Journal of evidence-based social work (2019)最新文献

Purpose: Service providers working with homeless populations frequently experience physical safety incidents in their jobs, but little is known about the rate of physical safety events among health and social service providers, in general, and in those serving homeless populations specifically.

Materials and methods: The current study involved a cross-sectional survey of providers in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Programs about any work experience that threatened their physical safety and the consequences of such events. A total of 1,273 multidisciplinary service providers completed an anonymous online survey regarding their safety at work.

Results: Sixty-one percent of respondents reported experiencing a physical safety event at work, and 54% (n = 689) provided narrative description of their physical safety event in a free-text survey question. A binary logistic regression found that those who experienced a physical safety event compared to those who did not were significantly more likely to report that they felt their job was less safe, which they had less organizational support, and tended to report lower job satisfaction, but there was mixed significance in symptoms of burnout. Results from the qualitative analysis of free-text responses supported these findings of lack of safety and leadership support with increased risk tolerance.

Discussion: Many VA service providers working with homelessness have experienced a physical safety event on the job.

Conclusion: Organizational support may mitigate physical safety events for social workers serving in homeless and other community-based organizations serving homeless individuals.

Purpose: The current study examines the construct validity of Weiner et al. (2017) implementation outcome measures in a school setting, and assesses the impact of building trauma-informed organizational capacity on acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of adopting and implementing trauma-informed practices in schools.

Materials and method: The validity of the implementation outcome measures were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Then, the implementation outcome measures were used in pretest posttest fashion to assess the effectiveness of organizational capacity-building in schools. While identifiers were requested from all participants, only a small proportion of responses could be matched across the two timepoints. Dependent samples t-tests were conducted comparing matched participant time one and two scores, and independent t-tests were conducted within each timepoint comparing matched and unmatched participants.

Results: The results of the CFA support the construct validity of the implementation outcome measures within school settings. Dependent samples t-tests of matched participants demonstrated increases in the feasibility of implementing trauma-informed practices, while results of the independent t-tests demonstrated that matched participants reported higher mean scores of appropriateness and acceptability at posttest.

Discussion: The three implementation outcome measures may be used in school settings to monitor trauma-informed change processes. Participation in the change process may enhance perceived appropriateness, acceptance, and the feasibility of implementing trauma-informed practices in schools.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the evidence-base of adopting and implementing trauma-informed practices in schools. There is a need for continued assessment of change processes geared toward building trauma-informed school systems.

Purpose: This article shows how financial health serves as an integral component of behavioral health beyond only a social determinant. It presents a framework conceptualizing financial health through three dimensions - financial precarity, efficacy, and well-being - and demonstrates how these interact with established behavioral health domains.

Materials and methods: The paper integrates several theoretical perspectives with empirical evidence from social work, psychology, and financial therapy literature. It synthesizes research on financial assessment tools and evidence-based interventions that can be integrated into care settings.

Results: Evidence demonstrates multidirectional relationships between financial and other behavioral health domains. Whereas financial precarity correlates with worse behavioral health conditions, financial efficacy serves as a protective factor. Intervention research shows that addressing financial concerns directly significantly improves both financial well-being outcomes and other behavioral health indicators, including healthcare engagement and medication adherence.

Discussion: Conceptualizing financial health as a behavioral health domain enhances assessment and intervention practices in integrated care settings. This approach enables practitioners to identify and address specific financial behaviors that interact with other health domains, creates opportunities for interprofessional collaboration, and provides strategies for addressing health disparities.

Conclusion: By positioning financial health as a type of behavioral health, practitioners can more effectively address complex interrelationships between financial circumstances and health outcomes. This perspective aligns with social work's person-in-environment approach while providing actionable strategies for improving overall well-being through simultaneous attention to financial and other behavioral health concerns.

Purpose: This study examined the roles of financial hardship indicators, financial stress, encounters with racism, campus belonging, and demographic factors among Black college students, utilizing the Social Determinants of Mental Health (SDoMH) framework to identify factors associated with mental health problems and inform evidence-based interventions.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using 2023-2024 Healthy Minds Study data from 8,769 Black college students across 196 institutions. Mental health was assessed using validated instruments (PHQ-9, GAD-7, SCOFF questionnaire) and operationalized as a dichotomous variable indicating clinically significant depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-injury, or suicidality. Binary logistic regression was used to examine predictors of any mental health problems.

Results: Among participants, 54.8% reported mental health problems. Transgender, nonbinary, and queer students had over five times higher odds of mental health problems (OR = 5.89, p < .001), while female students had 39% higher odds compared to males (OR = 1.39, p < .001). Sexual minorities reported higher rates than heterosexual students (OR = 0.41, p < .001). Financial stress (OR = 1.68, p < .001) and racial discrimination experiences (OR = 1.94, p < .001) significantly increased mental health risks. Campus belonging demonstrated protective effects (OR = 0.79, p < .001).

Discussion: Findings highlight the complex intersections of identity, discrimination, and socioeconomic factors in shaping mental health among Black college students, emphasizing the need for culturally responsive, intersectional support services.

Conclusion: Results underscore the importance of addressing multiple social determinants simultaneously through comprehensive campus interventions targeting financial stress, discrimination, and belonging to promote mental health equity for Black students.

Purpose: Practicum in social work and counseling is intensive, and trainees' mindsets shape learning experiences. We developed an intervention named Web-based Single-session Intervention of Mindsets on Intelligence, Failure, and Emotion (We-SMILE) and examined its acceptability and efficacy on reducing practicum-related anxiety.

Materials and methods: The pilot study used a two-arm randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from social work and counseling practicum programs and were randomly allocated to the We-SMILE or training-as-usual (TAU) group. Participants were surveyed online at pre- (T0), post-intervention (T1), two-week (T2), and eight-week (T3) follow-ups. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

Results: A total of 37 trainees participated in the pilot study (We-SMILE group: 15, TAU group: 22). Within-group analyses showed significant effects on reducing practicum-related anxiety at post-intervention (Z = -2.010, p = .044, Cohen's d = 1.214), improving practicum preparation (Z = -2.669, p = .008, Cohen's d = 1.902) and confidence at eight-week follow-up (t = 2.712, p = .017, Cohen's d = 0.700).

Discussion: The We-SMILE intervention demonstrated short- and long-term positive effects in supporting practicum trainees. These findings suggest that mindsets related to intelligence, failure, and emotion can influence various dimensions of professional practice.

Conclusion: The pilot study demonstrated the potential of We-SMILE as an acceptable and effective practicum training intervention. A larger sample is needed for more comprehensive evaluations.

Purpose: This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of publications affiliated with Turkey in the Social Work category of the Web of Science (WoS) database. The analysis focuses on thematic trends, publication dynamics and collaboration networks over the last four decades.

Materials and methods: Data were retrieved from the WoS Core Collection on 26 December 2024. Search was conducted using the "Social Work" category filter, with country affiliation limited to Turkey. Only articles and review papers were included. A total of 504 publications by 1,372 authors were analyzed using MS Excel, VOSviewer and Bibliometrix. Following bibliometric indicators were examined: publication year, journal distribution, keyword frequency, author collaboration.

Results: There has been a marked increase in publication output since 2019. The most frequently used publication outlets were "Children and Youth Services Review," "Journal of Social Service Research" and "Social Work in Public Health Journal." Frequently used keywords included "health," "mental health," "depression," and "adolescents." Institutional and international collaboration patterns revealed that the most active partnerships were with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Discussion: The findings suggest a growing thematic focus on mental health, child welfare, and psychosocial issues, particularly during and after the pandemic. While methodological themes remain underrepresented, international collaboration and thematic diversity have increased.

Conclusion: Turkey-affiliated social work research is increasingly being integrated into global scholarship. There has been notable progress in thematic scope and international collaboration. However, methodological diversification remains a key area for future development.

Purpose: This research aimed to examine the responses given by ChatGPT to seven social investigation reports prepared in the field of children regarding deficiencies, risk factors and protective factors, social work intervention plan and institution suggestions in Türkiye.

Materials and methods: Anonymized reports were accessed via web pages on Google and content analysis was conducted using qualitative research methods. The data obtained were analyzed by using the MAXQDA22 program with thematic analysis method and three main themes were created.

Results: In the first theme, social investigation reports are comprehensively evaluated by ChatGPT, deficiencies in both form and content are identified and improvement suggestions are presented. Risk factors and protective factors as the second theme are divided into sub-themes as individual characteristics and experience, family, social environment, health, education, housing, economic and social situation. In the last theme, it is observed that the objectives are established before the social work intervention plan and the institutions providing services are suggested by taking into account different practice areas.

Conclusion: Future studies could investigate the effects of the use of AI in social work practice on social work experts.

Purpose: In this study our purpose is to evaluate the structural validity and internal consistency of the KEY, which is an effectiveness evaluation measure grounded in critical realism (CR) and designed to measure social work effectiveness. The KEY is completed collaboratively by the client and the social worker before and after interventions.

Materials and methods: Research material consists of 454 working-age social work clients from four Finnish municipalities. The data was collected between March 2018 and late 2019 via a cross-sectional survey. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with structural equation modeling was employed to assess construct validity, while Cronbach's alpha measured internal consistency.

Results: Results demonstrated that the KEY exhibited a good data fit, with a normed fit index ranging from 0.94 to 0.87, indicating acceptable psychometric properties.

Discussion: The key findings of this study demonstrate that the KEY measure possesses satisfactory psychometric properties and structural validity. The KEY proved to be a suitable tool for use in adult social work and for measuring the effectiveness of social work.

Conclusion: It is recommended that future studies focus on the predictive validation of the KEY measure, which becomes possible when longitudinal data are collected.