市场和社会组织共同参与社会管理的模式,以协同治理来应对市场的失灵、弥补政府的不足,有效地整合和配置社会资源,提升社会组织自身潜能,最大化地满足社区民众多样化的社会需求。     

Social Work and Family Dispute Resolution

Abstract

Social workers have a significant role to play in the development and provision of family dispute-resolution services. Recent legislative changes and new directions in mediator accreditation in Australia are influencing education and practices in family dispute resolution. Alongside lawyers and psychologists, social workers constitute one of the main professional groups working in this area. A major contribution of social work is the emphasis on reflexive practices that consider political, social, and economic contextual factors. This is underpinned by a commitment to social justice and practices that focus on issues of access and equity and antidiscriminatory practice.