This book investigates how paid care work and employment are being transformed by policies of social care individualisation in the context of new gig economies of care. Drawing on a case study of the creation of a new individualised care market under Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme the book provides important insights into possible futures for social care employment where care is treated as an individual consumer service. Bringing together sociological, political science and socio-legal approaches the book demonstrates how, in individualised care markets and with ineffective labour laws, risks of business and employment are devolved to frontline care workers. The book argues for an urgent re-evaluation of current policy approaches to care and for new regulatory approaches to protect workers in diverse forms of employment.

Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

Individualization argues that we are in the midst of a fundamental change in the nature of society and politics. This change hinges around two processes: globalization and individualization. The book demonstrates that individualization is a structural characteristic of highly differentiated societies, and does not imperil social cohesion, but actually makes it possible. Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim argue that it is vital to distinguish between the neo-liberal idea of the free-market individual and the concept of individualization. The result is the most complete discussion of individualization currently available, showing how individualization relates to basic social rights and also paid employment; and concluding that in

"...this is a very good book - an easy and informative read on a topic of immense complexity and very enjoyable. The layout is excellent, with clear headings, a useful three-part structure and good-quality print. ...This book will undoubtedly find its market niche and become a ′good risk read′". - British Journal of Social Work 36 (3) 2006 What does it mean to live in `risk society′? How does the idea of risk change how we live with each other? Risk currently dominates individual and collective consciousness. Globally, insecurity is related to terrorism, pollution, global epidemics and famine, yet smoking, sunlight and travel have also become major preoccupations. This book provides a powerful and lucid account of risk in society today. Denney critically examines the social construction of risk, by considering a range of social theories, addressing the literature and providing an authoritative guide to the key issues raised. An analysis of the nature of risk to aspects of everyday life – of the meanings which have been assigned to notions of risk – is also considered. Finally, global themes such as terrorism, global regulation governance and developments in international relations are examined. This book will be required reading for students of risk within the fields of Sociology, International Relations and Media, Culture and Communications.

Asks whether personalised medicine is superior to 'one-size-fits-all' treatment. Does it elevate individual choice above the common good?

The Individual Support Worker is designed to meet the needs of workers in the home, community and/or a residential setting, who are required to provide person-centred support to people who are ageing and/or have a disability-related condition. The person-centred approach is reflected in all of the 21 chapters reflecting the introduction of Consumer Directed Care and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The text is organised in core and elective units for the Certificate III in Individual Support. Addressing all mandatory core and the specific elective steams of Ageing and Disability, each chapter follows the unit guide for a specific competency. After the learning objectives and introduction, the major section headings align with the competency elements, and the topic headings' corresponding criteria. Knowledge Evidence is addressed as specific topic headings within the performance criteria. Throughout the chapters, students are asked to reflect or self-assess via activities such as scenario-based questions. Each chapter culminates in a summary.