ABSTRACT

How can caregivers remain both caring and strong enough to withstand the stress of their work?
How can caregiving organizations effectively improve their management and practice?

Increasing pressure on caregiving organizations to serve more people with fewer resources means that epidemics of burnout, high staff turnover, dissatisfaction and internal conflict often appear inevitable. Holding Fast focuses on the particular stress of caregiving work, its influences on the people and organizations who do that work, and what they can do about it.

Illustrated by case studies based on extensive research in schools, hospitals, social work agencies, health care centres and religious institutions, Holding Fast identifies the problems faced by caregiving organizations, and outlines appropriate strategies for tackling these to create a resilient, effective organization. The book is divided into clear sections covering:

* an introduction to the nature of caregiving organizations

* the disturbances that can occur within them

*the skills required to effectively lead them.

Holding Fast offers a portrait of how organizations become, or are prevented from becoming, systems of caregiving. It will help leaders of caregiving organizations and their staff gain a better understanding of the difficulties encountered by their organizations, leading to improved management and practice.

part |2 pages

PART 1 The nature of caregiving organizations

chapter 1|18 pages

Caregiving organizations defined

chapter 2|15 pages

The stress of caregiving work

chapter 3|16 pages

Resilience under stress

chapter 4|17 pages

System breakdowns

part |2 pages

PART 2 Disturbances in caregiving organizations

chapter 5|18 pages

Caregivers and casualties

chapter 6|19 pages

Authority at work

chapter 7|18 pages

Divided they fall

chapter 8|17 pages

Teams, real and imaginary

chapter 9|17 pages

Politics

chapter 10|17 pages

Running in place

part |2 pages

PART 3 Leading caregiving organizations

chapter 11|15 pages

The leadership task

chapter 12|17 pages

Negotiating dependency

chapter 13|19 pages

Leadership and change