Across Europe and the world, countries are attempting to develop their health and social policies and practices to address the global challenge of increasing demand and pressurized supply, created by ageing populations, emerging technologies and finite resources (financial and human). This text provides examples of attempts to develop HRD practices in health and social care contexts within France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Romania, Russia, the UK and the USA. Thus, the book is European and international in both scope and appeal.
Northern Ireland is currently undertaking public administration reforms. This report highlights areas where Northern Ireland possesses strengths upon which to build reforms and suggests actions for the future.
This ground-breaking book provides invaluable insight into the diverse nature of social work practice within the British Isles. It is written at a time of significant change, when there is devolution within the United Kingdom and also development of closer cross-border governmental structures with Ireland. It also comes at a time when national identity is a key issue. Far from presenting a unified picture of social work in these regions, the contributors show how varied practice provision can be, reflecting the importance of lessons that can be learnt from within and without national boundaries, promoting a more subtle understanding of the interweaving of culture, history and social care. The contributors explore key differences in social work's role and character, and the legal systems and organisational structures in which it operates in the different regions. This fascinating and important book is essential reading for social workers in the British Isles and all over the world. The focus and main value of this text is the comparison of how history, culture and national identity affect the provision of social care and social work practice in the different countries. The book is clearly written, with writers keeping to a similar structure for their chapters.
`A very interesting melange of descriptive material - in the form of case studies - and more analytical and conceptual pieces covering the broad span of the health and well-being agenda′ - Health Matters Promoting Health provides an up-to-date and accessible introduction to current health promotion and public health developments in the UK. The text provides both an outline of health promotion theory and draws on the experience of practitioners to demonstrate health promotion practice and provide students, policymakers and practitioners with practical and theoretical inspiration. Promoting Health: - shows clearly the links between health promotion theory and practice, by featuring a range of practical case studies - includes short papers on key issues within health promotion - provides a British focus on health promotion but within an international context This highly accessible volume seeks to present views of health promotion from a materialist perspective - a view widely shared in practice, but not previously explored fully within the literature.
Originally published in 1980, this book explores how the NHS confronts perennial stresses and problems, considering in particular the allocation of the scarce resources within the health service. Written by distinguished academics, three of whom previously undertook research work for the Royal Commission on the NHS, the discussion centres on whether more could not be spent, whether resources are being allocated equitably, how planning can work most effectively, whether there are feasible ways of financing the service and how organisation and management could be improved: in short, all issues which continue to be pertinent to the NHS today.
This Review sets out to propose a structure for the funding arrangements for the whole spectrum of health research, with the objective of obtaining the maximum benefit from research success and, where possible, eliminating duplication of effort. The Review found, however, that the UK is at risk of failing to reap the full economic, health and social benefits that the UK's public investment in health research should generate. There is no overarching UK health research strategy to ensure UK health priorities are considered through all types of research and there are two key gaps in the translation of health research: (i) translating ideas from basic and clinical research into the development of new products and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; (ii) implementing those new products and approaches into clinical practice.The Review also found that the wider funding arrangements for supporting translation of ideas from conception to practice could be more coherent or comprehensive and, where arrangements exist, they do not function well. The Review identified cultural, institutional and financial barriers to translating research into practice in the publicly funded research arena. But it also found that, in the private sector, the pharmaceuticals industry is facing increasing challenges in translating research into health and economic benefit. The Review has sought to make recommendations that will increase the translation of R&D into health and economic benefit for the UK, both in the public and private sectors. The Review recommends that the Government should seek to achieve better coordination of health research and more coherent funding arrangements to support translation by establishing an Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR).
The Northern Ireland Yearbook is an invaluable resource for anyone who has any kind of interest in Northern Ireland. Users will find expertly prepared political and economic commentary along with a wealth of information on various groups and associations; social activity; tourism; history; and the media and entertainment.
Over the past 40 years, social work in Northern Ireland has been responsive to a number of changing contexts and environments. Throughout 'the Troubles,' social workers had to develop methods of ensuring services were delivered in spite of the surrounding violence and civil disturbance. At the same time, they developed imaginative and creative new services in response to needs and demands. This book outlines the historical development of social work in Northern Ireland, looking at what has been achieved and analyzing the challenges for the future. It considers the role of social work in a society emerging from conflict, facing demographic, technological, and economic changes. Social work in Northern Ireland has been dismissed by policy makers and academics as unique, special, or different, and therefore not worthy of attention. This book demonstrates that international audiences have much to learn from the social work response to a changing political landscape.
This volume examines issues associated with policy and practice in child care research. It aims to help professionals and researchers recognise and respond to specialist issues which arise as problems at different stages of the research process.
The authors also explore two controversial propositions. First they ask whether Britain is moving from the unitory, strong executive of the "Westminster model" to a "differentiated polity" characterized by institutional fragmentation. Second, they consider whether an unintended consequence of recent changes is a 'hollowing out of the state'. Is the British executive losing functions downwards to devolved governments and special-purpose bodies and outwards to regional offices and agencies with a resulting loss of central capacity? Substantial empirical data (both quantitative and qualitative) has been amassed here in order to give answers to these questions.
