Infusion of EvidencedBased Practice into Social Work Education

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Infusion of Evidenced-Based Practiceinto Social
Work Education

• Sally Mathiesen, Ph.D.
• Melinda Hohman, Ph.D.
• San Diego State University
• School of Social Work

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• Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Education
• What is it?
• Educating social workers to
• Be consumers of the research literature
• Use systematic approaches to increase
• their practice effectiveness and
• Continuously evaluate their own practice
• outcomes.
• Pollio, 2006

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Curriculum Issues

• Students need to understand issues in each box
  and how they all integrate with each other
• Scientific methods (Research)
• Critical thinking (Research, Practice, Policy,
  HBSE, Field)
• EBP process (Research, Practice, Policy, HBSE,
  Field)
• Knowledge of clients, cultural issues, and
  contexts (Practice, HBSE, Field)
• Consumer of evidence (Research, Practice, Policy)
• Skills to implement (Practice Micro and Macro,
  Field)
• Skills to evaluate (Research)

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Partnerships Needed for EBP Schools of Social
Work

• Course work
• Library resources
• Training in systematic decision making
• EBP linked to professional norms and values
• School culture supportive of EBP

• School-based research projects
• Faculty as resources
• Knowledge of interventions
• Feedback loops established with practice
• Training in evaluation
• Training for field instructors (FI)

Proctor, 2006
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Partnerships Community Agencies

• Identified service challenges
• Identified outcomes
• Practices that providers can deliver
• Administration support for EBPs
• Agency culture supportive of EBP

• FI commitment, knowledge and support
• Training resources
• Training manuals
• Customization of EBP is normalized
• Demand for evaluation
• Technical support for evaluation
• Incorporation of evaluation into subsequent
  decisions

Proctor, 2006
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EBP Infusion at SDSU School of Social Work

• Faculty voted to infuse EBP Spring 2006
• Already being done by individual faculty
• Administrative support
• EBP Committee formed to oversee process
• Release time for 2 faculty to implement process
• Project to occur over next 4 semesters
• Evaluation designed

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Tasks for Infusion

• Individual consultation with faculty on syllabi,
  assignments, course materials and content
• Work with librarian to create resources
• Provide resources to faculty and FI
• Consult with community agencies re EBP when
  requested
• Community training/ Diffusion of knowledge

• EBP workshops with faculty/lecturers
• EBP workshops with FI
• Monthly meetings with task groups
• Semester meetings with visiting committee
• Consult with EBP Committee as needed

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Research Questions

• How do BSW and MSW students regard EBP?
• How do FI regard EBP and social work education?
• What are some barriers to EBP for students and FI?

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Methods

• Web-based survey to students and FI
• Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Questionnaire
  (Johnston, Leung, Fielding, Tin Ho, 2003)
  modified for social work education
• Open-ended questions on survey
• Response rate 22.3 students, 31.3 FI

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Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior Questionnaire
(KAB)

• Future
• Compared to one year ago, how much do you support
  the principles of EBSWP?
• EBSWP should be a part of graduate curriculum.
• How much do you consider EBSWP to be a routine
  part of your learning?
• Attitudes
• EBSW is cook book social work that disregards
  clinical experience.
• EBSWP ignores the art of social work.
• Previous work experience is more important than
  research in choosing the best treatment available
  for a client.

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KAB

• Knowledge
• EBSWP requires the use of critical appraisal
  skills to ensure the quality of all research
  studies.
• Effective research skills/access to databases and
  evidence sources are essential to practicing
  EBSWP.
• Practicing EBSWP increases the certainty that the
  proposed treatment is effective.
• Personal Use
• How frequently do you access evidence from
  research papers?
• What is your estimate of current social work
  practice that is based on evidence?
• What is the estimate of your need for evidence in
  your social work practice?

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Results Demographics
Field Instructors (n50) Students
(n134) Race n n White 37 64 86 64 Lat
ino/Hispanic 10 20 23 17 African American 2
4 3 2 Asian 1 2 15 11 Other 1 2 5
4 Gender Female 39 78 106 88 Male 8 16
15 12 Missing 3 6 Highest Degree MSW 47 94
BA or BS 3 6 M M Age 44.94
(12.53) 31.28 (7.7)
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Results KAB
Students FI Alpha (n128) (n50) Future
4.72 4.68 .91 Attitudes 4.57 4.58 .83 Knowl
edge 5.09 4.80 .84 Personal
Use 3.67 3.14 .83 Total 4.59 4.26 .90
p lt .01 p lt .000
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Open-Ended Questions

• What do you see are your agencys strengths in
  implementing EBP?
• What do you see as your agencys current
  challenges in implementing EBP?
• What do you see as your personal strengths in
  implementing EBP at your agency?
• What do you see as your personal barriers to
  implementing EBP at your agency?

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Results of Open-Ended Questions Students Views
of EBP Infusion

• It will increase critical thinking about
  techniques used in social work. It questions the
  status quo, validates our field, offers critical
  thinking skills.
• It holds agencies/practitioners somewhat
  accountable, hopefully helping in more effective
  ways. Teaching EBP helps us not only to do more
  effective work, it helps us to be more ethical in
  our treatment of clients.
• It needs to be taught in the classroom setting.
  From my experience now and in the field they
  expect you to know what EBP is and how to
  research and find literature that supports it.
• EBP lines up with social work principles of
  serving our clients to the best of our ability.
  It also aids the professionalization of social
  work.
• My belief is that it is a very important element
  of the practice of social work, but should be
  continually and critically appraised, and should
  be used in conjunction with experience, judgment,
  compassion.

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Results of Open-Ended Questions Field
Instructors Views of EBP Infusion

• I believe that EBP can help social workers
  become more effective practitioners, thereby
  improving client outcomes and satisfaction.
• It reduces the possible harm that the social
  worker can cause the client, family, or
  organization. It gives the social worker the
  landmarks that she is heading in the right way.
  In other words, it gives a sense of direction and
  reduces the feeling of floundering through case
  work. It reduces the possibility of prejudice in
  social work practice.
• Social work (like most fields) has gone through
  various fads so some people may feel that EBP
  social work is just another fad. One way to
  address that would be to point out how over time
  social workers have been influenced by evidence
  and research, that it isnt a recent phenomenon.
• My agency is integrating EBP into its training
  and emphasizing its importance. Different regions
  of the county have developed monthly practice
  trainings for quality control.
• I am not sure how motivated I am to teach the
  EBP paradigm. I definitely will need some
  support perhaps on-going discussion group with
  my peers (facilitated by the school?) to discuss
  the topic.

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Discussion

• Low response rate respondents may be more open
  to EBP than non-respondents
• Only surveyed students and FI from one school
• Students and FI equally supportive of future of
  EBP and have open attitudes towards it
• Both FI and faculty are worried about the time
  element regarding this process of infusion
• Students have more knowledge of EBP than FI and
  use EBP to a greater degree
• Use of EBSWP is still low according to scores
  from both groups

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Discussion

• Students are getting some EBP in coursework and
  are more likely to be accessing research
• Infusing EBP into the curriculum will require
  training with FI
• Resources may be an important barrier for FI to
  access research

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Infusing EBP into the Curriculum

• Sample assignment for Child Welfare course