Ivan Harsløf – författare

This prescient book examines the evolving hybrid nature of social work within modern welfare states. Expert authors discuss how human service providers engage with a variety of other providers and logics, such as medical, psychological, educational and law.Drawing on case studies from Australia, Europe, and North America, chapters analyze the changing responsibilities of social workers, exploring their involvement in policy practice, epistemic communities, and interprofessional collaboration. Contributing authors demonstrate how practitioners navigate the challenges of medicalization, juridification, managerialism and shifting expectations. They highlight the key potential of interdisciplinary approaches to overcome entrenched fragmentations in the human service sector. Ultimately, the book argues that while hybrid social work is often sought after in Western welfare systems, it involves considerable complexity for professionals.Presenting insightful perspectives on the interaction between social work practice and broader welfare state developments, this book is an indispensable resource for students and scholars in social work, social policy, political science, and the sociology of professions and organizations. It will also benefit political advisors and policymakers across the social welfare sector.

This collection provides a broad coverage of recent changes in medical and vocational rehabilitation in Northern Europe. It presents analyses that cut across health sciences, medical sociology, disability studies and comparative welfare state research. Through this interdisciplinary perspective, the book explores the changing roles of patients, caregivers, professionals and institutions, and the wider implications of these changes for social inequalities in health. What obstacles do different groups of patients encounter when negotiating the complex chains of medical and vocational services? Who decides regarding references to specialized treatments, and the provision of comprehensive and coordinated services, and different types of benefits and material support? What is the importance of the resources that patients and caregivers bring to bear in the rehabilitation process?