The realization of human rights standards depends in part on the commitment of local actors. It can be argued that local public service professionals such as social workers can also be regarded as key players. The possible role of social workers becomes imperative if these professionals are working in a policy context that is not congruent with human rights. If existing laws or policies cause or maintain disrespect for human rights, social workers are in a position to observe that this is having an adverse impact on clients. When social workers are regarded as human rights actors, the question arises how they can or should respond to law and policy that impedes them in carrying out their work with respect for human rights. This article adds to existing theories on social workers as human rights actors by examining the practices of social professionals working in such a challenging policy context. The research took place among professionals in social district teams in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Following a series of decentralizations and austerity measures the social care landscape in the Netherlands has changed drastically over the last few years. As a result, social workers may find themselves on the one hand trying to realize the best possible care for their clients while on the other hand dealing with new laws and policy expectations focused on self-reliance and diminished access to specialist care. The article explores how social professionals’ responses to barriers in access to care affect human rights requirements. In doing so, this socio-legal study provides insight into the ways in which everyday social work relates to the realization of human rights at the local level.
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The importance of specific professions for human rights realization is increasingly recognized. Journalists, teachers, and civil servants are all considered to play a role because their work affects individual rights. This is also the case for social workers. The connection between social work and human rights is evident in the large amount of literature explaining how human rights relate to social work. At the same time there is more attention for human rights localization. These fields of knowledge are related: social workers are local professionals and if they start applying human rights in their work this may influence human rights localization. This article contributes to existing debates on human rights localization by reflecting on the potential role of social workers in local human rights efforts in the Netherlands. Since human rights localization in general and human rights application in social work are recent phenomena in the Netherlands this provides a useful case study for a qualitative analysis on whether and how social workers can be regarded as actors in human rights localization. By connecting different actors that are said to play a role in human rights localization to proposed forms of human rights application by social workers this article identifies three possible roles for social workers in human rights localization: as human rights translators, as human rights advocates, and as human rights practitioners.
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The guidance offered here is intended to assist social workers in thinking through the specific ethical challenges that arise whilst practising during a pandemic or other type of crisis. In crisis conditions, people who need social work services, and social workers themselves, face increased and unusual risks. These challenging conditions are further compounded by scarce or reallocated governmental and social resources. While the ethical principles underpinning social work remain unchanged by crises, unique and evolving circumstances may demand that they be prioritised differently. A decision or action that might be regarded as ethically wrong in ‘normal’ times, may be judged to be right in a time of crisis. Examples include: prioritising individual and public health considerations by restricting people’s freedom of movement; not consulting people about treatment and services; or avoiding face-to-face meetings.
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Dit Living lab staat in teken van het bevorderen van sport en bewegen voor bewoners waarvoor het sportaanbod nu niet voldoende of moeilijk te bereiken is. Het project is hierbij opgedeeld in drie deelprojecten, waar we voor elke specifieke doelgroep (40-65 jaar) een werkwijze ontwikkelen om een duurzame samenwerking op te zetten.Doel Het overkoepelende doel is bewoners uit de doelgroep naar beweging en sporten toe te leiden. Door middel van design thinking methoden borduren we voort op de geïdentificeerde oplossingsrichtingen in fase 1. Deelproject 1: Het bouwen aan een groeiend platform waarin sportaanbieders en sporten gekoppeld worden en zo een flexibel sportaanbod te creëren. Verder willen we inzicht krijgen in wat er nodig is om de al werkende – sportplanner – app beter aan te laten sluiten bij haar gebruikers. Deelproject 2: Het opzetten van een duurzaam sportmaatjesproject voor mensen met een beperking (fysiek, verstandelijk of door bijvoorbeeld long COVID) in samenwerking met HU-studenten, de buurtsportcoach aangepast sporten en minimaal één werkplaatsdocent van de HU met als doel de sportdeelname voor deze doelgroep te vergroten. Deelproject 3: Het verbinden van de hulpvraag met het beweegaanbod verbinden en daarmee aan te sluiten op de behoeften van deze doelgroep. Bewegen wordt ingezet als middel en door een inclusief co-design ontwerpproces zal dit aanbod passend gemaakt worden. Het bereiken van de doelgroep en het uitvoeren van kleine pilots staat centraal. Resultaten uit de eerste fase De behoefte van de doelgroep (40-65 jaar) op het gebied van bewegen en gezondheid is in kaart gebracht. Er is inzicht verkregen in de complexiteit van de doelgroep met de uitkomst dat het belangrijk is oog te hebben voor de verschillende subgroepen binnen de doelgroep. Er zijn drie deelprojecten opgezet aan de hand van deze subgroepen; de sporter met behoefte aan een flexibel sportaanbod, de sporter met een fysieke beperking en de groep waar een zodanige complexe hulpvraag speelt dat sport kan worden ingezet als middel ter bevordering van het welzijn van deze groep. Er is een nieuw netwerk ontstaan waarin de nadruk ligt op inwonerparticipatie. Looptijd 31 december 2019 - 01 februari 2022 Aanpak In het Living Lab zal gewerkt gaan worden met de Design thinking methode. Ook zullen ervaringsdeskundigen op het gebied van eenzaamheid en een verbeterde leefstijl ingezet worden. Het levert een kruisbestuiving op tussen dorpsteams, buurtsportcoaches, en (ervaringsdeskundige) inwoners. Relevantie van het project Dit project zal vernieuwend zijn voor beleidsmedewerkers, social workers en sportprofessionals die zich bezig houden met de onderwerpen gezondheidsbevordering en preventie. Ook past het op een nieuwe wijze ervaringsdeskundigen toe in het outreachend werken. Cofinanciering Dit project ontvangt een cofinanciering van ZonMw.
The Healthy Workplace monitor is being developed to monitor the health and well-being of knowledge workers in relation to the office space and their home workplace. Since the corona period, a lot has changed in the way knowledge workers work. Both offices and employees require more flexibility to carry out work in an efficient but also healthy and enjoyable way. It is important to identify office workers needs with regard to workspaces at the office and at home from a holistic view, in which mental , physical and social aspects play a role. A vital, happy employee is a productive employee.
Manual labour is an important cornerstone in manufacturing and considering human factors and ergonomics is a crucial field of action from both social and economic perspective. Diverse approaches are available in research and practice, ranging from guidelines, ergonomic assessment sheets over to digitally supported workplace design or hardware oriented support technologies like exoskeletons. However, in the end those technologies, methods and tools put the working task in focus and just aim to make manufacturing “less bad” with reducing ergonomic loads as much as possible. The proposed project “Human Centered Smart Factories: design for wellbeing for future manufacturing” wants to overcome this conventional paradigm and considers a more proactive and future oriented perspective. The underlying vision of the project is a workplace design for wellbeing that makes labor intensive manufacturing not just less bad but aims to provide positive contributions to physiological and mental health of workers. This shall be achieved through a human centered technology approach and utilizing advanced opportunities of smart industry technologies and methods within a cyber physical system setup. Finally, the goal is to develop smart, shape-changing workstations that self-adapt to the unique and personal, physical and cognitive needs of a worker. The workstations are responsive, they interact in real time, and promote dynamic activities and varying physical exertion through understanding the context of work. Consequently, the project follows a clear interdisciplinary approach and brings together disciplines like production engineering, human interaction design, creative design techniques and social impact assessment. Developments take place in an industrial scale test bed at the University of Twente but also within an industrial manufacturing factory. Through the human centered design of adaptive workplaces, the project contributes to a more inclusive and healthier society. This has also positive effects from both national (e.g. relieve of health system) as well as individual company perspective (e.g. less costs due to worker illness, higher motivation and productivity). Even more, the proposal offers new business opportunities through selling products and/or services related to the developed approach. To tap those potentials, an appropriate utilization of the results is a key concern . The involved manufacturing company van Raam will be the prototypical implementation partner and serve as critical proof of concept partner. Given their openness, connections and broad range of processes they are also an ideal role model for further manufacturing companies. ErgoS and Ergo Design are involved as methodological/technological partners that deal with industrial engineering and ergonomic design of workplace on a daily base. Thus, they are crucial to critically reflect wider applicability and innovativeness of the developed solutions. Both companies also serve as multiplicator while utilizing promising technologies and methods in their work. Universities and universities of applied sciences utilize results through scientific publications and as base for further research. They also ensure the transfer to education as an important leverage to inspire and train future engineers towards wellbeing design of workplaces.
