Accessing Information About Evidence-Based Practices

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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.

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.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

 

 

Accessing Information About Evidence-Based Practices