Abstract

Good Practice in Social Work 9

This is a practical and trans-disciplinary guide for professionals working with vulnerable adults, who include the frail elderly, those with mental health problems or physical disabilities, learning disabilities or serious physical illness.

The contributors address key problems and dilemmas in working to protect these groups from abuse, and to support those who have already experienced abuse or neglect. They consider the procedural implications of the latest Department of Health guidance on working with vulnerable adults, and make practical suggestions for working with both victims and abusers.

Highlighting the importance of interagency working, the contributors show how the related fields of child abuse, domestic violence and adult abuse can come together to promote increased understanding and good practice. With its emphasis on effective practice and contributions from social work, general medical practice, criminal justice and adult protection, this collection will be an indispensable resource for students, practitioners, service managers and policy makers in all sectors.

I think this volume provides us with a good mixture of perspectives, issues for deliberation and pointers to good practice. It is very timely as agency responses to the protection of vulnerable adults are increasingly coming under the spotlight and aids such as this book will find an increasing audience among those charged with operating in this area of practice.
The Journal of Adult Protection
I would recommend this book to others; indeed I have already advised our junior doctors to read it. It will help to improve cooperation and understanding between the different disciplines and agencies involved in adult abuse work and will encourage debate and interest in this area.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Although taking a broad view of adult abuse, rather than elder abuse, this book will be valuable to those working with older people. It is a collection of 14 chapters, in the main written by practitioners from England. The book explicitly rejects an academic style and aims to convey practitioners' experience and reflections... Its contributions will probably have broad resonance and practitioners may find key issues transferable. This book's strengths, however, lie in its span and such breadth is highly appropriate to elder abuse work.
Jill Manthorpe, University of Hull
The organisation of the book makes it easy to dip into... There are also lots of good practice tips throughout the book, making the advice easy to apply in practice... This is a subject that would fit well into ongoing professional training and the book could form an excellent resource for such training activities. It is a good reference book to have on an office shelf, for use when a specific query crops up.
Mental Health Occupational Therapy
This book will be a very useful resource for practitioners, managers and inspectors of social care services. It explores from a number of perspectives the way that policy and practice come together, and the dilemmas that arise for practitioners working within the new adult protection frameworks. It is accessible but thorough, and throughout there are interesting and useful case studies to bring the text to life.
Community Care
I found the most interesting chapters were those written by people from professional backgrounds very different from my own: I now have a better idea of how the police approach abuse and what a home inspection officer actually does. There is also coverage of neglected areas such as alcohol and older people. Case studies are widely used, helping to bring the book to life.
International Geriatric Psychiatry