Evidence-Based Practice: Current Issues and Future Directions

Abstract

Evidence-based practice approaches continue to increase in popularity in health and human service contexts in Australia and internationally. As social workers face pressures to evidence practice and justify outcomes, the limitations in applying an evidence-based practice approach to social work are confronted. The present paper identifies the features of evidence-based practice and notes the potential benefits and limitations of this approach in social work. Debates surrounding the nature of social work interventions, effectiveness and evidence are reviewed. The current context and climate influencing the use of research and other evidence in social work are discussed. The paper also considers the position of qualitative, interpretive and critical reflective approaches in relation to evidence-based practice. Issues for the future of evidence-based practice in social work are identified, including the need for the profession to examine more closely the relationship between critical reflective and evidence-based approaches to practice.     

Risk and new exclusions in community mental health practice

Abstract

Over the past two decades, mental health practice has become increasingly focused on assessing and managing the risks posed by service users. British researchers have made significant advances in studying the consequences of risk management for community-based health and welfare services, but in Australia this field remains largely undeveloped. Drawing on my experiences as a social worker in a Melbourne-based Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team from 1991 to 2008, the present paper offers a reflective analysis of the shift in practice orientation that has emerged through the growing prominence of risk as a foundation for intervention. Specifically, I argue that this shift has led to a narrowing of service provision and that “low-risk” clients are newly disadvantaged, often excluded from service.     

Social Workers’ Preparation for Child Protection: Revisiting the Question of Specialisation

Abstract

Child welfare work is a key field of practice for social work graduates and for graduates of a growing range of disciplines. In the present paper, the authors drew on a survey of 208 child welfare workers and interviews with 28 senior personnel in child and family welfare agencies to analyse perceptions of the educational preparation of social workers and other human science graduates for this field of practice. The findings indicated that child welfare workers and employers are ambivalent about the value of social work and other generic social science and human services programmes as preparation for tertiary or statutory child protection practice, which involves investigation, assessment, and intervention in child abuse and neglect. The authors argue that the social work profession must better balance generic and specialist aspects to prepare graduates for practice in specialist fields of high social work involvement, particularly in tertiary child protection work.     

Managing Risk in Community Care of Older People: Perspectives from the Frontline

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, Australian governments have focused on expanding community and home-based services for older people. This has led to increased levels of dependency, vulnerability, and complexity to be managed in the community. Consequently, aged care services have had to develop mechanisms for regulating and managing these increased risks, and risk management has become more central to the practices of professional workers in this field. This paper reports on some findings from a large-scale study that explores the way risk management policies have been translated into practice by community-based services in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on interviews with 18 frontline and management professionals employed in community aged care, we found that these workers were wrestling with a diverse and new range of institutional risks beyond those encountered in the actual delivery of frontline care. We found that these workers experienced “risk” in four different contexts, which often created demands for contradictory or conflicting responses. Here we examine these “contexts of risk practice”: professional workers' relationships with their clients, relationships with other service providers, the unregulated nature of the home as a work environment, and community expectations about the management of risk. Despite tensions that frequently arose, workers expressed strong professional commitments to their clients and were motivated to find positive resolutions amid competing interests. We conclude that tensions experienced by workers were embedded in the structural dimensions of institutional relationships and the systematic absence of shared understandings of “acceptable” risks in the community care of older people, rather than in the failure of professional agency.     

Readings in Evidence-Based Social Work

Abstract

This article describes the development, validity, and reliability of the Parent Empowerment and Efficacy Measure (PEEM). Development was guided by theory and by challenges faced by Pathways to Prevention family support staff who required a short, practical, and reliable measure of parent empowerment. The measure's psychometric properties were tested using data from 866 parents of children aged 5 to 12, living in high to low socioeconomic status areas. Principal factor analysis revealed a strong general dimension with high internal consistency (α = 0.92) that correlated at 0.60 or more with three validation measures, as well as the existence of two hypothesised subfactors (correlated at 0.78): efficacy to parent and efficacy to connect, each with internal consistencies of 0.85+. Test–retest reliability (n = 200) was 0.84. PEEM exhibits excellent convergent and concurrent validity and is a reliable tool for use in planning services, monitoring participant progress, and evaluating program effectiveness.     

Social Work and Sustainable Development: Local Voices from Mauritius

Abstract

Sustainable development is much more than an ecological and economic concern; it requires social workers to analyse and understand its impact on the broader social and cultural aspects of human life. Mauritius has been branded as ‘Maurice Ile Durable’ (Sustainable Mauritius) by its current government. Within this context, Mauritian social workers are often called upon to engage in sustainable development programs through community empowerment and development activities. This article uses the eco-critical social work theoretical approach to analyse a subset of qualitative data generated by a larger study conducted in 2008 and 2011, which included focus groups and semistructured interviews. Based on the findings of this research, the article focuses on discourses related to concepts such as control, power, and exploitation. It considers three areas as influential to eco-critical social work in Mauritius: antioppressive practice, promotion of social justice, and critical thinking by exploring related concepts such as control, power, and exploitation. The author concludes that within the context of sustainable development more attention should be paid to promoting social justice through tackling the marginalisation and oppression of certain sections of its population.     

Critical Reflections on a Social Inclusion Approach for an Ageing Australia

Abstract

The use of call centre operations in public and private sectors is a notable development in the changing structure and nature of employment worldwide. This trend is clearly evident in the South Pacific with the establishment of a call centre as the official point of entry for the statutory child protection systems in both New Zealand and New South Wales. As sites of professional practice however call centres are a controversial development. This paper discusses the practice findings of a qualitative research project which explored the particularity of intake social work (ISW) with 14 social workers employed at the Child Youth and Families' (CYF) National Contact Centre (NCC) in New Zealand. Findings were established through semi structured interviews and thematic analysis. They reveal a unique practice combining attributes of social work and emergency communication services in a workplace environment subject to similar output requirements as those found in commercial call centres.     

Developing cultural competence for social work with families living in poverty

Social workers need to have a good understanding of the cultural contexts within which the families they are working with are living. Whilst each context will be unique in many respects, the majority of families involved with social workers will share the experience of living in impoverished circumstances. At a time when levels of family poverty are rising rapidly in the UK and many other European countries as a result of a global financial crisis followed by economic recession and major cuts in public spending, it is particularly important that social workers understand the impact of poverty on the lives of the adults and children with whom they are engaged. One of the best ways of developing an understanding of any aspect of culture is to listen to people talking about their lives. Using a combination of research evidence based on the first-hand accounts of parents and children, and analysis of selected practice examples drawn from anti-poverty social work in England, the key elements of culturally competent practice for social work with families living in poverty are identified.     

Habitus,Practice and Agency of Young East Timorese Asylum Seekers in Australia

This article explores the process of agency and empowerment through a case study of a group of young East Timorese asylum seekers who arrived in Australia during the 1990s. Using Bourdieu's concept of habitus and his theory of practice, the article considers how the asylum seekers dealt with the challenges of exile and adjusted to Australian society. In addition to the difficulties asylum seekers normally face in exile, such as limited financial and social support and coping with trauma and loss, the East Timorese who arrived during the 1990s faced particular challenges due to the Australian Government's treatment of their cases. The article argues that, despite their vulnerable and liminal position, the asylum seekers were not just passive victims. On the contrary, they were active agents who through practice, consciously or unconsciously, dealt with their liminal situation. Their power to act was positively affected by their young age upon arrival.     

Phenomenology and Integral Pheno‐Practice of Embodied Well‐Be(com)ing in Organisations

Aiming for developing a comprehensive understanding this paper investigates the multidimensional phenomenon of well‐being in organizations as an embodied and integral process from a phenomenological perspective. In particular, the paper will show how the advanced phenomenology of Merleau‐Ponty (1962 Merleau‐Ponty, M. 1962. Phenomenology of perception, London: Routledge.  [Google Scholar], 1964 Merleau‐Ponty, M. 1964. The visible and the invisible, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.  [Google Scholar]) can help to render an extended understanding of the ‘incorporated’ dimensions of well‐being. Phenomenologically organizations will be understood as situated in an embodied life‐world in which well‐being takes place. Based on this phenomenological understanding, the article proposes an integral pheno‐practice of well‐being, by which the interior and exterior dimension as well as individual and collective spheres of well‐being and its interconnected processes are integrated. For overcoming a dualistic orientation, then a processual turn is suggested, allowing a decentred perspective of well‐be(com)ing as an emerging and inter‐relational event and accomplishment. In addition to some practical effects and implications by concluding some perspectives of further research of an integral well‐be(com)ing are discussed.