During my studies and practice, I have met many times with families who face multiple
challanges in their lives and are involved in the service at the centre for social work, family
assistance for the home. As part of my master's thesis, I was mainly interested in how, when
helping families with many challenges, the centre for social work takes into account the voice
of families when planning appropriate support and assistance.
In the theoretical part, I initially defined the life world of families with multiple challanges, and
I also addressed the appropriateness of naming families with multiple challanges. Then I
presented the processes of support and assistance intended for families with multiple challanges
and collaborative approaches of working with families with these challenges. I also focused on
the challenges that arise in social work with families with multiple challanges, both for families
and for social workers. I also dedicated a few words to the operation and organization of the
centre for social work, the support that families with multiple challanges receive from other
organizations and the involvement of lay aid providers. At the end of the theoretical part, I
briefly presented innovations and micro-innovations in social work and the LINK project.
For the purpose of my master's thesis, I conducted research where I carried out conversations
with former users of the centre for social work services, family assistance for the home. I had
two meetings with each user. At the first meeting, I briefly presented the purpose of the research
to the user and asked her questions, and at the second meeting, I presented the user with her
answers from the first meeting, and invited her to complete and change them. I also asked a few
additional questions to deepen my understanding from the first interview. Through the research,
I gained an insight into how the users were satisfied with the help they received from the centre
for social work, or from the other professional workers with whom they collaborated in the
process of support and assistance. In the processes of support and assistance, it was important
for the users that their voice was heard and taken into account by the social workers, and at the
same time, I realized that the users expressed their opinions, wishes and suggestions more easily
when they were satisfied with cooperating with the social worker. In the research, the users
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reported that they mostly worked with only one professional worker at the centre for social
work, who provided them with help in several areas, even in those where she does not work,
while the users outside the centre for social work worked together with various organizations
(with the Ars Vitae Society, schools, kindergartens, medical centers, etc.).
The fact that the social worker was always available to them, that she listened to them during
the cooperation process, that she acted calmly, was friendly and understanding towards the
users, was of great help to the users in their cooperation. It was also important for the users to
feel safe enough in their relationship with the social worker to share their wishes, opinions and
expectations. For some users, home visits were not helpful in the process of cooperation, as
they had the feeling that the social workers were controlling them too much, and the users also
reported that they did not like the fact that the social worker forced the children to have contacts
in the environment where, in her opinion, the children did not feel the safest, and that the users
were not informed about the children's cooperation with social workers.
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