Tackling inequalities in health is an essential social work task. Every day, social workers grapple with the impacts on people's lives of the social inequalities that shape their health chances and experiences. This book examines the relationship between social work and health inequalities in the context of globalisation. Based on the practice expertise and research of social workers from developing and developed countries worldwide and using specific examples, this book: demonstrates the relevance of health inequalities to social work practice and policy across the life course; analyses the barriers to good health that result from global social, economic, environmental and political trends; develops core ideas on how social workers can act to combat the negative effects of globalisation by applying a health inequalities lens. "Social Work and Global Health Inequalities" is a unique snapshot of a new global social work that is responsive to local conditions and circumstances but seeks partners in the international struggle for equity, rights and social justice. This groundbreaking collection is essential reading for social work students, academics and researchers, and for policy makers, managers and social workers.

Tackling inequalities in health is an essential social work task. Every day, social workers grapple with the impact on people's lives of the social inequalities that shape their health chances and experience. This book examines the relationship between social work and health inequalities in the context of globalisation. Based on the practice expertise and research of social workers from developing and developed countries worldwide and using specific examples, this book: * demonstrates the relevance of health inequalities to social work practice and policy across the lifecourse; * analyses barriers to good health that result from global social, economic, environmental and political trends; * develops core ideas on how social workers can act to combat negative effects of globalisation by adopting a health inequalities lens. "Social work and global health inequalities" is a unique snapshot of a new global social work that is responsive to local conditions and circumstances but seeks partners in the international struggle for equity, rights and social justice. This groundbreaking collection is essential reading for social work students, academics and researchers, and for policy makers, managers and social workers.

Professional practice is in crisis. The formal theoretical knowledge on which practitioners base their practice is often outstripped by rapid changes in the contexts of this practice. The unpredictability of workplace and broader contexts often renders existing traditional practices irrelevant or ineffective. How can practitioners develop new ways of working which are flexible and responsive? The reflective approach, whereby practitioners draw out their theories of action directly from their own practice, is becoming increasingly popular as a new approach which enables breakthroughs in practice impasses. Yet reflectivity is often difficult to teach and learn because it challenges traditional, often unquestioned, paradigms of knowledge development. Therefore, rather than simply arguing for a reflective approach, this book makes a unique contribution by actually modelling the use of the reflective approach in practice. Students, educators and practitioners are able to read illustrations of how individual social workers used a reflective process to break through specific dilemmas in their practice. Thus, they are enabled to understand a reflective approach by gaining in insight into their experience of it. Contributors to this volume come from Australia, the United Kingdom and North America. Their personal backgrounds are diverse. They report on seminal experiences in a wide range of settings, from community work in the Gorbals, to hospice care in Sydney, from child protection to work with addictions. The book will appeal to: .Trainers and managers in social work, social care and health .Social work students and trainees .Social work academics .Professional and vocational educators generally who are interested in gaining practical insights into the development of reflective understanding. Lindsey Napier is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Sydney. Jan Fook is Professor of Social Work, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia