Worldwide, there has been a growth in service user involvement in education and research in recent years. This handbook is the first book which identifies what is happening in different regions of ...the world to provide different countries and client groups with the opportunity to learn from each other.
The book is divided into five sections: Section One examines service user involvement in context exploring theoretical issues which underpin service user involvement. In Section Two we focus on the state of service user involvement in human services education and research across the globe including examples of innovative practice, but also identifying examples of where it is not happening and why. Section Three offers more detailed examination of such involvement in a wide range of professional education learning settings. Section Four focuses on the involvement of service users in research involving a wide range of service user groups and situations. Lastly, Section Five explores future challenges for education and research to ensure involvement remains meaningful.
The book includes forty-eight chapters, including seventeen case-studies, from all regions of the world, this is the first book to both highlight the subject’s methodological and theoretical issues and give practical examples in education and research for those wishing to engage in this field.
It will be of interest to all service users, scholars and students of social work, nursing, occupational therapy, and other human service subjects.
This article challenges the terms we use to describe the relationship between those who assess and commission services and those who are the recipient of those services. In particular, the article ...identifies the different terms that have been used in British social work, including ‘client’, ‘customer’, ‘consumer’, ‘service user’ and ‘expert by experience’, highlighting their assumptive worlds and the relationships the terms suggest and signify. Service user (the most popular term at present) is highlighted and critically analysed and found to be increasingly problematic and unable to describe the complexities of the service–recipient relationship. Alternative terms are discussed and found wanting, whilst a possible way forward is suggested to avoid the negative connotations of any one particular term.
Abstract
The findings presented here are from a qualitative research study, adopting creative research methods with seven children to provide an in-depth understanding of their lived experience of ...living with Parental substance misuse (PSM). The children’s data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The research also included focus groups with twenty-two professionals which added further understanding to the children’s experiences. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory was adopted as a framework to structure the research data from the micro to the macrosystem. Key messages identified the need for children living with PSM to be seen and heard and offered specialist support in their own right. The children experienced multiple risk factors, which were often enduring, and did not reduce as they grew older. This research provided an understanding of the complex needs of children and the risk factors which reach beyond their immediate home environment. This article argues for change, including improved training for front line practitioners, specialist service provision for children not reliant on their parents’ engagement, and for policy change and financial resources for their implementation. It is proposed that this would bridge the gap between research and practice and lead to improved outcomes for children living with PSM.
Now in its Second Edition, this straightforward book introduces students to research. Specific to social work, it is widely used on undergraduate programmes.
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the nature of social work research. It clearly demonstrates how research-mindedness is key to improving individual and collective social work ...practice, helping practitioners to effectively navigate the complex issues they face on a daily basis. The book considers research in relation to a number of important social work themes, including ethics, anti-oppressive practice, service user research, evidence-based practice and interdisciplinary work. The book will help readers: critically reflect on their own social work practice; assess, appraise and apply research; effectively advocate on behalf of service-users; confidently engage in debates about the profession; and reflect on legislative and policy developments. Understanding Social Work Research is clear and accessible, containing reflective questions and practice examples illustrating the links between research and social work practice. This book will be essential reading for all social work trainees, and will provide invaluable support for graduate students and practitioners wishing to consolidate their understanding of social work research.
Indigenous species in coastal barren communities are subject to anthropogenic and environmental pressures; some species are in decline, and there is uncertainty about their long-term survival. The ...authors added supplemental soil carbon in the form of red oak biochar to calcined clay (1:9) to determine the effect of this treatment on survival of legume (Lupinus perennis and Baptisia tinctoria) and non-legume (Vaccinium angustifolium and Quercus ilicifolia) species during a period spanning two and a half seasons of unirrigated pot tests. Red oak biochar used in the experiment was produced from pyrolysis, the thermochemical devolitization and carbonization of the starting biomass. Biochar significantly affected the survival rates of all species (P=<.03). Biochar-treated non-legumes had higher survival rates (P=<.10) than similarly treated legumes. Future investigations of biochars, particularly those evolved from recycled lignocellulosic wastes, associated with survival, should focus on reversal of habitat loss.
Service user research has increasingly become a significant development on the research landscape. This article seeks to critically examine this development and to identify ways in which service user ...research can retain its honesty and avoid the twin dangers of either becoming a tokenistic exercise or being seen as a panacea. In particular the article highlights issues concerning our conceptions of service users, recognising both the benefits and costs of service user involvement in research and begins to open up discussions on the contribution of service user research to knowledge development. The article also argues that we need to subject such research to the same standards of scrutiny and critique we would apply to other research approaches if service user research involvement in research is going to develop further.
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