This critical interdisciplinary study charts the modern history of mental health services, reflects upon the evolution of care in communities, and considers the most effective policies and practices for the future. Starting with the development of community care in the 1960s, Cummins explores the political, economic, and bureaucratic factors behind the changes and crises in mental health social care, returning to those roots to identify progressive principles that can pave a sustainable pathway forward. This is a groundbreaking contribution to debates about the role, values, and future of community care, and is vital reading for students, teachers, and researchers in the field of social work and mental health.
In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. In that report, the IOM Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications of Telemedicine found telemedicine is similar in most respects to other technologies for which better evidence of effectiveness is also being demanded. Telemedicine, however, has some special characteristics-shared with information technologies generally-that warrant particular notice from evaluators and decision makers. Since that time, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth modalities, including issues related to reimbursement, licensure, workforce, and costs. Also, some areas of telehealth have developed a stronger evidence base than others. The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored the IOM in holding a workshop in Washington, DC, on August 8-9 2012, to examine how the use of telehealth technology can fit into the U.S. health care system. HRSA asked the IOM to focus on the potential for telehealth to serve geographically isolated individuals and extend the reach of scarce resources while also emphasizing the quality and value in the delivery of health care services. This workshop summary discusses the evolution of telehealth since 1996, including the increasing role of the private sector, policies that have promoted or delayed the use of telehealth, and consumer acceptance of telehealth. The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary discusses the current evidence base for telehealth, including available data and gaps in data; discuss how technological developments, including mobile telehealth, electronic intensive care units, remote monitoring, social networking, and wearable devices, in conjunction with the push for electronic health records, is changing the delivery of health care in rural and urban environments. This report also summarizes actions that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can undertake to further the use of telehealth to improve health care outcomes while controlling costs in the current health care environment.
Demonstrating the scope and diversity of 'caring', the contributors highlight the positive aspects of caring and the interdependence of many caring relationships but also broach the sensitive and complex subject of 'poor' care and the importance of identifying and meeting the needs of 'hidden carers'.
Based upon George Ritzer's McDonaldization of Society thesis and incorporating aspects of social theory, this book examines the introduction of care management to social work practice. Donna Dustin analyzes care management as an example of the managerial application of efficiency, calculability, predictability and control to social work practice. These principles, put to good use in organizations that produce tangible outputs at a profit, are being increasingly applied in non-profit public sector organizations where the outcomes require intangibles such as professional relationships. The author examines whether the McDonaldization process heightens dilemmas such as cost versus rights for professionals working in the social services. Using social theory to frame her research with care managers and their managers in the UK, the author examines the day-to-day implications of care management for social work practice and questions whether the construction of service users as customers contributes to empowering practice. The book's in-depth analysis of the policy background, implementation and practice of care management will resonate with social workers in other national contexts, such as the US, where the care management model has been introduced.
Strangely, citizenship has usually been considered as a matter of interest when it is questioned or even withheld. The other way round, usually citizenship is taken for granted 'as it is', not being defined as such. In consequence we find only a negative definition rather than a clear way of spelling out the meaning. As globalisation spreads and deepens, the question of citizenship becomes crucial for society. It is already possible to see changes in voting patterns in such a country as France due to its immigration policies. This has long been the case in America as well, and is being felt there yet again by the effects of the citizenships of its newest immigrants. The contributions in this volumes are dealing with different aspects of defining citizenship -- though not necessarily conceptualising it as such, i.e. under this term. These are burning questions which this book explores in this explosive national and international issue. Contents: Introduction; Citizenship Revisited: Threats and Opportunities of Shifting Boundaries; Globalisation as Seen from the Local Level; Self-Improved Citizens: Citizenship, Social Inclusion and the Self in the Politics of Welfare; Citizen Partici
Originally published in 1994 The Politics of the Welfare State looks at how the privatization and marketization of education, health and welfare services in the past decade have produced a concept of welfare that is markedly different from that envisaged when the welfare state was initially created. Issues of class, gender and ethnicity are explored in chapters that are wide ranging but closely linked. The contributors are renowned academics and policy-makers, including feminist and welfare historians, highly regarded figures in social policy, influential critics of recent educational reforms and key analysts of current reform in the health sector.
Among the issues confronting America is long-term care for frail, older persons and others with chronic conditions and functional limitations that limit their ability to care for themselves. Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care takes a comprehensive look at the quality of care and quality of life in long-term care, including nursing homes, home health agencies, residential care facilities, family members and a variety of others. This book describes the current state of long-term care, identifying problem areas and offering recommendations for federal and state policymakers. Who uses long-term care? How have the characteristics of this population changed over time? What paths do people follow in long term care? The committee provides the latest information on these and other key questions. This book explores strengths and limitations of available data and research literature especially for settings other than nursing homes, on methods to measure, oversee, and improve the quality of long-term care. The committee makes recommendations on setting and enforcing standards of care, strengthening the caregiving workforce, reimbursement issues, and expanding the knowledge base to guide organizational and individual caregivers in improving the quality of care.
The Sociology of Healthcare, Second Edition explores the impact of current social changes on health, illness and healthcare, and provides an overview of the fundamental concerns in these areas. This new edition features a brand new chapter entitled End of Life which will help health and social care workers to respond with confidence to one of the most difficult and challenging areas of care. The End of Life chapter includes information on changing attitudes to death, theories of death and dying, and palliative care. All chapters have been thoroughly updated to address diversity issues such as gender, ethnicity and disability. In addition, expanded and updated chapters include Childhood and Adolescence and Health Inequalities. The text is further enhanced through the use of case studies that relate theory to professional practice, and discussion questions to aid understanding. Links to websites direct the reader to further information on health, social wellbeing and government policies. This book is essential reading for all students of healthcare including nursing, medicine, midwifery and health studies and for those studying healthcare as part of sociology, social care and social policy degrees. In an age when health policy follows an individualist model of personal responsibility this book by Alan Clarke demonstrates with a vast array of evidence, just how much there is such a thing as society. An excellent overall book.Dr. Stephen Cowden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Coventry University
