Assessing competency-based evaluation course impacts: A mixed methods case study

The contexts in which evaluators develop and apply their expertise are increasingly complex; evaluator education needs to provide robust opportunities to support and assess the progressive, lifelong development of relevant knowledge and skills. This mixed methods case study begins to address the dearth of empirical evidence assessing the impacts and learner experiences of competency-based approaches to evaluator education. A decade-in-the-making doctoral evaluation course based on the Canadian Evaluation Society’s Competencies for Canadian Evaluation Practice created an opportune study setting. We applied a systems perspective to Stufflebeam’s Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) model to frame the case study analysis and presentation of the complex impacts generated by pre/post course competency self-assessments and reflections, integrated with an end-of-course focus group. Seven insights shed new light on the effective course design and implementation features for developing intended and unintended evaluator competencies. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical, practical, and methodological implications for effective competency-based evaluator education.

• •Keywords: Case study; Competency-based approach; Evaluator education; Mixed methods research

     

Priority setting for evaluation: Developing a strategic evaluation portfolio

Resources for evaluation are frequently scarce and best use should be made of them to deliver against the typical purposes of an evaluation function to (i) enhance accountability and (ii) promote operational improvement and learning. This paper presents a method for analyzing and prioritizing potential evaluations to improve the selection of a portfolio of activities that give the greatest pay-off. The method establishes the relative priority of ‘evaluation opportunities’ against criteria that relate to the usual primary purposes of an evaluation function. The method was developed in the context of a multilateral organization but is of general utility to the wider evaluation community and, with suitable adaptation can be applied to help ensure that scarce evaluation resources are used to their best advantage.A range of benefits are expected to accrue to an organization from adopting a more thorough, analytical priority setting process. These include:

• •Enhancing the relevance of evaluations to the wider organizational agenda
• •Providing structured justification for allocating funds to evaluation activities
• •More transparent, predictable decision-making
• •Enabling realignment of evaluation priorities with changing needs and circumstances
• •Improved credibility with stakeholders
• •Providing a clear direction and sense of purpose to evaluation staff
• •Documenting a clear framework for the development of an organization's evaluation portfolio.

The paper describes a priority setting method, including the key criteria that are used to assess ‘evaluation opportunities’, and presents different analyses of an evaluation portfolio. Examples from a practical application of the approach to the preparation of an evaluation work plan in a multilateral environmental agency are given.     

Why Extended Time on Newstart is Unsuitable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians Living with a Disability

ABSTRACT

Many Australians living with a disability find themselves recipients of Newstart Allowance when applying for the Disability Support Pension (DSP). Newstart Allowance is designed as a short-term payment for people looking for work, with a lower fortnightly payment and limited medical and transport subsidies compared to the DSP. This paper describes the financial challenges of living with a disability while on Newstart Allowance. With a focus on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians from two regional towns, qualitative semistructured interviews and focus groups documented experiences of 39 community members and 21 medical and nonmedical service providers supporting clients living with a disability on Newstart Allowance. Four themes were identified: (i) living with severe financial hardship, (ii) challenges complying with the DSP application, (iii) being financially penalised for not complying with Newstart Allowance conditions, and (iv) supporting community members to manage severe financial stress. Although people living with a disability on Newstart were experiencing severe hardship and poverty, there was limited participation of Centrelink-employed social workers within their described experiences with Centrelink. We argue that social workers can work to humanise human service settings and potentially help to mitigate these financial challenges.

IMPLICATIONS

• Indigenous Australians living with a disability experience severe disadvantage and poverty while living on Newstart Allowance.

• Social workers must be easily accessible at Centrelink customer service centres and to Newstart Allowance recipients to help coordinate service engagement.

• Newstart Allowance should be increased to ensure recipients can respond to cost of living pressures.

     

Independent Mental Health Advocacy: A Model of Social Work Advocacy?

ABSTRACT

Advocacy has received less attention in social work research than other aspects of social work practice. This paper draws attention to two tensions in social work advocacy; between worker-led advocacy and person-led advocacy, and between individual advocacy and system level advocacy. We argue that human-rights-based social workers must choose a person-led approach over a worker-led approach while advocating with both systems and individuals. This argument is made by drawing on findings of an evaluation of Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) in Victoria, Australia. It is shown that social work training had not prepared social workers for rights-based, person-led advocacy and that social workers in public mental health services were struggling to maintain the rights of people in their services even with assistance from IMHA.

IMPLICATIONS

• Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) is a model of advocacy influenced by social work theory and delivered in part by social-work-trained advocates.

• Social work training is not preparing social workers for person-led, human-rights-based advocacy.

• Public mental health social workers are struggling to maintain the rights of people in mental health services even with the support of external advocacy services.

     

Collaborative Family Work in Youth Justice

ABSTRACT

A number of studies have found that working with family groups can be successful in improving outcomes for young people and their families. This article reports on a study in New South Wales in which juvenile justice staff offered collaborative family work interventions to young people as part of the routine offerings of a juvenile justice service. The primary objective of this study was to examine the extent to which young people who completed the family work had lower recidivism rates compared to three control groups. The methods included a comparison of recidivism rates between young people who completed the intervention, those who failed to complete, those who declined, and a matched sample of young people who were not offered the intervention. The results of the study indicated that many young people and their families were agreeable to be involved in the intervention and the completion rates were high, particularly if the work was undertaken in the family home. The young people who completed the intervention also had lower recidivism rates than young people in each of the control groups.

IMPLICATIONS

• Collaborative family work can be offered successfully by juvenile justice services to young offenders and their families.

• Collaborative family work can reduce recidivism rates for those who complete the intervention.

• It is preferable to conduct the work in the family home where completion rates are likely to be higher.

     

“The Abuse of Older Australians (Elder Abuse)”: Reform Activity and Imperatives

ABSTRACT

Significant national reform activity is occurring that concerns the abuse of older people by trusted others. This includes an Australian Law Reform Commission report entitled Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response (2017), and the adoption in 2019 of the first ever “National plan to respond to the abuse of older Australians (elder abuse)”. While service responses in this field largely exist at, and will continue to be provided at, state and territory level, this article considers current and needed reform initiatives in a field of increasing national government attention.

IMPLICATIONS

• The adoption of the first ever national plan concerning the abuse of older people in Australia adds significant impetus and direction for reform in this key social policy area.

• Most service and regulatory reforms aimed at improving responses to the abuse of older people will occur at state and territory level.

• The breadth of likely and necessary reforms is significant, ranging from policing practices through to guardianship law reform.

     

From Hospital to Home with NDIS Funded Support: Examining Participant Pathway Timeframes Against Discharge Expectations

ABSTRACT

For patients with disability who require funded supports to leave hospital, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) represents opportunity and challenges. At a time of major reform, timely and supported discharge is reliant on overcoming interface complexities. The purpose of this study was to examine the NDIS participant pathway timeframes against discharge expectations for hospitalised adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) or acquired brain injury (ABI) and interrogate delays for the two groups. Administrative data on 54 participants (ABI?=?18 and SCI?=?36) were analysed. Both groups experienced delays to discharge and significant variability in timeframes between NDIS pathway processes and extent of delays. Group differences were identified regarding inefficiencies across the continuum, with type of support a factor to investigate further. This study has uncovered critical points in the NDIS pathway that could impact discharge of participants and where collaboration and adaptive strategies could be targeted to improve processes.

IMPLICATIONS

• Ensuring the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) pathway operates effectively in the hospital setting is critical to the timely discharge of people with complex needs who require funded supports.

• Monitoring implementation of the NDIS in the health setting is important to avert interface problems that impede timely discharge and access.

     

Gender Dynamics in Social Work Practice and Education: A Critical Literature Review

This paper offers a critical analysis of existing literature on historical and contemporary gender dynamics in Australian social work education and practice. Analyses of gender dynamics and inequalities have the potential to illuminate pathways for inclusive social work education and practice, for both practitioners and people who access social work services. This critical review of the literature demonstrates that Australian social work education and practice have been shaped by gendered discourses, structures, and power dynamics since its inception. In a contemporary sense, women constitute the majority of social work educators and practitioners, while men disproportionately dominate positions of power and prestige, although rigorous Australian data on the roles and representation of men and women are not readily available. Our findings point to the need for further engagement with gender as a unit of analysis in Australian social work research, including further engagement with inclusive and intersectional feminisms.

IMPLICATIONS

• Enhanced knowledge of Australian social work history, particularly in relation to gender, allows for a greater understanding of current gendered power relations in social work education and practice.

• Gender dynamics are underresearched in contemporary Australian social work education and practice.

• Up-to-date data on the status and representation of men, women, and nonbinary people in social work are needed as the foundation for transformative and inclusive social work education and practice.

     

Developing Culturally Responsive Supervision Through Yarn Up Time and the CASE Supervision Model

ABSTRACT

This article explores a culturally focused supervision training program supporting Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal supervisors to provide cross-cultural supervision for Aboriginal staff within mainstream and Aboriginal community and human service organisations. The key features of the training program, Yarn Up Time and the CASE supervision model are a culturally respectful approach to cross-cultural professional supervision practice with the purpose of contributing to the development of culturally responsive supervision with Aboriginal staff and their clients. The article concludes with feedback from participants who attended the training and supports the future advancement of cross-cultural supervision practice and models in Australia.

IMPLICATIONS

• There continues to be a need for more culturally responsive supervision for Aboriginal staff and for non-Aboriginal social work practice with Aboriginal people.

• Yarn Up Time and the CASE model is a culturally appropriate approach for supervising Aboriginal staff and non-Aboriginal social workers’ supervision of social workers’ practice with Aboriginal communities.

• Social work supervisors need to be able to use an effective cultural supervision model to support Aboriginal staff in Yarn Up Time.

     

Changing Contexts of Practice: Challenges for Social Work and Community Development

ABSTRACT

In a rapidly changing global environment, there have been renewed calls to position community development more centrally in social work, particularly in the face of contemporary practice challenges. This paper analyses the broad policy contexts of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change and discusses how these forces interact with social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland. The paper argues that sociopolitical forces both restrict and present opportunities for social work and community development practice and we seek to reactivate debate about the position of community development within changing and challenging contexts.

IMPLICATIONS

• Contextualises community development practice, policy, and research within contemporary environments of neoliberalism, globalisation, and governance change.

• Critically evaluates implications and new opportunities for social work and community development, drawing on examples from Australia and Ireland.

• Reactivates debate and analysis on the position of community development in contemporary social work as we move forward into the new decade, and the next global agenda for social work and social development.

     

The Use of Common Humanity Scenarios to Promote Compassion in Healthcare Workers

ABSTRACT

The importance of compassion in healthcare is universally acknowledged. However, the factors that enhance compassion are not well understood. The perception of common humanity has been proposed as a prosocial perspective that leads to unbiased universal compassion. There has been a lack of research into the relationship between common humanity and compassion. This study examined the use of common humanity scenarios to promote compassion in healthcare workers. Seventy-five healthcare workers were randomly assigned to two groups and shown a different common humanity scenario. The healthcare workers were asked what effect viewing the videos had on their perception of common humanity and compassion. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Four main themes emerged: (a) common bonds; (b) people have the same needs; (c) no one wants to suffer; (d) seeing strangers helping others is motivating. Healthcare workers reported feelings of care, concern, and compassion after viewing common humanity scenarios.

IMPLICATIONS

• Viewing common humanity scenarios appears to lead to enhanced feelings of connection to others and compassion in healthcare workers.

• Using common humanity scenarios may be a useful compassion training strategy in healthcare.

• Further research is necessary to gain a better understanding of how viewing common humanity material influences compassion.

     

Social Work Research in the Field of Disability in Australia: A Scoping Review*

Although in Australia disability is receiving unprecedented attention with the rollout of major reforms, the body of research on disability to inform policy and practice has been found “not fit for purpose”. This scoping review of empirical research papers published by Australian social work authors between 2007 and 2015 investigated the quantity, nature, and scope of social work research on disability in Australia. We found a steady growth, an annual average of 13.8 papers, and a total of 124. Social work disability research makes a distinctive contribution; it is contextualised in service systems or policy, has a greater focus on community and civic participation and social relationships, and concentrates on adults, with either intellectual disability or traumatic brain injury. These research strengths provide foundations for building the profession’s research capacity and informing its practice and contribution to the multidisciplinary field of disability.

IMPLICATIONS

• Service system reform is increasing engagement of social workers with people with disabilities, yet disability has a low profile in the profession.

• Social work disability research has strengths in understanding service systems, social relationships, and strategies for social and civic participation, particularly with adults with cognitive disabilities.

• Increased attention to disability in qualifying and higher degree programs will better prepare students for complex practice and develop the distinctive contribution of social work research in this interdisciplinary field.

     

Strengthening the Domestic and Family Violence Workforce: Key Questions

ABSTRACT

The significant impact of domestic and family violence in Australia calls for a workforce that is both highly skilled and capable of meeting the demands of complex and challenging jobs. Yet despite the increasingly national visibility of domestic violence, the workers—and work itself—have largely remained invisible. We argue for a shift in conversation, highlighting the need for a workforce approach that is not only strategic but that also applies a theorised lens to domestic and family violence work inclusive of both gender and Indigeneity.

IMPLICATIONS

• The domestic and family violence workforce and workers should be made more visible to better support development in this sector.

• A workforce development strategy is needed to build knowledge about who is doing this work, the nature of the work, workplace structures and cultures, and work environments and conditions.

• The significance of gendered power relations, Indigeneity, high risk, trauma environments, and emotional labour in domestic and family violence work cannot be ignored in development strategies.

     

Preventing Domestic Violence by Changing Australian Gender Relations: Issues and Considerations

ABSTRACT

In recent years Australian governments have significantly refocused domestic violence policies to prioritise primary prevention strategies. The objective of such strategies is to change how Australians perceive, acknowledge, and respond to domestic violence as a gender-based problem. Recognising the value of these efforts to address oppressive cultural practices, we draw attention to limitations inherent in shifting culture as a means to prevent domestic violence. We demonstrate how governments may improve policy approaches by addressing the structural inequalities that have historically forced women into positions of subordination. This will help us move toward more effective and long-term solutions to domestic violence.

IMPLICATIONS

• Australian domestic violence policy must include structural and systems changes prioritising women’s equal rights in addition to equal opportunities.

• To change cultural attitudes and behaviours, we must alter the environment in which oppressions and opportunities are located.

• Social workers can shape the debate to ensure that changing culture to prevent domestic violence is conceptualised as part of a wider social and policy change agenda.

     

Online Education in Social Work,Effectiveness, Benefits,and Challenges: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT

Online education has long been a controversial issue within the Australian social work community. Although technological advances have improved the quality of teaching substantially, scepticism and disbelief continue to exist. Despite the growing evidence base as to the effectiveness of online teaching, this tends to be overlooked. A scoping review of the literature was conducted to synthesise research conducted on online social work education to identify its effectiveness, potential, and challenges and to show whether online social work education will effectively prepare qualified social workers. This revealed that online education enhanced diversity and equity among social work students and students’ performances and satisfaction were similar for both online and on-campus students. Nevertheless, communication and engagement continue to be a challenge.

IMPLICATIONS

• Decisions on online education should be based on evidence of effectiveness rather than on the assumption that face-to-face teaching is superior.

• Further research is needed to explore effectiveness of online education for different groups of students.

• Employers’ experiences with social work graduates from online courses need further research.

• Academics require support to tailor courses interactively and suitably for online education.

     

Investigating the Readiness of Hospital Social Workers to Respond to Domestic and Family Violence

ABSTRACT

Domestic and family violence (DFV) is recognised as a health care priority. Women experiencing DFV use health services at a higher rate than the general population. Hospital social workers are an important component of a public hospital response to domestic and family violence but how prepared are they for this role? This research study explored the readiness of social workers in a Melbourne metropolitan hospital setting to respond to DFV. Results indicated that although the social workers had a knowledge base highly relevant for responding to DFV, many lacked specific knowledge of risk assessment, safety planning, legislative responsibilities, and referral pathways for support, including legal support. As a result, it was likely that they were not adequately responding, either by not recognising when they needed to, or with knowledge and confidence when they did. They also identified a range of organisational enablers, including policy, time, and safe conversation spaces.

IMPLICATIONS

• Hospital social workers have a central role to play in responding to domestic and family violence.

• Hospital social workers need to be better prepared for domestic and family violence responses.

• Social workers require ongoing training and organisational support including practice protocols and guidelines, and the provision of time and private, safe spaces for sensitive conversations to occur.

• Universities should ensure that the role of hospital social workers is considered within curriculum addressing the area of domestic and family violence (DFV).

     

The Expansion of the Peer Adviser Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges for Social Work

ABSTRACT

Peer adviser roles are becoming an increasingly common—and celebrated—aspect of agencies where social workers are located. This article reports on a qualitative research study exploring the experiences of staff within a homelessness outreach service in which three peer advisers (people with a lived experience of homelessness) commenced employment. Drawing on action research principles, the study explored the experiences of the peer advisers and the broader team following the introduction of the peer adviser roles. Themes identified include, realising the skills of peer advisers, defining the role, taking a “whole of team” approach, and reflecting on power. This study demonstrates that the introduction of peer adviser roles into human service organisations is a promising strategy for creating services that are more likely to respond effectively to the needs of service users. However, social workers need to be aware of the pitfalls of tokenism and the devaluing of experiential knowledge.

IMPLICATIONS

• Peer advisers in health and welfare agencies add significant benefits to an agency’s capacity to respond to the needs of service users.

• The introduction of the peer workforce is aligned to social work values of service user empowerment and the valuing of experiential knowledge.

• In order to avoid tokenism, the introduction of peer adviser roles should be supported by both the attitudes and actions of other staff members, as well as organisational support structures.

     

‘A mockery of equality’: an exploratory investigation into disabled activists’ views of the Paralympic Games

This article offers an exploratory analysis of the opinions of disabled activists towards the Paralympic Games. With the use of a qualitative online survey, the work focuses on the perceptions of disabled individuals (n = 32) who are not Paralympic athletes but are affiliated to the disability rights group, the United Kingdom Disabled People’s Council. Working on the premise that the views of disabled activists have been excluded from Paralympic sports discourse to date, the results illustrate a nuanced yet negative view of the Games to contrast with an existing, yet overly positive, academic narrative. Participants were particularly cynical of the portrayal and production of the Games and its Paralympic athletes as they perceived that the wider population of disabled people is misrepresented. The overwhelming perception in this preliminary analysis suggests that the Paralympic Games can be counterproductive to disability rights beyond sport.     

Social Work Registration: Another Opportunity for Discussion

ABSTRACT

The Social Workers Registration Bill 2018 is before the Parliament of South Australia. It makes provision to establish a social worker registration board with powers to investigate complaints and enforce penalties for breach of competency and ethical standards. This paper presents an argument for the national registration of social workers; and in addition, outlines key considerations for thinking about risk, protection, safeguarding, and implementation that comes with registration.

IMPLICATIONS

• Risk and protection need to be assessed as part of a more comprehensive regulatory framework in the debates of registration.

• If registration is to become part of the regulation of social work, a national approach to social worker registration is indicated, so that a person deregistered in one state cannot be employed as a social worker in another.

• Social worker registration is a potentially useful formal mechanism that offers both a protective safeguard (social worker status) and a corrective safeguard (limiting or de-registering).

     

The Dialectics of Multiple Identities and the Disabled People's Movement

This paper explores the issue of commonality and difference in the disabled people's movement in relation to ethnicity, gender sexuality, age and class. Hitherto, disability academics have either ignored or tagged on the experience of disabled black and minority ethnic people, women, older people, and gay men and lesbians. When they are discussed, they have more often than not been discussed separately - for example, disabled black people's experience has always been discussed separately, disabled women, disabled gay men and lesbians and disabled older women. Hence it is not surprising if 'simultaneous oppression' is perceived to be the unique experience of a minority of disabled people. Here, I suggest that it is, in fact, the experience of a majority of disabled people since the majority is not a homogenous mass of disabled white heterosexual middle-class young men, but individuals from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of identities and experiences, and to accept that their only concern is disability is to fall into the same trap as the general population most of whom only see the impairment and not the person. It is imperative to note, however, that the blame does not lie with the social model of disability, as it is sometimes assumed, for that is merely a conceptual tool. The paper discusses the concept 'simultaneous oppression' as applied to the experience of black women and later disabled black people. It is suggested that this is too simplistic an analysis to capture the day to day experience of those who possess negatively labelled multiple identities. An alternative framework is suggested to link the experience of different groups of disabled people and, hence, offer a common ground for unity in the disabled people's movement.