Equality versus equity: a case study from Poland

Poland responded generously to the influx of refugees from Ukraine, providing significant access to its social protection system. Despite this, however, hardship among refugees persists. There are lessons to be drawn from Poland’s approach

"Done more for me in a fortnight than anybody done in all me life." How welfare rights advice can help people with cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the UK many people with cancer and their carers do not have easy access to the welfare benefits to which they are entitled adding further strain to the process of dealing with cancer. It is estimated that nine out of ten cancer patients' households experience loss of income as a direct result of cancer, which, due to its socio-economic patterning disproportionately affects those most likely to be financially disadvantaged. In the UK proactive welfare rights advice services accessed via health care settings significantly increase benefit entitlement among people with health problems and this paper reports on a qualitative study examining the impact of a welfare rights advice service specifically designed for people affected by cancer and their carers in County Durham, North East England (UK).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty two men and women with cancer or caring for someone with cancer who were recipients of welfare rights advice aged between 35 and 83 were recruited from a variety of health care and community settings. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken and analysed using the Framework method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Most of the participants experienced financial strain following their cancer diagnosis. Participants accessed the welfare rights service in a variety of ways, but mainly through referral by other professionals. The additional income generated by successful benefit claims was used in a number of ways and included offsetting additional costs associated with cancer and lessening the impact of loss of earnings. Overall, receiving welfare rights advice eased feelings of stress over financial issues at a time when participants were concerned about dealing with the impact of cancer. Lack of knowledge about benefit entitlements was the main barrier to accessing benefits, and this outweighed attitudinal factors such as stigma and concerns about benefit fraud.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Financial strain resulting from a cancer diagnosis is compounded in the UK by lack of easy access to information about benefit entitlements and assistance to claim. Proactive welfare rights advice services, working closely with health and social care professionals can assist with the practical demands that arise from dealing with the illness and should be considered an important part of a holistic approach to cancer treatment.</p

A systematic review of the health, social and financial impacts of welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings

BACKGROUND: Socio-economic variations in health, including variations in health according to wealth and income, have been widely reported. A potential method of improving the health of the most deprived groups is to increase their income. State funded welfare programmes of financial benefits and benefits in kind are common in developed countries. However, there is evidence of widespread under claiming of welfare benefits by those eligible for them. One method of exploring the health effects of income supplementation is, therefore, to measure the health effects of welfare benefit maximisation programmes. We conducted a systematic review of the health, social and financial impacts of welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings. METHODS: Published and unpublished literature was accessed through searches of electronic databases, websites and an internet search engine; hand searches of journals; suggestions from experts; and reference lists of relevant publications. Data on the intervention delivered, evaluation performed, and outcome data on health, social and economic measures were abstracted and assessed by pairs of independent reviewers. Results are reported in narrative form. RESULTS: 55 studies were included in the review. Only seven studies included a comparison or control group. There was evidence that welfare rights advice delivered in healthcare settings results in financial benefits. There was little evidence that the advice resulted in measurable health or social benefits. This is primarily due to lack of good quality evidence, rather than evidence of an absence of effect. CONCLUSION: There are good theoretical reasons why income supplementation should improve health, but currently little evidence of adequate robustness and quality to indicate that the impact goes beyond increasing income

Gastropods [Trochoidea: Trochidae Rafinesque, 1815 and Calliostomatidae Thiele, 1924 (1847)] from the middle Miocene of Ukraine, Central Paratethys

Over three thousand specimens representing the superfamily Trochoidea Rafinesque, 1815 [Trochidae Rafi-nesque, 1815 and Calliostomatidae Thiele, 1924 (1847)] from the upper Upper Badenian = Kosovian = lower Serra vallian (middle Miocene) marine deposits of Ukraine, housed in the collections of the Polish Academy of Sciences Museum of the Earth in Warsaw (MZ), are studied herein. The abundant material has allowed for investigations of the intraspecific variation and revision of earlier determinations. As a result, 21 species belong¬ing to 5 genera have been identified, described and illustrated, of which one is new [Clanculus (Clanculopsis) krachi sp. nov.] and one is left in open nomenclature. Granulifera O. Anistratenko, 2000 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Clanculopsis Monterosato, 1879; Granulifera pulla O. Anistratenko, 2000 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Monodonta tuberculata Eichwald, 1830; Gibbula sytovae Amitrov, 1961 is con¬sidered a junior subjective synonym of Trochus miocaenicus Mayer, 1853; Gibbula volhynica Friedberg, 1928 is considered a junior subjective synonym of Trochus novemcinctus von Buch, 1830; and Trochus buchii du Bois de Montpéreux, 1831 is suppressed in favour of the senior subjective synonym Trochus puschii Andrzejowski, 1830. The geographic distribution and stratigraphic ranges of the taxa are given. Six species are known only from the Polish-Ukrainian part of the Fore-Carpathian Basin. The protoconch features are systematically studied in the Trochidae and Calliostomatidae from this area for the first time

Using structured observation and content analysis to explore the presence of older people in public fora in developing countries

There is a lack of research on the everyday lives of older people in developing countries. This exploratory study used structured observation and content analysis to examine the presence of older people in public fora, and considered the methods’ potential for understanding older people’s social integration and inclusion. Structured observation occurred of public social spaces in six cities each located in a different developing country, and in one city in the United Kingdom, together with content analysis of the presence of people in newspaper pictures and on television in the selected countries. Results indicated that across all fieldwork sites and data sources, there was a low presence of older people, with women considerably less present than men in developing countries. There was variation across fieldwork sites in older people’s presence by place and time of day, and in their accompanied status. The presence of older people in images drawn from newspapers was associated with the news/non-news nature of the source. The utility of the study’s methodological approach is considered, as is the degree to which the presence of older people in public fora might relate to social integration and inclusion in different cultural contexts

Editorial: Resilient, Steadfast and Forward-Looking: The Story of Social Work in the UK Told through 50 Years of the British Journal of Social Work

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a remarkable period in the history of social work in the UK. The 12th of June 1970 was a particularly historic moment which marked the formal recognition of the emerging profession itself. Seven professional associations (the Association of Child Care Officers, the Association of Family Case Workers, the Association of Psychiatric Social Workers, the Association of Social Workers, the Institute of Medical Social Workers, the Moral Welfare Workers’ Association and the Society of Mental Welfare Officers) came together to establish The British Association of Social Workers (BASW). Social work research and social work education were not far behind. Early in 1971, the first issue of the British Journal of Social Work (BJSW) was published, and a few years later, the new Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) discharged its first qualified workers into newly created, unified Social Services (Social Work in Scotland) Departments. A new profession with an ambitious brief was born, eager to claim its place on a public service landscape dominated by other long-established occupations

Financial stress and strain associated with terminal cancer:a review of the evidence

Financial circumstances are a significant influence on the quality of life for older people and may be important to health and wellbeing at the end of life. The aim of this study is to review the evidence for the existence and consequences of financial stress and strain at the end of life for people dying with cancer. We conducted a systematic search of four electronic databases for studies, providing data on illness-related financial burden (stress), or perception of financial hardship (strain), from patients with terminal cancer or their caregivers. Twenty-four papers were identified from 21 studies published in English between 1980 and 2006, the majority (14) of cross-sectional design. Financial stress was reported in all 13 studies from the USA (median 33%, range 10-66%), but only four sought measures of financial strain. In the USA, specific social consequences, such as moving house or change in employment to cope with caregiving, were reported in four of these studies; one of these also noted changes in treatment choices and avoidance of care for other family members. In studies from outside the USA, there is a dearth of data on financial stresses and the consequences of this for the household, despite widespread reporting of financial strain. To fill a gap in our understanding and improve holistic palliative care, researchers need to ask the questions about the consequences of financial stresses and strain for the health and wellbeing of the household