To set up a care relationship that works well is a delicate matter, whether you are at the giving or the receiving end. In this unit we explore the very varied meanings of care relationships and how these meanings arise. Millions of care relationships are going on as you read this, and each carries its own particular meanings for those involved. But where have all those people picked up their ideas of how to relate to each other? How does any of us know where to begin?
Social work is a vital element in how our society cares for those in need. This unit looks at the meaning of ‘social work values’ as well as the different approaches to social work and the skills involved.
In many areas of health care, and especially in such areas as palliative care, increasing attention has been paid in recent years to patient autonomy, and the need to respect it. Autonomy has come to be seen as a very important aspect of the interaction between patients and those looking after them, and forms the basis for many ethical commitments, such as telling the truth to patients, and seeking their consent for health care interventions. In this unit we look at quite a wide range of ethical issues. They all have one thing in common, however: autonomy. Each of them is a pressing ethical issue because of our concerns about how best to respect patient autonomy, and about whether it should be ignored or overridden in certain cases.
This unit is made up of four extracts related to social care, social work and the law. The extracts are stand-alone sections but follow on from each other to make up this unit. You will be introduced to five main themes that shape practice in the field of social care and social work. The aim of this unit is to enhance your understanding of the relationship between social work practice and the law.
What do we mean by ‘community’, ‘care’ and ‘welfare’? In this unit you will explore the meanings of these words in their historical and cultural settings. The unit does not discuss these terms exclusively in terms of social work practice so service users, carers or anyone interested in community care and the ways in which welfare services are provided would find this unit useful.
In this unit, we are going to look at a number of situations which put a strain on the idea that caring is just 'being ordinary', including times when people are giving intimate care. In these special circumstances, since the normal rules do not apply, we have to develop a set of special rules to guide practice.
In this unit we explore questions of access to community services. To make what might be quite a dry task more challenging we use a fictionalised case study of two people for whom access to community services is particularly problematic. Jim and Marianne are both long-term heroin addicts. Additional problems associated with their addiction are homelessness and physical illness. Their situation raises both practical questions, about how services can be accessed, and moral questions, about entitlement to resources when their problems can be regarded as at least in part self-inflicted.
No restrictions on your remixing, redistributing, or making derivative works.
Give credit to the author, as required.
Your remixing, redistributing, or making derivatives works comes with some
restrictions, including how it is shared.
Your redistributing comes with some restrictions. Do not remix or make
derivative works.
Copyrighted materials, available under Fair Use and the TEACH Act for US-based
educators, or other custom arrangements. Go to the resource provider to see
their individual restrictions.
