School of Social and Political Science

Background

I joined Social Policy in 1972 and also spent periods as a Visiting Professor at McMaster University, Ontario, and the Universities of Padua and Bologna in Italy. My research interests are in: comparative (especially European) social policy; evaluation of health and social services; work experience programmes as settings for alleviating symptoms and improving the social skills of schizophrenics living in the community. Previous research includes: the experiences of men leaving prison; staff morale and quality of care of the demented elderly; the effectiveness of intermediate treatment programmes for young offenders; services for pre-senile dementia sufferers; and care management of elderly people living in the community. In 2003 I was external consultant and principal author of the periodic appraisal report on Masters degree programmes in Analysis of Social Welfare Policy and Analysis of Social Work Practice, at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada.

Publications

Selected publications

• Improving Social Intervention: Changing Policy and Practice through Research. Croom Helm, 1983.
• Lifestyle Survey. St Andrew's Press, 1987.
• (With I Thompson) Social Policy and Administration. University of Keele Press, 1992.

Recent publications

• "Quality and quality control in health and social services: methods and strategies", in M La Rosa & S Grandi (eds.) La Formazione Manageriale del Personale Sanitario. Milan: Franco Angeli, 2004.
• "The human dimension of care: the relationship between staff job satisfaction and the quality of care received by demented elderly patients. An investigation", in M La Rosa & D Bitelli (eds) I Servizi Residenziali per gli Anziani ed i Problemi della Qualita'. Un Approccio Europeo. Milan: Franco Angeli, 2000.