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Although research studies are important for social work students, the students rarely like research classes or see their value. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one group of BSW students was encouraged to carry out the required research in their field work setting, the Hadassah University Medical Center. Students used data mining, that is, the analysis of existing data, to answer their research questions. As a preliminary step, the instructor and interested social workers selected a number of projects that were important to the department. After consulting with the instructor, the hospital's social work research coordinator and social workers in the hospital, the students selected 7 projects. By using data mining, students had access to the data relevant to their projects. Research tasks included coding and analyzing data and then interpreting findings. At the end of the course, they presented their findings in a clinical conference and prepared written reports for the seminar instructor and the social work department.

Objective: To examine the associations of patients' characteristics, hospitalization factors, and the patients' or family assessment of the discharge planning process, with their evaluation of adequacy of the discharge plan. Method: A prospective study. Social workers from 11 acute care hospitals in Israel provided data on 1426 discharged patients. At 2-week postdischarge, 407 patients and 659 family members evaluated the discharge planning process (information received, involvement, influence) and adequacy. Results: More family (77%) than patients (62%) assessed the discharge planning to be adequate. Discharge process variables contributed more than patient or hospitalization characteristics to evaluation of adequacy but had a negligible mediation effect. Factors significantly associated with higher adequacy of plans were: hospital ward, receiving information, high family involvement, and discharge destination among patients; receiving of information and high patient and family involvement among family respondents. Conclusions: Social workers should actively involve patients and family in discharge planning. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

It is well-known and documented that the premature birth of an infant and its subsequent hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a source of considerable stress for parents. However, little is known about the parents' emotional state and functioning during the months following the infant's discharge from the NICU. The present study compares parental stress and perceptions of parental competence among mothers and fathers of preterm infants two months after discharge from the NICU in Israel with those of parents of full-term infants. The findings show that even at this point in time parents of preterm infants still show higher levels of parental stress and lower perceptions of parental competence than do parents of full-term infants. The importance of the findings for the design of intervention and treatment programs is discussed.

This study aimed to examine the implementation, adequacy, and outcomes of discharge planning. The authors carried out a prospective study of 1,426 adult patients discharged from 11 acute care hospitals in Israel. Social workers provided detailed discharge plans on each patient. Telephone interviews were conducted two weeks post-discharge. Findings showed 40 percent of patients were referred to institutional care and 60 percent were sent home with plans to receive community services. At follow-up, the rates of implementation varied by planned services. Among patients referred to institutional care, 46 percent of those referred to nursing homes and 70 percent of those referred to rehabilitation facilities received the planned care. Of those discharged home, 65 percent received planned home attendant services and 59 percent received planned home health care. Implementation of institutional care was related to the patient's functional status and population group. Implementation of community and home services was related to age, gender, population group, and hospital department. These gaps in implementation of planned services have important policy implications. Discussion of the findings with the participating hospitals and national authorities resulted in plans to improve continuum of care.

Dilemmas inherent in the attempt to measure and evaluate informal supports available to individuals in need of social care are illustrated through a study of 400 elderly persons in Jerusalem. Practical guidelines for evaluation are presented. (SLD)

Social work clients seek various means of redress when the services they desire are not forthcoming or adequate. These include both unversalistic and particularistic avenues. Among the latter is the use of personal connections within the larger organization. The author presents an example of the use of such connections in a hospital social work department in Israel. Examined are the availability of these connections, the characteristics of clients who use them, and the circumstances in which they are used. The findings are discussed in light of multi-cultural social work practice in general and the need for social workers and administrators to understand and develop means for dealing with the dangers posed by such strategies.

The organizational context in which social work is practiced is viewed as an important factor in evaluating the outcomes of social work interventions. In host organizations, the context includes forces outside the department. The author offers a framework for developing a research agenda aimed at assessing the effectiveness of social work interventions in those organizations. The author demonstrates such an agenda with reference to hospital social work. Different types of outcomes and the relationships between them are considered at both the correlational and causal levels of knowledge. Examples of research assessing these outcomes are presented, and the implications of various types of findings are considered.

A project in Israel aims to enhance the use of a country-wide information system in promoting efficient and effective operations of hospital social service departments. The project seeks to promote the development of an information system in social services that would answer the needs of individual agencies, provide reliable data and encourage worker cooperation and maximum information utilization.

Studies show that having a strong social network enhances the health and well-being of individuals, including the elderly. Recent interest has focused on the various support functions provided by social networks. The effect of social network support on the decision to seek formal assistance from social service agencies was assessed. The social support available to elderly persons applying for public social service assistance was compared with support available to elderly patients who did not seek these services. The applicant and nonapplicant groups differed with respect to level of need for social services, size of social network (particularly number of close relationships), and degree of emotional support. Elderly persons who applied for formal assistance had smaller networks than those who did not apply, and felt less loved and admired by the persons within their social networks. These results are consistent with findings from other studies showing that size of the close network affects the decision to seek help from social services. The lower affective support among applicants may be due to changes in the composition of the social network, such as the loss of a spouse, or the intense neediness of the applicant group as compared with the nonapplicant group. Thus, a combination of excessive need and inadequate support may exist among the applicant group. The implications of this imbalance in need and support and possible solutions for incorporating social networks into the provision of social care are discussed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Abstract Background One of the more common behavioral manifestations of dementia-related disorders is severe problems with out-of-home mobility. Various efforts have been attempted to attain a better understanding of mobility behavior, but most studies are based on institutionalized patients and the assessment usually relies on reports of caregivers and institutional staff, using observational approaches, activity monitoring, or behavioral checklists. The current manuscript describes the research protocol of a project that measures mobility in Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive disorders in an innovative way, by taking advantage of advanced tracking technologies. Methods/design Participants are 360 demented persons, mildly cognitively impaired persons, and unimpaired controls aged ≥ 65 in Israel and Germany. Data regarding space-time activities will be collected via a GPS tracking kit for a period of 4 weeks in 3 waves (one year apart) with the same participants (using a repeated measures design). Participants will be interviewed by use of a battery of instruments prior to and following GPS data collection. Further, a family member will complete a questionnaire both before and after data tracking. Statistical analyses will strive to explain differences in mobility based on a wide range of socio-structural, clinical, affect-related and environmental variables. We will also assess the impact of the use of advanced tracking technology on the quality of life of dementia patients and care givers, as well as its potential as a diagnostic tool. Systematic assessment of ethical issues involved in the use of tracking technology will be an integral component of the project. Discussion This project will be able to make a substantial contribution to basic as well as applied and clinical aspects in the area of mobility and cognitive impairment research. The innovative technologies applied in this study will allow for assessing a range of dimensions of out-of-home mobility, and provide better quality data.

Study of adults (N=3,025) revealed significantly fewer network resources among the poor than among higher income groups. Asserts social workers must avoid addressing the problems of the poor solely through informal networks and target network interventions carefully to achieve maximum effectiveness. (Author)

The extent and nature of professional collaboration and factors, which may promote or impede inter-organizational collaboration is discussed. The study shows that there are considerable problems in collaboration, and that these are to some extend related to difference in certain professional perceptions and attitudes.

This article describes a practice-based, mixed-method research methodology – Clinical Data-Mining (CDM) – as a strategy for engaging international practitioners for describing, evaluating and reflecting upon endogenous forms of practice with the ultimate goal of improving practice and contributing to knowledge (Epstein, 2010). These knowledge contributions are perforce ‘local’, but through conceptual reflection and/or empirical replication they may also be ‘globalized’. More specifically, the article defines, describes, and details CDM methodology; discusses its strengths and limitations; and illustrates international applications in Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. It also describes various infra-structural support platforms and CDM’s primary and secondary organizational benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]