Aligning research and practice: The role of academic-community partnerships for improving measurement and process

ObjectiveCommunity programs addressing social determinants of health are growing in prominence and are increasingly expected to provide metrics of success. Our objective is to assess the role of an academic-community partnership for a community health worker program targeting social and medical needs, and determine factors impacting its effectiveness.MethodsWe draw on a 4.5-year partnership that includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Quantitative data collection mechanisms evolved as a result of the partnership. Qualitative interviews were conducted with community health workers and leadership.ResultsTo align medical and social support services in a sustainable and measurable manner, our academic-community partnership found that creating and maintaining a mutually beneficial space through small wins enabled us to then address larger problems and needs. Ongoing self-study and process evaluation allowed quick adjustments. Unique partnership elements such as having consistent funding and flexible timelines and objectives were essential.ConclusionsWhen integrating health and social services, academic-community partnerships create pathways for bidirectional learning than can quickly turn research into practice and support sustainability, especially when based on incrementally built trust and a history of small wins.     

The Vital Role of Social Workers in Community Partnerships: The Alliance for Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender and Questioning Youth

The account of The Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) Youth formation offers a model for developing community-based partnerships. Based in a major urban area, this university-community collaboration was spearheaded by social workers who were responsible for its original conceptualization, for generating community support, and for eventual staffing, administration, direct service provision, and program evaluation design. This article presents the strategic development and evolution of this community-based service partnership, highlighting the roles of schools of social work, academics, and social work students in concert with community funders, practitioners and youth, in responding to the needs of a vulnerable population.     

Assessing Fitness to Practise and Managing Work‐based Placement

This article describes the experience of Nottingham and Birmingham Universities in partnership with workers from Advocacy In Action and shows that service‐users, carers and other eligible citizens can and should be involved in deciding fitness for practice and in the managing of that practice, and that such involvement enhances the student experience and lays the foundations for partnership working in the professional arena. The users and citizen stakeholders of social services are a valuable resource in respect of all aspects of service planning, delivery and control. In respect of social work education, their involvement is too valuable an opportunity to miss and we look forward to further exciting partnerships in the field of practice learning.     

Participatory evaluation of a community–academic partnership to inform capacity-building and sustainability

The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) was formed as a partnership comprised of committed community based organizations (grassroots, service, health care organizations) and a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center working together to reduce cancer health disparities. Adhering to principles of community-based participatory research, TBCCN's primary aims are to develop and sustain outreach, training, and research programs that aim to reach medically underserved, multicultural and multilingual populations within the Tampa Bay tri-county area.Using a participatory evaluation approach, we recently evaluated the partnerships’ priorities for cancer education and outreach; perspectives on the partnerships’ adherence to CBPR principles; and suggestions for sustaining TBCCN and its efforts. The purpose of this paper is to describe implementation and outcomes of this participatory evaluation of a community/academic partnership, and to illustrate the application of evaluation findings for partnership capacity-building and sustainability. Our evaluation provides evidence for partners’ perceived benefits and realized expectations of the partnership and illustrates the value of ongoing and continued partnership assessment to directly inform program activities and build community capacity and sustainability.     

The Role of Field Education in a University–Community Partnership Aimed at Curriculum Transformation

University–community partnerships can play an important role in curriculum development, but little has been written about the role of community agencies in designing curricula. This article describes the role of field education in an innovative university–community partnership aimed at transforming an MSW curriculum to integrate a trauma-informed and human rights perspective throughout foundation- and advanced-year courses. This university–community partnership positioned field educators and social service agencies in a collaborative relationship with faculty in curriculum development. The benefits and potential challenges associated with employing a university–community partnership for curriculum change are discussed, and recommendations are provided for schools that are interested in using this approach.     

Building collaboration between school and parents: issues for school social workers and parents whose young children exhibit violent behaviour at school

This research explores the perceptions of 60 parents whose children, aged from three to nine, had been involved in bullying, as defined under the Safe Schools Act and the Code of Conduct. Some of these children had been suspended from school, while others were potential candidates for suspension. These parents were recruited from Ottawa's two French-language school boards to participate in qualitative interviews between June 2000 and June 2002. The aim of this research was to cast new light on the perceptions of parents and schools with regard to their relationships, and on the role of school social workers in maintaining and enhancing collaborative partnerships.

The desire of some parents to be involved in the decisions concerning remedial action taken to address their child's aggressive behaviour touched a raw nerve in some schools. Nonetheless, when schools and parents ultimately recognize the daily challenges that both parties face, and a shared plan of action develops therein, the path to effective collaboration becomes clear. Early intervention on the part of school social workers gives them an edge in their efforts as mediators. They seize every opportunity to initiate different collaborative approaches between schools and parents, so that the issue of bullying can be handled in a more respectful way for everyone.     

Predictors of Academic Achievement for Latino Middle Schoolers

The aim of this study was to examine specific child, home, and school factors that predict academic achievement for Latino middle school students. The sample for this study (N = 173) was drawn from seven public schools located in three school districts in the northeastern United States. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to predict academic achievement from a combination of predictor variables: gender, parent educational attainment, parent employment status, acculturation, parent involvement in school, and school identification. Findings indicate that school identification and parent involvement in school are protective factors that promote Latino middle grade students' academic achievement. These findings suggest that collaborative partnerships between school social workers, teachers, and Latino students and their parents are an important strategy that can optimize connections to school that result in academic achievement.     

Social Work and Complex Care Systems: The Case of People Hospitalised with a Disability

Health and hospital system reforms prioritise efficiency. However, initiatives can impact on people with new or existing disabilities who require time to maximise functional independence. With greater demands for shorter hospital stays social workers face increasing pressure to facilitate discharge. This paper reports findings from research identifying factors contributing to extended stays for adults with disabilities. We sought to better understand patient characteristics and discharge planning challenges by analysing a clinical dataset of 80 patients and qualitative interviews with five experienced hospital social workers. Three key factors are identified: issues around rehabilitation services; assessment and planning for community care; and availability of and access to discharge options. Strategies to reduce length of stay are reported. We argue that building collaborative partnerships and working across multiple, complex systems and disciplines are vital to ensure these patients access appropriate community-based resources within the current health reform environment.     

Forging an Identity as a Newly Qualified Worker in the Non-government Community Services Sector

Forging a professional identity is commonly assumed to be a key objective for new graduates transitioning to work. However, the extant literature on professional identity development gives minimal consideration to the role of contemporary work conditions such as increased contract-based employment and occupational instability in carving out a work identity. These workforce trends are particularly pronounced in the non-government community services sector, where worker mobility is high and workers often occupy roles that are not profession-specific. In light of these trends, this article seeks to broaden existing understandings of professional identity development. Focus groups were conducted with 24 newly qualified workers with degree-level qualifications in social work and the human services employed in the community services sector in Queensland. The findings suggest that these workers held a variety of allegiances, which were not necessarily aligned with a profession but instead shaped by the interplay of personal, professional, and organisational factors.     

Sustainable Social Work: An Environmental Justice Framework for Social Work Education

Environmental degradation is not experienced by all populations equally; hazardous and toxic waste sites, resource contamination (e.g., exposure to pesticides), air pollution, and numerous other forms of environmental degradation disproportionately affect low income and minority communities. The communities most affected by environmental injustices are often the same communities where social workers are entrenched in service provision at the individual, family, and community level. In this article, we use a global social work paradigm to describe practical ways in which environmental justice content can be infused in the training and education of social workers across contexts in order to prepare professionals with the skills to respond to ever-increasing global environmental degradation. We discuss ways for social work educators to integrate and frame environmental concerns and their consequences for vulnerable populations using existing social work models and perspectives to improve the social work profession's ability to respond to environmental injustices. There are significant social work implications; social workers need to adapt and respond to contexts that shape our practice, including environmental concerns that impact the vulnerable and oppressed populations that we serve.     

University-assisted community school program of West Philadelphia: democratic partnerships that make a difference

The university-assisted community school model is showing results for children and youth in West Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania's (Penn's) Center for Community Partnerships has coordinated universitywide efforts, in partnership with the community, in order to create and develop community school programs. The Sayre program aims to become a university-assisted community school, with a comprehensive community problem-solving curriculum and communitywide program that is fully integrated across both the Sayre curriculum and the curriculum of a number of Penn's schools. The Penn-Sayre project demonstrates that higher education can be a permanent anchor for revitalizing schools and communities if the vast resources it possesses, particularly its faculty, students, and staff, are brought to bear in a coordinated fashion.     

The school community council: creating an environment for student success

A model of community-school partnerships is developing within a school district in Evansville, Indiana. Based on a full-service community school philosophy, the model started in one elementary school in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and has expanded into a districtwide initiative called the School Community Council. The council is made up of over seventy community organizations and social service agencies working together to establish full-service schools as places of community and to enhance youth and family development.     

Can social workers and police be partners when dealing with bikie-gang related domestic violence and sexual assault?

Welfare and criminal justice systems manifest different goals, cultures, values and working methods. In Australia, the welfare sector has a culture of empowerment and concern for victims’ rights, within which social workers focus on social justice and social change. In contrast, the criminal justice sector (police) is patriarchal and para-military in structure, focusing on enforcing and maintaining community order and safety. These differences can create tension when social workers and police need to work as partners in response to violence against women, in particular violence against women from bikie gangs. This article addresses the issue of partnerships between social workers and police when working with abused bikie-gang women. It presents the findings of recent research into social work practice with such women in South Australia, in conjunction with a brief exploration of the international literature on social work and police cultures, and partnerships. It concludes that whilst there is a great need for genuine collaboration and partnership between social workers and police in the complex context of domestic violence with links to organised crime, the cultures and mandates of these different professions make this difficult.     

Community‐oriented Social Work in Cuba: Government Response to Emerging Social Problems

Cuba developed a unique community‐oriented social work approach in the 1990s that transformed social work education and practice. This paper describes that approach and why it emerged when it did. A review of the literature on social change in Cuba in the 1990s, and 31 open‐ended interviews conducted in Havana, Cuba, showed that social work changed in response to economic crisis, emerging social problems and the need for social workers for community practice. Social workers' participation in neighborhood development projects and Cuba's post‐Revolutionary communal ethos also shaped a community‐oriented social work approach in Cuba. This approach contrasts with an individually oriented model in the US and in Britain. Social workers in Cuba and in these countries can learn from one another, despite the differences that exist among them.     

Roles of Organizers and Champions in Building Campus—Community Prevention Partnerships

Objective: A campus—community partnership can be an effective vehicle for launching environmental strategies to prevent college alcohol-related problems. In this study, the authors' primary aim was identifying key factors that facilitate or impede colleges' efforts to build campus—community partnerships. Participants and Methods: From fall 2004 to summer 2006, administrators at five 4-year colleges participated in a multisite case study. Level of partnership development was the primary outcome. Results: Three interrelated factors facilitated higher-developed partnerships: college staff assigned to facilitate the partnerships who worked as community organizers, higherlevel college administrators who served as aggressive champions, and community initiation of the partnership. The authors did not observe this trio of factors among the less-developed partnerships. A lack of administrative support made it more difficult for a champion to emerge, a college administrator who staunchly advocated for a campus—community partnership, and for those assigned to facilitate the partnership to carry out their work. Conclusions: Colleges should appoint higher-level administrators to serve as champions, while also ensuring that those assigned to facilitate a partnership can apply community organizing skills.     

Social Work in Rural New South Wales School Settings: Addressing Inequalities Beyond the School Gate

Children and young people in rural Australia experience disadvantage compared with metropolitan counterparts, with low educational attainment and disengagement from schooling being linked to poorer health outcomes. Schools are an existing contact point between individuals and health services. However, these health services are often overburdened and have limited scope to address broader social issues and teaching staff are focused on achieving curriculum outcomes. Embedding social workers within schools may provide an avenue for supporting students, yet social workers are rarely present in New South Wales public schools. This paper describes a study to determine teachers’ understanding of the socioeconomic issues faced by school students, and the role of the social work profession in addressing such issues as part of the early stages of establishing a Social Work in Schools (SWiS) project. Eighteen semistructured interviews were undertaken with teachers across four rural Australian schools. Participants identified their awareness of potential risk factors that could lead to educational disengagement, reflected on their own limitations in dealing with these broader health presentations given their teaching focus, and provided insights into their understanding of the potential role of social workers.     

High School Family Centers: Transformative Spaces Linking Schools and Families in Support of Student Learning

ABSTRACT

This study explores school, family, and community partnership at the high school level, using eight family centers as the entry point for the investigation. The purpose of the study was to identify ways that parents and school staff could collaborate to support high school students' achievement. The study findings led to the development of a model that represents three inputs that are crucial to the creation of a successful family center: (1) a supportive infrastructure, (2) the existence of skilled center staff, and (3) the presence of responsive programming. These three inputs led to the creation of a thriving center that acts as a transformative space, a “zone of community,” that results in four outputs: (1) the creation of relational trust among adults, (2) shift in parents' role construction and efficacy, (3) the generation of student relational trust, and (4) the development of student efficacy. The data from this study suggest that the relational trust developed in these transformative spaces called family centers can have a positive effect on student efficacy. The study concludes with seven recommendations for schools and districts looking to establish family centers in high schools as a way to expand family engagement at the high school level.