HALOUZKOVÁ , Lucie. Motivation of workers providing service in K-centres and in street work for drug users. Prague, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Management and Supervision in Social and Health Organisations, Charles University, 2014 , 115 pp. Master Degree Thesis. The content of this thesis is focused on the motivation of employee providing services in K - centers and streetwork programs for drug users. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the motivation of workers in the K - centers and street work programs through the own research. The aim is also determine existing forms of managers motivation by the interviews with them. The theoretical part is devoted to a more detailed description of the specifics of working with persons addicted to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, human resources, social services, the concept of motivation, motivational factors, types of motivation and motivational theories. Further work is mainly devoted to the interpretation of data obtained by questionnaire survey, centered on existing staff motivation in KC and TP and their subsequent analysis. The resulting findings are in the next phase compared with the testimony of the interviews, which were made with representatives of management organization, which was also conducted questionnaire survey. The...

The thesis explores differences among values and traditions of various (christian and jewish) social services run by religious NGO and focuses on strategies how non-religous employees cope with their work in such organizations. The thesis is focused on two Christian organizations (Charita, Diakonie) and one jewish organization run by Jewish Community. The thesis describes a history of church social services and their present state, questions of interactions between individual and corporal identities, culture of organization, faith and influence of the group. The specific characteristics of organizations run by church are part of their culture and should be a part of the way they are being managed too. Besides describing strategies used by employees who do not belong to the church, the thesis also describes some recommendations for the management, which would be also benefitial for employees' support. The aim of the thesis is not to compare Christian and Jewish institutions, but to focus on their specifics, which influence workers from the outside. In the research part the thesis tries to map attitudes of these employees, their strategies of managing differences, which they meet while working for religious NGOs. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

In modern European society, there is not the slightest doubt that all people, regardless of gender, age, race, and health status have the same rights as guaranteed, which are called human rights. According to the existing laws and agreements (referred to in the work) and according to the generally accepted rules, the human rights are inalienable, with the exception of serious and precisely specified reasons. This work deals with the problem of how to balance this elementary right with the fact that for people with cognitive impairment it is sometimes necessary to carefully consider some form of restriction of their rights. The aim of this work is to find a definition of the human rights for the elderly with cognitive impairment. Secondary objectives are to describe the social services standards in relation to human rights and the subjects who are involved in supervising the observance of the rights, and the current status. The selected issues were viewed through the implementation theory, the concept of street-level bureaucracy, and the quality of life. The thesis is based on analysis of available secondary data and expert interviews. The acquired data show that although in the Czech Republic there are a number of institutions dealing with human rights, only a few of them are concerned with the rights of...

The presented dissertation is concerned with the ethic features of the quality of the social services inspectors professional behaviour in the residental facilities. This dissertation is divided into two main parts. The first part comprises theoretical bases related to given problems with the analysis of the relevant professional literature. The other part comprises with the actual research, the aim of which was finding ethical contexts of the inspection performance, inspector's education in the ethics, ethic code of the inspectors, the inspector profession and the value preferences of the inspectors. The main target is to analyze the ethical connections during the ispection performance in chosen residential facilities of the social services. In the research the quantitative and qualitative methods, the questionnaire survey and structural interviews were used. Based on the synthesis of the acquired knowledge the dissertation presents a view of the ethics application in professional activities of the inspectors. Key words: social services, quailty standards, quality inspections, values, ethics, the ethic code, career of the inspector, residential social services.

Studiens syfte är att beskriva och analysera chefer och medarbetare syn på sina organisatoriska förutsättningar att etablera evidensbaserad praktik (EBP) i socialtjänsten. I uppsatsen läggs ett särskilt fokus på den organisatoriska förutsättningen strategiskt ledarskap och dess betydelse i en EBP-kontext. Frågeställningarna behandlar huruvida det finns en tydlig riktning kring hur verksamheten ska utvecklas, om konkreta förutsättningarna skapas för genomförandet, ifall kontinuerlig uppföljning och återkoppling ges på arbetet samt om det finns uthållighet i utvecklingsarbetet i organisationen. Skillnader i uppfattning mellan chefer och medarbetare undersöks. Empirin har hämtats från två barn- och ungdomsenheter i Stockholms stad i form av en enkätundersökning och fyra fokusgrupper. Materialet har analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning om ledarskap kopplat till implementering av EBP samt Scheins ramverk om organisationskultur och ledarskap. Resultaten från enkätundersökningen visar på statistiskt säkerställda skillnader i uppfattning mellan chefer och medarbetare: cheferna svarar genomgående i en mer positiv riktning än medarbetare. Resultaten från fokusgrupperna visar möjligheter att skapa tydlig riktning, flera likheter i uppfattning om konkreta förutsättningar samt möjligheter att utveckla arbetet med uppföljning och återkoppling. Faktorer som påverkar uthålligheten i organisationen lyfts fram. Sammanfattningsvis visar undersökningen att det strategiska ledarskapet ännu inte finns fullt ut i de undersökta organisationerna men viktiga steg har tagits för att skapa denna organisatoriska förutsättning. Resultat från undersökningen pekar också mot att man framöver bör arbeta mer systematiskt med att inkludera medarbetarna i arbetet med att etablera en evidensbaserad praktik. / The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze social work managers’ and employees’ views of the organizational prerequisites to establish evidence-based practice (EBP) in the social services. The thesis has a particular focus on the organizational preconditions of strategic leadership and its importance in an EBP context. The research questions reflect whether the strategy for development is clear, if conditions are established for implementation, if continuous evaluation is used and feedback given, and whether there is perseverance regarding the developmental work in the organization. Differences in the opinions between managers and employees are examined. The study has a mixed-methods approach. Empirical data were derived from two children and youth units in Stockholm city in the form of a survey and four focus groups. The material was analyzed based on previous research on leadership related to implementation of EBP and Schein's framework of organizational culture and leadership. The results from the survey show statistically significant differences in the opinions between managers and employees: managers consistently respond in a more positive direction compared to the employees. The results from the focus groups show opportunities to provide clear direction, several similarities in opinion about how to create concrete conditions for implementation, as well as possibilities to develop work on evaluation and feedback. These results further highlight factors related to sustainability for strategic leadership. To conclude, the investigations of present study find that the strategic leadership does not yet characterize these organizations, but important steps have been taken in developing this organizational condition. Moreover, the results indicate that future work would benefit from systematically involve employees in the developing efforts to establish an evidence-based practice.

This thesis focuses on service utilisation among children with mild ID and their families, their needs for support and their experiences of support. Aims The overall aim of the thesis was to explore and describe service utilisation patterns among families of children with mild ID from a systems perspective. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative quantitative design was used to describe the extent of service utilisation among 84 children with mild ID and their families (paper I and II). The types and number of services utilised were investigated in relation to the child’s age, gender and school setting. Data concerning the services utilised were collected from the organisational records of social services and paediatric habilitation units. In paper III, a descriptive questionnaire design was used to describe the support needs of families of 38 children with mild ID. A confirmatory design was used to examine the relation between family needs for support and (a) parental self-efficacy and (b) parents’ control over services. A confirmatory design was also used to examine the relation between parents’ experiences of the helpfulness of the support and (a) parental self-efficacy and (b) parents’ control over services. In paper IV a longitudinal, comparative and confirmatory design was used to investigate whether social service utilisation patterns differ over time when children with mild ID in self-contained classes are compared with those integrated into mainstream classes (n=405). Results In total, 60% of the families utilised paediatric habilitation services, and 40% of the families used disability-related services provided by social services. The most commonly utilised services were services concerned support outside of the home, such as respite care and services to improve children’s participation in society. Approximately 25% of the families utilised social problems-related services provided by social services. The most commonly utilised services concerned those to support parents in their parenting roles and financial assistance. In contrast to older children, younger children were more likely to utilise paediatric habilitation services. Older children utilised a higher number of disability-related service types provided by social services. Few differences were found between males and females. The majority of families did not utilise such services that are provided by social services. It was rare for families to use both disability-related services and those that address social problems during the same year. Commonly reported family needs concerned information about what services are available for their child, their child's impairment, how to respond to their child's behaviour and how to teach their child skills. Other common needs included access to parent support networks, to find suitable leisure activities for the child, and more alone time for parents. In contrast to families with mothers who did not participate in paid work, families with mothers who were employed expressed a lower requirement for support such as counselling, contact with other parents of children with impairments, more friends and more alone time for parents. Similar results werefound for families with mothers with higher levels of education. Parents with higher levels of perceived self-efficacy reported a lower need for information, as did also parents with higher levels of control over services. Parents with higher levels of control over services experienced the support as being more helpful. Children with mild ID who attended self-contained classes were more likely to utilise paediatric habilitation services than children integrated in mainstream classes. The same pattern was found for utilisation of disability-related services provided by social services. Integrated children who changed school setting to attend self-contained classes were more likely to begin to utilise disability-related services in comparison with those children who continued to be integrated. The former also had a higher likelihood of increasing the number of disability-related service types utilised. Conclusions In addition to disability-related problems, families of children with mild ID may also be at a higher risk of experiencing social problems when compared with the general population. Furthermore, very few families utilised both disability-related services and services addressing social problems. This implies that collaboration flaws exist between those professionals concerned with child welfare services and those concerned with disability-related services. A strong predictor of service utilisation was the type of school setting: children attending self-contained classes had a higher rate of service utilisation than those attending mainstream classes. This indicates that service systems outside of school are designed to collaborate with groups of pupils in special classes rather than individual children in mainstream classes. The strong need for information by families indicates that an ecological framework should be used to identify those factors that affect information availability and effectiveness. To increase parents’ perceived level of control over services, HSO professionals need to work in a capacity building manner with the explicit goal to enhance parental self-efficacy.

Health Studies / (M.P.H. (Health Studies))

This inquiry into informal networks and policy negotiations is set in the theoretical framework of network governance. It builds theory to explain informal networks by examining neighbourhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans through a variety of qualitative methodologies including interviews, document analysis, surveying and ethnography. In New Orleans, neighbourhood associations do not engage in social-service delivery, they prioritise neighbourhood protection and neighbourhood change. They represent their neighbourhoods through a system of intensive volunteering not elections. That system burns out neighbourhood leaders and leaves associations constantly looking for new volunteers. These associations partner with non-profits, work with politicians, and engage in fierce conflict when excluded from policy negotiations. Finally, they set their agenda based upon the physical characteristics of their neighbourhoods, investing in local institutions. These findings contribute to network governance theory. New Orleans’ democracy of volunteers introduces a new form of democratic anchorage to governance theory. Actors in informal networks have varying priorities. This demonstrates the importance of early involvement by these actors in policy creation and the ways in which policy construction can ignore community. Neighbourhood associations blackmail, bribe and coerce to create their own power, showing how power at the micro-level includes not only resources and decision-making, but also interest. These findings fit into a broader theme. Negotiations with multiple actors improve policy by incorporating complex priorities and neighbourhood context into the policy system. This wider theme of how to address complexity is the policy equivalent of the wisdom of crowds. Policy-makers can either incorporate complexity such as local context and differing priorities or face the conflict and consequences of ignoring it.

The aim of this study was to analyze how social workers in an elder administration in Sweden handle empowerment and needs for people with dementia and what ethical dilemmas the social workers could experience with these clients. The result is based on qualitative interviews where eight social workers had the opportunity to describe their work with elder people with dementia. Five main subjects were identified in the interviews: empowerment, strategies, dilemmas, force and knowledge and understanding in the organization. The analysis of these themes helps us to understand how the social workers in their profession handle different situations and dilemmas which can arise in their daily work. The conclusion from the result and the analysis was that the most frequent dilemmas for the social workers in their work with people with dementia was the clients unwillingness to receive help, relatives’ and other professions’ ignorance about empowerment and also when relatives wanted to make decisions for the clients. The result showed that the social workers used extensive motivational work for the clients with dementia in order to handle their empowerment and needs. The social workers requested that the relatives and the staff who work with elder people should have more knowledge about the empowerment for the clients. / Syftet med studien var att förstå hur biståndshandläggare i en äldreförvaltning i Sverige hanterar äldre demenssjukas självbestämmanderätt och hjälpbehov samt vilka etiska dilemman de kan ha i arbetet med dessa brukare. Empirin bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer där åtta biståndshandläggare haft möjlighet att med egna ord beskriva hur ärendehanteringar med äldre demenssjuka brukare kan se ut. Fem huvudteman identifierades i intervjuerna vilka var: självbestämmande, strategier, dilemman, tvång samt olika kunskaper och förståelse i organisationen. Analysen av dessa teman bidrar till att förstå hur handläggarna i sin yrkesroll hanterar situationer och dilemman som kan uppstå i deras praktiska vardag. Slutsatsen utifrån resultat och analys är att de främsta dilemman som biståndshandläggarna möter i arbetet med demenssjuka brukare är brukarnas ovilja att ta emot hjälp, oförståelse om självbestämmanderätten hos anhöriga och övriga professioner samt när anhöriga vill ta beslut åt brukarna. Utifrån empirin kunde vi se att biståndshandläggarna använde sig av omfattande motiveringsarbete med de demenssjuka brukarna för att hantera deras självbestämmanderätt och hjälpbehov. Något som handläggarna efterfrågade var mer kunskap om självbestämmanderätten bland äldreförvaltningens hemtjänstpersonal och anhöriga till brukarna.

The aim of this study was to understand how a social workers responsible for foster children within the municipal social services, is working with the children’s continuous relationships with family members and other significant related, as well as which knowledge formed the basis for their work practice. The study is based on interviews with eight social workers from three different municipalities. The results showed that the work is based on the law which causing interpretations, in which the individual assessment is in fact to be based on the child's needs- and best, but in practice are decisions made by and involving several parties. The study showed that the guardians and foster cares wills and opinions weigh heavily, often at the expense of the child perspective. As a strategy to assess the child's best, the social workers turn to their own quiet knowledge and colleagues and the organization's traditions to retrieve knowledge that supports the decisions, and to a lesser extent to scientific knowledge and evidence-based practice. The social workers also expressed a wish to work more with scientific underpinnings, but the organization does not work with routine gathering of scientific knowledge.