Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Think ahead: social work poll
- Author:
- COMRES
- Publisher:
- ComRes
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 8
- Place of publication:
- London
Reports on the results of an online survey of 2,033 of British adults which asked about the role of social workers in providing support for people with mental health problems. The survey also asked about the type of support people thought social workers could provide for people with severe mental health problems and professionals involved in deciding whether someone could be detained under the Mental Health Act. Results included that only 41 per cent of those surveyed thought of social workers as important providers of mental health support, whereas 69 per cent identified psychiatrists and 65 per cent identified GPs. (Edited publisher abstract)
In the hyphen: perceptions, benefits, and challenges of social workers’ dual identity as clinician-client
- Author:
- PROBST Barbara
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 95(1), 2014, pp.25-33.
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
This study is the first to directly inquire into the experience of clinical social workers who live “in the hyphen,” having received psychiatric diagnoses and/or been in therapy themselves. Rather than inhabiting these roles sequentially as previous studies suggest, many inhabit them simultaneously. Social workers who took part in this qualitative thematic analysis describe the benefits of living in the hyphen, such as greater understanding of client resistance and opportunity to serve as a model of realistic hope, as well as its challenges, including countertransference, retraumatization, and fear of being “outed.” Overall, the experience of “sitting in the other chair” was more important to participants than having a skillful therapist as a role model or sharing a specific diagnostic history with a client, which they cautioned did not offer a shortcut to authentic understanding or formation of a therapeutic alliance (Publisher abstract)
Stress and pressures in mental health social work: the worker speaks
- Authors:
- HUXLEY Peter, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 35(7), October 2005, pp.1063-1079.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Two-thirds of councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) took part in a UK survey of mental health social workers. A one in five sample of front line workers was drawn, and 237 respondents completed a questionnaire and diary about their work context and content, and their attitudes to their work, their employer, mental health policy and the place of mental health social work in modernized mental health services. The questions, that called for free-text responses, were completed in detail and at length. This paper reports the results of a qualitative analysis of these responses using NVIVO software. The paper is structured around the themes emerging from the analysis: pressure of work; staffing matters; job satisfaction and well-being; recruitment and retention issues; and being valued. The conclusions are that the social workers value face to face contact with service users, and that their commitment to service users is an important factor in staff retention. The most unsatisfactory aspects of their work context arise from not feeling valued by their employers and wider society, and some of the most satisfactory from the support of colleagues and supervisors. Without attention to these factors, recruitment and retention problems will remain an unresolved issue.
Social workers' views of the etiology of mental disorders: results of a national study
- Authors:
- WALSH Joseph, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work: A journal of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), 50(1), January 2005, pp.43-52.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Research on many mental disorders since the 1990s strongly suggests a biological component to etiology. These developments should inform the decisions clinical social workers make regarding interventions with clients. Several recent research reports have suggested that social workers may underestimate the influence of biological factors in some mental disorders. Presents the results of a US national study of social workers in which disorder-specific measures of mental illness were used to determine more clearly whether social workers are making research-based assessments of mental illness etiology. It was found that social workers attribute causality of 4 disorders in a manner consistent with current research.
Social workers’ propensity to endorse recovery-oriented service provision: a randomised factorial design
- Authors:
- PETROS Ryan, SOLOMON Phyllis Linda
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 50(1), 2020, pp.42-61.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Providers inconsistently provide recovery-oriented services to adults with serious mental illness despite US federal mandate. An online randomised factorial survey was used to identify and evaluate predictors of social workers’ degree of endorsement of recovery-oriented service provision. Respondents (N = 107) each rated scale items indicating support for recovery-oriented services for four client vignettes (n = 398) and completed standardised measures of recovery knowledge and expectations. The final predictive model was significant (p < 0.0001), accounting for 61 per cent of the variance of the degree of endorsement of recovery-oriented services. Recovery knowledge explains the largest portion of the variance, followed by psychotic symptoms. The finding that client characteristics predict endorsement of recovery-oriented services suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of recovery. Recommendations include training and supervision to enhance application of recovery-oriented principles to service provision. (Edited publisher abstract)
A statewide introduction of trauma-informed care in a child welfare system
- Authors:
- KRAMER Teresa L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 35(1), 2013, pp.19-24.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Most children in the care of the child welfare system have been exposed to multiple traumas in addition to the stressor of being removed from their home. Because the risk for mental health problems following exposure to trauma is high, a critical need exists to introduce trauma-informed practices into the child welfare system. The purpose of this study is to evaluate initial stages of a trauma-informed training program for the Arkansas Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). In Phase 1, 102 (75%) of DCFS area directors and supervisors participated in 10 regional, two-day workshops modeled after the National Child and Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) trauma-informed training for child welfare. Pre- and post-training evaluations demonstrated significant improvements in participants' knowledge of trauma-informed practices. A three-month follow-up with directors and supervisors indicated that use of trauma-informed practices increased significantly and that such changes were correlated with pre- versus post-training improvement in knowledge. Most participants were able to partially implement action steps established at the time of training; however, a number of barriers were cited as preventing full implementation, including time constraints, heavy caseloads, lack of staff, and limited resources. Results are discussed in light of plans under way for Phase II training for all DCFS front-line staff. (Publisher abstract)
The context of risk management in mental health social work
- Authors:
- NOLAN Deborah, QUINN Neil
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 24(3), 2012, pp.175-188.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Managing risk is a central feature of mental health social work practice. There are 2 approaches to risk management: risk avoidance and risk taking. Mental health policy has been dominated by risk avoidance strategies that seek to avoid risky behaviours and minimise adverse outcomes. In contrast, risk taking approaches involve clearly planned stages of risk-taking, based upon an understanding of the choices available, possible benefits of risk-taking, strengths and perceptions of the service user, and consequences of different actions. The aim of this study was to explore the everyday practice of mental health social work professionals in managing the risks service users with mental health issues face and present. The study draws on 2010 research that undertook qualitative semi-structured interviews with 7 Mental Health Officers in a Scottish local authority. Whilst the findings showed that risk was generally constructed as relating to harm and danger, in practice a more measured approach to risk management was identified, with both approaches being employed, and a new acceptance of risk as potentially positive by organisations and practitioners was recognised. Participants illustrated how decisions are reached, without feeling inhibited by the ‘blame culture’, but clarified that this involved dilemmas and was a fraught area of practice.
An investigation of MSW practitioners' use and efficacy of differential practice skills: do they follow evidence-based practices?
- Author:
- KRANZ Katherine M.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 9(1-6), 2011, pp.223-237.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Social work has been influenced by the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to address a range of psychological problems. There is a growing body of evidence that identifies effective interventions, but little is known about how practitioners are implementing this evidence in practice settings. The aim of this article is to investigate what social workers are doing in practice, with what types of clients, and whether these practices parallel the recommendations of EBPs. A cross-sectional survey was sent to 216 licensed social workers. The survey comprised 3 instruments measuring client caseload composition, what type of intervention skills they are employing, and their perceived level of self-efficacy in the use of practice skills. Completed surveys were received from 144 social workers. The findings indicate that the practitioners in this sample are using EBPs to guide practice. They mostly see clients with anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders, and reported using counselling/problem solving and insight-oriented skills and infrequently using case management and referral skills.
The influence of professional identity and the private practice environment: attitudes of clinical social workers toward addressing the social support needs of clients
- Authors:
- GROVES Laura C., KERSON Toba Schwaber
- Journal article citation:
- Smith College Studies in Social Work, 81(2-3), 2011, pp.218-233.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Social support affects the course of depression and other mental illnesses. Social work is associated with social support, being informed by the ecological perspective, and it would therefore be expected that social support would be a primary focus in clinical social work. The aim of this study was to explore how clinical social workers in private practice settings address the social support needs of their clients. Data were gathered through 6 focus groups comprising 30 clinical social workers. Follow-up interviews were then conducted with 11 of these participants. Themes included understanding the meaning of social support, social support’s relationship to mental health, assessing social support, interventions and specific techniques to enhance social support, therapist’s attitudes towards addressing various types of social support needs, and the relationship between professional identity and attitudes and behaviours regarding addressing social support. The findings indicate that the social workers understand the importance of addressing these needs. However, because of concerns about status, identity and reimbursement, they tend to avoid case-management-like tasks despite their intrinsic understanding of the social support value of these services. Recommendations for practice are provided.
The “other” effects of psychotropic medication: social workers’ perspectives on the psychosocial effects of medication treatment on adolescent clients
- Author:
- MOSES Tally
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 25(3), June 2008, pp.205-225.
- Publisher:
- Springer
This study explores social workers’ perspectives on the psychosocial effects of psychotropic drug treatment of their adolescent clients. Using a mail survey, a national US sample of experienced clinical social workers were asked to answer questions about their perceptions of the effects of such treatment on the sense of self and social well-being of an adolescent client. The survey questions also explored associations between perceived psychosocial medication effects and characteristics of the client and the treatment. The findings suggested that social workers viewed medication treatment as having greater beneficial than harmful psychosocial effects on their adolescent clients, but that both effects existed simultaneously. The most important factors associated with the perceived effects of medication that emerged from social workers’ reports included the etiology of the disorder, the type of drug treatment and its effectiveness in addressing symptoms, the client’s “competence,” and the quality of the relationship between the client and the treating social worker. This study provides direction for future research on a neglected but important question. It would be helpful to broaden the scope of professional discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of psychopharmacologic treatment for youth beyond the effectiveness or safety of the treatment to include questions concerning clinicians’ perceptions of the effects of drug treatment on youths’ sense of self and social well-being.