"...this is going to be a very useful book. It provides an authoritative overview of approaches to quality management contextualised to health and social care." - Joe Walsh, Independent Management Consultant, formerly Assistant Director of Social Services at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames…
"...explores some very timely and critical issues in the current development of Childhood Studies...It will be especially valuable for students because it integrates concrete empirical studies with reflection on underlying theoretical assumptions." - Leena Alanen, Professor in Early Childhood Educat…
The question of how to generate sufficient revenue to pay for health care has become a serious concern for nearly all European policy-makers. This book examines the advantages and disadvantages of funding arrangements currently in use across Europe. Adopting a cross-national, cross-disciplinary pers…
* What are the strengths and limitations of social surveys?* How can the principles of surveying be put into practice?* How are findings analysed and results presented?The survey has become a widely used technique for gathering information and opinions from individuals, organizations, and other grou…
Recently, professional understanding of dementia has broadened and has opened up new thinking about how we can provide more imaginative, responsive and 'person-centred' services for people with dementia. Against this background A Handbook of Dementia Care provides a wide-ranging, up-to-date overview…
"Well before evidence-based practice became fashionable beyond clinical medicine, the team at SSRU was telling us what we ought to already know - that some interventions work better than others, and that that some well-meaning attempts at health promotion, just like medicine and surgery, may do harm…
Holistic models of cancer and palliative care frequently refer to spirituality as an important element. But what do we mean when we talk about spirituality and how do we provide spiritual care? This book sets out an understanding of this complex domain, describing how spirituality is experienced and…
* What is ethnography in social research?* To what use can ethnographic data be put?* Who are its fiercest critics?* Does ethnography have a future?Ethnography is one of the principal methods of qualitative research and has a long-established tradition of use in the social sciences. However, the lit…
This book recognizes the importance of an informed cross-cultural understanding of the policies and practices of different societies within the field of disability, human rights and education. It represents an attempt to critically engage with issues arising from the historical and contemporary dom…
'The questions are no longer whether to use or make an evaluation, but how well we use one or carry one out.''As both volume and skills in healthcare increase, there is a parallel increase in the need to evaluate the outcomes and the effects of services rendered. In this book John Ovretveit furnish…
