Occupational Stress in Social Work

Correspondence to Faith Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Ulster at Magee College, Londonderry, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Summary This article reports the results of a study of occupationalstress undertaken with a large sample of Northern Ireland fieldsocial workers, including both main grade practitioners andfirst line senior social work managers employed as team leaders.This study formed part of a wider interprofessional study ofsocial workers, nurses and teachers; publications for the lattertwo professions along with interprofessional comparisons arein preparation and this present article focuses on the socialworker cohort. The design and methods are described and demographic characteristicsof the social work sample are provided, with their views aboutsocial work. Stressors are identified in both professional andprivate lives. The effects of stress as manifested through theGeneral Health Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventoryare examined and the social workers' views on various stresscoping strategies are discussed.     

The Power of The Right Stuff: A Quasi-Experimental Field Test of the Docudrama Hypothesis

A field test of 966 moviegoers found that a significant numberof them were favorably influenced toward John Glenn's candidacyfor president by the film The Right Stuff. The docudrama reinforcedpositive images of Glenn and sustained those impressions fora longer than expected period.     

On the Contingent Valuation of Safety and the Safety of Contingent Valuation: Part 2 - The CV/SG "Chained" Approach

This article reports the results of a study aimed at estimating a willingness-to-pay based value of statistical life for road risks using a multi-stage approach which involves "chaining together" responses to contingent valuation and standard gamble questions.The rationale for employing a multi-stage approach is to break the wealth/risk of death trade-off down into a number of conceptually manageable steps, thereby trying to attenuate the various biases that appear to be pervasive in responses to more direct contingent valuation questions in the health and safety field.     

Arrangements for Paying for Care in Independent Homes for Elderly People

Correspondence to Anne Corden, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. Summary A fundamental reorganization of the basis of financial supportfor elderly people in independent sector homes is currentlyin progress. Much of the debate so far has focused on the reasonsbehind the policy changes, and possible implications for furtherdevelopments in provision of care and services. Less attentionhas been paid to practical details of mechanisms for transferringmoney to effect payment to independent proprietors. These havenot yet been finalized. It is important that arrangements eventuallydecided serve the best interests of the elderly people concerned.Such arrangements may not always be the simplest and cheapestto administer, either for those authorities paying the bills,or for proprietors balancing the books and managing homes. Thereis an opportunity now, while mechanisms of payment are stillbeing worked out, to consider the options and raise the levelof discussion on this topic, so that the welfare of elderlypeople is high on the agenda while policy decisions are beingmade. This article describes how elderly people currently paytheir bills for care and accommodation in independent long-stayhomes. Changes in the basis of government financial supportfor long-term care, due to be fully implemented in April 1993,will require different mechanisms for transfer of monies. Theoptions are considered in the light of what we already knowabout the significance of financial exchanges within care homes.     

The Utilization and Training of Volunteers in a Psychiatric Setting

Summary The Volunteer Case Aide Program, which was begun in 1963 atthe Boston State Hospital, Boston, Mass. U.S.A., is ongoingand developing new facets of volunteer intervention in a psychiatricsetting. It is the first program of its kind in the Commonwealthof Massachusetts to utilize the talents of mature communityvolunteers to work in a direct personal, one-to-one relationshipwith the mentally ill and/or emotionally disturbed. The fouroriginal purposes of the program have been carried out. Thecommunity has been brought into closer co-operation with thehospital, and community resources have been utilized in helpingpatients move out of the hospital. Through the creative useof volunteers and part-time psychiatric social workers, theprogram has moved toward diminution of the manpower shortagein the mental health field. The efforts of hundreds of volunteercase aides have contributed to relieving the chronicity of manypatients, and have assisted them to move into community placements. The Associate Leader Training Program, through its weekly trainingmeetings, gives the Associate Leader the responsibility of supervisingnovice case aides. The trained Associate Leader, an experiencedvolunteer, teaches the beginning case aide to understand hisown role with the patient, to relate effectively with the patientand to learn about the hospital operations, treatment modalitiesand pertinent psychiatric and social theories. New volunteergroups under the Associate Leaders' guidance, have proven tobe effective instruments for the expanded teaching and serviceaspects of the Case Aide Program. Given the numerical limitationsof a professional social work staff and with the added resourcesof Associate Leaders, the Program has been able to help manymore patients