Worker Role (worker + role)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Worker Role

  • key worker role


  • Selected Abstracts


    Support workers in social care in England: a scoping study

    HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 3 2010
    Jill Manthorpe MA
    Abstract This paper reports the findings of a scoping study designed to describe the evidence base with regard to support workers in social care in the United Kingdom and to identify gaps in knowledge. Multiple bibliographic databases were searched for studies published since 2003. The results revealed that the support worker role, though not well-defined, could be characterised as one aimed at fostering independence among service users, undertaking tasks across social and health-care, and not being trained in, or a member of, a specific profession. The studies identified were predominantly small-scale qualitative projects which considered issues such as role clarity, training and pay, worker satisfaction, service user views and the amount of time support workers are able to spend with service users compared to other staff. The review concluded that the research base lacks longitudinal studies, there is definitional confusion and imprecision, and there is limited evidence about employment terms and conditions for support workers or about their accountability and performance. The desirability and value of training and how it is resourced need further analysis. It is concluded that moves to self-directed support or personalisation and the increased reliance on and use of support workers, in the form of personal assistants, call for closer scrutiny of the role. [source]


    Working on the interface: identifying professional responses to families with mental health and child-care needs

    HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 3 2003
    Nicky Stanley BA MA MSc CQSW
    Abstract The gaps between mental health and child-care services constitute a recognised barrier to providing effective services to families where parents have mental health problems. Recent guidance exhorts professionals to coordinate and collaborate more consistently in this area of work. The present study aimed to identify the barriers to inter-professional collaboration through a survey of 500 health and social care professionals. The views of 11 mothers with severe mental health problems whose children had been subject to a child protection case conference were also interrogated through two sets of interviews. The study found that communication problems were identified more frequently between child care workers and adult psychiatrists than between other groups. Communication between general practitioners and child-care workers was also more likely to be described as problematic. While there was some support amongst practitioners for child-care workers to assume a coordinating or lead role in such cases, this support was not overwhelming, and reflected professional interests and alliances. The mothers themselves valued support from professionals whom they felt were ,there for them' and whom they could trust. There was evidence from the responses of child-care social workers that they lacked the capacity to fill this role in relation to parents and their statutory child-care responsibilities may make it particularly difficult for them to do so. The authors recommend that a dyad of workers from the child-care and community mental health services should share the coordinating key worker role in such cases. [source]


    The role of the senior health care worker in critical care

    NURSING IN CRITICAL CARE, Issue 4 2004
    Paula Ormandy
    Summary ,,This article identifies that the introduction of the support worker role in the critical care team facilitates flexibility when organizing and managing patient care ,,Qualified nurses' time can be used more effectively, enhancing the quality of the patient care delivered ,,Aspects of the qualified nurses' workload in critical care can be shared and delegated successfully to unqualified staff ,,It is our view that staffing levels in critical care environments need to be reviewed with more flexible working practices to meet the current and future demands of critical care ,,There is a need for national consensus amongst qualified nurses to clarify and define the role of the support worker and develop a critical care competency framework to standardize training ,,To ensure proficiency, adequate training and appropriate accountability, support workers require regulation by a nationally recognized body [source]


    Key worker services for disabled children: what characteristics of services lead to better outcomes for children and families?

    CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2006
    P. Sloper
    Abstract Background, Research has shown that families of disabled children who have a key worker benefit from this service and recent policy initiatives emphasize the importance of such services. However, research is lacking on which characteristics of key worker schemes for disabled children are related to better outcomes for families. Methods, A postal questionnaire was completed by 189 parents with disabled children who were receiving a service in seven key worker schemes in England and Wales. Path analysis was used to investigate associations between characteristics of the services and outcomes for families (satisfaction with the service, impact of key worker on quality of life, parent unmet need, child unmet need). Results, The four path models showed that key workers carrying out more aspects of the key worker role, appropriate amounts of contact with key workers, regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers, and having a dedicated service manager and a clear job description for key workers were associated with better outcomes for families. Characteristics of services had only a small impact on child unmet need, suggesting that other aspects of services were affecting child unmet need. Conclusions, Implications for policy and practice are discussed, including the need for regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers and negotiated time and resources for them to carry out the role. These influence the extent to which key workers carry out all aspects of the key worker's role and their amount of contact with families, which in turn impact on outcomes. [source]


    Key Worker Services for Disabled Children: the Views of Parents

    CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 3 2007
    Veronica Greco
    This study reports the findings from 68 interviews with parents of disabled children who are users of seven key worker schemes in England and Wales. The interviews which lasted for one hour each, were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed according to both a priori and emerging themes. The findings from this study have implications for policy and practice, for example, the necessity of protected time for key workers, the necessity of conveying clear information about the key worker's role, the importance of access to training and information for the key worker, the need for key workers to be proactive, and for their involvement in care plan and review meetings. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau [source]


    Child Welfare Workers and Michigan's Family Court Legislation: The Relationship Between Policy and Practice

    JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2001
    JOSEPH KOZAKIEWICZ J.D.
    ABSTRACT Michigan created a family court in 1998, combining in a single court jurisdiction over most family law cases. This study examines the child welfare workers' role in creating the family court, the family court's impact on child welfare workers' practice, and child welfare workers' efforts to educate other professionals on the potential benefits of the family court system. This study found that child welfare workers were not actively involved in the creation of the family court and have not aggressively sought to educate other professionals regarding the family court's potential. Further, though child welfare workers' reception of the family court has largely been positive (or at least neutral), child welfare workers must take greater advantage of the family court system to improve the effectiveness of their practice. [source]