Client-led Spiritual Interventions: Faith-integrated Professionalism in the Context of a Christian Faith-based Organisation

Focused on the professional practice habits of Christian social workers and counsellors, this article explores the question of good practice when working therapeutically with clients asking to discuss spirituality and faith. Interviews with 10 senior practitioners who are practising Christians as part of a qualitative study revealed several common experiences when working with clients actively seeking to explore faith and spirituality: (1) using flexibility, discernment, and a client-led approach; (2) trust in God and spiritual receptiveness; and (3) managing tensions between professional, personal, and organisational values. The implications of the study highlight the requirement for professional integrity, to include practising within one’s range of competence, and the value of ongoing professional development to support good practices when working with religious clients.     

Project Discovery: Social Work Research @ Southern Health

Abstract

The health sector uses a “person-in-environment” perspective reflected in multidisciplinary teamwork to understand and influence human lives. This standpoint accords closely with social work's knowledge and theory base, recognising that material, economic, political, organisational, and social structures interact, creating a complex array of factors impacting on individuals and families. Practice research activities are an effective way of exploring social work's particular contribution to health service provision. We describe and critique various models of practice research reported in the literature. A unique model of practice research that we are developing is discussed. Called Project Discovery: Social Work Research @ Southern Health 18 June 2011, this model demonstrates ways in which practice research may exemplify theoretically-driven and service-based research and in so doing advance social work's knowledgebase.     

Barriers to Individual Environmental Action: The Influence of Attitudes and Social Experiences*

À partir de données tirées d'un sondage effectué en 1990 sur un échantillon aléatoire de résidents d'Edmonton et à l'aide des métho-des du LISREL, nous examinons certaines influences perceptuelles, situationnelles et structurelles sur les choix d'habitudes de vie sur le plan de l'environnement. Pour cela, nous utilisons des modèles déquations structurelles dans lesquels les attitudes à l'égard de l'environnement interviennent comme variables. Nous complétons notre analyse par une étude des facteurs qui influent sur la cohérence des attitudes et des comportements environnementaux. Les données obtenues suggèrent que les degrés de comportements environnementaux individuels étudies demeurent faibles, sauf lorsqu'un problème environnemental rejoint une préoccupation de manière immédiate ou lorsque le contexte contribue à réduire les coûts entraînés par l'acceptation des conditions et facilite l'action coopérative. Using data from a 1990 random sample of Edmonton residents and applying LISREL techniques, selected perceptual, situational and structural influences on environmental lifestyle choices are examined using structural equation models that feature environmental attitudes as a mediating variable. An exploration of the factors that influence environmental attitude-behaviour consistency in this case supplements the analysis. The findings suggest that levels of the individual environmental behaviours examined here will remain low, regardless of concern, unless an environmental issue is linked to immediate personal concerns, or societal arrangements exist that help to reduce the costs of compliance and facilitate cooperative action.     

“It's not all tied up with bureaucrats and funding”: Autonomous volunteer participation in the rural resettlement of refugees

This paper reports on a study that explored the experiences, perceptions and motivations of a new type of autonomous volunteer emerging in modern society, in particular, those working to assist in the rural resettlement of refugees in Australia. The volunteers filled a gap left by under resourced government and community services. In‐depth semi structured interviews revealed that their motivation was due in part, to the lack of bureaucratic' red tape'. Their drive to address social issues was based also in part on values to see social justice expressed in their community. Some challenges and tensions due to cultural differences were identified. Questions for community development and social capital are raised. Implications are raised for volunteer groups' and resettlement organisations' policy and practice to enhance the resettlement process for both the host community and those with a refugee background.     

Nursing in tele-mental health

This article discusses a cooperative project involving an academic health sciences center, a state university, a women's shelter, and a community mental health center in East Texas, a medically underserved, rural region of Texas. The U.S. Department of Commerce provided grant funding to develop a telehealth network to provide an evaluation, referral, and treatment program for victims of domestic violence. Nurses were involved in all phases of the project, from initial conception through development, implementation, and evaluation. The authors concluded that all of the women involved in the study had significant mental health issues and other health concerns that were not being addressed by the existing health care delivery system. Without the use of telehealth, these women would have had limited access to primary health care and virtually no access to mental health services. The East Texas Tele-Mental Health Network demonstrates the value of the clinical and organizational skills that nurses bring to innovative models of mental health service delivery.     

Enabling careers, autonomy, and prosperity: Using community organizing and building approaches to improve the educational outcomes of people with mental illness

Objectives: The objective of this regional initiative was to develop access to educational opportunities for people with mental illness with a view to ultimately advancing their career prospects. Participants: The initiative engaged a broad range of community stakeholders including people with mental illness, their families, educators, mental health service providers and, policy analysts. Methods: The initiative used community organizing and development strategies to develop solutions to problems related to access to education. Results: The initiative was successful in mobilizing community participation, identifying priorities, and translating these priorities into action plans. Working groups of community stakeholders engaged in initiatives related to improving access to resources to support education, developing training for teachers in secondary schools, creating peer support systems, and developing a pilot supported education program as a partnership between a college and mental health service. Conclusion: Organized community building provided a foundation for a broad range of initiatives meant to improve access to educational opportunities for people with mental illness. Evaluation efforts will need to focus on the extent to which these initiatives ultimately ledto positive changes in the careers of people with mental illness.     

Generalized Negatively Reinforced Manding in Children with Autism

Individuals with developmental disabilities are often unable to influence their social environment in traditional ways (i.e., vocal language) and frequently exhibit challenging behaviors (e.g., aggression and self-injury) because such behaviors were previously reinforced under similar conditions. While the area of positive reinforcement manding has been well-documented and empirically validated, there is less research in the area of negatively reinforced manding—particularly in the area of negatively reinforced manding of nonpreferred items. Using a multiple baseline design across participants, this study sought to teach three children with autism to replace their challenging behaviors with more socially appropriate ways to request the removal of nonpreferred items. Results showed that all participants were able to learn the negatively reinforced mand response and these mand responses were generalized to other untrained items. In addition to extending the research in the area, the study empirically defined a procedure for teaching negatively reinforced manding of nonpreferred items. Moreover, teaching the mand response resulted in quality of life improvements for all participants and their families.