Abstract

New or experienced social workers who are developing their collaborative practice with service users and carers and with other professionals, will find this book to be an essential source of knowledge, skills and issues for reflection. The authors explain how practitioners in social care, health and related sectors can work more effectively together in line with current developments in policy and practice, offering a critical appraisal both of the benefits and the challenges.

The authors explore definitions of collaborative work, describe policy and research and give examples from their experiences of interprofessional practice. They emphasize the importance of building genuine partnerships between professionals, and with service users and carers in planning and providing care, service development and research. Good practice in collaborative working is described with different groups, including older people, people with mental health needs, children and families and people with learning disabilities.

Exploring the ways in which shared values and collaborative working practices can be brought together for effective interprofessional provision of user-focused services, this informative book is a must-read for social workers and other professionals involved with social care and health services.

This book plots the emergence of the principle of collaboration as a fundamental value in health and social care, and explores how it can be achieved through a series of case studies, including service user and carer perspectives. This is a timely read.
Community Care
There are some exciting and challenging ideas in this book... I can strongly recommend this book to social work lecturers, practice teachers and social work students.
Journal of Practice Teaching
This reader is aimed at new or experienced social workers who want to develop collaborative practice with service users or partner agencies in health, social care and other sectors. Definitions of what constitutes collaborative work are presented, as is relevant policy on partnerships, current research on what works, and examples of good practice.
Care and Health Magazine
The literature on collaborative practice is growing apace, but texts for students and beginning practitioners remain few, making this publication even more welcome. Written for new entrants to social work in the UK, it interweaves two themes: involving "Service Users" and carers, and collaboration between professions.
Journal of Interprofessional