The challenge of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing the social determinants

The importance of professional disciplines working together to address the critical social and health issues facing society today cannot be overstated. Policy makers, service providers and researchers have long been calling for greater interdisciplinary collaboration. Despite this there has been little systemic analysis of the constraints involved in such collaboration. Far too often disciplines continue to work in silos. This paper aims to analyse the barriers to interdisciplinary collaboration through a case study of the relationship between social work and public health. These two disciplines have a lot more in common than might first appear. There is real potential for social work and public health to work together and enhance each other's efforts to address their common goal of greater social equality. However, this will require a genuine commitment from both disciplines to develop a shared political analysis, common language and a framework for action, which utilises their respective strengths.

Interagency collaboration between child protection and mental health services: Practices, attitudes and barriers

Objective: The aim of this paper is to examine some of the factors that facilitate and hinder interagency collaboration between child protection services and mental health services in cases where there is a parent with a mental illness and there are protection concerns for the child(ren). The paper reports on agency practices, worker attitudes and experiences, and barriers to effective collaboration. Method: A self-administered, cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed via direct mail or via line supervisors to workers in statutory child protection services, adult mental health services, child and youth mental health services, and Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Teams. There were 232 completed questionnaires returned, with an overall response rate of 21%. Thirty-eight percent of respondents were statutory child protection workers. 39% were adult mental health workers, 16% were child and youth mental health workers, and 4% were SCAN Team medical officers (with 3% missing data). Results: Analysis revealed that workers were engaging in a moderate amount of interagency contact, but that they were unhappy with the support provided by their agency. Principle components analysis and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on items assessing attitudes toward other workers identified four factors, which differed in rates of endorsement: inadequate training, positive regard for child protection workers, positive regard for mental health workers, and mutual mistrust (from highest to lowest level of endorsement). The same procedure identified the relative endorsement of five factors extracted from items about potential barriers: inadequate resources, confidentiality, gaps in interagency processes, unrealistic expectations, and professional knowledge domains and boundaries. Conclusions: Mental health and child protection professionals believe that collaborative practice is necessary; however, their efforts are hindered by a lack of supportive structures and practices at the organizational level. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Working with involuntary clients: Perceptions and experiences of outreach social workers in Hong Kong

The outreach social work service is one of the dominant youth work approaches in dealing with delinquents and youths 'at-risk' in Hong Kong. Yet this approach presents particular challenges. Outreach social workers usually play an active role in initiating and establishing contacts with young people, yet young people are reluctant to engage with the outreach social workers and are resistant towards therapeutic change. To date, little is known about what strategies and techniques are most effective in dealing with client resistance in this context. The aims of this paper are to gain a better understanding of the common resistant behaviours that outreach social workers usually encounter in their day-to-day practice, and to investigate how the outreach social workers respond to their clients' resistance with reference to case examples given in the in-depth interviews. The findings of this study provide evidence that whilst client resistance is common in the outreach social work setting, social workers' patience as well as sensitivity are essential in resolving resistance and building up a rapport with clients.

Understanding problem gambling in two ethnic communities in Brisbane, Queensland - A pilot study

This paper aims to present findings from a pilot study on understanding gambling within the Greek and Vietnamese communities in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland State. It explores gambling behaviour among gamblers and views of workers from their own communities. Rich data were obtained by conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews. Three themes that emerged are the causes of gambling, the impact of gambling, and participants' views on existing delivery of gambling services. It appears that a more culturally appropriate gambling service is necessary to address the needs and problems of gamblers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Personalised social care for adults with disabilities: A problematic concept for frontline practice

This paper explores the complexities and contradictions of frontline practice that pose problems for personalised social care through enhanced choice. It draws on semi-structured interviews with community care workers, social workers, occupational therapists and care managers in a social service department. Practitioners interviewed were asked about their current assessment and documentation system, including the assessment documents currently used; how they approached information gathering and the topics they explored with service users; and their experience of documenting assessment and care management. The paper argues that the validity and sustainability of personalised social care in frontline practice relies on developing a thorough understanding of the complex and implicit assessment processes operating at the service user/practitioner interface and the inevitable tensions that arise for practitioners associated with the organisational context and broader service environment. The findings demonstrate the variability among practitioners in how they collect information and more importantly, the critical role practitioners occupy in determining the kinds of topics to be explored during the assessment process. In so doing, it shows how practitioners can exert control over the decision-making process. More importantly, it provides some insight into how such processes are shaped by the constraints of the organisational context and broader service environment. Complexities and contradictions may be an inherent part of frontline practice. The issues discussed in this paper, however, highlight potential areas that might be targeted in conjunction with implementing personalised social care through enhanced choice for people with disabilities.

Global perspectives in Korean intercountry adoption

Policy and social work practice currently lack a theoretical framework that adequately explains the emergence, diffusion, and continuance of the intercountry adoption (ICA) phenomenon. Using South Korea as a case study and the application of actor network theory to the ICA phenomenon, this paper introduces a theoretical approach that allows an examination of the complex interrelationships between the global and local influences of a country's engagement in ICA. This theoretical approach provides a different way of understanding the phenomenon, which, in turn, can better inform policies and practice that affect children and families across the globe.

Introducing evidence-based family assessment and therapy in child and youth mental health services: Applying systemic principles to maintain, sustain and build capacity

The purpose of this article is to overview the context of the mental health service in which we work, and family therapy's status prior to and after the impact of changes wrought by the introduction of the National Mental Health Policy. We then explore some key issues that we think contribute to the persistence of the occlusion of family therapy in child psychiatric services; and the strategies that we developed and are continuing to develop to support change, finally, we describe the use of a family assessment instrument that we believe is central to our change strategy.