Book Chapters

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    A collaborative agenda for health and well-being in Uganda : Medical social workers working with a community church
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2023) Venesio, Bwambale Bhangyi; Denis, Kilama; Sophia, Namuwanga; Friday, Toko; Senkosi, Moses Balyejjusa
    According to the National Association of Social Workers (2017), the primary mission of the social work profession is to promote human well-being through adequate satisfaction of human needs, especially the needs of the poor and vulnerable populations. This primary mission in part is related to one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), that is, SDG 3 that focuses on health and well-being. To promote the achievement of this SDG, the Medical Social Work Department at the Naguru China-Uganda Friendship Hospital started a collaboration with Lugogo Baptist Church so as to meet the needs of patients at this hospital. The collaboration was grounded in the fact that in resource- poor countries, there will be needs that are inadequately satisfied. Yet, the inadequate satisfaction of the human needs negatively affects individual’s health and well-being. The chapter starts with a brief background on medical social work practice in Uganda. Here, the history and the role of medical social work are discussed. This is followed by an analysis of domestication of the SDGs in Uganda. The analysis shows that SDGs are domesticated in Uganda through the National Development Plans (NDPs) which are rooted in the Vision 2040. Currently, Uganda is pursuing and implementing the NDP III. A description of the col- laborative agenda between the Medical Social Work department and Lugogo Baptist Church is given. It is shown that it is a mutual collaboration where each party has their roles and responsibilities to meet the well-being needs clearly spelt out. A human needs framework is described where the meaning of human needs and specific examples are given. The human needs that are met through this framework are analyzed. This is followed by the discussion of the achieved health and well-being and the shared roles of the collaborative framework. It is concluded that because of the benefits from this collaboration, medical social workers should engage in collaborations with local and community actors to improve social work interventions since these have critical resources that are plenty, accessible and trusted.
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    Decolonising social work fieldwork education in Africa
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2023) Bhangyi, Venesio Bwambale; Makoha, Godfrey
    Social work is widely acknowledged as a practice-based profession and the decolonisation of its fieldwork education element would enhance its practical relevance in many global South countries. In recent years, there has been growing interest and effort to shift social work scholarship in Africa towards an indigenous, decolonial and contextual theory and practice. This chapter therefore engages with this debate by examining the approaches, challenges and prospects of decolonising social work fieldwork education on continental Africa. Using a systematic qualitative literature review epistemology, the chapter starts with a narration of the origins and status of social work and fieldwork education in Africa. The authors draw on the forces driving the decolonisation debate in social work, and the ubuntu principles of learning as the theoretical frames for the discussion. They further articulate the approaches, challenges and prospects of a decolonial social work fieldwork education in Africa. They conclude by drawing implications for social work fieldwork education rooted in the Ubuntu philosophies of community, culture, multiple/shared knowledge and continuous learning.
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    Social needs framework : an alternative framework to analyzing and addressing social problems
    (SpringerLink, 2022-10) Balyejjusa, Senkosi Moses
    Every community has its own social problems. These may be common across communities but may be experienced in unique ways. Indeed, social work as a profession focuses on addressing social problems. Drawing on concepts used by the social workers during social work practice and the meanings of the needs concept, the purpose of this chapter is to present and discuss a practice framework (social needs framework) that can be used to analyze and address social problems during social work practice. The social needs framework integrates all tasks social workers engage in during social problem-solving. A qualitative analysis of concepts used during social work practice shows that social work practice focuses on social needs as social problems, social solutions, social resources, and social ends while solving clients’ social problems. It is these four practice concepts and meanings of the concept of human needs that constitute the social needs framework. Social workers must focus on all the four social needs concepts during practice if they are to enhance the well-being of clients. It is concluded that adopting the social needs framework makes social work practice coherent, systematic, and holistic where the social worker and client start from social problems to social solutions through social resources in order to achieve the social ends.
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    Transforming communities through Ubuntu philosophy: prerequisites, opportunities, and implications for social work practice in Africa
    (The International Federation of Social Workers, 2023-06) Venesio, Bwambale Bhangyi; Silverno, Tweshengyereze; Hope, Atim; Moses, Senkosi Balyejjusa
    The African philosophy of Ubuntu has emerged as a counterweight strategy to the pervasive consequences of long-term individualism entrenched in African social work because of its western origins. This chapter contends that African social workers can utilise Ubuntu philosophy in transforming poor communities and building resilient societies. This requires understanding the principles of Ubuntu and its embeddedness in African cultures as necessary prerequisites for this transformation. Its emphasis on collectivism as social capital, interconnectedness, and equality of human beings can be used to transform poor communities, thereby creating enormous opportunities for social work practitioners in Africa to enrich the lives of their clients. By implication, African social work practice is asked to promote bottom-up community-led interventions built on local voices/experiences. Keywords: Ubuntu philosophy, social work theory, community transformation, resilient communities, indigenous social work, decolonial social work, Africa
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    A patchwork of good intentions: a critical look at different perspectives regarding ethics-based mental health care in under-resourced settings
    (Foundation of Ethics-Based Practices : Springer Nature, 2022-01-01) Knizek, Birthe Loa; Mugisha, James; Kinyanda, Eugene; Hjelmeland, Heidi
    Currently, there is an overall focus on mental health as a global health priority in the United Nations (Sustainable developmental Goals), World Health Organization (WHO), and Global Mental Health (movement and study field). As “mental disorder” is constructed as universal, the consequence is that the focus is on the treatment gap as a result of the huge inequalities regarding access to mental health care and treatment (Mills and Fernando, Disability and the Global South 1:188–202, 2014). UN’s Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health (UN Human Rights Council, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/G1707604.pdf, 2017) urges the promotion of mental health for all ages in all settings as a general human right. In the historical basis for Global Mental Health, we find efforts to improve mental health for people living in under-resourced settings. According to mainstream, this means that the Global South should get better access to staff trained after standards and evidence-based treatment from the Global North. Critics rebut this approach since evidence-based practices developed in a Western setting transferred to different contexts might have unethical consequences, due to the ruling idea of a universal human, by pathologizing individuals rather than their sociopolitical-economic conditions. Attempts have been made to bypass or solve the discussion on the possibility of combining culture and the notion of a universal human which is implicit in Western evidence-based practice. Human rights and ethics-based practices are the ideals of all approaches, but all seem to have unforeseen consequences that go against these ideals. In this chapter, we take a critical look at different perspectives and the debate around ethics-based practice in mental health care in under-resourced settings.
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    COVID-19 pandemic and the Urban poor: the relevancy of Uganda’s social protection measures
    (The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development, 2022-01-01) Atwine, Deborah; Mushomi, John A.
    Globally, governments are faced with the double challenge of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring the social and economic survival of their citizens. The urban poor are uniquely affected by the impact of the pandemic, requiring comprehensive social protection measures to cushion the poor and vulnerable individuals and families. Informed by a social justice theoretical framework, this chapter focuses on the social protection responses by the Ugandan government against the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of protecting its vulnerable population against life-threatening social and economic risks, the Ugandan government has focused more on controlling the pandemic at the expense of other social services. Findings reveal the exclusionary nature of social protection measures and the tendency of relief strategies to benefit a few undeserving instead of the poor and needy individuals and families; shocks or crises can exacerbate inequalities, and so can policy responses to mitigate the impact of these crises or shocks. The chapter recommends adaptable and flexible social protection strategies that are underpinned by a social justice lens. The chapter further points to the need to establish a specific database to guide social protection for the most vulnerable for now and in case of future emergencies. This goal could be achieved through strengthening community surveillance to maintain the social protection during emergencies and the need for social safety nets for the most vulnerable in society, even in a liberalised society.
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    Sociocultural aspects of health promotion in palliative care in Uganda
    (Health Promotion in Health Care – Vital Theories and Research., 2021) Mugisha, James
    Despite its vital importance, health promotion has not occupied its due place in public health in Uganda. The country is engulfed into a rising wave of both communicable and non-communicable conditions. This rising burden of both communicable and non-communicable conditions turns health promotion and palliative care essential health care packages; though there is little to show that these two important programs are getting vital support at policy and service delivery levels. A new theoretical framework that is anchored into sociocultural issues is essential in guiding the design and delivery of both health promotion and palliative care in Uganda. The salutogenic theory puts socio-cultural issues at the centre of developing health promotion and palliative care and, seems to solve this dilemma. In this chapter, illustrations from indigenous communities in Uganda are employed to demonstrate the challenges to the health promotion and palliative care agenda in the country and how they can be addressed. Uganda Ministry of Health should develop robust structures within public health for development of health promotion and palliative care in the country. Research should be conducted on the effectiveness of the current strategies on health promotion and palliative care and their cultural sensitivity and appropriateness. Given the limited resources available for development of health care in Uganda, as an overall strategy, health promotion and palliative care should be anchored in public health and its (public health) resources