Valerie Gant - Working with Family Carers

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First published in 2018 by Critical Publishing Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Copyright 2018 Valerie Gant

ISBN: 978-1-912096-97-8

The rights of Valerie Gant to be identified as the Author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

www.criticalpublishing.com

Acknowledgments and dedication

In writing this book I would like to acknowledge the following:

My family and friends for listening to my ideas and encouraging me, most especially Paula and Steve.

Colleagues and students at the University of Chester, especially Eve Collins and Mandy Schofield.

Family carers everywhere you can do this and you can do it well.

Lastly, I wish to dedicate this book to my youngest daughter who has taught me more about caring than any textbook in the world could ever do.

Isobel this is for you.

Meet the author and series editor

Dr Valerie Gant (author)

Dr Valerie Gant is an experienced social work practitioner and senior lecturer at the University of Chester. Val has written and published on a variety of subjects relating to health and social care. Her personal experience of having a child with severe learning difficulties has both inspired and informed her in-depth professional knowledge of this area. An active researcher, Val is interested in carers, disability issues and auto-ethnography, both as a process and as a method, and has recently published a paper on this method in the journal Qualitative Social Work (QSW).

She lives by the sea, and when she isnt writing and researching she enjoys walking her dog and spending time with her family.

Dr Steve J Hothersall (series editor)

Dr Steve J Hothersall is the Head of Social Work Education at Edge Hill University and both a registered social worker and a registered nurse. He has written on social work practice with children, young people and their families, mental health, need, social policy and philosophy, especially epistemology. Steve has also served on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Social Work and reviews for a range of academic journals. His academic interests relate to methodology, the use of philosophy to inform both teaching and practice, and research focusing on the development and use of professional knowledge, drawing on underpinning epistemic principles and considering their role and application in knowledge communities. He is currently working on developing and implementing a model to support practice and research underpinned by reference to philosophical pragmatism. He is also passionate about the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, and the role of music in the promotion of wellbeing.

Series editor foreword

It is with great pleasure that I write this foreword for the first book in what is hoped will be a noteworthy and innovative series for Critical Publishing entitled Early Intervention, Prevention and Support. Val Gants Working with Family Carers is perhaps a particularly noteworthy title, as its focus epitomises what this triad aims to focus upon. Family (and informal) carers are perhaps the frontline in terms of early intervention, prevention and support, so to launch this series with such a well-crafted text is apposite.

Val is a senior lecturer in social work at the University of Chester, based at the Warrington campus, and brings many years of practical, professional and