Abstract
Editors Thyer, Dulmus, and Sowers, all well-known social work faculty, bring together 13 authors to create a student-oriented textbook addressing general topics of social work, interventions, and the foundation skills required in generalist practice courses. Six chapters address common social work interventions including trauma-informed care; interviewing skills; problem identification and case planning; case management; advocacy; and crisis intervention. The other three chapters serve to introduce tools applicable to all approaches and include evidence-based practice (EBP); practice evaluation; and stability, terminating services, and continuity of care.
In the opening chapter, Eileen Campbell introduces evidence-informed practice and discusses why evidence is important to professional social work. She outlines the difference between helping and practicing social work by infusing the importance of ethics and critical thinking skills with explaining evidence-based interventions. Gambrill concludes with summaries of controversies and obstacles of EBP, reminding readers of the potential limitations. The chapter, like all that follow, concludes with key terms, review questions, and a list of online resources.
Nancy J. Smith and Laura Greyber address the importance of informed practice for social work and serving clients who have experienced significant trauma. Through the use of statistics such as the prevalence of military trauma, domestic violence, and child abuse, readers are informed of the magnitude and likelihood that as social workers they will encounter trauma in professional practice. Readers are also reminded that practice delivered inappropriately can compound trauma for clients. Smith and Greyber use a table to introduce 30 different EBP treatments, focus populations, and the EBP systems used to rate each. Authors guide readers through the process of selecting the appropriate EBP intervention for the client considering age, type of trauma, and trauma assessment. The authors end by informing readers that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, will likely look very different for trauma-related diagnosis such as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and phobia. Due to the overlapping features of many of these diagnoses, it is anticipated that the grouping and organization may change significantly.
Francis Turner launches chapter 3 by informing readers that the process of interviewing should be both deliberate and structured. He addresses the art of the interviewing process as well as challenges, ethical issues, and techniques that social workers face as interviewers. Turner is to be commended for addressing the topic of authenticity in a text focused on EBP. He informs readers that authenticity is too often avoided in the social work literature due to the abstract concept. I suggest maximizing this introduction to the topic by adding stories from the field to create discussion related to ethical issues such as the struggle to be effective with a client whose actions you morally oppose. Turner explains that social workers can develop research-based interviewing skills that accommodate for the setting, the client, and the modality (in-person, phone, video, via interpreter, etc.). He concludes by reminding readers that the art of technique can be learned and research-based interviewing, like other approaches, should be developed with practice.
In chapter 4, Sophia Dziegielewski addresses the process of identifying, planning, and documenting the client’s needs in an EBP care environment. EBP approaches expect the client problem to be identified quickly and accurately; interventions that are EBP in nature and documentation that is organized reflects services provided and can be measured. She quickly discounts the argument that social workers do not have time to perform good documentation and takes readers through the process of developing and documenting an accurate problem statement, developing the intervention plan, measuring client behavior, measuring results, and conducting follow-up. Although Dziegielewski acknowledges that subjective-objective-assessment-plan is the most commonly used problem-oriented recording approach, she also informs readers of other options such as problem-intervention-response-plan. As a former clinician and supervisor of clinicians, it was refreshing to see that the chapter reminds readers of highly practical, but often overlooked matters, such as never delete information from record, but make corrections instead.
In chapter 5, Valarie Holton and Joseph Walsh introduce a variety of approaches (e.g., Broker model, assertive community treatment) to introduce EBP case management. Information on each approach is expanded by connecting case management to client needs through the use of case examples, funding requirements, and evaluations of evidence. Holton and Walsh also remind readers that measuring the effectiveness of case management, although important, is difficult due to factors such as the overlap with other services. The chapter ends with informing readers of the limitations of case management which are often linked to attempts to cut costs resulting in case management staff who lack graduate degrees, high caseloads, and little control over resources.
Described as one of the core skills of social work, advocacy is covered in chapter 6 by Malabika Misty Das, Cheryl Hiu-Kwan Chui, and Cecilia Lau-Wan. It is promising to see a topic that is assumed to exist in social work practice, but often minimized in the context of EBP. Authors remind readers that advocacy is a unique element of the social work profession and is emphasized in the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics to apply at all levels of practice to address social injustice, inequity, and oppression. Like other skills, the authors emphasize that effective EBP advocacy requires training and they introduce the CHEERS model (commitment, holistic, empowerment, empathy, resilient, strengths focus) as one EBP approach to demonstrate. Like other topics, chapter 7 introduces another essential element of social work practice, crisis intervention. Authors Kenneth Yeager, Albert Roberts, and Wendy Grainger review factors of the last two decades that have led to strong interest in crisis intervention. They acknowledge several EBP approaches and elect to focus on Roberts' seven stage practice model for crisis intervention based on proven effectiveness across a variety of clients, cultures, and crisis settings. The authors also remind readers of the relationship between organizational commitment to skill development through training and effective EBP skills in crisis intervention, a focus area that is growing quickly and changing rapidly.
One of the editors, Bruce Thyer, contributed chapter 8, which reviews the practice evaluation method known as single-subject designs (including individuals, families, and small groups). Practice evaluation is presented as stemming from two basic elements: First, select a reliable and valid outcome measure relevant to the client; and second apply the measure repeatedly over time. Thyer makes practice evaluation meaningful to readers through the use of client examples and introducing a variety of approaches to measure outcomes.
Appropriately, Samuel MacMaster and Sara Sanders end the text with a topic that applies to all approaches and all settings—termination, stabilization, and continuity of care. Authors provide definitions for readers and reminders that termination of services is often determined by a period of client stability. EBP practices recognize the importance of connecting the start of services, stabilization, and termination with continuity of care and the client’s ability to incorporate changes that impact the presenting problem over time. Importantly, readers are informed that stabilization and treatment should be discussed throughout the treatment process and not only at conclusion.
An emphasis on EBP continues to be strong and schools of social work continue to struggle with implementation of this model, congruent with the values of the profession (Traube, Pohle, & Barley, 2012). This text can assist with this challenge and will serve well to adequately introduce students to the concepts. Instructors and social work students will find the content easy to understand, informative, applicable, and find that it does not sacrifice the art of service delivery. Overall, the 16 authors in Developing Evidence-Based General Practice Skills effectively introduce practical approaches to EBP making it an important text for social work education with both bachelor- and master-level students learning general practice skills.
Some additional features and creative classroom approaches will make this a stronger tool for instructors. A graphic presentation, such as the essential components of the process model (Thyer & Pignotti, 2011, p. 329, figure 1), adapted for each chapter would strengthen the presentation for readers by visually communicating the inclusion of EBP as one essential element in the decision-making process. Instructors will need to provide supplemental materials to enhance the effectiveness of the text and prepare students with the basic skills needed to begin professional practice. Finally, instructors will not necessarily want to follow this text in a linear fashion. Content, such as the chapter on practice evaluation can be maximized by instructors who facilitate the connection with a client and a research-supported intervention. For example, a practical use for this text might be to have students start with a client vignette applicable to a specific approach (e.g., crisis intervention chapter), identify a specific intervention, and then use chapter 6 to develop a practice evaluation to measure treatment effectiveness.