SOCW 6530 wk 7 peer responses 

Respond to the blog posts of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.

Make a suggestion to your colleague’s post.

MUST RESPOND TO EACH ONE SEPARATELY CITE EVERYTHING AND FULL REFERENCES 

PEER 1 Alicia Simpkin

Evaluation of How You Have Addressed Evaluation or How You Might Address Evaluation

Evaluation of a service is beneficial in determining how a program/service is being run and whether or not it is working the way it is supposed to. When someone evaluates a service, they gather information related to how the program is being run, such as whether it has worked properly, or whether things need to be changed (i.e. implemented or removed). Evaluation may be done through surveys or other measurements to determine the validity of such. This information gathered may be utilized as ‘evidence’ when defending the use of the service or program in practice. According to the text, when considering the use of evidence in practice, “practitioners generally first consider the proximal similarity of information and the trustworthiness of the source before directly translating research into their clinical practice” (Wharton & Bolland, 2012). Practitioners will determine whether the research can be trusted before moving forward with incorporating such into their future practice.

In my field placement, services are typically evaluated through client satisfaction surveys upon discharge, or one can determine how a program is being run through client progress. If the program is running the way it should, then client progress will reflect such. For example, sessions with clients often have a purpose, whether that is to identify their triggers and work through them, or offer resources and other information and encouragement that allows them to work towards achieving their goals, etc. If client notes reflect progress in their recovery and progress towards achieving their goals, then one is able to understand that the tools offered in the program are beneficial in client recovery. I would also address evaluation of the program through client satisfaction surveys, which would allow clients to address all concerns and share what has worked for them and what has not worked well.

References

Wharton, T. C., & Bolland, K. A. (2012). Practitioner Perspectives of Evidence-Based Practice. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services.

PEER 2  LaTiona Washington 

An explanation of how you have addressed evaluation or how you might address evaluation in your field education experience

The evaluation focuses on the patient’s progress, goals, and if they need to be reevaluated (Scarnato, 2019). At Rolling Hills Hospitals (RHH), the term “Hospital” informs how the intent is to stabilize and discharge. Initially, it was difficult to determine evaluation at my agency. We assist the patient in creating long-term and short-term goals. Due to our setting, we are unable to follow up regarding long-term goals. Short-term goals focus on stabilization so the patient can be released. These goals include denying suicidal ideation for 48 hours prior to discharge, attending groups, getting out of bed, eating meals daily, and complying with medication. The doctors visit the patient daily and are knowledgeable about these goals. The doctor communicates with the social worker and both evaluate to see if the patient is stable enough to go home. A patient is stable enough when they no longer meet the clinical perimeters to be in the hospital. The social worker meets with the patient every other day due to their workload. I conduct evaluations when performing discharges. I can review how the client initially presented to the hospital, their assessment, and follow up to evaluate their current progress. If everything looks good, they are released.

Reference

Scarnato, J. M. (2019, July 30). The Generalist Intervention Model. MSW Careers. https://mswcareers.com/generalistinterventionmodel/.

PEER 3   Omoyinka Orekoya  

An explanation of how you have addressed evaluation or how you might address evaluation in your field education experience.

   Evaluation is the strategy to determine if the interventions we have used after our assessments of the clients are working, that is if what goals we hoped to reach have been achieved. It is also an endpoint activity that can lead to a mature client-worker decision to terminate professional relationships (Kirst-Ashman,  & Hull, 2018 p.308).  It can be done on the micro, mezzo, and macro. Evaluation can help to build the knowledge base of the profession through the documentation of the success of our efforts and increase both practice wisdom and publish knowledge (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull, 2018 p.310). Evaluation will hit its target if an evidence-based practice is used. EBP, according to Wharton,& Bolland, (2012), is  “a decision-making process integrating best research evidence, practitioner expertise, and client or community characteristics, values, and preferences in a manner compatible with the organizational systems and context in which care delivery occurs” (p.158)

     Taking the importance of evaluation into consideration, as an intern, I  might address evaluation in my field education experience in the following ways:

       Removing the fears that evaluation can bring. When it comes to evaluating my work, there may be questions like “what if I am not successful with every client. To remove this fear is to do everything possible to be successful while working with my clients (Kirst-Ashman,  & Hull, 2018 p.311).

        Proper management of caseloads in order to be able to evaluate the outcome or follow up on my clients’ progress. If a client’s case gets worse, evaluating the process is already defeated. I will work earnestly to make sure that my clients are returned to the positions they were in before the crisis.

          An evaluation may call for time, expenses, and patience. All these will be adequately planned to have a successful progress monitoring. I will also make sure that I get enough training in my internship in the use of evaluation approaches that are evidence-based to yield the best result Wharton, & Bolland,(2012).

Reference

Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.)Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. 

Wharton, T. C., & Bolland, K. A. (2012). Practitioner perspectives of evidence-based practice. Families in Society, 93(3), 157–164.