Social Services and Programs

Socio-economic development is the process of social and economic development in a society.

Socio-economic development is measured with indicators, such as GDP, life expectancy, literacy and levels of employment. Changes in less-tangible factors are also considered, such as personal dignity, freedom of association, personal safety and freedom from fear of physical harm, and the extent of participation in civil society.

Causes of socio-economic impacts are, for example, new technologies, changes in laws, changes in the physical environment and ecological changes.

 

Social services and programs begin with professionals in this field.

 

Professional social workers are concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their human impacts. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities, as members of a profession which is committed to social justice and human rights (Reichert, 2003). Their approach is to consider the individual within the social environment.

Professional social workers have a strong tradition of working for social justice, and of refusing to recreate unequal social structures. This means going beyond state sponsored practices which merely cater for individual needs, in order to transform society as a whole. Social work maintains this radical kernel and today many social workers internationally have strong connections with social and political movements for the emancipation of the oppressed.

The main tasks of professional social workers are case management (linking clients with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs), medical social work, counseling (psychotherapy), human services management, social welfare policy analysis, community organizing, advocacy, teaching (in schools of social work), and social science research.

Professional social workers work in a variety of settings, including: non-profit or public social service agencies, grassroots advocacy organizations, hospitals, hospices, community health agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, and even the military. Other social workers work as psychotherapists, counselors, or mental health practitioners, normally working in coordination with psychiatrists, psychologists, or other medical professionals. Additionally, some social workers have chosen to focus their efforts on social policy or academic research into the practice or ethics of social work. The emphasis has varied among these task areas by historical era and country, and some of these areas have been the subject of controversy as to whether they are properly part of social work's mission.

 

Medical Social Work

Medical Social Work is a sub-discipline of social work. Medical social workers typically work in a hospice or hospital setting, have a graduate degree in the field (Masters degree in social work (MSW or MSSW), and work with patients and their families in need of psychosocial help. Medical social workers assess the patient's and family's psychosocial functioning and intervene as necessary. Interventions may include connecting patients and families to necessary resources and supports in the community; providing psychotherapy, supportive counseling, or grief counseling; or helping a patient to expand and strengthen their network of social supports. Medical social workers typically work on an interdisciplinary team with professionals of other disciplines (such as medicine, nursing, occupational and recreational therapy, etc.). A business home page is similar to the front window of a retail business. Highlight your best products or services and any special offers here. Present your products or services value to browsers to get them "though the door" or deeper into your site.

 

World Health Organization (WHO)

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized United Nations agency which acts as a coordinator and researcher for public health around the world. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the League of Nations. The WHO's constitution states that its mission "is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health." Its major task is to combat disease, especially key infectious diseases, and to promote the general health of the peoples of the world. Examples of its work include years of fighting smallpox. In 1979 the WHO declared that the disease had been eradicated - the first disease in history to be completely eliminated by deliberate human design. The WHO is nearing success in developing vaccines against malaria and schistosomiasis and aims to eradicate polio within the next few years. The organization has already endorsed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe from October 3, 2006, making it an international standard.[14]

The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors. In recent years the WHO's work has involved more collaboration, currently around 80 such partnerships, with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as with foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Voluntary contributions to the WHO from national and local governments, foundations and NGOs, other UN organizations, and the private sector (including pharmaceutical companies), now exceed that of assessed contributions (dues) from its 193 member nations.[15]

Health care, or healthcare, is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions. According to the World Health Organization, health care embraces all the goods and services designed to promote health, including “preventive, curative and palliative interventions, whether directed to individuals or to populations”.[1] The organized provision of such services may constitute a health care system. This can include a specific governmental organization such as, in the UK, the National Health Service or a cooperation across the National Health Service and Social Services as in Shared Care. Before the term "health care" became popular, English-speakers referred to medicine or to the health sector and spoke of the treatment and prevention of illness and disease.

In most developed countries and many developing countries health care is provided to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom was the world's first universal health care system provided by government. It was established in 1948 by Clement Atlee's Labor government. Alternatively, compulsory government funded health insurance with nominal fees can be provided, as in France which has the best health system in the world, or Italy which has the second best according to the World Health Organization.[2] Other examples are Medicare in Australia, established in the 1970s by the Labor government, and by the same name Medicare in Canada, established between 1966 and 1984. Universal health care contrasts to the systems like health care in the United States or South Africa, though South Africa is one of the many countries attempting health care reform.[3]