Pastoral transitions : a study of factors that influence success

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Medical Social Work Faculty: Clinicians or Educators?

Within the health care field, medical social work has expanded rapidly over the past few years. In the United States, medical social workers comprise approximately 1.5 percent of the total medical schools\u27 faculty. And, there is empirical evidence that medical social work faculty will increase substantially over the years to come. However, we as social work educators know very little about medical social work facultys\u27 opinions on how they perceive their overall function within medical schools. More specifically, if medical social work faculty are to function effectively in medical settings, we as a profession must know: if they perceive themselves as clinicians or educators; what their involvement is in curriculum development; if they perceive themselves as specialists or generalists; what their professional contacts are outside their departments; and, how they perceive their present respect and credibility within their medical settings. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present the results of an empirically based research project that will shed new data on the above concerns

Do Agency Administrative Changes Affect the Effectiveness and Efficiency of DHR Employees?

This study examined the perceived effectiveness and efficiency of DHR employees before and after agency administrative changes. Results indicated that the employees\u27 perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency after agency administrative changes were not significantly affected. The employees also felt that communication was the major factor hindering them in becoming more effective and efficient

The Educational Needs of Social Work Faculty in Medical Schools

Despite a long-standing association and promise for a closer alliance in the future, considerable ambiguity surrounds the current participation of social workers in medical education. A nationwide study was conducted to obtain a comprehensive, up-todate profile of social work faculty employed by medical schools-- their total number, demographic characteristics, department affiliations, primary specialties, methods and content areas of academic instruction, etc. An accompanying study focused on the opinions of medical school Deans concerning the present and future status of social work faculty in medical education. Attention has been given to social work education in relation to health care practice. Another study focused on the role of social work faculty in medical schools. The above studies strongly suggest an increase of recognition and acceptance of the value of social work involvement in medical education. And, if social workers are to practice effectively and efficiently in medical social work settings, we as social work educators and practitioners must know what appropriate knowledge and/or skill areas we should be teaching graduate social work students who desire to become medical social work faculty. We must also know how continuing education programs in graduate schools of social work could help medical social work faculty once employed by medical schools. However, no empirical studies have focused on these two issues. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present the results of an empirically based research project that will shed new data on these issues

Teaching to the Test: De/Reconstructing the Argument

With the implementation of the Common Core Standards, the new Common Core test will start in Spring of 2015. This standardized test is given during the spring of a student’s junior year. Though the test is given junior year, the onus for making sure students are ready is also that of teachers working with freshmen and sophomores. Preparing students to be proficient in the skills necessary for college and potential careers is paramount; one way to ensure such preparation is creating exercises similar to that of the performance task on the sample test. The performance task focuses on assessing a student’s ability to comprehend multiple sources on one topic, support various claims with evidence from multiple sources, establish a counterargument, and compose an argumentative letter as a final product. The purpose of this project is to have students go through similar rhetorical moves as they will on the actual test. However, since the students are sophomores, the exercise will take place in small groups and at stations that divide up the tasks into more manageable chunks. Doing so will allow me to pinpoint students’ areas of weakness and modify the second exercise and my instruction accordingly to maximize learning and preparedness for constructing a solid argument

Censorship and Fahrenheit 451

The goal of this project was to apply the censorship found in Fahrenheit 451 to other situations present in different areas of “the real world”. The students, after doing so, would then create a video of images and their voice, discussing themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451and how it’s used in other areas outside of the book. The purpose is to have students use analysis in literature and applying it in different areas as well as to do so in a different way other than through writing. By using the video software, they are changing the way that traditional classroom settings are used

The Prestige and Effectiveness of the Public Welfare Worker

An empirically-based study was conducted to determine how BSW and MSW social work students differentially assess the relative prestige and effectiveness of public welfare work in relation to the fifteen other social work methods and to ascertain what methods they would ideally like to enter upon graduation from their programs. The study findings point dramatically to a wide discrepancy between the BSW and MSW student\u27s view of the public welfare worker. Not only was the average prestige and effectiveness of welfare work rated significantly higher by the BSW students, but more than five times as many BSW as MSW students indicated a desire to enter welfare work. The implications of these findings are discussed, with particular reference to social work education

The Research Component of Doctoral Programs in Social Work: A Survey

The doctoral program in social work has traditionally been viewed as encompassing a predominantly research-oriented, knowledge-building emphasis. It is acknowledged that if social workers are to be prepared to competently understand, utilize, participate in, and produce practice-relevant empirical studies, research must constitute an integral component of the educational process at the doctoral level. The rapid increase in doctoral programs, heightened confusion over the function of the Ph.D. and DSW, current trends to reconceptualize the structure of social work education, and the obvious consequences posed by the progressive erosion of master\u27s-level research curricula, this is an area strongly in need of immediate attention. Few attempts have been made to systematically analyze the development and experiences of social work doctoral training and few (if any) studies have been published that focus on the research component of doctoral programs in social work.1 Thus, the purpose of this article is to present the results of an empirically-based research study that investigates the research objectives, research content, and educational objectives of doctoral programs in social work

The Social Health and Well-being Impacts Associated With Hydraulic Fracturing

In 2014, the UK Government announced they were, ‘going all out for shale gas,’ as part of the UKs need to change the energy landscape to focus on security of supply, economic benefits, (reduction of imports), the need to cut carbon emissions and further establish renewable sources. Subsequent licencing to explore for Shale Gas resulted in significant publicised protests concerning environmental issues. Published literature in the form of Case Studies and completed Health Impact Assessments, of which there is a paucity, tend to support these concerns. However, clearly absent from this literature, are the Social Health and Well-Being Impacts (Social Determinants of Health) associated with Hydraulic Fracturing. Data was gathered using an on-line questionnaire which was open for six weeks. The questionnaire included both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Ninety four respondents completed the questionnaire providing over seven hundred pieces of information and comments. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data sets. The results of this analysis indicate that the threat to the quality of life, environmental concerns and a lack of confidence in the governance of the decision-making process as key factors in the perceptions of the participants. The complexities of these themes were then visually described using causal loop modelling techniques. The research concludes that the public have a very negative and mistrustful perception of Government, Statutory Bodies and the Oil and Gas Industry. Frequently cited social impacts include, stress, anxiety, loss of control and negative impacts on communities including environmental pollution. The implications of this research are that authorities and relevant bodies need to pay far more attention to people and community needs when granting and considering planning consent and licences

The Perceived Effectiveness of Medical Social Work Faculty

Within the health care field, medical social work has expanded rapidly over the past few years (Bracht, 1974). Medical social workers comprise approximately 1.5 percent of the total medical schools\u27 faculty in the United States (Grinnell, Kyte & Hunter, 1976). There is additional evidence that medical social work faculty will increase over the years to come (Grinnell, Kyte, Hunter & Larson, 1976; Crinnell, Kyte & Hunter, 1976; Grinnell & Kyte, 1978b; & Grinnell & Kyte, 1979). Additionally, empirical studies have been conducted that analyzed the functions of social work faculty in medical schools (Grinnell & Kyte, 1978c; Grinnell & Kyte, 1980). However, the above literature has left two important questions unanswered. First, how do social work faculty in medical settings perceive their effectiveness, and second, what educational factors are associated with their perceived effectiveness? Thus, the purpose of this article is to present the results of an empirically based research project that examines these two areas. This information will serve as a valuable bench mark in contributing to the data we now have on the general effectiveness of social workers