Social work and global health inequalities

Paul Bywaters is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at Coventry University and Honorary Professor at the University of Warwick, England. He was the first convenor of the Social Work and Health Inequalities Network (SWHIN) and joint author with Lindsey Napier of the International Federation of Social Workers' "International Policy on Health". He has been writing about social work and health for over 20 years.Eileen McLeod is Associate Professor in Social Work at the School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick. Her research interests centre on social work's contribution to tackling health inequalities and she has published extensively in this area. A founder member of SWHIN, her publications include E. McLeod and P. Bywaters, "Social Work, Health and Equality" (Routledge 2000).Lindsey Napier is Pro-Dean in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. Her current research and teaching centre on the social dimensions of ageing, dying and death, where health and social inequalities are writ large. She is the current convenor of SWHIN.

• Part One: Introduction: Social work and global health inequalities ~ Paul Bywaters, Eileen McLeod and Lindsey Napier; Part Two: Global health inequalities: issues for social work; The right to health: illusion or possibility? ~ Vimla Nadkarni and Kriti Vikram; Health, equity and social justice ~ Stephen M. Rose; Health and the environment ~ Margaret Alston; The health impacts of political conflict: new engagements for social work? ~ Shulamit Ramon; Reproduction in the global market place ~ Eric Blyth; Laying the foundations for good health in childhood ~ Norma Baldwin; Violence, abuse and health ~ Lesley Laing; Long-term illness and disability: inequalities compounded ~ Barbara Fawcett; Part Three: Social work intervention: addressing global health inequalities; Framing health inequalities as targets for social work:Poverty and health policy in China ~ Agnes Koon-chui Law; All things equal? Social work and lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) global health inequalities ~ Julie Fish; The role of advocacy assessment and action in resolving health-compromising stress in the lives of older African American homeless women ~ David Moxley and Olivia Washington; Preventive social work intervention and health promotion: Empowerment as a social determinant of Indigenous Australian health: the case of the Family Wellbeing programme ~ Mary Whiteside, Komla Tsey and Yvonne Cadet-James; Social work in rural China: advancing women's health and well-being in the village ~ Tuula Heinonen, Yang Jiao, Lawrence Deane and Maria Cheung; Social capital and health outcomes: implications for social work practice ~ Grace Fung-Mo Ng and Raymond W Pong; Developing new forms of service design and delivery: Addressing mental health inequalities in Scotlnd through community conversation ~ Neil Quinn and Lee Knifton; Improving psychosocial care for cancer patients ~ Carrie Lethborg and Sonia Posenelli; Developing the evidence base for practice and policy: From research to policy: advocacy for families caring for children with life-limiting conditions ~ Suzanne Quin and Jean Clarke; Data-mining 'victim of crime' presentations in hospital emergency departments: a research tool with wider significance ~ Rosalie Pockett;Promoting health equality through evidence-based study: health care access for Pakistani women and their children in Hong Kong ~ Amy Po Ying Ho; Social work education for awareness and practice:HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign: reaching the unreached through distance learning ~ Gracious Thomas; Social work eucation and indigenous health ~ John Douglass Whyte, Lou Harms and Angela Clarke; The challenges of training social workers for health care in South Africa ~ Charlene Carbonatto; Part Four: Global health inequalities: social work policy and practice development; Addressing health inequalities: the role of service user and people's health movements ~ Ann Davis; Engagement in international practice and policy development ~ Imelda Dodds; Conclusion: emerging themes for practice and policy development ~ Paul Bywaters, Eileen McLeod and Lindsey Napier.

"This collection makes a significant contribution to highlighting the importance of health inequalities for social work. It draws our attention to the necessity of locating local health inequalities in a global context and identifies the extraordinary diversity and depth of social work practice within this field internationally. This is a valuable addition to an under-valued field". Liz Walker in British Journal of Social Work