Key Themes in Health and Social Care

A Companion to Learning

Adam Barnard, Adam Barnard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781136930195
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medical Education

KeyThemes in Health and Social Care is a learning resource for students in health and social care. It provides an overview of foundational issues and core themes in the field and introduces key areas of debate, moving from an introductory level to in-depth discussion as the book progresses. Divided into three parts:

• the first part sets the scene, addressing introductory psychology and sociology, social policy, equality and diversity, skills for practice, and working with people

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• the second part considers key themes such as the contribution of philosophy and politics; criminal justice; management of services; the relationship between place and wellbeing; research in health and social care; theories of counselling; housing and the built environment

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• the third part looks at discrete areas of practice such as mental health; substance abuse, protection work; health promotion; disability studies; working with men; child welfare and public responsibility.

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Each chapter begins with an outline of the content and learning outcomes and includes reflective exercises to allow students to reflect on what they have read, review their learning and consolidate their understanding. Time-pressed readers wanting to 'dip into' the book for relevant areas can do so but, read from cover to cover, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the key areas of contemporary health and social care practice. It will be particularly helpful for students undertaking health and social care undergraduate and foundation degrees.

PART 1

Chapter 1 Skills for study and practice Siân Trafford

Chapter 2 Working with people Kirsty Beart, Graham Whitehead and Adam Barnard

Chapter 3 The individual in society Barbara Coulson and Bridget Hallam

Chapter 4 Concepts of equality and diversity Adam Barnard

Chapter 5 Introduction to social policy Chris Towers

CHAPTER 1
SKILLS FOR STUDY AND PRACTICE

SIÂN TRAFFORD

OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

Have an awareness of writing academically.

Understand the process of writing and preparing to write.

Understand how to structure and review your written work.

After reading this chapter you will know the meaning of the following terms: Grammar, punctuation, summarising, paraphrasing, citation, referencing, proofreading.

There is a Moment of Reflection at the end of the chapter.

INTRODUCTION

This chapter opens by introducing the necessary skills to be able to study for a qualification in health and social care. It begins with a stepped approach to getting started. Writing skills are introduced to provide guidance on sentences and grammar, subject–verb agreement and punctuation of full stops, commas, colons and semicolons. Using reading effectively explores reading, managing reading lists and using the internet, skimming, scanning and reviewing, before paraphrasing and citation and referencing are discussed. Essay writing skills examine planning, structure, sign posting and cohesion, conclusions and proofreading. Examples in the conclusion, at the end of chapter, allow you to apply the skills to real situations.

GETTING STARTED

Writing at university involves skills in reading critically and writing in a manner which is understandable and credible. This chapter will assist you in developing these skills so that your experience of learning will be enjoyable: you will learn how to learn.

Step 1

Identify available time and space for study – a separate room or a corner of a room to accommodate the necessary equipment (paper, pens, PC and printer, books and learning resources, and so on). Work out how much time has to be spent on commitments such as lectures, seminars, tutorials, family, paid or voluntary work, and so on, and then plan how to use the remaining time effectively by setting targets to achieve specific goals. (See SMART targets under essay writing skills.)

Step 2

Become familiar with the library and read – reading is vital, not just to gather the information needed to complete assignments, but because it introduces the academic writing style necessary at university. Pay attention to the words and expressions used, sentence and paragraph structure and referencing conventions, and consider how they can be used in your own writing.

Step 3

Identify any problems with your skills in studying – such as not being clear about computers or writing well. Get help from tutors or sources of student support as early as possible before problems become overwhelming.

WRITING SKILLS

The object of good academic writing is to communicate ideas and evidence clearly and effectively. Academic writing therefore needs to be well structured and analytical, with a strong argument that takes the reader logically step by step to a persuasive conclusion. Correct grammar and punctuation are two of the tools which help writers to achieve clarity so this chapter will explain how to write clear, well-formed sentences and avoid the pitfalls of ungrammatical or incomplete sentences.

Punctuation is important because it helps the reader to make sense of what has been written. When speaking, facial expression, hand gestures, tone and pitch of the voice are used to convey meaning, but with written material, the reader has to rely on punctuation. This chapter will, therefore, also consider the use of punctuation, particularly commas, full stops, semicolons and colons.

This chapter will cover some of these fundamental writing skills because although many students are confident about how to study, some are less sure of their writing abilities.

Sentences

Children learn in primary school that sentences begin with a capital letter, end with a full stop and make complete sense on their own, but problems can arise with the more sophisticated constructions required for academic writing. Common problems include beginning sentences with conjunctions (words such as although, because, while, whereas, and so on) or with a continuous version of a verb (words such as judging, listening, working, and so on) because this can result in incomplete sentences.

For example:

• Suggesting that removing children from families is not always effective.

• Whereas the Youth Justice Board wants to ensure that custody is only used as a last resort.

These phrases do not make sense on their own because they only provide limited information so they are called sentence fragments. In the first example, there is no indication of what demonstrates that removing children from families is not always effective. In the second example, whereas indicates that the information is providing a contrasting point yet there is no other information to contrast it with. These fragments could be converted into complete sentences with a simple adjustment.

For example:

• Looked-after children frequently underachieve educationally, suggesting that removing children from families is not always effective.

• Public opinion regularly demands that all criminals should be jailed whereas the Youth Justice Board wants to ensure that custody is only used as a last resort.

OR

• Whereas the Youth Justice Board wants to ensure that custody is only used as a last resort, public opinion regularly demands that all criminals should be jailed.

Subject–verb agreement

Another issue which causes problems for students is subject–verb agreement. The subject of a sentence (the person or thing doing the action) has to match the form of the verb (the action word). This is because the subject of a sentence can be singular (there is only one of them) or plural (there are lots of them) and the verbs change accordingly.

For instance, if the above sentence read Looked-after children frequently underachieves educationally it would sound incorrect because the subject is plural (children) while the verb (underachieves) is in the singular form.

This adjustment is usually made automatically when speaking, and when writing too. The problem arises when writing becomes more sophisticated and sentences become longer, such as in academic writing, so extra care needs to be taken to clarify the subject of a sentence.

• The group of social workers (agree, agrees) to meet the following week.

• A wide range of sentences (is, are) available to the youth justice system.

• In the gym, only three treadmills (was, were) unoccupied.

• All of the assignments, including the one submitted electronically, (was, were) marked before the end of the week.

• The group of social workers agrees to meet the following week. Because ‘the group’ is the subject of the sentence and is singular.

• A wide range of sentences is available to the youth justice system. Because ‘a wide range’ is the subject of the sentence and is singular.

• In the gym, only three treadmills were unoccupied. Because ‘treadmills’ are the subject of the sentence and are plural.

• All of the assignments, including the one submitted electronically, were marked before the end of the week. Because ‘all of the assignments’ are the subject, not just ‘the one submitted electronically’.

PUNCTUATION

Correct punctuation makes meaning clear to the reader. Incorrect punctuation can make written work confusing or even incomprehensible so it is vital to get it right.

Full stops

Full stops separate one statement from another and indicate to the reader that a sentence is complete. As has been stated, a sentence must express a complete idea and make sense on its own.

Commas

Commas are used to separate items in a list and to separate parts of a sentence. They are also used to link simple sentences, but care needs to be taken not to use a comma when a full stop is required.

• The student dropped her pens, books and lecture notes.

• The pathways included working with children, caring for the elderly and supporting offenders.

• The social work profession, which is frequently criticised by the press, provides a vital service for vulnerable people.

The first two examples show commas being used to separate listed items. In the second sentence, the listed items are more complex but they all have the same grammatical structure.

In the third example, the commas are separating parts of the sentence. Indeed the section contained between the commas could be omitted and there would still be a complete grammatical sentence. This allows the writer to place the emphasis on the vital service provided by social workers rather than on the press criticism (Rose 2001).

Colons

Colons provide a pause before introducing items in a list.

• There are many assessment formats at university: essays, spoken presentations, reports, poster presentations and exams.

They can also indicate further information about or amplification of a preceding point.

• Social work is gruelling: it can be highly rewarding or very distressing.

Semicolons

Semicolons can separate items in a list when a comma is already in use.

• The speakers at the conference were: Dr Sally Jones, Sheffield; Dr Martin Long, Leeds; Prof. Jane Davies, Swansea; and Dr Phil Wh...