Well-being in Social Work
Part 1 of the assignment covers three areas:
Social inequalities in health
Life course theory
Well-being
Social inequalities in health – LO 2 (450 words)
Analyse the impact of social inequalities and injustice on health and well-being.
Briefly describe what is meant by social inequalities in health and illustrate this by giving an example, based around the service user, of the forms and scale of them. You can do this by, for example, showing ‘health gaps’ between rich and poor or social gradients which show differences between groups across the social spectrum.
Briefly discuss the causes of health inequalities. Here, you should show that you are aware that the causes are complex. how different causes interrelate. Focus your analysis on how two of the causes below affects service users’ and carers’ lives.
Material poverty: people living on low incomes in unhealthy environments.
Behavioural: that poor people are more likely to lead unhealthy ‘lifestyles’. A key question here is why this happens.
Status: the psycho-social impact of social inequality on poor people and their related lack of autonomy and social participation.
note – you do not have to place equal emphasis on the causes you discuss.
The Life Course – LO1 (450 words)
Demonstrate how life course perspectives can be used to help social workers understand the well-being of service users and carers.
Briefly describe what life course perspectives are and show how they can be applied to help social workers understand how service users are affected by health inequalities.
The general concern is the cumulative impact social inequality and injustice have on service users and carers over the course of their lives. Also, remember that life course perspectives can be used to project forwards and/or retrospectively, e.g. with care leavers it can help to understand how their history in childhood brought them to their current situation and, from that, their likely future development.
Pick 1 area to critically discuss (articles can be found on the reading list):
Critical Period and Accumulation of Risk models discussed by By waters (chapter 13) which can be found in Lymbery and Postle (2007). Whilst dated, this is a useful source.
or
Transitions and trajectories discussed by Dornan & Woodhead (2015)
Well-being – LO 1 and 2 (450 words)
Briefly define well-being. Then, analyse the impacts and influences of specific social inequalities in health and life course perspectives to the service users’ well-being. The general issue linking health inequalities, the life course and well-being is the interrelationship of physical and psychological health and how they are ‘socially determined’. How people feel, and their mental well-being, will influence both their physical health and their behaviour, all of which is related to social status (see e.g. Friedli, 2009; Marmot, 2010; Bywaters 2016).
Part 2 of the assignment covers two areas:
Anti-oppressive practice
Social work methods/approaches
Anti-oppressive practice – LO 4 (750 words)
Critically discuss how social workers can use anti-oppressive practice to counter the stigma and discrimination experienced by service users and carers.
Briefly define and discuss the causes of stigma and discrimination. Then, discuss the extent to which the service user group lacks power and autonomy (both affect well-being). It may be helpful to consider self-stigma.
Discuss the ways in which service users and/or carers often play a leading role in challenging stigma and discrimination as in the disabled people’s movement campaign for the social model of disability. Relate this to your chosen service user group.
Critically discuss how social workers can incorporate anti-oppressive (AOP) and anti-discriminatory practice (ADP) into their overall practice in an attempt to counter forms of stigma, discrimination and a lack of well-being faced by the service user. It may be helpful to consider theories such as Thompson’s approach to anti-discriminatory practice, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory or Dominelli’s approach to anti-oppressive practice.
Social Work Methods/Approaches – LO 3 (750 words)
Demonstrate understanding of the methods social workers can use to address social inequalities in health and promote well-being.
Focusing on the forms of ill-health and lack of well-being in your earlier discussion, how can the method of mutual aid be used to promote resilience, recovery and well-being for the service user group? Here, it may be helpful to recognise that service users and carers are ‘experts by experience’ and can, and do, play an active part in overcoming their difficulties. You should also discuss how social workers can support this by seeking to promote resilience and recovery.
Identify and explore another method that a social worker can use to try to promote the well-being of people within the service user group.
Critically discuss how and why social workers might experience difficulties using these methods in practice with the service user group. E.g. managing high caseloads, cuts in service, a lack of awareness; etc.
Remember to write a brief introduction outlining the areas you will be covering and a brief conclusion which pulls together your most salient points.
