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Internationally, COVID-19 has forced educational reform and disrupted already strained social work field education systems. This inquiry began pre-pandemic, responding to placement scarcity, which was only exacerbated by the pandemic as agencies migrated to online service delivery and universities responded to sudden placement cancellations. Educators found themselves navigating two interlinked global trends: 1) workplace learning that was changing radically; and 2) the immediate need to identify and develop placement opportunities. This article presents themes from a co-operative inquiry that interrogated four innovative international placement scenarios from Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, highlighting enablers, markers, and aspects of quality learning. The four exemplars evidence the pedagogical challenges and opportunities presented by placement innovation and online learning. These placements reveal how tensions regarding placement scarcity, rapid placement innovation, and the concurrent need to mitigate risk while preserving placement quality were managed. The authors propose that creativity and innovation guided by well-articulated educational principles, learning outcomes, and pedagogical practices, promote the construction of quality placements that transcend potential risks. The challenge moving forward is upholding contemporary approaches to placement teaching and learning that ensure social work students' acquisition of professional knowledge, values and skills that are necessary for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to understand the extent, range and nature of social work research activity after natural disasters and to identify the implications for future research and practice. A Scoping review methodology framework was used search of three databases: Web of Science, ProQuest and Informit was conducted to identify relevant studies between 2000 and 2018. Selection of studies was based on empirical research about social work and natural disasters and/or authored by social workers. Study selection found a total of 38 relevant articles. Charting the data was conducted and the following areas of focus were summarised: (1) interventions relating to psychosocial care, aid work and community work; (2) the effects of disasters on people and mediators of these effects; (3) social work education and challenges in disaster relief; and (4) measuring mental health outcomes of people who have experienced a disaster event. This scoping review has established that there is a range of social work literature focused on natural disasters that primarily examines social work interventions, the effects of disasters and social work education. Future social work research and practice needs to focus on the types and timing of interventions that promote positive recovery following natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Companion animals have often been treated as an afterthought, or ignored, by those involved in planning for and responding to disasters. This omission in planning for the needs of companion animals has been predicated upon a failure to recognise the emotional bond between many people and their companion animals. This has resulted in significant costs for humans and animals in many disasters. This article serves to raise issues regarding the responsibilities of human service organisations (HSOs) for animal-inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR). METHOD: This article develops a conceptual base for the consideration of the inclusion of animals in disaster planning and response within human services organisations. By first establishing the legitimacy of the human-animal bond and the requirement for human services organisations to develop their disaster planning, an exploration of the literature explores the rationale for the inclusion of companion animals within DRR. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: A clearly demonstrated relationship between DRR and the presence of companion animals is evidenced within the literature. Delays in evacuation due to the lack of facilities for companion animals, the loss and grief experienced by those forced to abandon their animals, and the particular vulnerabilities of those living in isolation or in homeless situations attest to the importance of animal-inclusive planning. Those living with animals may be more inclined to commit to DRR if the needs of their animals are included in planning. A mandate for organisational and professional responsibility for the inclusion of companion animals is established. CONCLUSION: For effective DRR, human services organisations have a professional and ethical imperative to include companion animals in their disaster planning and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper turns the conceptual focus of resilience from that of the service user and community to the experience of social workers themselves. It reports on aspects of an ongoing study into social work practitioner resilience in health care and non-statutory practice settings in New Zealand. This continuing study explores the perceptions of experienced social workers in relation to resilience in the face of workplace demands and stressors. After clarifying common definitional challenges regarding the conceptualisation of resilience in the literature, qualitative data from twenty-one interviews are examined and a conceptual framework is proposed which identifies three components of resilience: core attributes, practice context and mediating factors. The narratives of the participants suggest a multi-faceted and dynamically-balanced awareness of resilience that emphasises the relational and contextual characteristics of their experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Yin noted the requirement for social workers to provide ‘supportive, empowering and strengths-based (resilience building) services’ and asked ‘when the workers themselves are burning out … do we provide the same for them?’. Many researchers have since explored this question, seeking explanations as to how some social workers survive and thrive and others are lost to the profession. The authors of this small exploratory study were interested in exploring practitioners’ understanding of resilience. A qualitative approach was employed to explore practitioner views about what contributed to their own resilience, augmented by data gathered in interviews with those providing supervision to students. Findings suggest a conceptual framework incorporating three aspects of resilience: core attributes within the individual, the practice context and a series of mediating factors. Participant accounts suggested a multifaceted and dynamically balanced awareness of resilience that highlighted the relational and contextual characteristics of their experience. This article reports one significant theme emerging from the study; namely that supervision and collegial support are recognised as vital in the nurturing of practitioner resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many social workers face challenges maintaining professional optimism and personal well-being in their chosen career. The retention of capable practitioners is important to employers and the wider profession. This paper reports on elements of an ongoing study into practitioner resilience in social work in health and non-statutory practice settings. The project aims to explore experienced social workers' understanding of their resilience in the face of workplace demands and stressors. Findings from a small, qualitative study of experienced practitioners in New Zealand suggest that social work education contributes in multi-faceted ways to preparing resilient practitioners. The authors recommend the strengthening of these elements in pre-service education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

How the social work profession supports people to live through experiences of trauma and helps to facilitate recovery represents an important base of our practice. Whilst the impacts of trauma in people's lives cannot be discounted, there remains significant scope to further inquire into how people respond to traumatic situations and locate their own sources of healing, hope and survival. Drawing on two different case studies-one with resettled Sudanese refugees in Australia and another involving critical incident debriefing-this paper looks to address the complex intersections between trauma, well-being and the roles of social work pedagogy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers implications of research in regard to support systems for workers who have experienced traumatic events and critical incidents. The evidence is aligned with educators' practice experience that students on placement, new graduates and experienced workers alike, all locate significant stressors and challenges to their resiliency within the systemic and structural organisational contexts of the workplace. This emphasis upon job context as opposed to job content raises key challenges for social work educators. The article addresses issues that arise in the preparation for the management of stress and incidents and considers some tools and models that educators might employ in the pre-practice environment. The article is based upon a presentation given at the Social Work Education symposium in Auckland in January 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]