Book Review – Community Care

COMMUNITY CARE
Neil Thompson and Sue Thompson, Russell House Publishing
ISBN 1903855586, £13.95

STAR RATING: 4/5

This book is part of a series, Theory into Practice, which
aims to introduce the reader to relevant sets of ideas, link them
to practice issues and provide a gateway to further learning,
writes Elaine Argyle. In addressing
community care, this well referenced book undoubtedly achieves
these aims.

Focusing particularly on the process of care management it provides
a thoughtful and critical account of underpinning theory and
practice issues. It also considers anti-oppressive and
anti-discriminatory measures, thus helping to lay the foundations
for good practice in this area.

However, in its attempt to make sense of complex issues within the
confines of a relatively small book, the writing style can at times
be rather dense and difficult to digest.

As the authors recognise, such constraints also prevent a truly
comprehensive coverage of the diverse topic of community
care.

Nevertheless, in an area in which texts can quickly become dated
and in which mechanistic practices can predominate, this book
provides an up-to-date and critical overview of its topic and
argues for an informed approach to practice, which is focused on
people rather than on bureaucratic procedures.

Elaine Argyle is Economic and Social Research Council
post-doctoral research fellow, University of Sheffield