Annual of social work, Vol. 17 No. 3, 2010.
Review article
NEW MODEL OF SOCIAL CARE CENTRES: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Kristina Urbanc
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb,Department of Social Work, Zagreb, Croatia
Marina Ajduković
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb,Department of Social Work, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The article describes considerations on current changes in the work of social care centres as an integral part of the social care system reform. Three levels of action, which can contribute to sustainable changes in the work of social care centres, are presented: (1) theoretical level, which reflects in the increasing of knowledge important for understanding the service user perspective, collaborative relations and empowerment as key concepts of key and sustainable changes in the work of social care centres; (2) applied level, operationalized through an interactive workshop with the employees of social care centres related to the work oriented to the principles of individual care plan/work; (3) level of advocating further changes and strengthening the preconditions for sustainability of the new work model in social care centres is operationalized through a series of recommendations. The recommendations are an outcome of combining our reflexions from the analysis of the results of the qualitative research conducted with the employees of five pilot centres, our theoretical commitments and professional experience and values.
The aim of this article is to contribute to the integration of social work theory and practice, where the role of science is to actively support the profession and help the experts in recognizing specificities of providing help and distinguishing these processes from difficulties related to organisation or administrative procedures. The need to create and keep a professional dialogue and collaborative relation at all professional levels was confirmed from the perspective of both the practitioners and the researchers, which is especially important in a time of change.
Keywords
social care system reform; user perspective; empowerment; collaborative relation; action research; sustainable development of the new work model in social care centres; change management
Hrčak ID:
64353
URI
Publication date:
20.2.2011.
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