Accessing Information About Evidence-Based Practices

Assignment: Accessing Information About Evidence-Based Practices

The first steps toward narrowing the gap between research and practice are recognizing that one exists and educating oneself and others. Social workers must realize the benefits and eliminate the misconceptions surrounding evidence-based practice. In the Bradley episode featured in the resources, the social worker combines her assessment of Tiffani Bradley’s individual situation with her knowledge of research to evaluate her supervisor’s recommended intervention. Now that the social worker has recognized a gap, she/he needs to access potentially relevant information for a specific case and critically analyze for its applicability to that case. This week’s Assignment allows you to practice these critical next steps in the Bradley family case.

To prepare for this Assignment, review Episode 4 of the Bradley family case study. Develop a list with 2–3 researchable questions that you could use to find evidence about the efficacy of 12-step programs or other treatments for substance abuse in adolescents. Then go to the NREPP searchable online Registry and follow the instructions in the Using the NREPP Database document located in this week’s resources. Search for two evidence-based interventions that would be appropriate for Tiffani Bradley. Be sure to explore the sections related to quality of research, readiness for dissemination, replications, and costs.

Submit a 2- to 3-page paper that includes the following:

· Summaries of the two interventions and their respective research regarding effectiveness

· Recommendations for Tiffani’s social worker that address the following:

o Factors to consider when choosing between the two interventions

o The social work skills that the staff would require to implement the intervention

o The training required to implement each intervention

· An evaluation of the usefulness of an evidenced-based practice registry based on your reaction to the experience, in which you address the following questions:

o Would you, as a beginning researcher, have enough knowledge to benefit from using the NREPP registry? Why or why not?

o How might the research that you conducted increase your confidence in the intervention with Tiffani?

o Is the information provided enough to make a decision regarding interventions? Why or why not?

· Appropriate APA citations in your writing

References (use 3 or more)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (n. d.) NREPP: SAMHSA’s national registry of evidence-based practices and programs. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/

Whittaker, J. K. (2009). Evidence-based intervention and services for high-risk youth: A North American perspective on the challenges of integration for policy, practice and research. Child & Family Social Work, 14(2), 166–177.

Document: Week 1: Using the NREPP Database Handout (PDF)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Bradley family episode 4 [Video file]. In Sessions. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Assignment 2: Human Services Organizations as Systems

Social workers use the person-in-environment approach to understand the relationship between individuals and their physical and social environments. This ecological perspective is a framework that is based on concepts associated with systems theory. Systems theory guides social workers when they assess how factors in the environment such as school, work, culture, and social policy impact the individual. Although social workers commonly use the systems approach to focus on the individual, they may apply this approach to human services organizations as well. Human services organizations exist within the context of the social, economic, and political environments, and any type of change in one aspect of the environment will influence the organization’s internal and external functioning.

For this Assignment, consider how administrators of human services organizations may apply systems theory in their work. Also, consider what you have discovered about the roles of leadership and management and how these contribute to an organization’s overall functioning.

Assignment (2 pages in APA format):

· Explain how systems theory can help administrators understand the relationships between human services organizations and their environments.

· Provide specific examples of ways administrators might apply systems theory to their work.

· Finally, explain how leadership and management roles within human services organizations contribute to their overall functioning.

References (use 3 or more)

Lauffer, A. (2011). Understanding your social agency (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Sage.

Mulroy, E. A. (2004). Theoretical perspectives on the social environment to guide management and community perspectives: An organization-in-environment approach. Administration in Social Work, 28(1), 77–96.

Week 1: Using the NREPP Database Handout NREPP is a searchable online registry of more than 290 interventions supporting mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. Before you begin using the Database you may want to read the following Frequently Asked Questions page.

1. From the NREPP main page, go to Advanced Search. Select an area of interest, outcome category, setting, and any of the other options such as gender, age, race, geographic location.

2. After selecting your search criteria, click on Search and your results will appear.

3. Select two interventions from the list that you wish to compare.

4. After selecting the interventions that you would like to compare, click on the

Compare button and a table comparing the selected interventions will appear. The following table shows the comparison between brief strategic family therapy, and interpersonal therapy for depressed adolescents.

Note that the outcomes addressed in the two interventions are quite different. So, they really are not comparable, but looking at the outcomes, will allow the social worker to consider which outcomes are most relevant to the client under consideration. In other words, you should select a treatment that is appropriate given your own and your clients’ assessments of the problem.

Comparison of Selected Interventions Intervention Title Outcomes Ages Races/Ethnicities Settings

Intervention Title Outcomes Ages Races/Ethnicities Settings

Brief Strategic Family Therapy

Review Date: April 2008 1: Engagement in therapy 2: Conduct problems 3: Socialized aggression (delinquency in the company of

6–12 (Childhood) 13–17 (Adolescent)

Black or African American Hispanic or Latino

Outpatient Home

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov./ViewAll.aspx

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov./FAQ.aspx

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov./ViewIntervention.aspx?id=151

peers) 4: Substance use 5: Family functioning

Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A)

Review Date: August 2010 1: Depression symptoms 2: General level of mental health 3: Social functioning 4: Social problem-solving skills

13–17 (Adolescent)

Asian Black or African American Hispanic or Latino White Race/ethnicity unspecified

Outpatient School

5. To learn more about each treatment, click on its name.

Click on the Quality of Research tab to find the published research reports of studies that evaluated the intervention approach. In many cases, the articles are available in Pub-med. In the Walden Library article search, there is an option to insert the pub-med id. Otherwise, search for the article in one of the usual databases, e.g. academic, search, Proquest, etc. The next two screens illustrate what you will see when you click on a particular intervention. Be sure to explore the Quality of Research and Readiness for Dissemination.

6. Click on the Quality of Research tab to find the published research reports of studies that evaluated the intervention approach. In many cases, the articles are available in Pub-med. In the Walden Library article search, there is an option to insert the pub med id. Otherwise, search for the article in one of the usual databases, e.g. academic, search, Proquest, etc.

http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov./ViewIntervention.aspx?id=198