‘It's what gets through people's radars isn't it’: relationships in social work practice and knowledge exchange

Abstract

This article draws on findings from a knowledge exchange (KE) project, which involved academics working with local authority social workers around a theme of engaging with involuntary clients. The user engagement agenda is actively promoted in social work but is not straightforward, reflecting a mish-mash of client rights, managerial and consumerist agendas. Engaging with involuntary clients, in particular, those whose involvement with social work is mandated by law, rarely fits into policy agendas and requires a range of conditions and practitioner skills for it to happen effectively. A parallel aim of our project was to explore what was seen to be effective in the KE and knowledge mobilisation (KM) processes when local authorities and university academics work together. Like client engagement, KE is also seen as 'a good thing' but in reality it is similarly problematic. In this article we trace the growth of both client engagement and KE agendas, particularly in relation to social work. We describe our project and discuss its findings. A number of parallel processes might be identified in 'what works' with hard to reach social work clients and 'what works' in KE/KM.Neither are linear or necessarily rational processes. What does seem to hold both together, however, is the nature of relationships built up between, in the first instance, social workers and those they work with and, in the second, between academics and local authority practitioners. These findings suggest that personal qualities that might be associated with the concept of emotional intelligence play an important part in enabling both social work practice and KE/KM to happen effectively.

Critical reflection workshops and knowledge exchange: findings from a Scottish project

“…Trusting relationships are essential for KE to be successful, as Smith et al . () argue. They also allowed us, to use a popular cliché, to ‘hit the ground running’.…”

“…• The other academic had undertaken an observation placement in the other agency just before the KE project began Trusting relationships are essential for KE to be successful, as Smith et al (2013) argue. They also allowed us, to use a popular cliché, to 'hit the ground running'.…”

Development of the Translating Allied Health Knowledge (TAHK) Framework

“…Examples of non-process frameworks applied to allied health include the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework, 22 and Pathmans’ awareness-to-adherence model. 12 Classic theories which have arisen from other fields have also been utilised to support KT in allied health, including theories of change 34 and Rogers diffusion of innovation theory. 13,27,35…”

“…42-44 The gold standard randomised controlled trial is not often a suitable methodology in allied health, and several allied health professions explicitly challenge positivist approaches to knowledge. 20,34 In some areas of the allied health practice context, knowledge has to be generated before KT can even begin, due to sparse or non-existent evidence.…”

Validasi Modul Pelatihan Pendampingan Klien pada Pekerja Sosial

“…Keberadaan dan kemampuan pekerja sosial memiliki dampak yang signifikan dalam pengembangan informasi kesehatan mental, namun pada praktiknya mereka mengalami hambatan dalam proses pendampingan yang berujung pada stres. Beberapa penelitian mengenai pekerja sosial memperlihatkan bahwa keadaan pekerjaan yang tidak stabil, beban kasus yang didampingi menjadi penyebab terjadinya burnout mengakibatkan kasus yang tidak selesai, absen dari tugas dan keluar dari pekerjaan (Kim dan Stoner, 2008;Smith et al, 2013). Hal lain yang menjadi alasan stres adalah peran pribadi di rumah dan kehidupan bermasyarakat (Pack, 2012;Cook & Wills, 2012;Putri et al, 2013).…”