Work Practice Research Articles

Bridging the Gap Between Actual and Desired Quality of Life: A Study of Older Adults in Institutional Care Settings in India

ABSTRACT With an aging population, ensuring older adults’ well-being is crucial. This study examined actual and desired Quality of Life (QoL) among institutionalized older Indians in care homes and recreational centers. Using a mixed-method approach, it analyzed key QoL dimensions, forming a QoL index. Surveys (293 participants) and qualitative data revealed significant gaps between actual and desired QoL, highlighting diverse needs across institutional contexts. Findings underscore the need for continuous QoL advancements in policies and programs. Targeted interventions can enhance QoL, offering valuable insights for social work practice and policy development to better support older adults’ evolving needs.

Developing the Workplace Learning Social System: considerations for genomics implementation and workforce preparedness.

Innovations, such as genomics, are expected to transform the practice of the healthcare workforce. Workplace learning is an established and fundamental component of healthcare workforce training. We propose that it can be leveraged to facilitate workforce preparedness to adopt innovations relevant to practice. To explore this, this study aimed to develop a workplace learning framework premised on primary literature. Four databases were systematically searched to identify and synthesize contemporary research articles investigating doctors' workplace learning, with an additional focus on genetics/genomics. From the articles included, factors influencing workplace learning were extracted. Informed by structuration and workplace learning theories, thematic analysis was conducted on these factors to generate the framework. Despite the lack of articles on doctors' genetics/genomics workplace learning, 50 articles on doctors' workplace learning were included. Extracted influencing factors were synthesized into five major domains, across three social system levels and the agentic learner, to generate the Workplace Learning Social System framework. Innovations in healthcare require its workforce to change work practices. The Workplace Learning Social System framework holistically conceptualizes workplace learning based on contemporary literature. It provides pragmatic insights to inform workforce development when implementing innovations as part of system-wide change.

Decision-making Factors in Surgical Techniques and Attitudes Towards Environmental Sustainability.

Our study examines factors influencing surgical specialists' choice of surgical technique and assesses the significance of the carbon footprint in this decision-making process. It also investigates their attitudes, behaviours and barriers to environmental sustainability. Climate change significantly threatens health, with surgery being a major contributor to healthcare's carbon footprint. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and a questionnaire. Respondents were Dutch-speaking surgeons, gynaecologists and urologists with experience in minimally invasive surgery. They judged 14 choice sets, each presenting two hypothetical surgical scenarios that varied in postoperative length of stay, patient's preference, specialists' experience, costs, national guideline recommendations, and carbon footprint. The questionnaire explored attitudes, behaviours, and barriers to environmental sustainability. Among the 116 respondents, patient's preference emerged as the most important factor in the choice of a surgical technique (Relative Importance (RI) 27.35 [95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 19.57-35.12]), followed by postoperative length of stay (RI 21.41 [95% CI 14.07-28.75]), specialists' experience (RI 16.07 [95% CI 11.45-20.69]), costs (RI 13.98 [95% CI 8.42-19.55]), national guideline recommendations (RI 13.29 [95% CI 8.41-18.16] and carbon footprint (RI 7.90 [95% CI 3.63-12.18]). Respondents expressed concern about climate change (105/116; 90%), with 85% (98/116) altering personal behaviours, and 49% (57/116) changing work practices. They feel surgical specialists have responsibility to be aware of surgery's environmental impact (97/116; 84%), and a part have knowledge to decrease this impact (39/116; 34%). Main barriers are time (73/116; 63%), costs (74/116; 64%) and inadequate training and information (67/116; 58%). Patient's preference and postoperative length of stay are prioritised in surgical decision-making, while carbon footprint is the least significant factor. To enhance sustainability in surgical practice, barriers must be addressed, and sustainable techniques and devices should be developed and standardised, ensuring sustainability is inherent in the available options, rather than just relying on individual choice.

Exploring Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice: A Wisconsin Case Study.

Research suggests spirituality is linked to positive health outcomes, but social workers report barriers to incorporating it into care planning. The literature suggests general interest in learning and executing social work practice involving religion/spirituality (R/S) intentionally. While some empirical study has been conducted, this work is largely superficial and undeveloped. Finally, a changing R/S landscape in the United States further establishes the need for deeper, more nuanced examination. This article explores the actual role that R/S have in social practice and who supports these practices. Wisconsin social workers were surveyed (n = 578) using the Religious/Spiritual Integrated Practice Assessment Scale and other items of original design. Results confirm interest among social workers to include R/S in practice, but formal training is lacking. The data reveal a profile of practitioners who incorporate R/S, correlated with religiosity, religious conservativism, age, and race. Implications include enhancing mentorship, internships, and education to increase efficacy in utilizing R/S in the field.

Evaluation of a digital entomological surveillance planning tool for malaria vector control: Three country mixed methods pilot study.

Vector control remains the principal method to prevent malaria transmission and has led to significant reductions in malaria incidence across endemic regions. However, such gains have stagnated, underscoring the need to tailor vector control to local drivers of transmission. An Entomological Surveillance Planning Tool (ESPT) was designed to translate normative guidance into an operational tool that supports cost effective, locally tailored, and evidence-based vector control. To facilitate ESPT implementation, an interactive digital toolkit (eSPT) was created to support question-based surveillance planning. The eSPT was evaluated with 49 target users in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique. The eSPT was introduced to participants through facilitated workshops. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining pre- and post-intervention surveys with qualitative measures to assess the impact of the eSPT on knowledge, self-efficacy and work practices related to entomological surveillance planning. Qualitative methods were used to explore the acceptability and utility of the eSPT. Quantitative measures showed that the facilitated eSPT workshop increased participants' knowledge and self-efficacy in question-based entomological surveillance planning. Target users responded positively to the eSPT, reporting high usability scores and satisfaction with the interface. Respondents from academic institutes, central government and international NGOs reported the eSPT to be a useful training tool and believed it could provide substantial efficiencies in the planning process. Further user testing, customizability and compatibility with mobile devices was recommended to enhance the eSPT's usefulness as a planning tool, especially at the local government level. Interactive digital toolkits could be an engaging, efficient, and accessible way to build research and surveillance capacity within relevant organizations and local authorities. This is achieved by combining tailored information and guidance, with functions that enable the development of a planning document, in an easy-to-follow stepwise process. To maximize the usability and usefulness of these toolkits, target users must be centered in the design.

As It Is Above, So It Is Below: Repositioning Indigenous Knowledge Systems within Ecosocial Work.

This article explores the development of Indigenous knowledge in relation to the ecosystem and how traditional concepts of planetary well-being can enhance ecosocial work approaches. From an academic point of view, ecosocial work is a unique paradigm that seeks to understand a holistic view of human health, social justice, and environmental sustainability. There is a strong focus on community development in ecosocial work, which is why the profession must be equipped with tools to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized groups including refugees and First Nations peoples. While these threats to human life and planetary well-being are well documented, little is known about the divergence of Indigenous epistemology in ecosocial work and how cultural strategies can enhance recovery and resilience building with community. Connecting cultural knowledge with contemporary ecosocial work theory and practice can provide effective pathways for communities suffering from grief and loss. This article explores Indigenous perspectives on living symbiotically with the natural world alongside traditional approaches toward enhancing community wellness. As Indigenous academics, the authors tell this story.

Continuing the Mission: Findings from a Needs Assessment Supporting the New Generation of Student Veterans

ABSTRACT For the better part of two decades, military personnel have deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the drawdown in troops and the ending of most active operations in the Middle East, military members have transitioned out of the military back to their communities, to their civilian lives, and to search for their next mission. During this transition, reports indicate that up to 40% choose to pursue degrees in higher education institutions where they can access their educational benefits and follow new career paths. This article examines the current literature on student Veterans’ educational challenges and how one large higher education institution assessed the needs of its student Veterans (n = 221). Based on the empirical evidence, the research team proposes recommendations for program development to support student Veterans. The article also suggests implications for clinical social work practice and education.

Exposing social work students to environmental justice: A study in the United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT This empirical study attempted to design and test an innovative curriculum integrating social, economic, and environmental issues into the curriculum of a Social Work Practice with Communities and Organizations course at United Arab Emirates University. A quasi-experimental study involving a sample of 56 students concluded that the designed curriculum and its contents effectively give students an in-depth understanding of the inherent complexities in shaping effective responses to social, economic, and environmental crises. The students recognize the professional roles of social work in addressing environmental justice issues.

Not Even Remotely Close: How Co‐Location Imbalance Affects Subgroup Formation in Hybrid Teams

ABSTRACTDespite the substantial proliferation of hybrid work, little has been done to reconcile extant individual‐ and team‐level perspectives. This is problematic because it does not acknowledge how individuals' hybrid work practices constrain team‐level interactions and subsequent outcomes. Specifically, the extant literature does not yet capture the complex configurations that result from team members alternating between co‐located and remote forms of collaboration and how these may provoke the formation of subgroups within the team. In this conceptual paper, we introduce the construct co‐location imbalance, which we define as the disparity in co‐location between different combinations of team members, as a way of capturing geographic configurations in hybrid teams. Through illustrative hybrid teamwork archetypes, we demonstrate the meaning and implications of co‐location imbalance on subgroup formation. We then map out a nomological network surrounding co‐location imbalance and derive testable propositions on its temporal dynamics and antecedents. Our paper concludes with a discussion of our research's theoretical and practical contributions and directions to advance future research on hybrid teamwork.

Supervision on Country: Enhancing Culturally Safe Social Work Supervision Through First Nations Knowledges

ABSTRACT There has been limited scholarship on culturally responsive supervision in social work. This article provides a comprehensive review of literature and builds artefacts and conceptual maps encompassing key cultural elements in cultural-clinical supervision to inform social work practice. The visual artefacts present five key areas of Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing, including identity, community, relationality, deep listening, and yarning. This project was Aboriginal-led and developed collaboratively between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social workers and researchers. This article can assist both First Nations and non-First Nations supervisors to better understand the importance of culturally responsive supervision in all social work settings. IMPLICATIONS It is important for social workers to incorporate Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing in their supervision practices, to create culturally safe supervision. Bringing the cultural-clinical interface together can enhance cultural supervision in all services.

Spirit and self: a holistic approach to Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth mental health care

ABSTRACT Black youth continually experience stressful environmental conditions that negatively impact their mental health and well-being. Some seek religious and spiritual support to cope with these daily environmental stressors. Although the practice of spirituality through religious activities has allowed Black people and their communities to find meaning and comfort during times of pain, cope with injustices, and find hope for a better tomorrow, most of what is known about the importance of religiosity and spirituality in Black communities originates from research conducted in the United States. Within the Canadian context, the religious and spiritual experiences of Black youth, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background, are rare within the field of social work education and practice. This article presents data from six Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth (ACCY) between the ages of 16 and 18, two parents, and three faith-based leaders drawn from a doctoral youth-centered phenomenological study in Canada. By sharing their perspectives, this article examines the impacts of religious and spiritual support on the lives of ACCY. Recommendations for the use of religiosity and spirituality in social work education and practice are discussed.

Advancing Foot Arch Diagnostics: A Comparison of plantar surface (PSA) index and convolution neural network (CNN) Deep Learning Models

Introduction: Accurate assessment of foot arch morphology is crucial for diagnosing and managing various musculoskeletal conditions. The objective of the study is to test and compare the ability of the plantar surface area (PSA) index and a convolutional neural network (CNN) deep learning model to classify various foot arches normal arched foot (NAF), (FAF) and high arched foot (HAF) from plantar scan images. Methodology: This is a comparative study in which a total of 896 male participants, aged 25–45, were randomly selected and evaluated for foot arch classification into three categories: NAF, FAF, and HAF. 360 images were taken to train, test and validate the CNN model. The PSA index method involved traditional footprint analysis using a self-designed foot scanner, while the CNN model was trained on a dataset of foot images to automate classification. Results: Descriptive statistics was used to tabulate the demographics, and the performance of CNN and PSA was done which showed 100% sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV); both approaches were able to classify all 130 instances in each category with flawless precision. For both approaches, there were no false positives (FP) or false negatives (FN) noted. Conclusion: Future studies should develop hybrid models that harmonize anatomical precision and biomechanical accuracy with CNN efficiency paving the way to personalized medicine and real-time diagnostics. If these challenges are met, researchers would be able to fully leverage this interdisciplinary approach to affect both clinical practice and biomechanical work. KEY WORDS: Foot arch classification, PSA index, Convolutional Neural Network, Deep learning, Biomechanics, Artificial intelligence.

Enabling Child‐Centred Case Recording in Children's Social Work: The Voice of Practitioners

ABSTRACTMaintaining case records is an essential and necessary component of children's social work practice. Research and child abuse enquiries internationally have highlighted the need for child‐centred and participatory approaches to case recording, yet consistently highlight significant deficiencies in child‐centred case recording. This paper presents findings from a mixed‐method study that sought to explore practitioners' experiences of child‐centred case recording and identify new and innovative solutions to enabling this. Data were collected through focus groups and surveys with social work practitioners who worked in child protection and child looked after (CLA) contexts in two local authorities (LAs) in the north of England. The findings suggest practitioners have developed creative ways to help achieve child‐centred recording in challenging circumstances, which could be built upon and more consistently applied across organizations, based on the foundations of relationship‐based, ethical and humane practice.

Navigating the Labyrinth: Challenges Faced by Child Protection Officers in Polygamous Bedouin Families in Israel

ABSTRACTPolygamy is widespread in Israel's Bedouin population. Israeli law forbids polygamy, but Bedouin tradition and custom, as well as Islam—which conditions polygamy on just relations, physical and economic capability and maintenance of religious observance—allow a man to take more than one wife. This article presents the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of 18 child protection officers (CPOs) and social workers involved in parental custody allocation cases (GALs) employed by Israeli social affairs departments to work with the Bedouin minority. The study's aim is to describe the challenges they encounter in interventions regarding children at risk in polygamous families. These professionals encounter legal complexities, contend with minimal resources and lack tools suited to the unique needs of these children. The stigmatization of polygamous families by Israel's Jewish population and Arabs in the country's north adds another layer of complexity. All these obstacles delay efficient intervention strategies. The article emphasizes the importance of emotional treatment for these children who have grown up in polygamous families and the need for cultural sensitivity in interventions. It calls for a holistic approach that recognizes the various challenges and calls for a comprehensive reform to better protect and support children at risk in polygamous families. The findings are relevant to international social work practice because polygamy is practiced in many countries by members of some populations.

Integrating the National School Social Work Practice Model: The Chicken, not the Egg

Integrating the National School Social Work Practice Model: The Chicken, not the Egg

The extent of knowledge management practices using institutional memory and employees’ individual work performance

The study aimed to examine the influence of knowledge management practices on individual work performance. To deepen the concepts of the study, the literature was reviewed. The population of the study was all the employees of the Divine Word College of Laoag. The study used descriptive assessment and correlational research design. Validated questionnaires were used to gather the data, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The study found that knowledge management practice and individual work performance are considered high and Pearson r correlation found a significant correlation between knowledge management practice and individual work performance. The study also recognized its limitations because of the limited population and the variables that are being measured. It is important to conduct another study to include more variables of knowledge management practices and a bigger population.

Analysis of The Influence of Industrial Work Practices and Self-Efficacy on Career Maturity (Case Study of Alumni and Students from the 2019 Management Program at Universitas Pertamina)

This study aims to re-examine the influence of Industrial Work Practice and Self-Efficacy on the Career Maturity of alumni and students from the 2019 Management program at Universitas Pertamina. The research employs a quantitative methodology, with a total of 90 respondents. Based on Slovin's formula, the required number of respondents for this study is 84. Data collection was conducted through a closed questionnaire distributed via Google Forms, collected online. The data processing technique utilized is SPSS 21 software. The analysis of this research is carried out in three stages: (1) Instrument Testing, (2) Classical Assumption Testing, and (3) Hypothesis Testing. The results indicate that both industrial work practice and selfefficacy have a significant impact on career maturity.

“What does the mirror reveal about your age?” A historical analysis of Tokalon cosmetic advertisements in 1930s Sweden

Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine the construction of female beauty ideals in Tokalon advertisements in 1930s Sweden. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the theoretical perspective of social semiotics and the methodology of multimodal critical discourse analysis to analyze a corpus of 91 Tokalon advertisements collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive. Findings The analysis indicates that women were encouraged to engage in beauty work practices to preserve the idealized white, youthful face. Working on and “perfecting” the female face was framed as a way for women to exercise their autonomy and emancipation. However, a closer analysis of the advertisements reveals that women’s empowerment was often measured in terms of securing male attention or finding a husband. Women who failed to enhance their appearance were positioned as at risk of being unloved and/or unmarried, while those who engaged in beauty work practices were rewarded with romantic success. Interestingly, however, the promotion of beauty practices was not rooted with traditional notions of the “male gaze”, but rather reflected an “autoerotic gaze” that emphasizes self-governance by modern women. Originality/value This paper demonstrates the significance of analyzing Swedish cosmetic advertisements from this period to understand their role in shaping constructions of femininity. It also highlights the important influence of American advertising styles and culture in Swedish advertising practices and how they helped shape beauty norms in Sweden.

Performance ethnography as a method for the critical investigation of direct social work practice

Norman Denzin was a major force in developing performance ethnography as a critical, social justice-oriented form of qualitative inquiry worldwide. In this article, I illustrate and conceptualize how performance ethnography, as Denzin developed it, is an excellent fit for research and teaching on direct social work practice. The article revolves around a performance ethnography titled “Yuval, You Decide” that presents both the evolution and utilization of the performance and the performance itself—a detailed script of a high-risk crisis intervention of which I was part as a social work practitioner at a child protection community center. Based on the performative text, I present four contributions that performance ethnography can offer to research on direct social work practice: highlighting and conceptualizing the complexity of practice, evoking and producing experiential and embodied knowledge, accessing the micropolitics of practice, and opening a space for the coproduction of knowledge.

State Certification Standards for School Social Workers: A Survey and Discussion in the Context of the National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0

State Certification Standards for School Social Workers: A Survey and Discussion in the Context of the National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0