Tuula Heinonen

Applying health determinants and dimensions in social work practice

Dimensions and determinants related to physical health, mental health and well-being can be used as tools in social work practice. These frameworks are useful for assessment, planning and intervention activities in complex client situations, alerting social workers to consider diverse features and processes that influence well-being in peoples lives. They can be applied in social work with individuals, families, groups, and communities. In our view health and well-being need to be viewed holistically, broadly and in each unique situation, changing over time over the life course. Literature based on key word searches of concepts we use in our teaching and research and that has informed our conceptualisation of dimensions and determinants in physical health, mental health and well-being, is reviewed. A case illustration is presented to illustrate how the dimensions and determinants are used to inform practice and compare and apply alternative frameworks. Finally, the implications of these and other frameworks for social work, not only in health care settings, but also in other fields of social work practice, are discussed.

Leisure as part of cultural retention of Finnish‐Canadian immigrants

Abstract Leisure, sports, and recreation activities can be a means of facilitating well‐being and coherence in the lives of immigrants. The purpose of the research is to learn how leisure and sport behaviours were integrated into Finnish immigrants’ lives and affected by their immigration experiences. Framed using an ecosystem theoretical approach, a life history method is used to elicit participants’ leisure and sport experiences in Manitoba. Respondents showed leisure practices that were shaped by previous activities in Finland and by work experiences. Further, respondents sought to recreate Finland in Manitoba by building and using a sauna and a summer cottage, as well as celebrating Finnish holidays and birthday events. They also visited Finland to keep current with changes there and to visit relatives. Participation in Finnish cultural organizations was another way to continue a Finnish past in Canada.

Views from the Village: Photonovella with Women in Rural China

In this article the authors provide an overview of the situation of women in rural China as a backdrop for the photonovella process and inquiry activities conducted by the first author in three rural sites in China. They describe the key themes identified through analysis of the narrative accounts and photographs presented by groups of rural women. The photonovella enabled rural women to select from their pictures several photos of significance to them to show and describe these to women from other villages and to the researcher. Concerns, interests, hardships, and achievements of the women related to their work, families, and communities were voiced as they showed their photos. This method, used in conjunction with other qualitative methods—including focus group interviews, village visits, and survey data—provided information that complemented and enriched our understanding of rural womens lives in China.

Social work and health restructuring in Canada and Finland

Summary The health care systems in Canada and Finland are currently in the process of restructuring. Responsibility for care has increasingly shifted to ill persons themselves and to their families and friends. Reduced hospital stays, service privatization and user fees have been implemented to some degree in both countries. These changes are reverberating throughout Finnish and Canadian societies, affecting not only users of health care but also the labour force in health workplaces. Health social workers, at the front line with clients, have experienced new issues which have impacted on their practice with ill persons and their families. In an environment of health care restructuring, they have needed to draw upon their repertoires of knowledge, skills and community networks in order to respond. At the same time, social workers noted that there is a leaner package of health and social service benefits to support patients and families. Social workers have tried to adapt and find new opportunities to practice social work in the changed environment. This small study, initially conducted as a pilot for a larger study, compared the experiences of social workers in Canada and Finland and the perceived impacts of health restructuring on their clients. The findings, seen within the context of changing societal and institutional environments, can help us to better understand some of the impacts of health restructuring on social work and social workers in hospitals and local health centres. Indirectly and directly, these changes also affect clients in the health care system, those whose needs remain uppermost in the delivery of social work services.

The Psychosocial Well-Being of African Refugees in Winnipeg: Critical Stressors and Coping Strategies

ABSTRACT Using a photovoice approach, this study explores stressing factors for African refugees after resettlement in Canada and the strategies they adopt to cope. The study used a purposive sampling procedure to recruit 15 participants (8 women and 7 men). Participants took part in a three-phase process of picture taking, one-on-one interviews, and focus group discussions on the selected pictures. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data. Identified stressors included social relationship ruptures, lack of understanding of the new culture, unemployment, and navigating unfamiliar laws and regulations. Coping strategies and recommendations for policies and best practices are discussed.

Revisiting Feminist Approaches to Art Therapy, Edited by Susan Hogan

New York, Berghahn Books, 2012 ISN: ISBN 978-0-85745-349-5, 392 p

Gender and the Use of Health Care Services in Rural Philippines

ABSTRACT Conditions of poverty in Third World countries affect the health of most people; however, recent literature on gender relations points to links between womens lower social position and disadvantages in accessing health care. Some indicators are utilization of fewer high technology facilities, with more use of local and home remedies, and lower expenditures on health care consultations by women as opposed to men. This research, focusing on health care utilization by men and women in a rural area of the Philippines, found that factors such as reliance on male wages for family survival (involving higher expenditures for mens health than womens) and gender differences in illness were influential in health care decisions.