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Social Work and Adult Health Care Essay

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Introduction
Social work is a service that provides 'universalist services outside the market on the principle of need' (Titmuss, 1974, p.146). It maintains welfare of the public, and its basic role in adult social care is to focus on individuals, families and communities, and to ensure their well-being. By doing so, social workers improve quality of life, and serve for betterment of the whole community, thus enabling a social change. Today, much of these social work services is guaranteed by social policies and laws, which ensure delivery of social care to different individuals. However, there are significant drawbacks in social work practice, and issues that need to be addressed by the public and by social workers themselves. This essay …show more content…

It also operates on a larger scale by educating, 'engaging in social and political action to impact social policy' (The International Federation of Social Workers, 2014, p.n.g.), and by involving the right people and organisations. A legal framework for these services is based on the Health and Community Care Act 1990 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012. These acts define rights and responsibilities for social workers in adult social care and associated services. They state that local authorities are in charge of social care provisions, having relevant services at hand, and supplying adequate support (Department of Health, 2010). Section 47(1) of the Health and Community Care Act 1990 requires councils to provide assessment for potential social care and support, and to provide a suitable service to eligible individuals, according to section 4 of the Disabled Persons Act 1986. This shift in power from central to local authorities creates a market, where NHS trusts and other organisations provide services, and the local authorities choose and market these from their budgets. The councils are 'set free to run innovative local schemes and build local networks of support' (Department of Health, 2010, p.4).Thus, this legislative emphasises community and home care, where carers and patients can work together. In other words, the government encourages councils and their social work departments to be independent of any state bureaucracy, and to explore their

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