Educación para el trabajo social en Irlanda : historia y retos

La educación para el trabajo social en la República de Irlanda se ha transformado fundamentalmente desde que se estableció la Comisión Nacional de Calificaciones en 1997. Esta Comisión acredita cursos al nivel nacional, acredita los títulos y certificaciones extranjeras y aconseja al gobierno y quienes emplean trabajadores sociales sobre esos títulos. Esta Comisión fue establecida en un momento de expansión de empleo para los trabajadores sociales. Sin embargo, el trabajo social en Irlanda es limitado por la existencia de tres profesiones (trabajo con jóvenes, trabajo con la comunidad y cuidado social) que se desarrollan en trabajo social en otros países europeos, pero no en Irlanda. En este artículo, trazo las historias de las cuatro profesiones, describo sus diversas rutas educativas y planteo preguntas sobre su desarrollo.Social work education in the Republic of Ireland has gone through rapid transformation since the development of the National Social Work Qualifications Board in 1997. This Board accredits national courses, accredits non-national qualifications and advises the government and employers in relation to social work qualifications. The Board was established at a time of unprecedented expansion in the employment of social workers. However, social work is defined narrowly in Ireland and at least three other professions (youth work, community work and social care) are described a social work in other European countries, but no Ireland. In this article, I trace the histories of four professions, describe their different educational routes and raise questions about their development

Primary care clinician antibiotic prescribing decisions in consultations for children with RTIs:a qualitative interview study

BACKGROUND: Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are a major primary care challenge in children because they are common and costly, there is uncertainty regarding their diagnosis, prognosis, and management, and the overuse of antibiotics leads to illness medicalisation and bacterial resistance. AIM: To investigate healthcare professional (HCP) diagnostic and antibiotic prescribing decisions for children with RTIs. DESIGN AND SETTING: Semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 GPs and six nurses. HCPs were recruited from six general practices and one walk-in centre, serving a mix of deprived and affluent areas. METHOD: Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, imported into NVivo 9, and analysed thematically. RESULTS: HCPs varied in the symptom and clinical examination findings used to identify children they thought might benefit from antibiotics. Their diagnostic reasoning and assessment of perceived clinical need for antibiotics used a dual process, combining an initial rapid assessment with subsequent detailed deductive reasoning. HCPs reported confidence diagnosing and managing most minor and severe RTIs. However, residual prognostic uncertainty, particularly for the intermediate illness severity group, frequently led to antibiotic prescribing to mitigate the perceived risk of subsequent illness deterioration. Some HCPs perceived a need for more paediatrics training to aid treatment decisions. The study also identified a number of non-clinical factors influencing prescribing. CONCLUSION: Prognostic uncertainty remains an important driver of HCPs’ antibiotic prescribing. Experience and training in recognising severe RTIs, together with more evidence to help HCPs identify the children at risk of future illness deterioration, may support HCPs’ identification of the children most and least likely to benefit from antibiotics

Cataloguing cowries: a standardised strategy to record six key species of cowrie shell from the West African archaeological record

Two species of cowrie shell, Monetaria moneta (Linnaeus 1758) and Monetaria annulus (Linnaeus 1758), occur repeatedly in archaeological contexts across West Africa. Despite their archaeological and ethnographic importance, these shells remain poorly and inconsistently reported in the archaeological literature. The absence of standardised data on species composition, size and condition of cowrie assemblages, and whether and how the shells were modified, make it difficult to examine their significance in a regional and/or chronological framework. To address this, we propose a standardisation of the criteria and coding used to systematically record cowrie assemblages – in particular species, size, condition and state of modification. We aim to enable non-shell specialists within the wider archaeological community to securely identify intact or intact but modified specimens of M. annulus and M. moneta, showing how these can be distinguished from four cowries native to West Africa (specifically Luria lurida (Linnaeus 1758), Zonaria zonaria (Gmelin 1791), Zonaria sanguinolenta (Gmelin 1791) and Trona stercoraria (Linnaeus 1758)) that occur in assemblages from West African sites. We demonstrate how accurate species identification and the assessment of proportions of different sizes of shells within suitably large assemblages can provide insight into their provenance, and through this enhance our appreciation of the exchange networks within which these shells moved. We also identify five different strategies documented in the archaeological record that were used to modify cowries, detailing how these can be differentiated and classified. The aim here is to suggest a recording strategy that will enable comparisons of the use and value of cowries in West Africa and more widely

Findings from a longitudinal qualitative study of child protection social workers' retention: Job embeddedness, professional confidence and staying narratives

The retention of social workers in child protection and welfare is an ongoing concern in many countries. While our knowledge based on the turnover of child protection and welfare social workers is growing, much less is known about ‘stayers’—those who undertake this work for over 10+ years. This article draws on the data gathered over a decade in Ireland on these social workers. The article addresses three questions: (i) What can we learn from social workers with 10+ years’ experience of child protection and welfare about their retention? (ii) Does job embeddedness theory help explain their choices to stay? (iii) Does the ‘career preference typology’ (Burns, 2011. British Journal of Social Work, 41(3), pp. 520–38) helps to explain social workers’ retention? The main findings are that if you can retain social workers beyond the 5-year point, their retention narrative intensifies, their embeddedness in the organisation and community strengthens and they have a stronger sense of professional confidence as they move out of the early professional stage. A surprising finding of this study was that nearly all of the social workers in this study had a staying narrative that changed little between their interviews a decade apart

Parents’ information needs, self-efficacy and influences on consulting for childhood respiratory tract infections:a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory tract infection (RTI) is the most common reason why parents consult primary care in the UK. Little is known about parents’ perceptions of what may help them to make an appropriate decision to consult when their child is ill and how to improve self-care. Using qualitative methods, this study aimed to explore parents’ views on support and information needs prior to consulting when children have RTIs with cough, and identify the triggers and barriers to consulting primary care. METHODS: 7 focus groups and 30 semi-structured interviews were held with 60 parents (with children aged 5 months - 17 years) from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Topics discussed were informed by the Health Belief Model, and explored parents’ concerns and beliefs about susceptibility and severity of RTIs, beliefs about the triggers and barriers to consulting, and information and support seeking behaviour undertaken before consulting primary care. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic methods. RESULTS: Parents from all socio-economic backgrounds sought information from a wide range of sources about RTIs in children in order to identify which of their child’s symptoms should be of concern and trigger a visit to the doctor. The perception of threat to a child of RTI (with cough) was increased with more severe illness and by perceived susceptibility to illness of a particular child; whilst experience with other children increased parental efficacy to cope with childhood cough at home. Psychological models of health behaviour informed the understanding of cultural beliefs and attitudes that underpin health related behaviours. CONCLUSION: A wide range of perceptions influence the likelihood that parents will seek help from primary care for a child with cough; these perceptions are similar across socio-economic groups. Parents’ experience, confidence and efficacy influence the likelihood of consulting primary care for their child’s RTI. Parents would value consistent advice from a trusted source that addresses common concerns and supports home care and decision making about help seeking