Virtual reality provides students with the opportunity to have simulated experiences in a safe setting and is mostly used to teach direct practice skills. One of the most advanced ways of using virtual simulation in social work education is to interact with avatars. Aim: The overall aim of this scoping review was to find out what is known about the use of dialogue with avatars in virtual reality in simulation-based social work education. Materials: Using Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework, 11 articles were included in this review. Results: The skills taught with the avatars varied, as did the ways of preparing students for the sessions. The training was assessed as meaningful learning in a safe and comfortable environment, offering an opportunity to train in practical skills. According to the pre- and post-tests, in several studies the students’ skills seemed to have improved after the training. The qualitative data also pointed to skill developments. Conclusion: Training with avatars seems to be a useful way of preparing students for their future profession and seems to hold great potential in preparing students for demanding situations that cannot be easily trained for in a classroom. The results also point to technical elements that would benefit from development.

Purpose

Recruiting and retaining staff to work with elderly people in social care is a global issue. The quality of leadership is considered important because it influences employees’ job satisfaction, job turnover and health. This paper aims to identify leadership that employees in residential elderly care facilities in Sweden consider as contributing towards a healthy work environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed 14 persons employed in facilities organized in different ways. The data from these interviews was analysed using qualitative content analysis..

Findings

The results showed that the employees felt that their health partly depended on the attributes that leaders possessed, what leaders do and how leaders do it. This study confirms that leadership influences the perception of a healthy workplace. It also shows that questions about leadership are complex.

Originality/value

Research about factors that increase health risks is wide-ranging; however, research that examines factors that promote health, especially how leadership influences employees’ well-being, is not as comprehensive.

In recent years there has been increased interest in the roleplayed by business corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategiesin promoting the health and wellbeing of internal and externalstakeholders. However, the sparse public health research to datehas mainly focused on the health and wellbeing of internal stakeholders.This viewpoint article aims to ignite discussion of howCSR strategies need to also target external stakeholders beyondthe workplace. Businesses have an opportunity to help address themost important societal challenges, especially the social determinantsof health which are the root causes of inequities in health.However, while advancing a new agenda for promoting externalstakeholders’ health, businesses need to take into account potentialchallenges that might arise from ethical conflicts when trying tobalance their CSR initiatives against their business operations.

Boken "Från kamratförening till yrkesförening : Ett sekel med Föreningen Social Omsorg" är en rapport som tar sin början med den utbildning som Svenska fattigvårdsförbundet startade 1908 för att komma till rätta med problemen inom fattigvården i Sverige. De personer som gått utbildningen, t.ex. ålderdomshemsföreståndare och barnhemsföreståndare, arbetade ofta ensamma och såg ett stort värde i att möta andra som också gått utbildningen och som till vardags brottades med liknande problem. Därför anordnades ett möte för dem 1920, och på mötet beslutades det att en kamratförening skulle bildas. Utgångspunkten i boken är föreningens protokoll och andra handlingar som finns bevarade. Men även annat material finns refererat, exempelvis från Svenska fattigvårdsförbundets och dess efterföljares tidskrift. Även om boken främst handlar om föreningen - hur den arbetat, hur den varit organiserad och vilka frågor som varit centrala - så ger den samtidigt en bild av socialpolitik och arbetsförhållanden inom 1900-talets äldreomsorg.

Purpose – Employees in elderly care have a high rate of sick leave. One explanation is that employees that experience a low level of meaning of work are at a higher risk for long-term sick leave. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative interview study aims to examine what employees in residential care facilities experience as the meaningful aspects of their work tasks. Interviews with 14 persons employed in residential care facilities were conducted.

Findings – The findings show that meaningful work tasks are about organizing the work to make use of the creativity and knowledge of the staff in order to support relations with older people.

Originality/value – The knowledge about what constitutes a healthy work environment is not as comprehensive as it is about what constitutes health risks. Furthermore, these issues have been considered by only a few qualitative studies about social care in the field of sick leave. Therefore, this qualitative interview study examines what employees in residential care facilities experience as meaningful aspects of their work tasks.