Mental Health and Social Work

Rosaleen Ow is currently Grant Manager of the Mrs Lee Choon Guan Endowed Research Fund in the Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore (NUS). She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from NUS; a master’s degree (Econs.) from University College, Cardiff, Wales; and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the National University of Singapore. She was a social work practitioner working mainly with children and families in Singapore and Wales before becoming an academic at the National University of Singapore. Apart from teaching, she had been and is still an active volunteer for NGOs serving children with cancer and chronic illnesses and those with challenges in intellectual development. Working closely with NGOs and formal government bodies, her research and writing are focused on examining the social and cultural factors that are interlinked with the needs and challenges of different types of families and services available to support such families. She publishes in peer-reviewed journals and edited books mainly on issues related to direct social work practice and cross-cultural social work. Abner Weng Cheong Poon is Senior Lecturer of Social Work in the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Singapore, Master of Social Work (Mental Health) from the University of Melbourne, and Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne. He teaches social work practice in mental health and evidence-informed practice in social work. His research focuses on social work practice in mental health, impact of mental illness on families and caregivers, family intervention in mental health, children of parents with mental illness, health and wellbeing of migrants experiencing mental health problems, intimate partner violence in China, and community mental health teams. He has published peer-reviewed articles concerning caregivers of people with psychosis, families from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, intimate partner violence, community mental health teams, and parenting needs of people with mental illness. He collaborates actively with mental health services and non-governmental organizations to conduct practice-based research that provide important and useful implications for practice and policy.

Part One: Introduction.- Part Two: General Theories on Mental Health and of Aetiology of Mental Illness.- Part Three: Overview of social work approaches in working with individuals, families and community.- Part Four:Contextualized practice with individuals and families.- Part Five: Structural factors in social work and mental health.- Part Six: Concluding chapter.