briefing paper

Removing barriers: the facts about mental health and employment

This paper looks at barriers to employment for people with mental health problems and at efforts that are being made to support their efforts to find and sustain work. Barriers include: stigma and discrimination; low expectations and a lack of resources; financial disincentives. There is some discussion of government policy and the Pathways to Work scheme.

Homelessness in Scotland: evidence to local government and communities committee

The Committee has asked for our views on access to housing in local areas, on homelessness legislation and on housing supply generally. Since each of these is a big issue in its own right, in the evidence below, Shelter has looked mainly at progress towards the 2012 homelessness target and at some of the implications of that target.

Shifting care from hospital to the community in Europe: Economic challenges and opportunities

An introduction gives the history of how in most European countries for many decades large institutions dominated provision for people with severe and chronic disabilities, including those with mental health problems, and how this changed. Trends in the balance of care, changes in provision, and policies to develop community care and the allocation of resources are described, challenges listed and opportunities outlined, ending with a conclusion that research on progress in this area in Europe has been limited.

At your service : navigating the future market in health and social care

Paper examining the ways in which personal budgets will affect the social and health care market. It considers what prospective budget holders know and think about personal budgets, how they would spend it and what difficulties they foresee. It also suggests the likely challenges local authorities and other providers will face in delivering the personalisation agenda and makes recommendations on how to make the transition successfully.

New Degree, New Standards? : a project investigating the alignment of the Standards in Social Work Education (SiSWE) to the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)

This project shines a spotlight on the social work qualifying degrees in Scotland with a particular emphasis on the relationship between the SiSWE and the SCQF. It seeks to understand how these two frameworks align to support improved standards of student attainment at a time when the profession has moved from a diploma to degree level qualification.