Ann McDonald
Macmillan Press
£13.99
ISBN 0 333 67592 4
McDonald's thorough and lucid summary of the historical,
political and economic context of community care should be
essential reading for social work students, especially those
expecting to work with adults.
It comes six short years after extensive organisational changes
were made to support the policy of community care - and just at the
beginning of another round of major change. While taking us through
this context, McDonald reminds us of the "traditional social work
agenda of care, protection, support and advocacy" and of the
challenge to reflective practice "to integrate new models of
working".
She also asks whether community care, with the bureaucratisation
of social care and the inclusion of market principles, is a threat
to the profession of social work, and describes social work's
struggle to re-establish its role in the new order.
She says that the focused nature of care management is to be
welcomed, in contrast to an earlier tendency for social work to
drift in relationship and counselling work. The stages of care
management are described in chapters on needs-led assessment, care
planning, and monitoring and review, where they are related
directly to core social work approaches - interpersonal skills;
working with social networks and social supports; and task-centred
practice.
She uses these chapters to talking about key issues and
dilemmas. Risk and protection versus care and support is covered in
the chapter on care planning. Some of the dilemmas of the
purchaser/ provider split are described in the chapter "Monitoring
and review".
As the book is oriented towards social work students, McDonald
interweaves practical case study suggestions, exercises, and
references to competencies at qualifying level and values
requirements. She also puts a welcome emphasis on legalism and due
process.
However, because the community care administrative system is
still so new, McDonald has to rely on research done soon after the
beginning of community care. Such research is already dated. It is
difficult to see how academic analysis and evaluation can possibly
keep up with the current pace of change in the public sphere.
Mary Ann Hooper is manager of an elderly and physically disabled
care group, Hertfordshire social services department