According to the Council on Social Work Education, Competency 4: Engage In Practice-informed Research and Research-informed Practice:
Social workers understand quantitative and qualitative research methods and their respective roles in advancing a science of social work and in evaluating their practice. Social workers know the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and culturally informed and ethical approaches to building knowledge. Social workers understand that evidence that informs practice derives from multi-disciplinary sources and multiple ways of knowing. They also understand the processes for translating research findings into effective practice.
Walden’s MSW program expects students in their specialization year to be able to:
Critically evaluate evidence based and “best practice” treatment interventions.
Compose clinical intervention plans that are grounded research-based knowledge
This assignment is intended to help students demonstrate the behavioral components of this competency in their field education.
To Prepare: Review the agency’s intervention/treatment plan used to engage clients. After reviewing the agency’s intervention/treatment plan, consult the literature and conduct extensive research, with the goal of finding best practices that supports or adds to the agency’s current intervention/treatment plan. The purpose of this assignment is to find research that supports or adds to the agency’s current intervention/treatment approach.
Submit a 1-2 pages in which you:
Briefly describe the agency’s intervention/treatment plan
Briefly discuss best practices about interventions identified in the literature
Briefly discuss how the agency can incorporate those best practices into the current intervention/treatment plan
Provide a brief summary of the similarities and differences between the intervention/treatment plan used at the agency and the suggested practices in the literature
