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Superdiversity, as a concept, has assisted researchers to reveal heretofore hidden phenomena in society and to illuminate the nuanced subjectivity of migrant flows and the multidimensionality of migratory experiences. This article argues that the core tenets of superdiversity theory can help address epistemological questions in relation to issues beyond the parameters of migration studies. The topic of mental illness is used as an example through which to contemplate or 'imagine' the potential of superdiversity theory to assist researchers to break through limiting perspectives and to engage in innovative enquiry. Drawing on Mills' call for sociological curiosity, this article proposes that a superdiversity lens can be used to think imaginatively in research on mental illness and potentially many other topics. Superdiversity theory has been influential in shaping new ways of understanding migration and population diversity but the question addressed here is whether this lens carries the potential to produce a similar disruptive impact in a wider research sphere.

In a qualitative study, long-term mental health service users shared their views on the concept of 'participation' as shaped by their personal histories of contact with mental health services in Ireland. Adopting a narrative methodology, the study participants were asked to draw on their experiences with mental health services to illustrate their general views on participation by service users in mental health care contexts.In this study, the research participants recounted positive experiences of participation in which their expressed views regarding their symptoms and treatment needs were incorporated into the service responses they received. The data revealed that service users perceived open and inclusive communication by service providers as an important factor in optimising their ability to participate in help-seeking, diagnosis and treatment plans. However, the study also illuminated the chilling effect on participation when service users' views were not heeded or acknowledged by service providers. The findings highlight how the failure to include service users' insights can negatively encroach on service user participation. The service user narratives collected in this study exposed the often uneasy juxtaposition of the service user's personally held 'truth' regarding their lived experience of mental distress versus the powerful system of expert diagnosis and treatment. This article focuses on reporting selective findings from the study regarding participation in the contexts of help-seeking, diagnosis and treatment decisions.

PUBLISHED ; This survey provides direct access to the views of mental health service users regarding service provision in their local community. At the international level, the World Health Organisation has highlighted the benefits for health service delivery of incorporating the knowledge carried by services users gained through their direct experiences of service usage. There is a similar acknowledgement within Irish health and mental health policy that service user knowledge can usefully inform the improved delivery of services, see for example A Vision for Change (2006) and the National Strategy of Service User Involvement in the Irish Health Service 2008-2013. ; Dublin, Ireland ; This report outlines the findings of a survey of mental health service users? views on mental health services and supports which was carried out by the D12 Community Mental Health Forum?s Research Working Group in the period 2016-2017. The findings indicate that many service users view positively the services with which they have had or continue to contact. The survey also reveals how service users believe local provision could be improved, in particular, in relation to the provision of information, the access routes into service usage, and certain gaps in service provision. There are 9 key recommendations arising from this study. ; D12 Community Mental Health Forum

The Roma community in Europe has experienced persistent marginalisation and disadvantage over many generations, with Roma regularly experiencing problems of access to healthcare, accommodation, education and employment within the European context. Ireland is a relatively new destination for Roma migration and, as yet, the experiences of Roma in Ireland are under-researched. However, problematic access to healthcare has emerged as an issue faced by the Roma community in Ireland. With reference to the work of the Tallaght Roma Integration Project (TRIP), this article aims to illuminate some of the challenges faced by Roma in this regard. The work of TRIP is informed by community development principles, including concepts of participation and social solidarity. This article explores how community development can offer a framework through which the Roma community can engage collaboratively with service providers in order to highlight need and mobilise change in service provision.

This article explores the potential for social workers to engage in empowering relationships with young people whose disabilities necessitate that they receive help with certain physical functions, some of which would be termed both personal and intimate. We look firstly at different perspectives within social work on empowerment and what social workers can do to support service users gain more control over their lives. Drawing on the findings of a study by Muldoon (2012), we explore the application of these empowerment concepts into the working relationships that social workers develop with young people who require daily assistance with intimate personal care, and through this exploration we draw attention to the importance of understanding empowerment as a micro-level as well as the more often discussed macro-level action in social work.

"This handbook provides an authoritative and cutting-edge overview of current research and trends related to the emerging field of digital technology and social work. Divided into six sections: Part 1: Reframing social work in a digital society Part 2: Shaping a science of social work in the digital society Part 3: Digital social work in practice Part 4: The ethics of digital social work Part 5: Digital social work and the digitalization of welfare institutions: opportunities, challenges and country cases Part 6: Future challenges, directions and transformations and comprised of 40 specially commissioned chapters, it explores the main intersections between social work theory and practice in an increasingly digitized world. Bringing a critical focus to how social work as a profession is adapting exponentially to embrace the benefits of technology, it gives specific consideration to the digitalization of the social work profession, including the ways in which social workers are using different forms of technology to provide effective services and innovative practice responses. With chapters on big data, digital archiving, e-citizenship and inclusion, gerontechnology, children and technology, smart cities and data ethics, this book will be of interest to all social work scholars, students and professionals as well as those working in science and technology studies more broadly"--