Social Work and Human Rights:The International Context

This publication is a companion to ‘Social Work and Human Rights: A Practice Guide’. Both publications can be read separately or together. To maintain continuity between the two the numbering of ‘Social Work and Human Rights: The International Context’ starts where ‘Social Work and Human Rights: A Practice Guide’ ends and thus this publication starts at Section 13. Social work is an international profession and human rights in the UK are set in the context of international laws and treaties. Section 13 covers the development of human rights in an international context, Section 14 examines the contemporary global challenges of human rights while Section 15 concludes with emerging thinking on human rights development and practice

Social Work and Human Rights: A Practice Guide

The legislation and policy under which social workers practice is governed by human rights legislation. The Human Rights Act 1998 identified a number of protections including the right to liberty (Article 5) and the right to family life (Article 8). Social workers undertaking mental health assessments have to take into account Article 5 as do social workers applying Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Social workers (and the courts) making decisions about the removal of children, or adoption, have to take into account Article 8. As this Practice Guide will demonstrate there are many other examples

Standardising the biochemical confirmation of adult male hypogonadism; a joint position statement by the Society for Endocrinology and Association of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Inter-assay variation between different immunoassays and different mass spectrometry methods hampers the biochemical confirmation of male hypogonadism. Furthermore, some laboratories utilis eassay manufacturer reference ranges that do not necessarily mirror assay performance characteristics, with the lower limit of normality ranging from 4.9 nmol/L to 11 nmol/L. The quality of the normative data underlying commercial immunoassay reference ranges is uncertain. Design: A working group reviewed published evidence and agreed upon standardised reporting guidance to augment total testosterone reports. Results: Evidence-based guidance on appropriate blood sampling, clinical action limits, and other major factors likely to affect the interpretation of results are provided. Conclusions: This article aims to improve the quality of the interpretation of testosterone results by non-specialist clinicians. It also discusses approaches for assay harmonisation which have been successful in some but not all healthcare systems. </p

Standardising the biochemical confirmation of adult male hypogonadism: a joint position statement by the Society for Endocrinology and Association of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Inter-assay variation between different immunoassays and different mass spectrometry methods hampers the biochemical confirmation of male hypogonadism. Furthermore, some laboratories utilise assay manufacturer reference ranges that do not necessarily mirror assay performance characteristics, with the lower limit of normality ranging from 4.9 nmol/L to 11 nmol/L. The quality of the normative data underlying commercial immunoassay reference ranges is uncertain. Design: A working group reviewed published evidence and agreed upon standardised reporting guidance to augment total testosterone reports. Results: Evidence-based guidance on appropriate blood sampling, clinical action limits, and other major factors likely to affect the interpretation of results are provided. Conclusions: This article aims to improve the quality of the interpretation of testosterone results by non-specialist clinicians. It also discusses approaches for assay harmonisation which have been successful in some but not all healthcare systems.</p