Health and social services: living together apart

Unemployment, conflicts in the workplace, divorces, child rearing problems, lack of food, income and housing accommodation, discrimination, a death in the family, the onset of a chronic disease, generational conflicts, trouble with the neighbours, violence and intimidation, they all belong to the category of social problems. These problems exist in a large variety. Finding out what causes the problem (unemployment? cultural factors? family related issues? working circumstances?) and helping clients cope with these problems is difficult: there are so many causes. It is the job of professionals in the social services to help clients signal the problem, to analyze the real causes and to find solutions or suggest coping strategies to deal with the social problems.