Integration of primary prevention into social work practice

Although much has been written about the concept, primary prevention has not been integrated into social work practice. The author discusses factors that might move the profession toward adapting this concept and discusses as well those that inhibit its integration.

Referrals to social workers: a comparative study of a local authority intake team with a general practice attachment scheme

We studied clients seen by social workers in two settings, one a conventional intake team in a social services department and another where clients were referred to social workers attached to a primary health care team.In both groups a high proportion of clients were either physically ill or disabled and the attachment group had a high proportion of clients with mental ill health. A large proportion of both groups were elderly and in general they had similar characteristics.However, clients referred to intake teams were more likely to be unemployed, to be living on benefits in council or rented accommodation, and to have had some contact with social services before. The attachment group consisted of more women who were either housewives or working, living on either their own earnings or their husbands', and were more likely to own their own homes and not to have had previous contact with social services.Clients referred to attached social workers were more likely to have an emotional or relationship problem, and many had practical problems as well. The implication is that attachment schemes will tap a wider section of the community and that the additional clients will have as many and as severe problems as clients referred to intake teams.

Coordination and citizen participation

This study investigates the validity of the assumption that coordination and citizen participation are related inversely and, thus, are incompatible as features in the same social service reform strategy. Seventeen social service organizations situated in the same urban area were studied. Data were obtained by structured interview. The concepts of coordination and citizen participation were operationalized by means of scales. The findings support the validity of the assumption noted above. Although interpretations of the findings can be provided, they are post-factum. This implies a need for explanatory research which might be guided by theories of community power structure and of organizational behavior.

Factors affecting the operation and success of social work attachment schemes to general practice

The attachment of social workers to general practices has increased recently and this study reports some of the factors which affect the success of such arrangements.Access to a room in the surgery for interviewing and the use of a telephone is an important factor as the time spent by the social worker in the premises increases the chance of making good working relationships with members of the primary health care team.When the social worker handles all the cases personally there are advantages, especially for other members of the primary health care team, although in such a situation a social worker may become relatively isolated from her own profession. The organization of the practice itself is an important variable, especially the degree of commitment by members of the primary care team, and the attitudes of the doctors. It is helpful if the doctors meet together as a group or with other professionals. Equally, the social worker must be committed to the role. Social work attachments to health centres can be particularly effective. The lack of preliminary discussion with the social work agency can contribute to difficulties in such attachments, and preliminary meetings should include discussions about the type of cases to be referred and the quantity of social work time available.

Doctors and social workers

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Reflections of a social work administrator on the opportunities of crisis

The administration approach described focuses on what staff can do rather than what they cannot do. It is the primary task of administration to bring out whatever strength a social worker possesses and to use each staff member's strength to help other social workers to improve their performance and to grow. The text of administrative achievement is not conformance but performance. The focus of administration must be on opportunities. The organization must be inculcated from the top with the habit of achievement. Social work management must set high standards of performance for itself that are related to the accomplishment of organizational objectives and not the needs of administrators. The administrative track record will include mistakes and failures. The better social work manager will make more mistakes because more new things will be tried. It is an administrative imperative to plan for crises, to make the unanticipated anticipated. The social work director, as architect, using a systems approach, can prepare for crisis and develop long-range plans for the social work program. Dr. Bennett states it well: As scientists and as professional people we would all do well to examine our roles, our motives, our faults, our policies, our prides and our prejudices in the broad context of our evolving society. If we look searchingly, we may finally arrive at a new viewpoint which will enable us to be pragmatic without sacrificing ideals, and hopefully, more humble without sacrificing pride (Bennett, 1978).

A practical guide to service system reorganization

This paper provides a framework that can be employed in the evaluation of interagency relationships and in the subsequent reorganization of service delivery systems. An understanding of services integration as an interorganizational relationship mechanism, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge to interagency relationships, is viewed as an essential administrative skill. The services integration framework is presented as well as a step-by-step analysis of its application to human services delivery systems. The paper concludes with a set of interorganizational planning principles that can be employed as tentative guidelines for those involved in the design and administration of such systems.

Tasks in changing the organization from within (COFW)

This paper, after introducing the reader to some basic components of COFW, attempts to provide for the potential change catalyst in the human services organization more specific guidelines for action than are found in previously published material in this subfield. These guidelines are in the form of tasks--analytical and interactional. The analytical tasks discussed are: (a) goal determination--what the change shall be; (b) resistance assessment--who and what may be potential obstacles to this change; and (c) strategy selection--which guidelines or strategies may be utilized to achieve the change goal. Of the many interactional tasks in an organizational change project, two major ones are presented and explored: (a) developing the action system, and (b) meeting with the administrators for decision making.

An imbalance of power: social workers in unions

This paper presents and discusses four basic structural conditions that are likely to influence the ability of any group of workers to achieve their collective bargaining goals. When applied directly to social work practice, the primary finding is that a group of practitioners is unlikely to wield significant power in the face of employer resistance. Implications are analyzed and include assessment of both the form of union and type of collective bargaining goals that might most usefully be sought by the profession. Certain incompatibilities between professional values and group self-interest are seen as less substantive than is commonly perceived.

Social work in general practice

A questionnaire seeking details of working arrangements and problems encountered was circulated to social workers working in general practice.THE MAIN DIFFICULTIES WERE: insufficient preparation for the scheme, poor communication between general practitioners and social workers, and the inadequate provision of facilities for social workers in practice premises.Most of the respondents had not experienced big difficulties. Two thirds had enjoyed a rewarding professional experience, which is a testimonial to interdisciplinary co-operation.

Practice of social work consultation: a survey

In an effort to find out more about what social work consultants actually do--arrangements and motives for consultation, identification of consultees, and typical examples of consultative intervention--the authors conducted a survey of some 500 social work consultants. The results indicate the indeterminate state of social work consultation.

Collaboration between the health and social services in England

The English have organized their health and social services into two discrete organizations, which are funded and administered at different levels of government. This article examines obstacles to effective collaboration between the two services and between social workers and physicians.

New patterns for organizing human services

Matrix organization theory is proposed as a vehicle for reorganizing human services delivery systems. A private psychiatric hospital situation is used to illustrate the application of these concepts. Similarities and differences with larger systems are considered, and implications are drawn for managing human services professions in different-sized systems when a matrix structural arrangement is employed.