Uncertainty and forecasting local health professional shortages

We used a utilization-based scenario-forecasting model toassess the evidence for current and future imbalances between health professional supply and demand in Memphis-Shelby County, Tennessee. The scenario-forecasting model, based on qualitativeinformation collected from local health industry leaders, was shaped and limited by the types of current local area data available. This paper discusses methods that may prove useful to applied demographers making forecasts, given uncertain system change and poor data.     

Gender in Management: Theorizing Gender as Heterogender

Research on gendered identities in management has exploded over the past three decades. The focus on gender obscures the place of sexuality in gendered theory. In this article theories of gender as ‘object’, ‘subject’ and as social processes are used as interpretative frames to explore the ways in which gender and sexuality are enacted by lesbian managers. Their narratives demonstrate that managing gender was experienced primarily as managing heterosexuality. Disjunctions in identity positions revealed that heterosexual assumptions provide the foundation of gender. Reframing gender as ‘heterogender’ foregrounds heterosexuality and gender as intertwined and provides another layer to understanding how gender is ‘done’ in management.     

Working in the hidden economy: The experience of unemployed men in the UK

Hidden economy working amongst unemployed people can be defined in terms of working for financial gain without declaration for tax purposes while also claiming social welfare benefits. The extent, nature, and experience of hidden economy working among the unemployed in Britain is, as yet, little understood. As part of an in-depth interview study of 44 long-term unemployed men, 17 of the men talked about their experiences of working in the hidden economy. This paper reports on the extent, nature and experience of hidden economy working amongst these long-term unemployed men, and the meaning of such work to them, their families and local community. The complex matrix of feelings (including guilt, anxiety and pleasure), combined with the financial gains, fear of losing welfare benefit and the ability to practise work-related skills contributed to creating a lifeworld for these men which had implications for their experience of family and community life.     

Older people's experiences of community life: patterns of neighbouring in three urban areas

This paper examines changes to the community life of older people living in three urban areas of England: Bethnal Green, Wolverhampton and Woodford. All three were the subject of classic community studies in the 1940s and 1950s, these providing rich material about the lives of groups such as elderly people. Using this earlier research as a baseline, the paper presents data on how the experience of living in urban neighbourhoods has changed for older people in the intervening years. The article reviews the relationship between elderly people and their neighbours, drawing on quantitative as well as qualitative data. In conclusion, the paper identifies a number of general arguments pointing to the value of a community and locality perspective for understanding the impact of social changes on later life.     

Social Work Gerontological Practice: The Need for Faculty Development in the New Millennium

There is a pressing need to upgrade the gerontological knowledge and skills of practicing social workers. Geriatrics and gerontology, as specialized fields of knowledge, have not been sufficiently integrated into formal academic training programs. There are major trends in the health care environment which impact on social work education, including technological advances, a shift from inpatient to outpatient and community care settings, increasing diversity of the older population, and client and family participation in decisionmaking. These trends necessitate social work education to emphasize new content areas in gerontology and the development of new skills in clinical, case management, care coordination, and teamwork. A significant obstacle to the preparation of future social workers to deliver the complex services needed by older adults and their families is a serious shortage of social work faculty in gerontology. Sustained and broad initiatives, such as the John A. Hartford Foundation funded Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program, are needed to develop academic and practice-based faculty in gerontology. This is crucial if social work is to maintain an important service role in the new millennium.     

The "X component" in Shanghai's social security reforms

In 2003, the Shanghai Bureau of Labour and Social Security launched the zhenbao (town insurance) programme, now widely known as 25 plus X. This scheme is regarded as an important experiment in social security reform and has been lauded for extending social security to areas where previously only segments of the population had mandatory coverage. Using data from 103,000 individuals enrolled in 25 plus X, we examine the extent to which the scheme represents an extension in social security coverage. Our analysis suggests that while it does represent an extension of benefits for some, for many it represents a considerable dilution in benefits.     

Improving health care delivery to aging adults with disabilities: social work with dual eligibles in a climate of health care reform

Adults aging with disabilities comprise a diverse group. In this article, we identify the prevalence and characteristics of this target population, focusing on adults who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. We articulate challenges in the delivery of health, social, and support services to adults aging with disabilities, particularly how existing health care policy and financing contributes to fragmentation of care. Finally, we identify opportunities for social workers to advocate for and promote system improvements in the delivery of care for aging adults with disabilities in the current climate of health care reform.     

The grieving child: Manifest and hidden losses in childhood and adolescence

The loss of parents through abandonment has specific traumatic features. This paper discusses the variety of losses children and adolescents may experience and the psychological implications and manifestations in relation to the loss. Specific reactions of children and suggestions for therapeutic prevention through psychotherapy are discussed.Coordinator, Ph.D. Specialization in treatment of children and adolescents and is in private practice     

MEN, WOMEN, AND THE CULTURE OF ENGINEERING

This study focuses on women's position in engineering. A conflict model that emphasizes the interplay of structural and interactional resources is developed to explain the occupational positions of women engineers. A central feature of this model is the "culture of engineering"—the socially defined standard of behavior and interaction among engineers. This model is used to explain the occupational experiences of a cohort of male and female engineers. Males and females with virtually identical qualifications and occupational attitudes show dissimilar current job status. It is argued that the culture of engineering, strongly identified with the male gender role, works against women. Where that culture is strongest, women do most poorly in occupational status and mobility.     

Managing risk under the children act 1989: Diversion in child care?

The idea of diversion has dominated the theory and practice of juvenile justice for some time. Developments in child care practice in the 1980s mirror those which produced diversion. Diversion provides an alternative conceptual framework within which the changes to child care law introduced by the Children Act 1989 can be analysed, particularly the interrelation of s.1(5), the so-called non-intervention principle, and Part III, which establishes the duty of local authorities to provide services for children in need. These provisions and current child care practices may be seen to promote four distinct forms of diversion: (1) diversion from court; (2) diversion from care or residential provision; (3) diversion from procedures; and (4) diversion from social work. Examining the law and practice in terms of diversion focuses on the potential gains and losses resulting from the Children Act's emphasis on partnership, planning and bureaucracy without presuming that losses will be compensated for by the provision of services. It also suggests the need to consider child care in terms of net widening and tariff raising.