Abstract

Information technology is changing the role, responsibilities and practices of social care professionals, as well as policy and management within the field. Bringing together leading academics to discuss the application of new information technology (IT) in health and social care, this text examines a variety of technologies, including the Internet, multimedia and online communities.

The contributors take a balanced approach, highlighting the anxiety and unease as well as the advantages brought about by these developments in technology and the resulting change in responsibilities. They also explore the wider implications of the changes in relations between experts, professionals and lay people that technology has brought about.

Discussing issues such as child abuse and the Internet, computer mediated self-help and collaborative learning, Information and Communication Technologies in the Welfare Services is a ground-breaking book in the field of social care, bringing well-researched and up-to-date discussion of all aspects of information technology to those working and studying in health and social care.

This reader has a section entitled "Wired Wonderland or Hypertext Hell", which reflects the contributors varied approach to IT and new communication technologies. They explore and discuss their applications in health and social care, highlighting both anxieties and unease and the advantages new technologies can bring. The section covers caring professions and IT; using the internet for evidence-based practice; real records and virtual clients (covering matters like tick-box approaches to care); technology and systems of referral-taking in social services; internet child abuse. The second section focuses on health and welfare, covering: IT and the organisation of patient care; health, collaborative learning and "the collapse of professionalism"; consumers, the internet and the reconfiguration of expertise. This is a thoughtful and challenging publication.
Care and Health Magazine
Harlow and Webb's edited collection provides an illuminating insight into the use and potential abuses of employing information and communication technology (ICT) within health and welfare services. The book offers a range of case studies, which describe, discuss and critique various types of ICT (e.g. Websites, chat rooms, databases, newsgroups) and their application to different health and welfare settings.
Journal of Interprofessional Care
Some of the chapters are written in a lucid and accessible style, so the book ought to appeal to a wide cross-section of readers. The introduction, for example, gives a highly readable overview of the history of the development of technologies across a range of welfare services.
Community Care
This book provides an overview of the role of information technology in health and social care. Sociological and political perspectives are presented by academics within the context of a balanced discussion of the pros and cons of information technology for practitioners and service-users. Case studies are presented that are likely to enhance understanding of practical issues within health and social care.
Journal of Community Nursing