As Fibromyalgia affects millions of people throughout the world, and we look toward the medical community to help those who suffer from it, what happens at home? If there are so many unanswered questions at the doctors office, how are we supposed to explain it to our loved ones? This is Patricia Jacobsons journey and how her whole family was along for the ride, whether they wanted to be or not. As she still battles with her pain, she recalls all the pivotal moments in her life that made her realize Fibromyalgia is much bigger than we ever imagined

When a little girl dreams of lighting up like a firefly, she decides to catch lightning bugs in a jar so they will show her how to see in the dark. She makes a wish upon a star and even talks to the man in the moon but soon learns that once the fireflies are set free, she makes their wishes come true.

Welfare conditionality has become an idea of global significance in recent years. A ‘hot topic’ in North America, Australia, and across Europe, it has been linked to austerity politics, and the rise of foodbanks and destitution. In the Global South, where publicly funded welfare protection systems are often absent, conditional approaches have become a key tool employed by organisations pursuing human development goals. The essence of welfare conditionality lies in requirements for people to behave in prescribed ways in order to access cash benefits or other welfare support. These conditions are typically enforced through benefit ‘sanctions’ of various kinds, reflecting a new vision of ‘welfare’, focused more on promoting ‘pro-social’ behaviour than on protecting people against classic ‘social risks’ like unemployment. This new book in Routledge’s Key Ideas series charts the rise of behavioural conditionality in welfare systems across the globe, its appeal to politicians of Right and Left, and its application to a growing range of social problems. Crucially it explores why, in the context of widespread use of conditional approaches as well as apparently strong public support, both the efficacy and the ethics of welfare conditionality remain so controversial. As such, Welfare Conditionality is essential reading for students, researchers, and commentators in social and public policy, as well as those designing and implementing welfare policies.

This is a timely book on economic policy making and commitment to making that policy work. It is important reading for students and academics concerned with public, economic and social policy, and government economists.

Despite the growing concern in recent years about begging in British cities, there is a paucity of contemporary empirical evidence on the experiences and causes of begging, and on the characteristics of those people who beg.Getting by explores the links between begging and rough sleeping in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and assesses the impact of the emergence of The Big Issue street magazine on this relationship. The report looks at:why people beg;how people experience begging;in what circumstances people would stop begging;whether begging is closely associated with rough sleeping and/or other forms of homelessness;whether The Big Issue provides its vendors with a real alternative to begging.Getting by argues that the multiple problems experienced by those living on the streets need to be recognised and advocates an holistic approach to the provision of services. The report highlights the importance of policies aimed at preventing the need for people to resort to begging. It provides a range of recommendations on appropriate services including social work, health, housing and drugs and alcohol; and on government policies on social exclusion, employment and the benefits system, the police and the criminal justice system.This qualitative study is based on interviews with rough sleepers, Big Issue vendors, people who beg and agency workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh.It is essential reading for policy makers and practitioners in local authorities and voluntary organisations working in the field of homelessness, as well as anyone with an interest in begging, and rough sleeping. The report also has broader implications for a range of service working with people at the sharpest end of social exclusion.

Young Homeless People takes a broad approach to the distressing phenomenon of youth homelessness. While politicians, researchers and the media focus on the more visibly homeless--those sleeping in city streets and shelters--this book also considers the young homeless hidden in local communities. It places young people's experiences of homelessness in the context of their biographies as a whole and makes policy and practice recommendations based on the views and preferences of young homeless people themselves.