In answer to popular demand from students and practitioners alike, Braye and Preston-Shoot have produced a guide to understanding the complex area of community care. What are the core components of the Government's community care policy? What do terms like partnership, anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice mean? This book provides a simple exposition of the concepts and value-base underpinning community care policy and practice. Written in a jargon-free style, it goes beyond the how-to approach of much of the existing social care literature and examines the principles and values on which professionals involved in welfare provision base their work. It addresses issues of power and partnership in professional practice and identifies dilemmas arising from the relationship between Needs, Rights and Resources, between Autonomy, Paternalism and Empowerment. It tackles the choices and uncertainties faced by those making decisions about service provision, and offers survival strategies to professionals under stress.

"...an excellent account...very valuable for community services managers." - Nursing Times "The book isthought-provoking, sensible and carefully presented." - ASLIB "...provides a timely contribution to both the conceptual debate and the implementation...for educators and trainers across the helping professions and also researchers and reflective managers, the book offers many interesting and creative ideas and possibilities worth sharing and pursuing." - Mental Health Nursing "The book's compelling quality is the clarity with which it is written. The authors subject to critical scrutiny key elements of social care policy and practice and articulate the analysis in a concise, comprehensive, understandable and jargon-free style...This is an interesting, thought provoking and compelling book. I recommend it to social care practitioner, managers and trainers as a guide to understanding the complexities surrounding community care." - Ageing and Society. "...has considerable relevance for health and community carepolicy-makers, managers and practitioners in Australia." - Australian Health Review "...comprehensively researched and well written book." - British Journal of Social Work "...has some important messages for interprofessional work...a book which has much to recommend it to students and practitioners, for the authors have given depth to an understanding of anti-oppressive practice." - CAIPE Bulletin - Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education "...this is a very thorough analysis of the political, economic, cultural and social factors influencing the debates around whether or not members of the caring professions can truly empower or work in partnership with their clients."