Search results

This paper gives a picture of the development of four new roles in mental health over a two‐year period. It draws on data from the national mapping project to provide a unique perspective on the emergence of the roles of support, time and recovery workers, gateway workers, carer support workers and community development workers for black and minority ethnic communities. The tracking of such roles on a national level reveals a number of issues, in particular the need for clarity of terms if there is to be an undisputed understanding of what mental health services are provided and by whom.

It is obvious to many, but unproven to others, that community development has a positive impact on the mental health and well‐being of those who are touched by it. In our recent study, Connect and Include (Seebohm & Gilchrist, 2008), we found strong evidence that individuals, groups and communities can benefit from the community development process. Positive outcomes included greater democracy and social justice, but in this article we focus on the contribution of community development to social inclusion and the benefits to mental health.

This chapter explores the vital connection between ethics and community development, underlining the fundamental role of ethical considerations in shaping fair, just, and sustainable communities. It begins by emphasizing that community development is inherently ethical and delves into the concept of ethics, examining ethical theories like consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics in the context of community development. Real-world case studies from diverse countries, such as South Africa, Australia, and India, are interwoven throughout the chapter to provide practical insights. These case studies illustrate the complexities of ethical implementation in community development, from navigating power dynamics to addressing conflicts of interest and balancing immediate needs with long-term sustainability. The chapter also explores macro-level considerations, highlighting the need for systemic change to create a more just and equitable society. It guides practitioners on integrating ethics into their work, establishing a strong moral framework for community development. Continuous learning, reflective practice, and adaptability are underscored as essential in responding to evolving societal contexts, norms, and challenges.

This paper describes some findings from an evaluation of the effectiveness of a community development project that aimed to overcome inequalities in mental health care experienced by members of the local black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. A participatory action research design was used, involving people from BME communities who had experienced mental health problems and external stakeholders. The study relied largely on qualitative methodology. Findings reported here indicate that participants in the project valued the culturally and spiritually relevant support they received, but felt that more opportunities were needed for training and employment, greater representation on the project's management committee, and greater awareness of the project in the community. External stakeholders felt that the project gained credibility from its community base and valued its ability to work across faith traditions and cultures. It was also seen as successful in acting as a bridge between the communities and statutory services, although there were concerns about the project's relationship with frontline services. The paper proposes two models of community development that primary care trusts may wish to adopt ‐ radical or consensus, or a mixture of both ‐ in order to address inequalities in mental health service provision.

One of the key initiatives of the National Institute of Mental Health in England National Workforce Programme (NIMHE NWP) has been to explore the development and sustainability of the non‐professionally qualified workforce (NPQW). Both the National Service Framework (NSF) for Mental Health (Department of Health, 1999) and the wider Department of Health Changing Workforce Programme (Department of Health, 2001) provided a unique opportunity to start this process off.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of information practices of welfare workers and how they fit into daily work of welfare work within a small community sector organisation in Victoria, Australia.

The study was constructivist (interpretivist) in its underpinning philosophy, drawing on both personal constructivist and social constructionist theories. The research methods used, with a sample of 14 welfare workers and two clients, were organisational ethnography and grounded theory. Data collection techniques were interview and participant observation, along with limited document analysis. Data analytic techniques, drawn from grounded theory method, provided a thorough way of coding and analysing data, and also allowed for the development of theory.

Key findings centre on the role of information in welfare work. Welfare workers mostly used resources to hand, “making do” with resources they already had rather than seeking new ones. They also recombined or re-purposed existing resources to make new resources or to suit new circumstances. Their information practices were found to be fluid, consultative and collaborative. The findings of the research have led to a deep exploration of bricolage as a way to describe both the use of resources and the processes inherent in welfare worker information practices.

The fact that there is a paucity of research focused on information practices of welfare workers in Australia makes the research significant. The bricolage theoretical framework is an original contribution which has implications for exploring other groups of workers and for the design of information systems and technology.

A vehicle to reduce health inequalities and improve public health has been provided by programmes at a neighbourhood level. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development processes in four municipalities for achieving sustainable structures in area‐based development programmes during and after a formal partnership period.

A case‐study database was compiled based on the strategic and local work of four municipalities and four municipal housing companies who cooperated in the Partnership for Sustainable Welfare Development 2003‐2009. The case‐study database includes nine in‐depth studies with interviews (n=68), participant observations (n=125), a survey (n=1,160), and documents. The data are analysed using three theoretical concepts: political support, alliances, and citizen participation.

Political support, alliances, and citizen participation are important building blocks in neighbourhood development work. However, when the partnership ended there was little left that could function as a sustainable structure. Political support seems to be a means to reach the target, including ensuring a consistent approach and allocation of resources. However, the support must continue also after the intervention period, when the formal partnership collaboration ends, otherwise the established structure will soon decompose. Citizen participation is another precondition for a sustainable structure able to continue despite reduced municipal support. Alliances have the best chance of forming sustainable structures when they involve both the strategic and the operational level.

Even though many evaluations have been conducted to capture the process of interventions, little attention has been given to the challenges facing the outcomes of the intervention when it comes to making permanent the activities for reducing health inequalities. This paper is an attempt to deal with these challenges.

This paper gives an overview of the ‘non‐professionally affiliated’ (NPA) workforce in mental health in relation to their education, training and development. Some comparison is made with the current situation for the key professions in mental health. We argue that the NPA workforce is an increasingly significant and important part of the workforce and that attention needs to be paid to the construction of an overall development and qualification pathway for these workers, who embody many of the strengths of generic mental health work and have been found to be of great value to service users and their families.

When radical new approaches to entrepreneurship are sought, they almost invariably return to the origin point of conventional firms. This chapter, however, will show that radical entrepreneurship, far from being the purview of capitalist enterprises, can be found in abundance in the cooperative sector. Cooperatives, which are democratic economic enterprises owned by members on a one person, one-vote basis, are a hotbed of new economic thinking. The ways in which cooperatives use advances in technology to create more democratic, decentralized, and egalitarian economic relationships stands in stark contrast to the monopolizing and centralizing tendencies of conventional firms. This chapter will show that cooperatives are both a worthy adversary, and potential ally of, conventional capitalist businesses in moving the field of entrepreneurship into areas that will be of greatest benefit to humanity.