According to Lombard and Kruger (2009), the status of older persons has not changed considerably despite the promulgation of the Older Persons Act in 2005 and the adoption of the South African Policy for Older Persons in 2006. The researcher attempted to contribute to a better understanding of the problematic status of older persons through an exploratory study of institutional arrangements involved in the implementation of the policy using a case study approach. The network theory was used as a guiding theoretical framework. Findings from the study indicate a randomly related network affected by lack of robust, efficient and effective leadership and co-ordination. Formalization of network membership through written rules and a constitution that spells out the roles and responsibilities of network members, and continued interaction amongst network members is suggested to strengthen the network and the leadership. It is the conviction of the researcher that strengthening of the network will improve the implementation of the South African Policy on Older Persons, thereby improving the lives of older people.

No description available.

Licentiate thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

The aim of this thesis has been to explore the interrelationship between elderly people and information. A case-study approach was adopted which examined whether the information needs of elderly people (consumers) in relation to community care had, in their perception. been addressed by the Information Strategy developed by the Social Services Department of one shire county (providers) in response to the Community Care Act 1990 to provide information about its services and how to access them. Two key findings emerge from the research. Firstly, elderly people's information needs in relation to community care have not been addressed by the Information Strategy. Secondly, the Strategy has encountered a number of implementation problems, namely communication difficulties, interagency issues and the gatekeeping role of frontline staff in information provision. The findings from the thesis suggest that a Community Care Information Strategy should be based on three key elements. It should acknowledge that elderly people are likely to comprise the largest single group in receipt of community care services. It should recognise that potential and current users of community care services are a heterogeneous group, with a diverse range of information and service needs. Finally, it should be based on an understanding of the information seeking behaviour of potential and current users of community care services and their preferred methods of information provision, and on an awareness of the likely barriers to information which may be in operation.

There is a difficult social situation in Lithuania nowdays. It touched not just a country, but every single town separately. Many of young people goes to those countries in Europe, where is much better economical life average. All problems begin when some sociali groups as kids, old people and disabled people becomes as a problem for a state. Such groups become users of social services. In Europe Union and Lithuania priority way in social security is social services, especially special social services. These people, who get social services are those, who mostly experience social disjuncture. Mostly special social services are proposed in stationary social services centers. But one of the aims of social security is decentralization. What does it mean? Special social services need ti be overtaken by the town municipality, to establish ambulatory social sevices. By the way, people of any social group do not longer feel social disjuncture. One of the way to make social services ambulatory – to offer them at client‘s home. Anyway, nowdays social services at all and special social sevices are proposed at stationary institutions to much to match up with ambulatory institutions. Government is not always able to help it‘s people, so it has to be interested to stimulate institutions that are not established by government, but are proposing special social services. Government has to be interested ti prompt buisinessmen to offer their services, in social sphere. In Alytus town for... [to full text]

The objective of this research is to study peoples’ reasons for rural-urban migration in the Babati district of Tanzania and the outcomes of such a migration on the migrants’ quality of life in Babati town. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews and secondary sources. The interviews were performed with poor people in urban Babati town and two villages in rural Babati district. In the last thirty years the population of Babati town has increased more than threefold. The causes of rural-urban migration to Babati town are to be found in economical, social and cultural factors. The economic predominate, with the search for employment mentioned by all the migrants in the study. The migrants in Babati town emphasized adequate housing as a very important factor for a good life in town. This need was in many cases not fulfilled. Many were also still lacking social services and could not afford to buy basic necessities. The greatest asset for the people who have moved to Babati town was the diverse market of employment. The benefits of living in Babati town seem to outnumber the problems for most of the urban migrants. For the villagers of Mutuka the greatest asset was good natural conditions for agriculture and lifestock. In Magugu a great advantage was trade, the affordability of houses, food and necessary things. Due to differences of the dynamics of the two villages the people of Mutuka were more eager to move to Babati town than the inhabitants of Magugu. Small harvests and an insufficient market for farming products were great concerns as well as lack of social services.

A paucity of knowledge of social care services to transgender people in Scotland led to this research. Medical and social care services take very different approaches to the needs of migratory transgender people. The research design involved online questionnaires and interviews with statutory service commissioners and providers, and with voluntary organisations and transgender people themselves. A framework of three research questions underpinned the research, firstly looking at the nature of dedicated and generic support services in Scotland, secondly exploring assistance relating to transgender identity and status, and thirdly considering additional support to transgender people within their relationships and their communities. Data analysis was influenced by grounded theory in the development of themes and sub-themes which structured the research findings. The research findings indicate limited planning, guidance, training and policy development to facilitate access to generic services by transgender people. Dedicated service provision was found to be often limited to adults during transition whilst transgender children and young people, and family members including partners and parents, received limited support. A range of alternative sources of support, including transgender support groups, gender specialists, GPs, counsellors/psychiatrists and social care staff, were found to provide varying levels of support to transgender people with gender identity, transition, family support, documentation, transgender linked mental health problems and with long-term physical or other mental ill health issues. Approximately half of transgender respondents indicated that social work advice and support would be valued for each of the above categories, and that additional support would also be valued regarding making plans for the future, conflicts with family, friends, colleagues or neighbours, social isolation, social rejection, and with developing a more confident community presence. The thesis concludes with a proposal for a re-balancing of the historical systematic ‘medicalization’ of transgender, by a process of socializing transgender, through advocacy work seeking greater understanding and acceptance of transgender people and the adoption of a transgender legal status, and through the provision of the wide range of additional social care support to transgender people noted above, particularly during the socialization phase of transition and beyond.

The possible role and involvement of the Church in social development has reemerged as an important focus of contemporary academic and religious development discourse in South Africa. There are strong voices arguing for churches and other Faith-Based Organisations to be regarded as strategic in contributing to addressing the challenge of poverty as agents of social development. Yet, as church congregations multiply throughout South Africa, they appear to be less responsive to the challenge of poverty facing South African communities, contrary to the rich history of churches in the past. The need for churches to be involved in sustainable community-driven development initiatives to fight poverty in their local communities cannot be denied nor be met with just rhetoric and scholarly dissertations by theologians and academics. The vicious cycle of poverty in our communities must be eradicated as it represents a social injustice in terms of South Africa‘s Constitution and speaks to deep structural inequalities inherent in our society. Whilst researchers have made several proposals for churches to move from social welfare and relief, there appears to be little research with a clear practical strategy which congregations can implement to enhance their social service delivery role from social relief to sustainable community development. This has left a considerable gap which the current research sought to address. This study thus responds to the call by previous research for churches to implement strategies other than mere relief. Hence, this study contributes to the religious development discourse in South Africa, by developing a strategy to enhance Church-based social service delivery initiatives from social relief efforts which are not sustainable, to community development efforts which are sustainable and which will be consistent with the current social development policy context and contextually relevant to the socio-economic challenges of poverty and its consequences in South Africa. The study was conducted in two phases. During phase one, the main purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of the historical and current involvement of the Church in providing social services which address poverty in communities, to enhance understanding of the factors which influence the provision of social services by churches, as well as to understand participants views of how church-based social service delivery can be improved in order to fight poverty. For phase two, the goal was to develop a strategy to enhance church-based social service delivery from being social relief to being community development oriented. The following objectives guided the research process: To review selected and applicable literature to gain a deeper understanding of the historical and current involvement of the Church in the delivery of social services in order to fight poverty; To explore and describe the perceptions of church leaders and congregation members of the historical and current involvement of the Church in the delivery of social services in order to fight poverty; To explore and describe the factors which influence Church-based social service delivery in fighting poverty; To explore the views of church leaders and congregation members on how church-based social service delivery can be improved in their churches to inform the development of a strategy to enhance church-based social service delivery in fighting poverty. This study employed a qualitative research approach grounded in the interpretivist social science paradigm. The qualitative research approach necessitated an exploratory, descriptive and contextual method of inquiry. A descriptive case study method was also used, with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa selected as the main case of focus. The target population in this research comprised of Christian churches with a historical involvement in social service delivery in pre-apartheid South Africa. Purposeful sampling of 5 churches was undertaken, namely; Roman Catholic Church (RCC), Anglican Church (AC), Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), KwaSizabantu Mission (KSB) and Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA). Data collection was conducted in two phases. Phase one comprised a literature review; Phase two comprised gathering empirical evidence by conducting face to face semi-structured interviews with clergy and from conducting one focus group interview with congregants. The information obtained from participants was transcribed, coded and analysed using content analysis and by a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), namely ATLAS.ti. Findings revealed a marked difference between the historical and current churchbased social service delivery suggestive of decline, accompanied by the lack of empowerment opportunities for current church leaders and congregation members in community development facilitation. Further evidence suggest the lack of cooperation between church leaders and congregation members; as well as the lack of sustainability of interventions owing to an absence of resources and the lack of capacity to create sustainable economic opportunities. Findings also revealed that church congregations are rich with people with various assets - skills, strengths, capabilities, passions, gifts, talents in various fields, which they can share with one another as congregations and communities. The discussion of findings reflected that historically, Church-based social service provision involved holistic intervention mechanisms, empowerment, collaborations and sustainability of interventions suggestive of second generation strategies of community development, while currently, Church-based social service provision involves mostly social relief and social welfare efforts suggestive of first generation strategies. The findings suggest a holistic strategy for ―reawakening the co-operativeness‖ of congregations to facilitate sustainable Church-based social service delivery towards fighting poverty in local communities. The strategy which was then developed and described with its sub-strategies, namely: Establishment of collaborative relationships Creation of empowerment opportunities Facilitation of holistic interventions The goal of the strategy is to guide church leaders and congregation members in facilitating sustainable Church-based social service programmes to fight poverty.

The aim of the study was to explore development of rural communities in the Mqanduli Administrative Area. The exploratory study was further conducted to examine delivery of service to these rural communities. One of the objectives was to empower rural communities for purposes of improving their daily living standards and also to bring about social change.In determining the sample size, forty (40) respondents were selected from Mqanduli Administrative Area. Out of the forty (40) respondents, thirty (30) respondents were selected from the Mqanduli community members, five (5) were O.R.Tambo District Municipality stakeholders and the other five (5) were Social workers from Mqanduli Administrative Area. The instrument utilized to collect data was a questionnaire. Data was analysed using the quantitative and qualitative measure. The outcome of the study indicates that the majority of rural communities in the Mqanduli Administrative Area were in dire need of empowerment which will enable these disadvantaged communities towards development and social change.

Diploma thesis "Inspection of the quality of social services" deals with low quality of social services with measurement of the quality control of social services. Its main objective is to assess the position of the actors (inspectors and providers of social services), social services inspection process and make recommendations for its improvement. The work is characterized by a history of social services, whereon relates social services inspection. The work is based on the principle of subsidiarity, the theory of trust, the theory of government and market failures, as well as information asymmetry theory and the theory of bureaucracy. The diploma thesis also includes quality standards of social services, mark quality and management in social services. Work also includes the very process of inspection of social services. The following chapter is a quality framework for social services. Another part is devoted to the research methods used. At the end of thesis are the recommended areas to alteration which leading to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the process of inspection of social services.