Social Work in Rural New South Wales School Settings: Addressing Inequalities Beyond the School Gate

Children and young people in rural Australia experience disadvantage compared with metropolitan counterparts, with low educational attainment and disengagement from schooling being linked to poorer health outcomes. Schools are an existing contact point between individuals and health services. However, these health services are often overburdened and have limited scope to address broader social issues and teaching staff are focused on achieving curriculum outcomes. Embedding social workers within schools may provide an avenue for supporting students, yet social workers are rarely present in New South Wales public schools. This paper describes a study to determine teachers’ understanding of the socioeconomic issues faced by school students, and the role of the social work profession in addressing such issues as part of the early stages of establishing a Social Work in Schools (SWiS) project. Eighteen semistructured interviews were undertaken with teachers across four rural Australian schools. Participants identified their awareness of potential risk factors that could lead to educational disengagement, reflected on their own limitations in dealing with these broader health presentations given their teaching focus, and provided insights into their understanding of the potential role of social workers.     

Barriers to a healthy lifestyle post gestational-diabetes: An Australian qualitative study

Background

Overseas-born-women from certain ethnicities are at high risk of type-2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders. This study explored the barriers and facilitators to long-term healthy lifestyle recommendations among Australian-born and overseas-born-women who attended health promotion sessions at a tertiary Australian Hospital for gestational diabetes 3–4 years previously.

Parenting groups for parents whose children are in care

Excluding very severe child abuse cases, biological parents are usually encouraged to maintain contact with their children in care. Parent‐child contact is often considered important because it can maintain the child's psychological identity and well‐being. It can also maintain parent‐child attachment and in some cases facilitate reunification. Improving parenting skills is viewed as an important method by which contact between children and their biological parents can be enhanced. However, mainstream parenting groups are often unsuitable for parents whose children are in care for a number of reasons. There is stigma involved with having children in care, such parents have very complex lives and there are reduced opportunities to practise skills learnt with their children. Groups designed specifically for parents whose children are in care appear to be a promising approach to improving the quality of contact between these parents and their children. This paper will review group‐based approaches to working with biological parents whose pre‐school‐aged children have been placed in care. The paper will also report the findings of a research project designed to identify key facilitators and barriers to parental involvement in a group‐based programme which includes contact between parents and their children who have been placed in care. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of non-timber forest products in household coping strategies in South Africa: the influence of household wealth and gender

The prevalence and ranking of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as safety-nets has been well discussed, but rarely quantified. We report on group discussions and household interviews in two South African villages to assess the frequency and nature of shocks and stresses over a 2-year period and the coping strategies employed, stratified by household wealth and gender of the de jure household head. Overall, kinship was the most widely adopted coping strategy, and NTFPs were the fifth most prevalent (employed by 70% of households). There were relatively few differences in the nature of shocks or responses between male- and female-headed households. Wealth influenced the experience of shocks or stresses as well as responses. Poorer households have fewer options with the increased use or sale of NTFPs being the second most commonly adopted strategy. Increased use and sale of NTFPs is a common manifestation of the safety-net function. To reconcile long-term economic development and biodiversity conservation, it is important to understand people??s use of natural resources and the factors that affect this use, including their responses to shocks and stresses.     

What do women with learning disabilities say about their experiences of domestic abuse within the context of their intimate partner relationships?

In 2001 the UK Government launched its strategy ‘Valuing People’. The strategy, underpinned by the Human Rights Act 1998 (Ministry of Justice 1998 Ministry of Justice. 1998. The Human Rights Act, London: HMSO.  [Google Scholar]), the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Home Office 1995 Home Office. 1995. Disability Discrimination Act, London: HMSO.  [Google Scholar]) and social inclusion claimed to outline ways for services to work, to meet the needs of individuals with learning disabilities . In this qualitative study, interviews were held with five women with learning disabilities, all of whom experienced domestic abuse from intimate partners. Although women sought help from services to leave their abusive partners, it was either denied or inappropriate to their needs. Women internalised the oppression of their partners and the dual abuse from services that failed them. Helpful service provision included advocacy, a domestic abuse therapy programme, and an empowerment group informed by feminist perspectives.     

Discovery or Construction? Theorising the Roots of Adult Protection Policy and Practice

This paper outlines two models for understanding the roots of adult safeguarding/adult support and protection (ASP) policy and practice, and considers the strengths and limitations of each model in an educational context. The ‘discovery’ model understands ASP policy to be a response to a growing societal awareness of a phenomenon called ‘harm’ to ‘adults at risk’. It understands ASP practice to be triggered by the discovery of an instance of that phenomenon. The ‘construction’ model understands ASP policy to reflect a particular characterisation of the problem(s) at stake, contingent on particular historical, cultural and political influences. It understands ASP practice to be actively engaged in re-constructing ‘harm’, ‘adults at risk’ and ‘ASP’ itself. The discovery model is argued to be useful in delivering a clear, basic message to practitioners about harm and abuse, particularly where time and the potential for interaction in educational contexts are limited. The construction model is argued to be useful in connecting more deeply with practitioners’ lived experiences, promoting political engagement and developing professional judgement informed by ethical debate.     

Social support: proposing a conceptual model for application to midwifery practice

The notion of social support is one which midwives often intuit rather than clearly articulate or conceptualise. Increasingly social support is being touted as an area of midwifery assessment and potential intervention which may improve birthing outcomes for mothers and their infants. This paper is the first of three to address social support within the discipline of midwifery. It aims to review the fundamental theoretical constructs relating to social support and proposes a conceptual model to assist midwives in applying social support theory to their practice. Further papers will address social support-related research assumptions and the validation of measurement instruments in midwifery research.     

Simulation based learning in midwifery education: a systematic review

AimTo critically examine the evidence for simulation based learning in midwifery education.BackgroundSimulated Learning Programs (SLPs) using low to high fidelity techniques are common in obstetric professionals’ education and focus on the development of team work, labour and obstetric emergencies.Review methodsA systematic review incorporating critical appraisal approaches, setting clear objectives and a defined search and analysis strategy. Evidence from obstetrics, neonatology, technical and non-technical skills (teamwork) was included where it informed the development of midwifery curricula. Studies in English from 2000 to 2010 were included searching CINAHL Plus, OVID Medline, Cochrane, SCOPUS and ProQuest and Google Scholar.ResultsTwenty-four papers were identified that met the inclusion criteria. All were quantitative reports; outcomes and levels of evidence varied with two notable papers indicating that simulation had an impact on clinical practice. Benefits of SLP over didactic formats were apparent, as were the development of non-technical skills confidence and competence. The study outcomes were limited by the range of evidence and context of the reports which focussed on obstetric emergency training using a number of simulation techniques.ConclusionThere is evidence that simulated learning of midwifery skills is beneficial. Simulation learning has an educational and clinical impact and advantages over didactic approaches. Where clinical practice is infrequent i.e. obstetric emergencies, simulation is an essential component of curricula. Simulation enhances practice and therefore may reduce the time taken to achieve competence; however there is no evidence from the literature that simulation should replace clinical practice.     

The Education of Children in Out-of-home Care

Abstract

In spite of a high investment in out-of-home care services across Australia, the educational attainment of children in care remains an issue of concern. This paper discusses findings from a study designed to identify the factors that promoted educational attainment of children in care based on 18 university-educated women with a care background. The narratives of these women from primary schooling through to graduating from a university were collected and analysed using narrative inquiry. The women's narratives strongly suggested that the educational needs of children in care vary according to individual care circumstances and individual characteristics, and can be identified in five groups: Destined, Decision, Determined, Denied, and Delayed. It was concluded that the promotion of educational attainment for children in care requires carefully tailored support and resources following assessment based on this information.