Social workers often have to handle a great deal of negativity in their working lives. This book celebrates social work practice at its most positive and influential and, in doing so, contributes to a growing literature on critical best practice.

Focused on 12 unique and compelling stories of social work with older people, the authors:

- Provide a fresh and realistic insight into life as a social worker, and the dilemmas and difficulties that practitioners typically face

- Illustrate how knowledge, theory and research are integrated in professional decision-making and action

- Show social workers analyzing their own cases and include reflective questions to help readers formulate their own learning and thereby develop their own practice

This book provides students on qualifying courses with an invaluable perspective on real life practice, and gives qualified practitioners the opportunity to reflect on and better their own practice.

KAREN JONES is former Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of the West of England, where she lead the post-qualifying award in adult social work. Karen has co-edited 'Best Practice in Social Work: Critical Perspectives' with Barry Cooper and Harry Ferguson, which was published by Palgrave in 2008. She is also joint author of the highly successful 'Surviving Your Social Work Placement' with Rob Lomax, Sarah Leigh and Chris Gay.

SUSANNA WATSON has been working as a social worker since 2001, specialising in work with adults with physical impairments and older people, as part of a community 'adult care' team. She has a particular interest in building bridges between practice and theory, promoting social work and in encouraging social workers to think critically and positively about what they do. Susanna contributed a chapter to 'Best Practice in Social Work: Critical Perspectives', under the pseudonym Alison Gardener.