Life after work: older Australians' experiences of early exit from the workforce

Little is known about the experience of those in the baby boom cohort who are outside the labour market. Understanding their experience has the potential to inform policy strategies to support older people to remain longer in the workforce. Using in‐depth interview data from 26 participants, this paper examines the reasons people aged between 50 and 64 years give for being not‐employed, how they perceive it affects their health, how socioeconomic characteristics shape their experience and what would entice them back into paid work. Participants' main reasons for being not‐employed included: feeling financially able and ready to exit, feeling unhappy about workplace reorganisations, disability, or their partner's retirement or ill‐health. The reasons given and the degree to which they had planned to exit the workforce affected their willingness and capacity to consider returning. Key determinants of participants' health and wellbeing after stopping paid work were the extent to which they had planned their exit and the status of their health and wealth at the time of their exit. The paper concludes there is some scope for increasing the number of employed older people if policy makers attend to workforce health and wellbeing as crucial to workforce retention policy development.     

Rhetoric vs. reality in social work supervision: the experiences of a group of child care social workers in England

Whilst the contribution of good supervision to high‐quality social work practice is widely recognized, research exploring practitioners' experiences of supervision is surprisingly limited. Set within the context of the supervision framework for employers of social workers in England, this small‐scale survey, using an extended questionnaire, examined the experiences of supervision of a group of child care social workers. The aim was to find out what aspects of supervision worked well and where there was room for improvement. The findings suggest that whilst the majority of employers had appropriate supervision policies in place, day‐to‐day practice varied enormously, frequently falling well short of national standards, with the quality of supervision often depending more on the characteristics of the supervisor and the agency context than the needs of the worker. Supervision sessions typically focused predominantly on case management, with much less attention paid to the worker and opportunities for them to reflect on their practice. Only a quarter of the social workers in this survey could be considered to be satisfied with their current supervision, with a much higher proportion clearly dissatisfied.     

Religion and coping in older adults: a social work perspective

Religion is an important coping resource for many older adults. This paper briefly describes social work's religious roots, makes a distinction between religion and spirituality for older adults, and presents empirical data showing how older adults employ religious strategies to cope with life challenge. The study reports on religious coping in an available sample of 79 European American and African American older adults residing in urban community dwellings. Implications suggest how social workers and others may support religious coping.     

Social work knowledge of community-based services for older adults: an educational model for social work students

Social workers are often the key link between older adults, their families and community-based services. Thus, knowledge about older adults and community-based care is imperative for social work practice. Evaluation data are provided on a national multisite effort (N = 353) from 35 schools to assure graduate social work student's competency related to community services for older adults. Results suggest that the educational model as described in this article sets forth positive outcomes in the education of aging savvy social workers. Ongoing social work education is needed to meet the burgeoning needs of the geriatric population.     

Preventive therapy and resilience promotion: an evaluation of social work led skills development group work

Concerns have been expressed for some time about a decline in emphasis on therapeutic work in social work, notably articulated in the Munro Review. Further concerns have been expressed in child care that social workers have increasingly had to focus on child protection work rather than earlier stages of prevention. However, there remain opportunities for social workers through the development of new programmes. One development has been that of Behaviour and Education Support Teams: multi‐professional teams, containing as a key element social workers, and encouraging novel practices designed to help emotional stability and improved behaviour and education performance. This study reports on an evaluation of a social worker delivered school‐based social skills programme, which can contribute to the important area of resilience. This showed significant and sustained improvements in pro‐social behaviour and friendships. The implications of this for the therapeutic potential and professional role of social work are discussed.     

The application of a small group learning approach to social group work teaching - an exploratory study

A new modality – the small group learning approach, was developed for social group work courses for social work students in Hong Kong. A research study, aimed at understanding the students’ level of satisfaction with the new approach and exploring its effectiveness regarding enhancing students’ learning in social group work, was conducted for three cohorts of students in the academic years from 2013-14 to 2015-16. The findings indicated that its effectiveness was influenced by the quality of the tutors and the level of co-operation of the students. Strategies for improving the design and the implementation of the approach will be discussed     

Social work and transitions of care: observations from an intervention for older adults

Making the transition from hospital to home can be challenging for many older adults. This article presents practice perspectives on these transitions, based on a social work intervention for older adults discharged from an acute care setting to home. An analysis of interviews with clinical social workers who managed 356 cases (n = 3) and a review of their clinical notes (n = 581) were used to identify salient themes relevant to care transitions. Concepts developed and discussed identify the role of surprises after discharge, an expanded view of the client system, and relationship building as instrumental in carrying out effective care transitions.     

Commentary: the public health consequences of an industry-influenced psychiatric taxonomy: "attenuated psychotic symptoms syndrome" as a case example

Determining the distribution of psychiatric disorders and developing sound preventive and intervention practices are pressing public health issues. Since at present mental disorders lack biological markers, psychiatric taxonomies must grapple with how best to address issues of validity and reliability. With the increasing congruence between the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2010), it is imperative that decisions regarding the inclusion of new disorders be research-based and not unduly influenced by industry. The first draft of DSM-V, recently made public, has created a firestorm of controversy, for the DSM's nomenclature of disease or other pathology not only affects such disparate domains as jurisprudence and insurance claims but is also an instrument designed to facilitate research on psychopathology.     

Literature and Social Work: An exploration of how literature informs social work in a way social sciences cannot

Margaret Turner. Senior Caseworker. Social Services Department. Coventry City Council. Crisis Intervention Team. 36. St Paul's Road. Coventry CV6 5DF. Summary There have been several teachers and practitioners who havesuggested literature has something to offer social work andtherapy. but without making a comprehensive case for its importance.This paper attempts to show why literature is valuable. evennecessary, to thinking and talking about social work. and toits practice. Beginning with a critical examination of languagein the public domain the study moves on to demonstrate how thereading of literature helps develop sensibility, and so maylead to enhanced understanding, self-awareness, and responsiveness.The paper ends with a brief exposition of the sustaining andvitalizing power literature may have for social workers as persons.     

Understanding work enjoyment among older workers: The significance of flexible work options and age discrimination in the workplace

Although the number of older workers in the U.S. is increasing, there is a gap in knowledge on whether or not they actually enjoy working. This study, based on a conceptual framework focusing on job resources and demands, explored likely workplace determinants of work enjoyment among older workers aged 50 or over. Using the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, a partial proportional odds model was used to detect determinants of work enjoyment. Results showed that higher levels of work enjoyment were significantly and negatively associated with the level of perceived retirement pressure and promotion preference for younger workers, and positively associated with moving to less demanding positions. Self-employment showed a noticeable enhancement of work enjoyment. This study highlights the significance of flexible work options and age discrimination in the workplace in understanding work enjoyment later in life.     

Empowerment in social work: an individual vs. a relational perspective

Social workers with only an individualistic understanding of empowerment will easily end up as moralising agents rather than as facilitators for their clients. It is in the complex interaction between a given socio-material situation and the individual capacity to interpret and act that one finds the key to an empowerment worthy of its name. This presupposes two things: that social workers have as a part of their education theoretical knowledge about organisational structures, and that they themselves have been empowered in ways that give them practical competence to act in relation to situations. They need the competence to identify the complexities of interests and power relations in society. The implication of such a recogni-tion should be clear for the education of social workers: the ideology of empowerment has to be contextualised . To discuss this topic the author makes a distinction between an individua-listic and a relational perspective and between social problems conceived of as a 'lack of money' vs. a 'lack of meaning'.     

Decent work for sustainable development in post‐crisis Nepal: Social policy challenges and a way forward

Although the Decent Work agenda has received significant attention in the context of sustainable development, the formulation and implementation of appropriate social policies in developing countries remain an underexplored subject. This article responds to this gap and traces country‐specific Decent Work related policies and programs in Nepal—which is recovering from two major crises: a decade‐long armed conflict that ended in 2006 as well as the 2015 earthquake. Drawing on Critical Policy Analysis framework, this article examines how key tenets of the International Labour Organisation's Decent Work platform, namely creation and provision of employment, social protection, social dialogue and rights at work have manifested in Nepal. The findings indicate that while attempts have been made to embrace the Decent Work agenda into social policies and programs, structural instability of political processes means that there is a lack of strategic directions to address a capacity deficit specific to the informal sector and outbound labour migrants. The article makes broader analytical contributions towards evaluating the implementation of social policies driven by the global priority in the context of developing nations with weak governance settings. In countries like Nepal, where the majority of workers are located within the informal sector and as such the administrative reach and effectiveness of Decent Work related social policies designed for the formal sector are limited.     

A different kind of holding environment: a case study of group work with pediatric staff

This paper reports a nearly two-year intervention with staff at a major urban pediatric facility. The authors worked as trainers and consultants for two groups-the Emergency Department (ED) and Chronic Care units (CC). Following two days of training about grief and loss, highlighting skill building for work with traumatized and grieving children and parents, the consultants worked to develop teams which could provide a Winnicottian holding environment for staff. The efficacy of this staff training is analyzed and support needs of staff members are identified. Findings include varied willingness to make use of group support. Chronic care participants are more likely to express willingness to engage in on-going support for one another, while ED staff members seem to prefer structured, educational training and episodic support. The holding environment of the processing groups must be adapted to fit the needs of the medical sub-culture.     

Motives,experiences and strategies of next of kin helping older relatives in the Swedish welfare context: a qualitative study

Dunér A. Motives, experiences and strategies of next of kin helping older relatives in the Swedish welfare context: a qualitative study Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 54–62 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. Next of kin provide the major part of the help given to older people in Sweden, a country where the official goals of formal eldercare are universality and extensive coverage. This qualitative interview study investigates the thoughts and actions of next of kin who provide informal help to older relatives who also receive formal help from the municipal eldercare. Informal help‐giving, in the context of Swedish social policy, was connected with a multiplicity of motives, experiences and strategies. The motives for help‐giving were moral considerations, emotional attachment and ‘out of necessity’. The experiences of next of kin support the idea of ambivalence as a significant feature of informal help‐giving. Different strategies were employed, both active and passive in nature, to manage their situation. The study points out the importance of outlining working forms and methods of collaboration for older persons and their informal and formal networks to lessen the ambivalence experienced by help‐giving next of kin.     

Trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system: a review of the literature with implications for social work

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.     

Implementation of individual placement and support in a first‐episode psychosis unit: A new way of working

The aim of this study is to explore the IPS implementation process in a first‐episode psychosis (FEP) mental health service team in Sweden. More specifically, the study explores how integration processes and critical situations are perceived over time by team members who originated from two diverse welfare organizations. A serial interview design was used (initially, at 6 and 12 months) to describe experiences of 16 team members. Material was analyzed using a constant comparison grounded theory approach. Team members dealt with the ambivalence of sharing mental health information, and whether the new way of working was a risk or benefit for users. They gradually learned new perspectives and knowledge, built trust and shared common views. After a year, the team workload perceived reduced and became person‐centred. Some members described remaining unclear roles and requested further support. Negotiated goals for integration and early knowledge transfer are critical. Organizational change and trusting team relationships have to be facilitated. Anticipated gains of integration should be clearly described and discussed early on, and continuous support for sustainability should be considered. This study confirmed the importance and potential of integrating IPS into FEP teams.     

Sense‐making in a social work office: an ethnographic study of safeguarding judgements

Social workers are routinely required to make finely balanced judgements on matters defined by subjectivity and uncertainty. Often, these judgements have to be made on the basis of information which is incomplete, inconclusive and contested. The way in which social workers make sense of such information is a crucial component of effective assessment and intervention. This ethnographic study of judgements in a social work office describes some of the practices which practitioners employed in making sense of information about children and young people's needs. The findings suggest that initial statements in dialogue may potentially act as signposts for preceding intuitive sense‐making. Observations offer insights into the way in which individuals construct professional responsibility. The study also suggests that sense‐making is not necessarily an individual activity but can be an activity which is shared between people and across teams. The findings indicate the importance of emotional intelligence and intersubjectivity in social work judgements.     

Breaking the mould: new trajectories in the domiciliary care of older people in Ireland

This article reviews the development of domiciliary care services for older people in Ireland over the last decade. It reveals three central developments, namely (i) the first steps, in the Irish context, towards a quasi-market; (ii) the introduction of cash-for-care and the subsequent notable segmentation of care tasks among three provider groups; and (iii) a rapidly increasing reliance on for-profit private home care providers. The authors conclude that while the Irish social care regime is still anchored in important ways in the primacy of informal (family) care and the subsidiarity principle, it has broken path-dependency by evolving towards an increasingly complex mix of public, not-for-profit and for-profit provision and financing. The most policy-relevant aspect of this new constellation is the lack of a regulatory framework that would enable the State to monitor the multiple and diverse providers with the view to ensuring the quality of home care services.     

The erosion of democracy in many countries: what should be group work’s response?

ABSTRACT

In this paper we describe democracy and evidence of its erosion globally and in the US. Specific concerns about the erosion of democratic values are discussed, and how this erosion manifests in group behaviors. We call on group work to consider how the global expansion of repressive policies and practices that empower privileged and the elite impact group member participation, especially members of targeted minority groups. Through examples we demonstrate ways group work practice can champion the protection of all member voices, and preserve a structure and mechanisms that model such protections for all its participants.