Provision Of Social Work Services Research Articles

The 5 + 1 Practice Research Model in Health Social Work: The “Eye of the Storm”

Purpose: The 5 + 1 Collaboration is an initiative where five teaching hospitals and a leading Melbourne university collaborate to promote and strengthen research, clinical practice in health social work, teaching, and collaboration. This collaboration fosters greater connection between academics, practitioners, and social work students. The 5 + 1 Collaboration provides a unique platform for the advancement of effective practice, practice-driven research, and student field education placements. Method: In a prospective study (2020 through 2021), employing the 5 + 1 model, at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100 frontline hospital social workers from five Melbourne hospitals participated in this study to determine, in detail, how the pandemic had affected their work. Results: This provided at a granular level, significant insights relating to the impact of the pandemic on the provision of social work services in the acute hospital setting. Additionally, during the study period, academic social work student placements were made at the five participating hospitals, with the students actively participating as part of the research team and providing feedback about their own experiences. Discussion: The study documented the challenges to hospital social work practice because of the pandemic, how hospital social workers rose to the challenges, and, importantly, adapted their practice and acquired new skills. This information may inform future hospital social work practice. The study also demonstrated that effective on-line student placements were possible, even in the setting of a pandemic.

Disrupting the carceral narrative of gender-based and sexual violence

This discussion seeks to critically explore the white, colonial narrative of gender-based and sexual violence that has justified and facilitated increased carceral power in responding to the social issue. In particular, I aim to emphasise the ways in which carcerality obscures the complex histories and dynamics of gender-based and sexual violence in order to individualise and privatise the problem. To demonstrate these dynamics, I will analyse: (1) the characterisation of perpetrators of gender-based and sexual violence as violent ‘Others’; (2) the centring of white women’s narratives in justifying increases to carceral power and implementing criminalising policies; (3) the extension of the carceral gaze through social work service provision; and (4) the fallacies of postfeminism facilitated by carceral logics. This discussion will conclude with exploring the possibilities of abolitionist social work and anti-carceral feminism in challenging the white narrative and creating space for partial histories to emerge.

Social Work Services for Children at Vietnam’s Hospitals: A Qualitative Study

Studies on social work services provided to children at hospitals remain limited. This study reports the status of social work service provision for children at several hospitals in Vietnam and identifies any influencing factors. This study involved thirty in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions. Most of the hospitals in this study provided the following social work services: support and consultation services for social work-related problems for children, health education and communication services, resource mobilization and coordination services, and health worker support services. The study found factors that hinder the provision of social work services for children at Vietnam’s hospitals. Moreover, central and provincial hospitals deployed better social work services for children than district hospitals, with more favorable factors at central and provincial hospitals. Pediatric specialty hospitals provided better social work services for children than general hospitals, with more favorable factors at pediatric specialty hospitals. The findings are a useful reference for policy makers, researchers, and policy makers worldwide. Future studies should pay more attention to differences in hospital levels and types of hospitals in providing social work services to children from the findings.

Social Work Services at Dakto District Health Center, Kon Tum Province, Vietnam: Challenges and Policy Recommendations

ABSTRACT The provision of social work services at district health centers are not well reported in previous studies. This study aimed to report the results of the provision of social work services at Dakto District Health Center, Kon Tum province, Vietnam, and to find out factors affecting this provision. This was a cross-sectional study that used secondary data, 13 in-depth interviews, and 2 focus group discussions to collect data. Among the social work services prescribed by the Ministry of Health, Dakto District Health Center provided the following four services: information instruction and consultation services, and psychological support for patients; communication and health promotion services; services in support of health workers; and resources mobilization and coordination services. Our study found factors that hinder the provision of social work services at the center and suggested policies to the related parties.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROVISION OF SOCIAL WORK SERVICES FOR CANCER PATIENTS AT THE VIETNAM NATIONAL CANCER HOSPITAL

The provision of social work service for cancer patients is facing many challenges. Therefore, this study aims to explore factors affecting the provision of social work services for cancer patients at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital. This is a cross-sectional study that used 10 in-depth interviews, and three focus group discussions to collect data. Our findings showed that the factors such as specialized qualifications of social workers, available facilities, the network of social work collaborators, finance, and policy regimes hindered the provision of social work services for cancer patients at the hospital. Meanwhile, the financial factor contributed to promote social work services for cancer patients at the hospital. Besides, the demands for the provision of social work services for cancer patients were one of the factors that should be considered in the coming time. Our study suggested stakeholders pay more attention to these factors.

The Better Future International’s family care model in Tanzania: Creating social capital as a means to empowerment in social work practice

This article describes the impact on social services of an innovative model of family care in Moshi, Tanzania, aimed at orphaned children and youth who are affected by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. We explore three questions: Is social capital created during the provision of social work services? If so, what aspects of the model are responsible for it? How does this social capital influence the participants’ educational/occupational aspirations and vision of the future? This qualitative study is based on a case analysis of eight adolescents and their caregivers. Data were collected from in-depth interviews. The unique aspects of a family-oriented, holistic, social service model focused on empowerment and future orientation-generated bridging, bonding, and linking social capital. Youth with more social capital appeared to have clearer visions of their future path. Implications for community-based social work practice serving marginalized and impoverished groups are presented.

Noticing and attending to relational process: a dialogical analysis of MSW student competency development in relational therapy

ABSTRACT We explored Masters of Social Work (MSW) student discourses of learning experiences related to Noticing and Attending to Relational Process (NARP) in a course devoted to clinical practice with families and couples. Within two to three weeks after completing recorded peer role-play assignments and receiving audio-recorded feedback from the instructor, five randomly selected students participated in an unstructured interpersonal process recall (IPR) interview. The instructor/first author queried students about specific role-play moments and reactions to instructor-produced, audio-recorded feedback regarding NARP competencies. We used dialogical analysis to identify discourses and rhetorical features of interview data. Five primary themes emerged. Based on our Bahktinian interpretation of interview data with students, our findings also demonstrated multi-voiced discourses, indicating students’ internal struggle to make sense of NARP and respond to instructor feedback. Educators and practitioners can more intentionally attune themselves to these discourses, potentially opening avenues for stronger social work service provision.

Utilization of Outpatient Social Work Services Among Veterans with Combat-Related Polytrauma: A Review and Case Analysis

We examined outpatient social work service utilization and associated costs among patients with combat-related polytrauma who received services at a veterans’ hospital in the southeast United States between 2007 and June 2011. This is a retrospective cohort study of a purposive sample of 265 service recipients using secondary data extracted from the Veterans Health Administration Medical SAS Outpatient and CPRS databases. Combat-related veterans (n = 265) with polytrauma had a total of 10,437 outpatient social work service encounters and received 91 different outpatient social work service procedures, providing a total number of 8,564 outpatient social work service procedures. The highest frequencies for procedural and diagnostic coding are “unspecified.” The provision of social work services needs to be studied to maximize efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and the quality of care being provided to veterans with combat-related polytrauma. Research studying the role of social work case management in the continuum of care is limited and warranted expansion.

Reimagining the South African social work curriculum: Aligning African and western cosmologies

Widespread student uprisings associated with the Fees-Must-Fall movement have starkly focused universities on the need to revisit the impact of colonialism, and the need to decolonise curricula and adapt them to the South African context. While acknowledging the oppressive effects of colonisation and the homogenising and universalising effects of globalisation, the main thrust of this paper is that we need to recognise that social work as a worldwide profession is part of the global village and that we need to keep current with international developments, while remembering our history, celebrating our unique multicultural context, beliefs and practices, and remaining anchored in Africa. This article discusses examples of indigenous world views that could infuse and inform the Western-based knowledge, skills and values components of the curriculum, and which are needed for effective provision of social work services.

The Role of Social Work in Providing Mental Health Services and Care Coordination in an Urban Trauma Center Emergency Department

This study examined the role of emergency department (ED) social workers and identified predictors of receipt of social work services and length of ED stay. Comprehensive reviews were conducted of medical records of all patients (N=49,354) treated in a level 1 trauma center ED from January 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013. Content analysis of chart notes was used to categorize the types of social work services provided. Poisson regression was used to assess associations between demographic and clinical characteristics, receipt of social work services, and length of ED stay. Social work services were provided to 18,532 (38%) patients. Most were mental health services (54%), followed by care coordination (31%) and material support or other referrals (15%). Patients seen by social workers had complex presentations, involving mental disorder diagnoses (18%), substance use disorder diagnoses (29%), comorbid diagnoses (32%), and injuries (51%); a quarter of patients had multiple ED visits (26%). In adjusted regression analysis, females (relative risk [RR]=1.15), patients not discharged home (RR=1.44), and those with two or more comorbid diagnoses (RR=1.80), injuries due to assault (RR=1.37), and traumatic brain injury (RR=1.20) were more likely to receive social work services. Such services were associated with an increased length of ED stay (RR=1.34). Social workers provided services to patients with multifaceted needs resulting from complex presentations. Provision of social work services modestly increased length of ED stay. Triage algorithms are needed to target efficiencies, systematize provision of ED social work services, and improve access to services for all patients.

DO SOCIAL WORKERS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? MEASURING CLIENT SATISFACTION IN AN OCCUPATIONAL SETTING

Considerable time, effort and money annually go into the provision of social work services. South African practitioners cannot, however, yet prove beyond a doubt that these services meet the needs of client systems. Especially one gap still remains on the accountability continuum. This is the extent to which clients themselves are satisfied with the services they receive. Part of this gap has now been filled with the development and testing of client satisfaction scales for an occupational setting. This paper will deal with the nature of these scales and the implications of their use for the broader social work field.

An Organizational Cybernetics Framework for Achieving Balance in Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence

This article applies the systems science of organizational cybernetics to the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the provision of social work services in a residential treatment center setting. It does so by systemically balancing EBP with practice-based evidence (PBE) with a focus on the organizational and information system infrastructures necessary to ensure successful implementation. This application is illustrated by discussing a residential treatment program that implemented evidence-based programming and evaluated the results; however, the systemic principles articulated can be applied to any human services organizational setting.

A parting of the ways? The diverging nature of mental health social work in the light of the new Acts in Scotland, and in England and Wales

• Summary: This article uses the concept of citizenship to explore the recent mental health statutes within England and Wales and within Scotland. It argues that differences in the content, and practice context, herald a parting of the ways in mental health social work in the United Kingdom. • Findings: The author focuses on three key differences: the reciprocity principle, the grounds for compulsory treatment and the place of social work within compulsory intervention to demonstrate how the statutes have led to more limited legal, procedural and social rights in England and Wales than in Scotland. The result for social work is that the practice context created in England and Wales may become more risk averse and that social work services may have a more residual role within statutory mental health work. The differences described in this article may also reflect increasing post-devolution divergence in the provision of social work services across the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. • Applications: Further research is needed to explore if these divergences, within mental health law and policy, are in practice supporting or limiting citizenship.

Older Chinese Adults’ Fear of Intimacy with Helping Professionals

The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes older Chinese adults have about engaging in counseling-based services as measured by a fear of intimacy with helping professionals scale. Data were collected from 150 older adults living in Chongqing, China. Information from this study will be helpful in developing effective strategies for the provision of social work services in China. In contrast with previous research, attitudes about intimacy with helping professionals varied and were normally distributed. Significant predictors of fear of intimacy were level of trust, mental health stigma, family support and friend support. Surprisingly, family and friend support had opposite associations with fear of intimacy. Family support was related to higher fear and friend support to lower fear. The cultural implications of these findings for researchers and social workers working with elderly Chinese clients are discussed.

Where the streets have no names: factors associated with the provision of counselling and social work services for child rape survivors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Objective: The aim of this study was to audit the provision of state-assisted counselling and social work services to child rape survivors presenting for medico-legal assessment at a state hospital in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. Method: A prospective design was used to collect data from the social and medical case files of 200 consecutive cases of child rape referred for medico-legal assessment to a state hospital located to the north of the City of Durban (South Africa). For each case, information was obtained regarding survivor and offender demographics, the nature and duration of abuse, and the extent and nature of counselling and social work services provided. Results: Only 49% of survivors benefited from state-supported counselling and social work services, with the provision of such services being frequently delayed (by periods of up to six months), and with service provision being restricted to a single intake interview in all but one case. Social work service provision was significantly less likely in cases where the survivor resided in an informal dwelling (OR = 0.507) and where the child presented for medico-legal assessment outside of normal working hours (OR = 0.625). From observations made during the study, it would appear that patterns of professional collaboration in relation to service provision for child rape survivors falls somewhat short of the ideal of effective multi-sectoral engagement. Conclusions: Levels of service provision observed in the study are unacceptably low, with there being a clear need for the development and implementation of carefully considered multi-sectoral protocols which are designed to effectively meet the needs of all child rape survivors.

Equity for government school students: Reclaiming social work services in New South Wales

In Australia, school education is largely a state government responsibility, hence there are varying responses across Australia to the welfare needs of school students. The present study explores the basis for the provision of social work services within schools, particularly the special needs of rural schools, and suggests that NSW school students are disadvantaged by not having access to social work services that might help them overcome some of the educational barriers that they face. The nature of educational barriers is examined and literature on the role of school social workers is reviewed. The authors find that the social justice rhetoric of State and Commonwealth educational agencies is incongruent with NSW school practice.

Advocating in schools for children with disabilities: what's new with IDEA?

All social workers who work with children and families, regardless of their practice setting, should be aware of the important educational rights to which children with disabilities and their families are entitled. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (P.L. 101-476), one of the most sweeping laws protecting children with disabilities, was substantially amended in 1997, and its regulatory provisions became legally effective in October 1999. This article provides information about the requirements of the law and the impact of those changes on children's educational rights. The changes discussed and their practice implications include expansion of categories of children with disabilities; new requirements for mobile, homeless, or culturally diverse populations and participants in the individualized education program process; payment for private school placements for children with disabilities; discipline of children with disabilities; and provision of social work services in the schools.

Responses of the social work profession to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is rapidly developing immigration legislation and policies to respond to its relatively new status as a destination for asylum seekers and refugees within the European Union. New political definitions of asylum seekers and refugees are being constructed in a country with its own history of mass emigration. At the same time, the economic growth that is making Ireland a more attractive destination for asylum seekers and refugees has also fuelled an unprecedented expansion in the employment of social workers. Specialized services are now being developed for unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum. This expansion in the number of social workers and growth in service provision has led to little professional debate about the role of social workers with asylum seekers and refugees. This paper examines the questions raised by the provision of social work services to these children and considers the wider implications for the development of the social work profession and social work practices in Ireland.

Client or former client? Implications of ex-client definition on social work practice.

The study discussed in this article investigated the effect of the variation in individual worker definition of "former client" in relationship to workers' perceptions of appropriate professional behaviors during the provision of social work services. A random sample of 654 social workers who possessed MSW degrees, provided direct services to clients, and were members of NASW were surveyed regarding their perceptions of appropriate behavior in seven practice domains: peripheral professional advice, concrete assistance, multiple or dual relationships, sexual and intimate relations, confidentiality and privacy, social relationships, and religion and prayer in practice. Variations in practice behavior perceptions were analyzed in relationship to the worker's definition of an "ex-client." The overall findings suggest that there is a definite lack of consensus regarding the definition of a former client, and that this may affect practice standards and variations in views of appropriate professional behavior.

New directions for social services and education

Abstract This paper posits the existence of a crisis in both social work education and social work service provision. It offers a brief history of social work development, and some suggestions as to what the crises are, and how they might be resolved. The suggestions are towards a closer integration of theory and practice, possibly by merging teaching and service functions.