Shereen Hussein

• BSc Statistics, MSc Medical Demography (LSHTM), PhD Statistical Demography (LSE)
• Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Migrant workers are considered an economic utility, especially for secondary labour markets such as that of long-term care. The dynamics of migrant workers across the globe are governed by interacting macro, state level, and micro, personal level, factors. On the macro level immigration policies, historical and current political and economic links...

This methods review sets out knowledge about current uses and applications of large datasets for research in adult social care practice. Built on a wide-ranging search of the literature, this review discusses examples of the use of different large datasets such as the General Social Care Council, the Census, the Labour Force Survey, governmental an...

This article outlines the reasons for the recruitment of migrant workers by the adult care sector in England, as revealed by participants in a multi-method study. The background to the study is the changing socio-demographic profile of the social care workforce, notably the employment of non-UK citizens in large numbers from outside traditional rec...

The long-term care sector is generally characterised by low pay and difficult working conditions. Understanding pay structures and differentials within this sector is important in enhancing recruitment, retention, quality of care and productivity. This article uses new national data on the long-term care workforce in England to investigate employer...

In the UK context of financial austerity and the promotion of the social responsibility through the concept of the “Big Society,” volunteers are becoming a more important part of the labor workforce. This is particularly so in the long-term care (LTC) sector, where both shortages of staff and demands for support are particularly high. This article...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, care homes for older adults in England implemented isolation, social distancing and other restriction measures to help protect residents from contracting the virus. Little was known about the physical and psychological impacts that these measures would have upon residents and their relatives. Aim To explore...

Background Older people living in care homes are at high risk of poor health outcomes and mortality if they contract coronavirus disease 2019. Protective measures include social distancing and isolation, although implementation is challenging. Objectives To explore the real-life experiences of social distancing and isolation in care homes for olde...

Background: Demographic changes across the globe create increasing demands for care labour mobility. The contribution of migrant workers to the long-term care (LTC) systems is not confined to the western world or countries that have already completed their ageing transitions; they also play an essential role in maintaining the care systems in count...

The UK long-term care workforce has endured difficult working conditions for many years. During the pandemic, the sector faced unprecedented challenges, which further exacerbated these conditions and brought concerns about workplace abuse and violence. Such experiences can vary by personal and work characteristics, particularly affecting minority e...

There are long-standing concerns of inequalities in the workplace among minority ethnic (ME) workers in the UK health and social care (H&SC) sectors. ME workers contribute significantly to H&SC delivery. However, there is considerable evidence of substantial negative experiences among this group across various workplace indicators and outcomes, inc...

Older people living in care homes are at high risk of poor health outcomes and mortality if they contract COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. Measures used to protect residents include social distancing and isolation, although implementation is challenging. This review aimed to assess the social distancing and isolation strategies used by care h...

This guide draws on a study which aimed to begin developing a care work-related quality of life tool for the adult social care workforce in England. We asked what matters most for care workers’ quality of life at work, how it was supported by employers and what staff would find helpful in the future. These findings are summarised here, along with r...

Context: The precarious work arrangements experienced by many long-term care workers have led to the creation of a “shared” workforce across residential, home, and community aging care sectors. This shared workforce was identified as a contributor to the spread of COVID-19 early in the pandemic.Objective: This analysis sought to review policy measu...

The main aim of this scoping review was to understand how work‐related quality of life (WRQoL) in adult social care has been defined and measured in the literature and to map key components of WRQoL among those working in adult social care and similar contexts. The scoping review included studies that: 1‐ focused on WRQoL/work‐related wellbeing (an...

Background: Long-term care (LTC) workers are subjected to structural and inherent difficult conditions that are likely to impact their quality of life at work; however, no agreed scale measures it. This study aims to develop a scale to measure the work-related quality of life among LTC workers in England (CWRQoL). The study establishes the domains...

Policymakers often suggest that expansion of care in community settings may ease increasing pressures on hospital services. Substitution may lower overall health system costs, but complementarity due to previously unidentified needs might raise them. We used new national data on community and primary medical care services in England to undertake sy...

In the UK, as in many other European countries, the population is growing older, and older adults are becoming more diverse. As a result, there is a mounting interest in supporting healthy ageing and independence, acknowledging the needs and agency of older adults from diverse backgrounds, expectations, and life trajectories. Healthy ageing is prom...

Introduction Older people living in residential and nursing care homes often have complex needs and are at high risk of poor health outcomes and mortality, especially if they contract COVID-19. Care homes use infection prevention and control measures such as social distancing and isolating residents to protect them from COVID-19. The care home sect...

Turkey is transitioning from an ageing to aged population at a fast pace. This process requires immediate policy and practice planning and actionable strategies. Formulating and implementing such policies needs to acknowledge parallel demographic and socio-economic changes to ensure adequate resources and appropriate services are developed to enhan...

Migrant care workers play a significant role in meeting the escalating demand for social care in the UK. Workforce shortages create opportunities for new migrants to enter the social care workforce. This scoping review aims to identify and synthesise available evidence on the contribution of migrant workers to the provision of home care in the UK f...

In the original version of this paper, Box 1 under the section "Measurement Instruments" was removed because the licence to use the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) obtained by the author does not permit the publication of the full wording of the questions".

Introduction There are more people living with dementia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) than in high-income countries. Evidence-based interventions to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their carers are needed, but a systematic mapping of methodologically robust studies in LMICs and synthesis of the effectiveness of de...

The article reports research aimed at identifying factors relating to retention in English intellectual disability services, drawing on a study of the social care workforce. The research involved two rounds of interviews with social care managers and staff between 2009 and 2014. The study uses social exchange theory, particularly the idea of ‘recip...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings from one element of a study exploring the relationship between personalisation, in the form of personal budgets (PBs) for publicly funded social care and safeguarding. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people receiving PBs who had recently been the...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of personalisation policy on the providers of social care services in England, mainly to older people, within the context of austerity and different conceptions of personalisation. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on part of a longitudinal study of the care workforce, which inv...

Social workers (SWs) provide emotional and practical support to vulnerable service users who are likely to suffer from emotional trauma and mental health conditions. Stress and burnout levels are reported to be high among SWs, however, little is known about their relationships with different characteristics. The current article utilises unique and...

Social workers are increasingly globally mobile, pursuing employment opportunities that combine professional and lifestyle projects. Social work skills and practice are embedded in cultural, linguistic and nation-specific legislative competencies. The current article engages with the interplay of a fast-moving social work and immigration policy con...

Population aging is a phenomenon occurring across the globe including in countries traditionally exhibiting population dividends and ‘youth bulges’. The Gulf Corporation Council countries are no exception as they currently experience a process of population aging, albeit being at a different stage from many developed countries. However, due to hist...

Long-term care work is known for its difficult working conditions, with potential implications for workers’ well being. In England, long-term care policies are moving progressively towards marketisation, while public social care funding is under considerable strain. Little evidence exists on the job demand and control of long-term care workers who...

Social workers are increasingly becoming global professionals, both in utilising their professional qualifications as a means to achieve international mobility, and in the expectation of gaining an internationally transferable set of skills. However, there is a continued dilemma in defining such professional international identity due to contradict...

Introduction There is growing evidence that transnational social workers (TSWs) contribute significantly to the national workforce of many developed countries, including Canada (Pullen Sansfaçon et al, 2012), England (Hussein et al, 2011), Ireland (Walsh et al, 2010) and New Zealand (Bartley et al, 2012). These transnational movements occur within...

This unique book provides an international comparison of labour markets, migrant professionals and immigration policies, and their interaction in relation to social work. Case studies based on the latest research from the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia allow readers to make critical comparisons and gain understanding of the global n...

Population ageing is a phenomenon affecting the whole world. The countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are no exception but transitions in population ageing are still in the early stages of the process. With current demographic dividends experienced by the GCC and the rest of the Middle-East, the pace of population ageing will b...

Populations are expected to age rapidly in the Arab countries during the coming few decades. However, the current evidence base indicates that many countries in the region are not paying attention to this demographic phenomenon. This is a particular concern as longevity is often accompanied by many years of ill health and disability and most of the...

Escalating demands for formal long-term care (LTC) result in the reliance on migrant workers in many developed countries. Within Europe, this is currently framed by progressive European immigration policies favouring inter-European mobility. Using the UK and Norway as case studies, this article has two main aims: (1) to document changes in the cont...

This article aims to explain the labour market penalties among Muslim women in Britain. It draws on theories of intersectionality and colour/cultural racism to argue that the labour market experience of British-Muslim women is multiply determined via criteria of ascription such as ethnicity, migration status, race and religion rather than criteria...

Demographic trends escalate the demands for formal long-term care (LTC) in the majority of the developed world. The LTC workforce is characterised by its very low wages, the actual scale of which is less well known. This article investigates the scale of poverty-pay in the feminised LTC sector and attempts to understand the perceived reasons behind...

With the continued implementation of the personalisation policy, Personal Budgets (PBs) have moved to the mainstream in adult social care in England. The relationship between the policy goals of personalisation and safeguarding is contentious. Some have argued that PBs have the potential to empower recipients, while others believe PBs, especially D...

The literature on workers in gender atypical occupations has been dominated by a focus on women doing men’s work. Much less attention has been paid to men in women’s work, and even less to the impact of migration. Based on 28 in-depth interviews with migrant men having experiences of working in hands-on social care in England, this article is a con...

This paper reports on part of a research study carried out in three local authority adult social care departments in England, which explored links between adult safeguarding and personalisation. The study included statistical analysis of data on safeguarding referrals and the take up of personal budgets and qualitative interviews with managers, soc...

Professionals express divergent views about whether adults at risk are best served by safeguarding work being incorporated into social workers’ casework or being undertaken by specialist workers within local area or centralised teams. This paper draws on findings from the final two phases of a three-phase study which aimed to identify a typology of...

Adult safeguarding is the subject of increasing attention in England and internationally. This article draws on research which developed a typology of ‘models of safeguarding’. ‘Models’ refer to different ways local authorities in England organise adult safeguarding (about which there is little evidence) rather than ‘model’ approaches to be emulate...

Greater priority is now being given to improving responses to concerns that adults may be at risk of abuse or neglect in England and internationally. In England, the Care Act 2014 placed ‘adult safeguarding’ on a firmer statutory footing. Although local authorities were given the lead responsibility for adult safeguarding over a decade ago, little...

Ageing of migrants in Europe has become an important policy issue, especially within the context of health inequalities and increasing health care costs. Based on in-depth interviews with older Alevi/Kurdish refugees in London, we explore the cumulative impact of difficult migration trajectories on the experience of ageing. The findings highlight t...

In this presentation I discuss the events following the death of Baby P in 2008 which formulated a ‘moral panic’ episode with media coverage and policy responses in relation to social workers’ stress and burnout levels from 2009 to 2013. The presentation draws on media and policy analysis from 2009-2013 combined with measures of stress, job control...

Population ageing is a phenomena happening all over the world. In the UK, all groups of the population are growing older. These include people from different background, migration history, life experience and culture. Many studies highlight the relationship between the experience of people during various stages of their life, including childhood an...

Social work is characterized by high levels of emotional involvement and is considered one of the ‘‘emotionally taxing’’ professions. Some social work stressors are inherent in nature relating to the burden and responsibilities associated with the job and general public acceptance, but also might be related to the balance between level of demand an...

Over recent years, in an effort to fill critical gaps in the social care system, social service agencies and local authorities have aggressively recruited and marketed to potential migrants the benefits of living and practising in the UK. As a result, a growing number of social workers practising in the UK are themselves ‘boundary-crossers’, having...

Population ageing is a phenomena happing all over the world. In the United Kingdom (UK), all groups of the population are growing older. These include people from different background, migration history, life experience and culture. Many studies highlight the relationship between the experience of people during various stages of their life stages,...

The event organised by the LPC was an occasional evidence session focusing on National Minimum Wage non-compliance and was well attended by representatives from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Office for National Statistics, and the Migration Advisory Committee among others. Dr Hussein’s pre...

The combination of growing demand for long-term care and higher expectations of care staff needs to be set in the context of long-standing concerns about the sustainability of recruitment and retention of front-line staff in the United Kingdom. Organisational and work environment factors are associated with vacancy levels and turnover rates. The ai...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a part of a study examining the interrelationships between personalisation and safeguarding practice. Specifically the authors aimed to examine how safeguarding practice is affected by the roll out of personalisation in adult social care, particularly when the adult at risk has a personal budget o...

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology being used in a study exploring the organisation of adult safeguarding. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods study is presented which describes how the research team is seeking to identify models of adult safeguarding and then compare them using a quasi-experimenta...

ummary: This article presents the findings of a narrative synthesis of literature published between January 2000 and September 2013 exploring the organisation of adult safeguarding services in England. The review sought to identify the characteristics of safeguarding practice, which may be important for local authorities to consider when choosing b...

Although there is widespread interest in social work education, very little of this has focused on the position of part-time students. This study reports on retention rates among social work students registering for part-time study between 1995-1998 in England, since this time-span is one where student characteristics were collected and can be anon...

This article discusses the workforce implications of recent government policy direction in England to move some statutory social work responsibilities from the usually larger more complex organizational structure of local authorities to independent organisations. Such outsourcing of social services is not a new phenomenon in England, however, it ha...

This evaluation was undertaken 2011-14. SWPwAs can be defined as organisations independent of local authorities that are contracted to carry out functions that were previously the duty of local authorities in supporting community dwelling adults potentially or actually defined as in need of social care and support, especially in regards to assessme...

There is evidence that variable access to training, support mechanisms and resources limits social work research capacity. A survey circulated to UK social work academics in 2008 was completed by 249 respondents (response rate 33 per cent). A sub-sample of twenty-nine respondents was selected for follow-up telephone interview. Both interview and su...

This paper seeks to identify challenges faced by transnational social workers that are presented at different levels of hierarchies, on macro and micro levels, drawing on two empirical research projects. Transnational social workers’ mobility is evident across the globe, however, social work training, qualifications and activities vary widely even...

This presentation discusses the workforce implications of recent government policy direction in England to move some statutory social work responsibilities from the usually larger more complex organizational structure of local authorities to independent organisations. Such outsourcing of social services is not a new phenomenon in England, however,...

Social inclusion and participation, including civic engagements such as volunteering, can be regarded as an important factor in quality of life of individuals particularly among older people. In the context of longer post retirement years in Turkey, there is a general lack of public activities available for older people. While the nature of contemp...

The proportion of older people in Turkey is increasing steadily with a subsequent growth of long-term care (LTC) needs. There is a scarcity of formal care provisions for residential and particularly nonresidential settings. Thus, formal caregiving is not meeting LTC needs nor attracting workers as a labor option. The authors examine the hypothesis...

Transnational social workers' (TSWs) mobility is evident across the globe; however, social work training, qualifications and activities vary widely even within areas of free labour mobility such as the European Economic Area (EEA). The UK continues relying on internationally qualified social workers to fill in shortages. A number of structural chal...

There is a clear policy direction for both personalisation and safeguarding of adults and older people receiving social care in England. With increased public investment in collecting and storing national data, we provide in-depth analysis of utilising pre-collected data to examine relationships between receipt of personal budgets and referrals of...

Labor market changes, including growing opportunities to work in the long-term care (LTC) sector, may attract more men to this traditionally female-dominated occupation. Analyzing an English national workforce data-set we investigate whether men are remaining within traditional masculine jobs or crossing traditional boundaries into more emotional,...

In this study, 30 Alevi refugees over the age of 60 living in London and member of the Alevi Culture Association have participated in face-to-face interviews in 2012. Within the context of “2012 European Active Aging Year” we examined the literacy, language, use of health and social care services, participation in social activities, volunteering, a...

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to explore the effect of ethnicity and separate this from the other dynamics associated with migration among members of the long-term care workforce in England focusing on the nature and structure of their jobs. The analysis examines interactions between ethnicity, gender, and age, and their relations with ‘meso’...

Intergenerational relations are important for both the younger and older groups with extensive evidence of positive impact on older people’s well-being as well as better support to younger generations, including grandchildren care. While older-people are the fastest growing population segment in the world, other interlinked demographic changes are...

Social work education, social work practice and social work skills have been long-standing policy interests in England but the views of line managers of newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) have not always informed debate. This paper reports on interviews with 23 line managers which asked about their experiences of managing NQSWs. Interviews were...

There are fears that people using Personal Budgets (PBs), particularly Direct Payments (DPs), to arrange their care and support may be at greater risk of abuse and neglect than people using conventionally commissioned care services, particularly if they hire unregulated care workers, or rely on relatives or others to manage their money. However, th...

"As in many other parts of the world, most Arab countries in the Middle East and North African (MENA) are experiencing demographic transitions including lower fertility, lower mortality rates and longer life expectancy. While aging in itself is a great success story of social and economic development it is often accompanied by many years of ill hea...

Providing more consistent and continuous relationships for looked- after children and care leavers is a current preoccupation in social work in light of many criticisms of the quality of such relationships. Recommendations for more direct work have spurred new models of service delivery in children’s services aimed at improving individual outcomes....

n the UK context of financial austerity and the promotion of social responsibility through the concept of the “Big Society,” volunteers are becoming a more important part of the labour workforce. This is particularly so in the long-term care (LTC) sector, where both shortages of staff and demands for support are particularly high. This paper invest...

Purpose – The paper aims to ascertain how local authorities and other services are responding to central government strategies to make support for family carers a priority. Design/methodology/approach – A web-based audit of local authority public information for carers was undertaken ( n =50). The sample covered different parts of England and diff...

There is increasing interest in the experiences of people who migrated in their youth during the mid-20th century and are now growing older in the UK and other European countries. This paper draws on recent (December 2011- February 2012) in-depth interviews with older Turkish migrants in London focusing on perceptions and experiences of long term c...

This paper reports children's, young people's and parents' perspectives on birth family contact from interviews conducted across eleven local authorities in England between 2009 and 2012 as part of the national evaluation of Social Work Practice (SWP) pilots: independent organisations providing social work support for looked after children and care...

Successive governments have highlighted the importance of the knowledge economy to future economic growth. Arguably this approach has under-estimated the need to ensure that so-called basic jobs, for example, in retail, hospitality, or care work are delivered effectively and that there are enough people willing to work in these sectors. More specif...

Foster carers have an important role to play in maximising the quality of any contact between children and their parents and monitoring its effects on the child. This article explores how a sample of foster carers view family contact and the professional support they receive concerning their role in this activity. It draws on a large-scale survey (...

Objectives To investigate whether a new model that delegates some out-of-home care services from the public to the private and not-for-profit sectors in England enhances practitioners’ job control and stress levels. Methods A 3-year longitudinal matched-control evaluation examined changes in Karasek demand-control model and Maslach burnout levels...

Satisfaction with different organisational elements and aspects of work contributes markedly to overall levels of job satisfaction and intention to leave. For newly qualified social workers (NQSWs), especially immediately after graduation, self-perceived competence and their confidence in their educational preparation are also important. This artic...

The proportion of older people in Turkey is increasing steadily with a subsequent growth of long-term care (LTC) needs. There is a scarcity of formal care provisions for residential and particularly nonresidential settings. Thus, formal caregiving is not meeting LTC needs nor attracting workers as a labor option. The authors examine the hypothesis...

One of the solutions to the shortages of social workers in England has been to employ social workers on a temporary or locum basis, often these social workers are called agency social workers as their contract of employment is with a employment agency rather than the social work employer. This paper explores the background to the use of agency soci...

Social work supervision is receiving renewed attention internationally with calls for it to be remodelled and given greater priority, this paper uses data from a longitudinal study in England, which involved: three online surveys of Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs); an online survey of Directors and face-to-face interviews with 23 social work...

There has been growing concern that English local authorities are over reliant on temporary staff to meet the shortage of social workers. This has been criticised as inefficient and costly while leading to problems of continuity and consistency for people using social work services. Focussing on recent policy and the implementation of new administr...

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how local authorities and other services are responding to central government strategies to make support for family carers a priority. Design/methodology/approach - A web based audit of local authority public information was undertaken (n=50) searching for Carers’ Registers and carer related infor...

"Life expectancy is increasing in most of the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries, which is a cause for celebration. However, longevity is often associated with increased number of years in ill health and disability. With unceasing demographic and social changes in the region it is essential to build an evidence base of predicted future...

Older population from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups are in the increase in the UK. The Turkish population is no exception with an estimated population of at least 500,000 in the UK. Three distinct Turkish groups with different cultural and historical backgrounds form different communities within the UK; these are Turkish, Turkish Cypriots...

There have been few studies of people’s experiences of receiving care from migrant workers. This is despite the growing move to employ migrants to provide care and support for older and disabled people in the developed world. This article reports empirical findings from a study of migrants working in social care in England conducted between 2007 an...