Clinical social workers increasingly are being called to demonstrate the effectiveness of their interventions and need to establish that interventions result in measurable and sustained change. Your field placement agency may have various forms of practice evaluation. Each evaluation metric may present challenges and opportunities. A major challenge of practice evaluation is that social workers may not agree on what behaviors constitute ‘change” and what change looks like over time. It is challenging to reduce the human condition to quantitative measurements of growth and change, and ultimately change can be subjective. Nevertheless, clinical social workers need to be able to show that the intervention made an objective difference.
In this workshop activity, you will reflect on the various challenges and opportunities inherent in practice evaluation. Given these challenges and opportunities, you will consider what evaluation approach could be most helpful for your field placement agency (WHICH IS A DRUG AND ALCOHOL ADDICTION REHABILITATION, given what you have learned so far.
Resources-SEE FILES
• Article#1-- Challenges to the Future of Evidence-based Practice in Social Work Education
• Article: Practice Evaluation Strategies among Clinical Social Workers: New Directions in Practice Research
Background Information
Good practice evaluation should flow naturally from a good intervention. As described in the Rubin and Parrish article, client needs should be met by tracking down the best available evidence supporting an intervention; critically appraising the evidence, integrating what you learn based on your own clinical expertise; implementing an intervention according to a client’s unique needs; and then evaluating the outcomes of that intervention. Davis, Dennis, and Culbertson note that single-subject designs, in which the clinical social worker establishes a baseline and then measures change over time, are a common practice evaluation tool.
Instructions
- Read these two articles:
a. “Challenges to the Future of Evidence-based Practice in Social Work Education”
b. “Practice Evaluation Strategies among Clinical Social Workers: New Directions in Practice Research” - Navigate to the threaded discussion and respond to the following discussion questions:
a. Describe at least two two advantages and two disadvantages of practice evaluation.
b. Give an example and describe one way that your agency implements practice evaluation. Provide an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the method used.
c. Select and describe an additional evaluation approach that may be useful given what you know about your field placement agency and the population served, using Rubin and Parrish’s recommendations about evidence-based practice.
d. Based on the Davis, Dennis, and Culbertson reading, discuss whether a single-system design is being used or could be used at your field placement agency to evaluate clinical outcomes.