community work

Mike Naulty, Associate Dean, School of Education, Social Work and Community Education, University of Dundee, speaks about the meaning of community capacity building, why it is important, its outcomes and the challenges faced by social work practitioners. This talk was delivered at Personalisation and Community Capacity, a joint seminar and workshop by the Perth and Kinross Council and University of Stirling Partnership. It was held at the University of Stirling on 4 December 2009.

The authors, from Dorset Council, explain how they are trying to get the best out of the Integrated Children's System despite its limitations. The ICS was intended to enable a single consistent approach to case-based information gathering, case planning, case aggregation and case reviews. As such, the easily generated and clear reports would help social workers collect, organise, analyse and retrieve information.

The Social Work Task Force has signalled its intent to come up with a new definition of social work to counter public misconceptions. Anabel Unity Sale reports that with the negative coverage that social work attracts, it is hardly surprising that the public is not clear about what social workers do, and that people are led to believe that professionals swoop in and steal babies from families, give older people with limited mobility a bath and then make their dinner.

Series of articles describing the work of healthy living centres (HLCs) in Scotland and discussing how they can help communities change and grow and bring local people together to participate in new activities and opportunities.

The current economic climate presents major challenges for Scotland and, in particular, for the health improvement drive where the need for action has rarely been greater. Consequently, there has never been a more important time for politicians and policy makers to look at ways in which they can best harness the energies that exist in Scotland’s communities. This document examines some of the initiatives undertaken by various community-led and voluntary sector groups.

This report describes a project that sought to analyse and evaluate a particular academic course unit entitled 'Skills development and theorising practice', which ran in 2002-2003 as part of the old Diploma in Social Work. The aim was to gain a greater understanding of how student development could be facilitated in these key areas of practice.

The Review of Nursing in the Community has proposed a new service delivery model for Scotland that aims to meet the challenges nurses face now, and will face in the future. The model, which is based on seven key elements of practice, is currently being piloted in four NHS board areas: NHS Borders, NHS Highland, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside. The pilot will be formally evaluated through 2009-2010 to provide the evidence the Scottish Government needs to decide on the future shape of nursing services in the community.

Report of a study which set out to gather evidence regarding the effects of citizen participation and whether involvement in community organisations assists people to connect with wider society. It also explored the processes at work in these organisations which allowed them to engage with citizens effectively.

Although alcohol is widely recognised as a major generator of employment and income from exports in Scotland, a considerable (and increasing) amount of harm is associated with its misuse.

The effects of this misuse – which are considered in this paper – are wide, and generate substantial costs not only for the health service, but also for criminal justice, communities, employers, and the wider Scottish economy.

This report briefly reviews the evidence for the current state of community interaction within England, together with theoretical approaches such as ‘contact theory’ which can inform activities that bring individuals and groups together. The report then draws on the expertise of 28 practitioners from across the country who highlight activities which can be used to stimulate greater interaction and the obstacles and barriers that exist.