Foundations of Unlimited

Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (3rd ed.) is an informative, engaging and user-friendly book by J. W. Creswell (2012) that is focused on practical application of qualitative research methods in social inquiry. The author provided a useful comparison of the five types of qualitative inquiry (narrative, phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, and case study) and discussed foundational and methodological aspects of the five traditional approaches. Creswell also effectively demonstrated how the type of the approach of qualitative inquiry shaped the design or procedures of a study. This book could be particularly useful to novice researchers and graduate students who are new to qualitative research, as well as to educators teaching qualitative methods of inquiry

Evolving from Student to Teacher: Insights from the Conversation Café on Doctoral Student Mentorship

Mentorship has been proposed as a key process for preparing doctoral students as effective educators. However, few models have been described in-depth. To address this challenge, four social work doctoral graduates and one senior faculty member shared their insights drawing on their study on collaborative teaching mentorship, reflecting on their mentorship experiences and inviting feedback from the conference audience in the Conversation Café forum. The resultant discussion supported findings from our research and reinforced that more systematic and reflective efforts are needed to adequately prepare doctoral students for future teaching responsibilities. Specific strategies are summarized.

Recognition and Assessment of Geriatric Depression in Residential Care Facilities in Alberta: A Mixed Methods Study of Perspectives and Practices of Regulated Nursing Staff

Geriatric depression is under-detected in residential care facilities. There is a paucity of Canadian and Alberta-specific research on how this mental health condition is recognized and assessed in residential care settings. The purpose of this exploratory study was to learn about the perspectives and practices of regulated nurse professionals on the recognition of geriatric depression in long-term care (LTC) and designated supportive living (DSL) facilities in Alberta. The research questions focused on: 1) relevant knowledge, beliefs, and education of participants; 2) the relationship between the level of knowledge and types of facilities; 3) depression assessment process and methods; 4) barriers to the recognition and assessment; and 5) perceived strategies for the effective detection of depression. The study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods design, including a survey (N = 635) and qualitative interviews (N = 14). Findings suggested a risk for social exclusion of residents with geriatric depression from mental health services in Alberta. While considering the assessment of depression important, participants reported multiple challenges to its identification in facilities. One of the main challenges included specific socio-cultural beliefs about geriatric depression among staff, residents, and public, such as ageism, the normalization and the stigmatization of geriatric depression. Other challenges related to a less than optimal clinical knowledge of participants about geriatric depression, scarcity of resources, complicated and unclear assessment protocols, inconsistent use of assessment methods, poor communication between all stakeholders, and marginalized priority of the mental health care in facilities. These inter-connected structural and agential barriers on micro, mezzo, and macro levels served as constraining conditions in the depression assessment process. The perceived improvement strategies targeted addressing this complex constellation of barriers to enable successful detection. Recommendations included actions to alter views about geriatric depression, such as public awareness campaigns and enhancing depression-specific education, as well as increasing resources, elevating the priority of mental health in facilities, and advocating for the legislative changes to support effective regulations and policies for mental health provision in these care settings

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF BACCALAUREATE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS ABOUT INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION IN CANADA

Although interprofessional collaboration is a common expectation in social work employment, interprofessional education has not been a robust feature of baccalaureate social work preparation in Canada. There is also a dearth of research on the topic. These gaps are problematic because social workers with baccalaureate degrees are often employed in interprofessional teams in various health care settings in Canada. To address this gap in knowledge, this mixed methods study explores attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration of social work students in a Canadian undergraduate university. Also, the study evaluates the students’ knowledge acquisition of interprofessional competencies after a single interprofessional education event. Findings indicate a positive change in students’ attitudes and enhanced knowledge of the interprofessional care competencies. The study contributes to the limited body of research on interprofessional education of baccalaureate-level social work students in Canada. It also shows the power of a single interprofessional experiential event in benefiting professional education of future social work professionals.Bien que la collaboration interprofessionnelle soit une attente courante dans l’emploi des travailleurs sociaux, la formation interprofessionnelle n’a pas été une caractéristique importante de la préparation au baccalauréat en travail social au Canada. Il y a également peu de recherches sur le sujet. Ces lacunes sont problématiques car les travailleurs sociaux titulaires d’un baccalauréat sont souvent employés au sein d’équipes interprofessionnelles dans divers établissements de soins de santé au Canada. Pour combler cette lacune, cette étude à méthodes mixtes explore les attitudes des étudiants en travail social d’une université canadienne de premier cycle à l’égard de la collaboration interprofessionnelle. De plus, l’étude évalue l’acquisition des connaissances des étudiants en matière de compétences interprofessionnelles après un seul événement de formation interprofessionnelle. Les résultats indiquent un changement positif dans les attitudes des étudiants et une meilleure connaissance des compétences en matière de soins interprofessionnels. L’étude contribue au corpus limité de recherches sur la formation interprofessionnelle des étudiants en travail social au niveau du baccalauréat au Canada. Elle montre également le rôle important d’un seul événement expérientiel interprofessionnel sur la formation professionnelle des futurs professionnels du travail social