While a wide array of service providers and academic scholars apply the use of “care” in their work, the concept of “care” itself remains largely undefined. This has widespread implications for applied work with children and young people (CYP), particularly since institutions such as schools and non-governmental organisations are increasingly being expected to care for or about children. In this paper, we use thematic analysis to report on interviews with representatives from four service providers and organisations responsible for the care of children. In our analysis, we explore both how care is defined by these organisations, and the implications for practice when working with CYP.

Homelessness is a complex problem affecting Australian Indigenous women disproportionately compared to the rest of the Australian population. Homelessness service providers in Cairns and Mount Isa, Australia, provided their perceptions as to why Indigenous women were presenting to homeless services. The key reasons cited by service providers were: domestic violence; alcohol and other drugs; and financial hardship. Other reasons included racist real estate agents; avoiding alcohol and family; overcrowding; literacy and numeracy skills; difficulty returning home and; not enough public housing. Potential solutions to help break this cycle of homelessness are explored. This research suggests that an important overall goal in reducing homelessness is to ensure that Indigenous women are safe at home in their own communities.

Food insecurity in older adults is influenced by financial constraints, functional disability, and isolation. Twenty-eight social- and community-service providers participated in four focus groups to report (a) perceptions and experiences with food insecurity in their older clients, (b) beliefs about their potential role(s) in promoting food security, and (c) opinions about constraints that influenced these roles. A constant comparison analysis identified key themes. The formal caregivers reported six roles for improving food security: (a) monitoring, (b) coordination, and (c) promoting services, (d) education, (e) advocacy, and (f) providing a social environment. The final theme summarizes these roles as “the need for personalization of service”. Social and community service providers are involved in roles that can promote the health of older adults by addressing their food insecurity. Social service providers need to be acknowledged and supported in this health promotion role.

Older-adult community programs are significant partners in the identification of need and delivery of health care for seniors. At present there is no systematic screening for nutritional risk in Ontario, and the interest and resources of community programs to screen is unknown. From three Ontario organizational membership lists, 200 programs were randomly selected; 136 key informants completed and returned the survey. A diverse sample of programs was included. Most were providing some form of nutrition programming, with the most common being meal provision. Two thirds (67.7%) were collecting some form of nutrition information: 56.4 per cent had an assessment questionnaire with nutrition information, and 21.8 per cent had clients subjectively assess their own nutritional risk. Most providers were interested in the nutritional health of their clients, and over half were interested in formally screening for nutritional risk. Barriers to screening were also identified. It is clear that nutrition is an area of priority for community programs and that nutrition screening is desired. Barriers to ethical screening need to be addressed prior to implementation of a systematic screening program.

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of social isolation in the context of service provision to older people. It draws on in-depth interviews with 18 Australian aged care practitioners about their perceptions of social isolation among their clients. The findings show that service providers experience significant levels of concern and frustration and a sense of powerlessness in meeting the needs of such clients. In analysing these accounts, the identification and management of isolation is conceptualised as a social practice which occurs in specific relational settings. The provision of care to lonely, isolated old people is structurally constrained in two ways. First, because of inadequate public resource allocation, the relationship between practitioners and older clients is dominated by time pressure and instrumentality. Secondly, the organisational and professional rules which service providers are required to follow shape the interpersonal relations between practitioner and client in ways which negatively impact on the outcomes of care for both.