Developing and Modeling Complex Social Interventions

Abstract

Objectives: Modeling the processes involved in complex social interventions is important in social work practice, as it facilitates their implementation and translation into different contexts. This article reports the process of developing and modeling the connecting people intervention (CPI), a model of practice that supports people with mental health problems to enhance their social networks. Method: The CPI model was developed through an iterative process of focus group discussions with practitioners and service users and a two-stage Delphi consultation with relevant experts. Results: We discuss the intervention model and the processes it articulates to provide an example of the benefits of intervention modeling. Conclusions: Intervention modeling provides a visual representation of the process and outcomes of an intervention, which can assist practice development and lead to improved outcomes for service users.

A review of social participation interventions for people with mental health problems

“…This resulted in significant social network improvements which were sustained after two years. Similarly, in the UK an intervention model which engages people in activities, organisations and groups in their local communities (Connecting People Intervention [53]), increases their access to social capital and perceived social inclusion when implemented with high fidelity [54]. Increases in social network size may be attributable to service users being linked to community resources.…”

“…Mental health professionals need to be provided with the time and flexibility to develop local relationships and increase their knowledge about community engagement opportunities. The Connecting People Intervention model improves individual outcomes only when mental health professionals and the teams in which they work share ownership of their community connections so that its success is not reliant on the knowledge and connections of one or two workers, who may leave the service at any time [53, 54]. …”

“…Our knowledge in this field could also be enhanced by the inclusion of social network outcome measures in trials of other social interventions, such as supported employment or Open Dialogue. However, the limited evidence we have reviewed supports a move towards a more equal ‘patient–clinician’ partnership and a shared approach which accounts for local contexts and cultures to engage people more fully in the communities in which they live [53, 78]. …”

Social Intervention as Study Object: Discourses, practices, problems and proposals

“…Otra corriente de estudios se desarrolla a través de métodos asociados a paradigmas interpretativos. Es el caso de los ejercicios de modelamiento de los procesos de intervención (Allen y Mohatt, 2014;Allen, Mohatt, Beehler y Rowe, 2014;Webber, 2014;Webber et al, 2015), las investigaciones sobre construcción de decisiones en las intervenciones (Smith, 2014), los estudios sobre ideologías profesionales (Weiss-Gal, 2008), los análisis de redes sociales para las intervenciones comunitarias (Faust, Christens, Sparks y Hilgendorf, 2015;Maya-Jariego y Holgado, 2015), la construcción de historias de vida (Molina, 2010), y la exploración participativa de oportunidades, retos, buenas prácticas y lecciones aprendidas (Dominelli, 2015;Ku y Ma, 2015;Maeseele, Roose y Bouverne-De Bie, 2015). Estos trabajos se orientan a la comprensión de las relaciones en el contexto de los programas.…”

“…Este tipo de estudios se acercan a una concepción de los procesos de intervención a partir de una perspectiva relacional, por lo tanto, privilegian estrategias de aproximación etnográfica (Ávila y García, 2013;Case, Todd y Kral, 2014;J. L. García, 2013;Ortega, 2015;Rodríguez, 2012;Smith, 2014;Webber, 2014); a través de técnicas de observación participante y no participante (Smith, 2014); conversaciones y entrevistas con los destinatarios de los servicios y los agentes de las intervenciones (Dominelli, 2015;Maeseele et al, 2015;Molina, 2010;Smith, 2014); y entrevistas de grupo con los participantes en los procesos de intervención social (Arenas, 2013;Webber et al, 2015). En algunos casos el desarrollo de las estrategias de investigación tiende a ser participativo en co-construcción con los destinatarios de los programas (Ku y Ma, 2015).…”