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- Title
Making sense of paradigms: the health and social care paradox.
- Authors
Reilly, Frank
- Abstract
The author discusses how the concepts of positivism and interpretivism can be applied to social care and healthcare services. He argues that the dominance of the medical model (positivism) in health care has led to an over-reliance on regulation and target-driven performance. Similarly, in social care the drive towards standardised services has led to professional judgement being replaced with algorithms, guidance and regulation. This has become known as the ‘MacDonaldisation’ of social work (James 2004). However, if that model is used, the skills and qualities of social workers and nurses, such as ‘bedside’ manner and engaging with clients, cannot be measured. And neither can the lived experience of staff and patients or clients (interpretivism). This raises the question: how can ‘care’ be measured?
- Publication
Mental Health Practice, 2015, Vol 18, Issue 6, p38
- ISSN
1465-8720
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.7748/mhp.18.6.38.e981