Implications For Service Users Research Articles

Analysis of Employment Advertisements Requiring Working With Children Checks in Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT Working with Children checks in Australia are regulated by legislation and designed to be used as pre-employment criminal history screening for child-related roles and organisations. Most Australian universities require prospective social work students to hold Working with Children clearance as a precondition to enrolment. Little is known about the reasoning for such application, and this Queensland study aims to contribute to resolving this question, by examining the frequency by which nonregulated jobs advertised online require a Working with Children check (a Blue Card in Queensland). Of the 400 job advertisements analysed, just over half of the nonregulated roles did not require a Blue Card. This suggests it is likely that there are field placements available to students without Working with Children clearance. If Blue Cards are not required to secure field placements for students, then applying a blanket requirement for Working with Children checks prior to enrolment in a social work course is unnecessary and may be discriminatory. IMPLICATIONS Criminal history and associated screening methods, such as Working with Children clearances, should only be used when justified, and to utilise such screening requirements when not required may be discriminatory and unfair. This analysis of the job market suggests that requiring Working with Children checks as a precondition to studying social work is not justified on the grounds that there will be limited placement opportunities, or subsequent jobs, for ineligible students. Some form of gatekeeping to the social work profession is required to protect vulnerable service users, but unnecessarily restricting access to education for prospective students with criminal histories has implications for service users who might benefit from access to social workers with lived experience.

Reflections on systemic barriers for ethnic minorities in accessing community-based forensic services for people with intellectual disabilities and autism

PurposeCommunity-based forensic support services (CBFSSs) were commissioned nationally by National Health Service (NHS) England in 2017 in response to “Building the Right Support” (NHS England, 2015). CBFSSs provide multidisciplinary support to adults with intellectual disabilities and/or autism who are in (or at risk of) contact with the criminal justice system and those transitioning from inpatient secure care. This paper aims to highlight potential systemic barriers to accessing community forensic services for people from an ethnic minority background. in one CBFSSs in Northern England.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides preliminary reflections on potential systemic barriers within the criminal justice system and health-care services that have implications for service users from ethnic minority backgrounds accessing CBFSSs.FindingsThere is a paucity of data, policy and literature that focuses on people with intellectual disabilities and autism with forensic needs from ethnic minority backgrounds. This lack of data obstructs further reforms to meet the needs of this population.Originality/valueCBFSSs are commissioned across England. While some regional variation is to be expected, services should be aware of the systemic barriers people from ethnic minority backgrounds within their region face. These barriers should be considered and addressed when evaluating service efficacy and delivery. Recommendations are made to review and address issues of under-representation of ethnic minorities within CBFSSs.

Factors Affecting Mental Health Professionals' Sharing of Their Lived Experience in the Workplace: A Scoping Review.

Research has suggested that some mental health professionals (MHPs) continue to hold stigmatized beliefs about persons with emotional distress. These beliefs may be amenable to contact-based interventions with similar peers. To inform future interventions, policy, and research, this scoping review examined existing literature to identify factors that affect disclosure of lived experience by MHPs to colleagues and supervisors. A systematic search was conducted of four online databases, gray literature, and the reference lists of included articles. Primary research studies of any design conducted with MHPs with lived experience of emotional distress and their colleagues were included. The findings of included studies were inductively coded within the themes of enabling, constraining, and intrapersonal factors influencing disclosure. A total of 23 studies were included in data extraction and synthesis. Factors that influenced MHPs' sharing of their lived experience in the workplace were categorized into five overarching themes: the "impaired professional," the "us and them" divide, the "wounded healer," belief in the continuum of emotional distress, and negotiating hybrid identities. MHPs with lived experience described feeling conflict between professional and service user identities that affected the integration and use of their clinical and experiential knowledge. Enabling factors reflected best-practice human resource management, such as organizational leadership, access to supervision and training, inclusive recruitment practices, and the provision of reasonable accommodations. Findings of this scoping review suggest that organizational interventions to support MHPs in order to share their lived experience may improve workplace diversity and well-being, with implications for service users' experience.

Research Watch: therapists’ working conditions and their implications for service users’ social inclusion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight possible implications of therapists’ working conditions on social inclusion of service users. Design/methodology/approach A search was carried out for recent papers on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) therapists. Findings One study highlighted that over half of their sample of 201 UK therapists in Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services reported burnout. In a second study, in interviews with ten IAPT workers in inner London services, therapists said they had to fight for extra time to adapt CBT for people who had learning disabilities, and the additional stress made them feel less positive about working with these clients. A third study, on therapists working with people with multiple sclerosis, highlights the importance of adapting CBT for people with physical conditions. Originality/value Taken together, these three papers highlight concerning implications of current working conditions for many therapists working in IAPT services. They highlight that sources of stress include services’ rigid focus on targets and inability to make expected adjustments. With regard to the UK, this may be due to the current national service model, but it has implications for the social inclusion of some service users.

Psychological gaps in cancer care: Implications for service users and providers

Recent research has highlighted the significance of the role of psychological interventions in cancer care services (CCS). Government health policies and cancer organisations have laid out a detailed schedule of targets and initiatives to develop the role of specialist psychological services. While the research demonstrates the effectiveness of psychological interventions for both service providers and service users, their presence remains nominal. Instead, most CCS rely on professions allied to medicine and nursing staff to fulfil this role, at the expense of and/or in addition to their own specialist skills. This article offers a brief overview of current research as well as clinical reflections on the case for specialist psychological services in cancer. It also highlights the practical implications of ignoring this ‘psychological gap’ on the patient journey, service providers and highlights the impact on local finances and the wider economy

How women manage their type 1 diabetes during the menopausal transition: a qualitative study using a grounded theory approach

AbstractThis study aimed to explore the experiences of women with type 1 diabetes during the menopausal transition using a grounded theory approach and, from the data, develop a substantive theory with implications for service users and service providers.A qualitative exploratory research framework was employed using a grounded theory approach. Data were collected from 10 participants using transcribed audiotaped semi‐structured interviews and field notes. The transcripts, audio recordings and field notes were reviewed and a coding process facilitated data analysis. This approach enabled themes to emerge from the data and ultimately a theory.A wide range of conceptions was revealed. Data are presented in seven categories that reflect the experience of the subjects: ‘Blank wall’ (relates to the lack of information regarding menopause and diabetes); ‘Juggling game’ (relates to glycaemic control); Anxiety and fear; ‘Haywire’ (relates to the signs and symptoms of menopausal transition); Treating symptoms; Depression and mood; and ‘I'm old’ (relates to ageing and mortality).A substantive theory emerged. Absence of information regarding the menopause and its impact on type 1 diabetes (‘Blank wall’) was identified as the main problem facing women with type 1 diabetes during their menopausal transition. The findings could enable practitioners to identify the types of information, advice and support that should be made available to these women, and contribute to the limited knowledge base currently available. The findings indicate also that further research into this under‐studied but important area of diabetes care is required.

Reframing rights as obligations: implications for service users’ ability to exercise their rights

(2013). Reframing rights as obligations: implications for service users’ ability to exercise their rights. Australian Journal of Human Rights: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 147-164.

How adults with learning disabilities view living independently

Accessible summary Nine people with learning disabilities talked about living on their own. They talked about good and bad things in their lives. They said it is sometimes hard but better than living in residential care. They want people who provide services to know that it can be hard to live alone. SummaryIt is seen as increasingly important for people with learning disabilities to be supported to live independently and manage their own self care, productivity and leisure activities. This qualitative study explored the experiences of nine adults with mild learning disabilities who lived alone with minimal support. Their narratives were analysed using thematic analysis and seven themes emerged. These were feelings on living alone, practical issues, support issues, choice and control, vulnerability, health issues and the impact of having a learning disability. This study has implications for service users, professionals and service providers working with people with learning disabilities. In particular, the issues raised reflected the need to increase social inclusion and provide the right level of support. Participants talked about service providers needing to be aware of their vulnerability and wanted people to respect their right to make their own choices.

The use of complementary and alternative therapies for fibromyalgia

This paper reviews fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), and examines the evidence for non-pharmacological interventions for the management of the condition. This follows from a previous systematic review carried out by the authors by focusing on the use of complementary and alternative therapies and their integration within clinical practice. The strength of evidence for the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions for FMS is presented. Best evidence was found to exist for a combined management programme incorporating exercise, education and aspects of CAM therapies. In terms of specific CAM therapies, results were found to be inconclusive due to methodological difficulties, though moderate evidence was found to exist for balneotherapy and acupuncture and some evidence was found for the effectiveness of massage, holistic movement therapies and chiropractic. Implications for service users and practitioners are discussed.

Calling Social Work

New Labour has promoted the use of information and communication technology. Call centres are a key development in this strategy and are now in use for accessing social services. In official policy, the use of call centres is presented as an aspect of attempts to change the relationship between service users and the purchasers and providers of services. In contrast, we suggest that the use of call centres in social care does little to shift the balance of power. Call centres bring together four dimensions of New Labour discourse: learning from the private sector, cutting costs, technology and consumerism. Three issues emerge from their development: the undermining of social work’s sense of place; the circumscribing of service user participation; the rationalization of social workers. The call centre serves as a signifier of what, it is claimed, the combination of New Labour’s consumerism and technology can achieve. This signification disguises call centres’ properties of efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. Contrary to the rhetoric that accompanies them, call centres may be curtailing service user participation, as well as delimiting the social work role. Accordingly, their use has important, but as yet largely unresearched, implications for service users and social workers.

New Roles in Mental Health: The Creation of the Approved Mental Health Practitioner

The current role of the approved social worker (ASW) will be changed to that of the approved mental health practitioner, who may be a nurse or other mental health professional, if proposed legislation comes into force in England and Wales. This has implications for service users, carers and the mental health workforce. This article draws on literature and a conference discussing this change attended by practitioners and policy‐makers. It considers the complexity of the ASW role and the implications for the AMHP, and sets the related issues in the context of integrated working.

Supporting People: Slicing the cake

The question of how local authorities will manage fixed budgets for the Supporting People (SP) programme raises concerns among service users and providers. These concerns are compounded by the introduction of the new distribution formula that is intended eventually to even out spending across authorities; some people will see their slice of the cake grow, and for others their slice will be nibbled away.It is unfortunate, if perhaps inevitable, that the debate about SP has become mired with the issue of funding. Quality and continuous improvement have become confused with the determination of value for money. Commissioners and providers squabbling over funding streams have compromised the ideals of person‐centred services. But is it all too easy to focus on the difficulties within the programme? This article will examine the debate over eligibility for SP funding in the light of the wider aims of the programme. It will consider the implications for service users and providers and look at the broader influences on the climate of housing with care and support.

Phenomenology and the price of beans

Psychiatry might be seen as a three dimensional space, with two of its dimensions caricatured in the title. Of the first, ‘phenomenology’ stands for scientific rigour, the medical view favouring diagnosis based on analytical activity, followed by construction of syndromes from individual symptoms/measures. The ‘price of beans’ stands for materials; the economics of care in the post Griffiths era, value for money, hospital closures, massive reorganisation and the negative implications for service users.