‘It takes a leap of faith’
Care and Connect: the way forward for social work research in Ireland
Presenters: Dr Janet Carter Anand, Queen’s University Belfast, NII and Sarah Donnelly, Trinity College Dublin , ROI Acknowledgments: Dr Des O’Neill, Mr David Willow, Ms Brenda Mehigan from Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Tallaght; Erna O'Connor and Professor Robbie Gilligan from Trinity College Dublin
‘Many other disciplines and allied health professionals see evidence-based research as the norm, whereas for us it’s very much outside the box and it shouldn’t be’
Research, Education and Practice
‘high quality research that is practice credible that has validity
both in the research world and the practice world’
The Challenge? Gap between university based research
and practitioner research (JUC SWEC 2006)
The Need? Research by practitioners for practitioners
(Epstein, 2008)
The Alternative? Practitioner research paradigm (Fook,
2002)
Models We were doing it off the tops of out heads, didn't really ask the question,
has this been done by someone else. Here is model you can plug into.
Centres of Excellence-Translating Research into Evidence Informed Practice
Social Work Academic-Practice Partnerships
Research Networks
Mentoring Programmes
Professional Journals-Practitioner Research
Individual Practitioner Researcher Posts
Care and Connect
2006-recognition of need for a strategic approach for the promotion of research capacity and activity amongst practitioners (AMNCH/TCD)
Aims and Objectives promote best practices in person-centered care
planning for older people through a process of investigation, trial and consultation
Promote partnership in decision making between older people, families and health care professionals and to gain a deeper understanding of this process
Develop strong practice/research partnership for hospital based social work
Overview
Trinity College Tallaght Hospital
SSWSP SWD
Position
PhD
ARHC
Critical Evaluation: Care & Connect ‘the heart of ...practice is to think counter
intuitively ‘ Methodology
Action learning (Gardiner, 2006) Critical Reflection on project
Semi-structured interviews with key players (hospital manager, geriatrician, social work manager, lecturer, professor, practitioner researcher )
Analysis of the Findings Themes
Organisational Change Critical Development Stages Different Agenda Processes
Capturing Practice Wisdom ( illustrated by quotes)
Action Learning: Sustainability and organisational change
Organisational Roles and Change
‘‘I couldn’t say I had a game plan, it was a
matter of push each step as it came’
Organisational culture Universities and hospitals both ‘human service organisations’ but
with unique mandates, structures, cultures, boundaries
Process of organisational change Balance between planning and leaps of faith
Organisational change agent roles (adapted from Ottoway, 1983) Change Generators: Visionaries & Patrons
Change Implementers: Technocrats & Strategists
Change Adopters: Prototypes for change
Interpersonal relationships;like-mindedness,trust and tensions
Critical stages‘If I was saying it to anyone I would say, I would not underestimate the amount of time needed’
Extended initial negotiation phase Finding a precedence Funding intersects with resources Fusion of visions /matching expectations Inception Role development and definition/The focus
PhD Evaluation and were to from here?
Different Agendas
Political Care of elderly, empowerment of clients
Organisational positions and funding Partnerships/ collaboration
Professional strengthening social work research base standards of practice in family meetings need for evidence-based practice interdisciplinary links
Personal motivation to be involved in research commitment to social gerontology
Executive Action
Reflectiveness
Advantages ‘The critical stage was working an institutional level agreement as to who would be the employer.…quite complex’
‘With a great deal of flexibility we managed to work through some of the tricky decision-making moments...we skirted around some of the issues rather than facing them and putting our cards on the table’
Disadvantages
‘It can unravel very easily if you haven’t actually done the groundwork and there was a danger that could’ve happened’
‘we had more to tease out when the actual worker came on board and I don’t know how wise that would be in the future’
PROCESSES- ‘the right degree of reflectiveness and executive action’
SUSTAINABILITY AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
‘We can get people to do it but getting people to own it in a deep and meaningful way is a much more subtle process and challenge’
Translation into practice; better model for working with families and older people
Action Research
Social science research embedded into the social work department in a longer term way
SUCCESS ON DIFFERENT LEVELS
Training manual and education and training programme implemented
Changes to practice; social work and care of the elderly in hospital setting
Completion of PhD and publications Continuation of hospital/university
partnership and further collaborative enquiry
‘Success would be coming back in 2 or 3 years and seeing change genuinely embedded in the system ‘
SOCIAL WORK AND RESEARCH
Practice research network
Models that you can plug into
Global strategies
References
Gardner, F. (2006) Working in Human Service Organisations, South Melbourne, Oxford University Press.
Ottoway, R. N. (1983) The change agent: A taxonomy relation to the change process. Human Relations,36 (4), 361-392.
Fook, J. ( 2002) Critical Theory and Practice, London, Sage Publications. Joint Universities Council of Social Work Education Committee (2006) A social
work research strategy in higher education 2006-2020. London, Social Care Workforce Research Unit, International Policy Institute, Kings College London.
Epstein, I. (2008) Presentation, Trinity College, Dublin
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