Informed by a social justice approach, this user-friendly text for social work students provides a comprehensive introduction to contemporary school social work practice structured around the 2022 CSWE EPAS Competencies. With a focus on skills development, this innovative text is competency-based and encompasses professionalism, cross-disciplinary collaboration, research applications, theoretical foundations, policies, engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Following a brief historical overview and introduction to the discipline, the book delves into school social work practice and delivers timely content regarding professional identity, supervision, anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Practice knowledge is examined through social work theory, evidence-informed practice, use of data, and policies regarding school, children, and families. The text addresses the full range of client engagement, service provision, the multi-tiered system of supports, trauma-based practices, social emotional learning, termination, and transition-planning.

This book focuses on a unique body of knowledge known as population health management (PHM). Population health, an approach closely aligned with many public health strategies, enjoys strong general awareness and popularity among health professionals. Although population health books are abundant, a smaller number of population health management texts exist, and these vary considerably depending on the writers’ background, field of expertise, and perspective. It is not easy to bridge concepts from community, public, and global health, and then align them with the essential applications of health management. Combining these interrelated perspectives is the primary goal for the textbook. By melding together fundamental strategies, approaches, and tools from these diverse health-related disciplines, students learn to provide quality care, efficient health services, and produce successful outcomes that are sensitive to the needs of diverse populations. The book is divided into four sections and each section integrates a scaffolding framework that begins with PHM fundamentals and introductions to innovative strategies/tools, moves to problem-based applications, and culminates with integrated skill outcomes. Written by experts in their respective disciplines, each chapter is relatable for students from diverse health related programs such as health management, public health, social work, clinical degrees, and other health professions. As major Population Health Management transformations continue to evolve in the workplace, health management educators recognize the immediate need to design curriculums, introduce new skill-building approaches and tools, and enhance student competencies to meet the challenges and find solutions for a future healthscape that achieves the quadruple aim of access, cost, quality, and patient experience. The book provides students with the knowledge, skills, intentional mind-set to jettison the past in order to transition successfully for today and transform the future of population health management.

The social work role in nursing facilities is a valuable resource in the lives of residents, families, and staff. Whether the nursing facility is called a nursing home, a long-term care center, or a subacute or a rehabilitation center, the social worker is an essential, vital member of the healthcare team. As in other settings, social workers in nursing home settings use professional casework skills to help people in particular times of crisis and stress. As a contributing member of the interdisciplinary team, the social worker provides an opportunity for residents and families to examine problems, mobilize existing resources and/or refer to resources that are more appropriate, and develop positive resolutions. This third revised edition of A Guide for Nursing Home Social Workers provides the knowledge and information that social workers, regardless of their education and experience, need in the performance of their role in nursing home settings. The book is divided into six parts to help categorize the content: Social Work in Nursing Facilities; The Interdisciplinary Team; Nursing Facilities and Governing Oversights; Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care Issues; Ethics; and Community Liaisons. The first part presents key informational topics that social workers may utilize in their day-to-day work, such as assessments, care planning, and documentation. The second part contains information about team meetings, room changes, staff training and in-services, and social work consultation. The third part addresses a range of topics including Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) and the Minimum Data Set 3.0, as well as state surveys and facility policies. The fourth part provides current information about care topics such as neurocognitive disorders, mood disorders, medication, and pain in older adults, as well as groups, families, and diversity within the nursing facility. The fifth part contains chapters on social work ethics, legal representation, abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and confidentiality. The final part includes chapters on resident finances, transfer and discharge, community resources, funeral arrangements, pandemics and disaster planning, and trauma-informed care and adverse childhood experiences. The goal of this guide is to provide some of the necessary supports and assistance needed by social workers in this field as they pursue their profession of helping residents, families, and others involved in long-term care.

This textbook targets Bachelor of Social Work and Master in Social Work programs that require students to conduct capstone research projects and/or research projects tied to their field placements. The focus is on designing, implementing and reporting research projects aimed at improving programs and services. Although the book reviews some content typically provided in social work research and/or generalist practice courses it is not intended to compete with existing social work research or practice textbooks. It is the only one available in social work that focuses on student's capstone research projects. Covering data collection methods, program evaluation, organization and community needs assessments, practice-effectiveness studies, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis, the book also addresses best practices for presenting findings upon completion of the applied research project. Additional features include abundant case examples demonstrating the application of theory to practice and an examination of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, while also helping students demonstrate social work practice competencies within their capstone projects. Practice activities in each chapter help students apply knowledge to their research projects; and technology exercises help students master important digital research techniques. A capstone project checklist and competency log help students monitor progress, and QR codes provide supplementary support and resources. The book delivers step-by-step information on creating high-quality social work capstone projects from conception through presentation. It includes a detailed summary of the major applied research approaches to improving social work programs and services. The book explains how to research literature and write a problem statement on a social service issue. It contains extensive information on how to write effective capstone research papers along with abundant examples. The book helps students to demonstrate social work practice competencies and offers case examples throughout to demonstrate the application of theory to practice.

This book provides an overview of theories for direct social work practice and a framework for integrating the use of theory with central social work principles and values, as well as with the artistic elements of practice. It is intended primarily for graduate-level social work students and practitioners. The book has similarities to other books that provide surveys of clinical theories for social work practice; however, the authors think it has a number of distinctive and useful features. In brief, these features include: (a) grounding direct practice specialization firmly in the generalist perspective of social work practice; (b) documenting the trend toward, and rationale and empirical support for, eclecticism in the broad field of counseling/psychotherapy, and reviewing various approaches to eclecticism; (c) bringing order to, and demystifying theories by differentiating among levels of theory, organizing direct practice theories into like groupings, and providing an overview of the central characteristics of each grouping of theories; (d) providing a critical perspective on the dominant, scientific paradigm of direct practice that centers the use of theory and technique, and putting equal emphasis on the artistic elements of practice; and (e) proposing the problem-solving model as a useful structure for facilitating the integration of the artistic and scientific elements of practice. The contents of all of the chapters in this fourth edition have been revised and updated to reflect developments in theory, practice, and research since the second edition was published. In Part II of the book there is a new chapter on couples theory and intervention, as an additional metatheory for social work practice. In Part III, there are now chapters on trauma informed practice, motivational interviewing, anti-oppressive theory, mindfulness-based practices, eye movement desensitation and reprossessing and dialectical behavior therapy.

The chapters in this book represent an effort to create a foundational textbook for social workers that introduces the student to justice informed social work practice and is an initial step — a starting point – for considering how to center oneself in justice oriented practice across systems and structures. Within the social work profession, justice is conceptualized as a constellation of social, economic, and environmental justice. Although population based books are common in social work scholarship, the authors have intentionally opted for a different approach. This text focuses on structural oppression and inequities connected to our clients' engagement in systems and structures that, although often purported to support them, frequently are broken and inflict harm. It starts with an overview of key concepts and theoretical underpinnings that provide foundational knowledge and then moves into chapters that focus on human rights, and varying systems related to education, criminal justice, housing, the environment, poverty, finances and wealth, and food insecurity. One will learn about the ways that injustice presents itself in the various systems in which social workers practice. Structural discrimination has systemic implications and systemic consequences as well. The book offers us foundational knowledge and tangible recommendations that one can apply and transfer to best fit the work we are doing in the multiple of practice settings, and with the diverse client populations with/in which one work. This book should also leave us with more questions than when one began reading and the authors hope will solidify our commitment to our life-long education, unlearning, and discovery around just practice. Within each chapter, context for understanding oppression and injustice today is interwoven with an understanding of how policies and programs, over time, have created and perpetuated inequity.

Death and Dying courses in social work; nursing; counseling psychology; and medicine traditionally focused on topics such as the experience of dying; the delivery of health care during the end of life; and the experience of mourning after a death. The book includes neurobiological aspects of development and grieving for the students to understand these aspects of biology if they are to claim a bio-psycho-social-spiritual perspective in the 21st century. It talks about the spiritual development in each life phase and also on the special considerations in risk and resilience to describe aspects of marginalization that may affect development. The book explains the factors that promote resilience; maintaining our strengths-based approach to all of this material. It continues with the identification of maturational losses; incorporating these non-death losses into a section renamed living losses found in each life phase chapter. The book defines the chapters by developmental tasks that are tackled at more or less predictable ages to which the chapters are loosely bound. It reviews research on specific responses to loss situations and discuss intervention strategies supported by practice wisdom and empirical research. The book has ancillary materials available to qualified instructors that include outlines; PowerPoint; and activities for each chapter as well as the readings from the earlier editions. This edition of the book will help each reader feel prepared to help grievers of all ages and types.

The decision to become licensed is significant, and passing the licensing examination demonstrates that you have the basic knowledge necessary to safely practice. Social workers are employed in all kinds of settings including hospitals, correctional facilities, mental health and addictions agencies, government offices, and private practices. It is essential that those served have some assurance that these practitioners are competent to provide the services that they are charged with delivering. This guide has been carefully constructed to provide social workers with information on the licensure examination and how to properly prepare in order to pass it; test-taking strategies and methods for analysing the questions correctly; and the content areas which comprise the test. The first section of the guide contains essential material to understand the best way to study, the logistics associated with taking the examination, and help with identifying what is being asked in test questions so that correct answers can be selected. Understanding how the licensing exam is constructed is valuable as it helps to identify priority areas for study. The second section of the guide has summary material on all the content areas, competencies, and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities statements (KSAs) which are used by test developers to formulate actual questions. Some test takers have referred to this section as a “MSW Program in a Box”, as it contains a summary of relevant concepts learned in an undergraduate social work program which may be assessed on the test. The format of this section is identical to the outline or “blueprint” for the examination with all four content areas covered. Each chapter within a content area represents a competency which has been identified as essential for testing. Lastly, within each chapter is summary information on each of the KSAs that can be tested on the exam.

This second edition of the bestselling acclaimed full-length practice test for the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Social Work Advanced Generalist Exam has been thoroughly updated to include additional test-taking strategies and diagnostic tests. Consisting of 170-questions that mirror the ASWB exam in length, structure, and content, this practice test is an indispensable tool for promoting exam success and includes strategies for every question along with in-depth rationales for correct answers, helping readers to discover gaps in their knowledge, identify strengths, and target weak areas. Despite social workers’ best efforts to study for and pass the ASWB examinations for licensure, they can encounter difficulties answering questions correctly that can ultimately lead to challenges in passing. On the ASWB examinations, social workers often struggle with application and reasoning questions which require them to take what has been learned and use it to identify correct answers given hypothetical contexts. Becoming more familiar with the construction of multiple-choice tests, as well as remembering concepts which are hallmarks within the social work profession, can greatly assist. In an effort to make this practice test as similar to the examination as possible, it contains 170 questions proportionately distributed within the four domains—Human Development, Diversity, and Behavior in the Environment (39 questions); Intervention Processes and Techniques for Use Across Systems (54 questions); Intervention Processes and Techniques for Use With Larger Systems (31 questions); and Professional Relationships, Values, and Ethics (46 questions). These proportions mirror the distribution of questions across these domains on the actual ASWB examination. This practice test is to be used as a diagnostic tool, so social workers should not worry about getting incorrect answers, but should view them as learning opportunities to avoid common pitfalls and pinpoint learning needs.

The decision to become licensed is significant, and passing the licensing examination demonstrates that one have the basic knowledge necessary to safely practice. Social workers are employed in all kinds of settings including hospitals, correctional facilities, mental health and addictions agencies, government offices, and private practices. It is essential that those served have some assurance that these practitioners are competent to provide the services that they are charged with delivering. Regulation through certification and licensure helps to assure that social workers will interact in an ethical and safe manner. This edition of the guide has greatly expanded content on study and test-taking strategies, including effective ways to prepare for and pass the licensing examination. Material on methods for analysing questions correctly has been added, along with examples to illustrate the strategies presented. Often social workers find this information most helpful when preparing for and taking the licensing test. The guide has been carefully constructed to provide social workers with information on the licensure examination and how to properly prepare in order to pass it; test-taking strategies and methods for analysing the questions correctly; and the content areas which comprise the test. The first section of the guide contains essential material to understand the best way to study, the logistics associated with taking the examination, and help with identifying what is being asked in test questions so that correct answers can be selected. Understanding how the licensing exam is constructed is valuable as it helps to identify priority areas for study. The second section of the guide has summary material on all the content areas, competencies, and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities statements which are used by test developers to formulate actual questions. This section ends with a full-length practice test that can be used to simulate the actual examination experience.