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This article reports on research regarding interprofessional education (IPE) in child welfare conducted in 2009 and 2010. Pre service nursing, social worker and teacher education candidates participated in a workshop that "exposed" (Charles, Bainbridge & Gilbert, 2010) students to IPE in child welfare. This paper addresses a gap in literature in IPE in child welfare. Literature in IPE precedes a description of the workshop followed by an explanation of the integrated expert presentation, case study, modeling, reflection and small and large group processes. Results of the survey administered to workshop attendees are presented. Likert scaled questions indicate a high degree of satisfaction with the workshop organization, pedagogy and objectives. Responses to the open-ended questions align closely with the Thistlethwaite and Moran (2010) learning outcomes framework. It is clear that pre-service students learned with, from and about each other's discipline. 2 tables and an extensive reference list are included.

This article seeks to provide a review of the theoretical and empirical literature in the field of wilderness therapy, the intent of which is to gain a greater conceptual understanding of the importance of the physical environment in therapeutic intervention. A review and consolidation of the existing literature reveal that the theories used to explain the outcomes of wilderness therapy relate to variables that are not exclusive to a wilderness setting and may even be amenable to replication in an urban environment. This article raises the question of whether we are unnecessarily taking adolescents into the wilderness if these interventions can be contrived within urban settings or whether there is something about the "wilderness specifically" that is currently missing from the theoretical literature. The article concludes with a discussion of avenues to facilitate this theoretical development.

Group learning strategies are used extensively in social work education, despite the challenges and negative outcomes regularly experienced by students and faculty. Building on principles of cooperative learning, team-based learning offers a more structured approach that maximizes the benefits of cooperative learning while also offering considerable flexibility. This article presents the core principles and elements of team-based learning, provides examples of its use in 2 undergraduate social work courses, and highlights some of the benefits and challenges of applying it in social work curricula. (Contains 2 figures.)

Group learning strategies are used extensively in social work education, despite the challenges and negative outcomes regularly experienced by students and faculty. Building on principles of cooperative learning, team-based learning offers a more structured approach that maximizes the benefits of cooperative learning while also offering considerable flexibility. This article presents the core principles and elements of team-based learning, provides examples of its use in 2 undergraduate social work courses, and highlights some of the benefits and challenges of applying it in social work curricula., RESEARCH HAS SHOWN the benefits of cooperative learning for undergraduate and graduate students across a wide range of academic disciplines (Johnson & Johnson 1992; Slavin, 1995). Social work educators suggest [...]

Child protection workers are routinely faced with emotionally intense work, both personally and vicariously through the traumatic narratives and experiences of parents and children. What remains largely unknown is how child protection workers' own childhood memories might influence the manner in which they experience and are affected by those narratives. The aim of this explorative study was to use Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis as a research methodology to answer the research question, 'In what ways do social workers experience, and make sense of, their own childhood memories in the context of their child protection practice?' Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight child protection workers, aiming to understand their personal and professional experiences with regard to this question. The study found a relationship between various forms of childhood adversity and the presence of negative present-day triggers when participants were faced with practice scenarios that bore similarity to those experiences. Implications with regard to child protection worker well-being, countertransference and risk decision-making are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive or multisector community change initiatives (CCIs) represent a promising approach to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous children and families in Canada's child welfare systems. However, such initiatives are difficult to establish and sustain - in part due to the difficulty of evaluating their impacts and outcomes using standardized Western evaluation methodologies. Consequently, over the past 20 years there have been extensive efforts to develop evaluation principles, methodologies, methods, and tools that are more able to illustrate the benefits of these kinds of initiatives. A systematic review of the CCI evaluation literature found that while many of these principles, methodologies, methods and tools show considerable promise, there has been limited attention to or incorporation of Indigenous ways of knowing or approaches to research with Indigenous peoples. This paper presents two examples of Indigenous led multisector community change initiatives to enhance Indigenous well-being and notes the importance of evaluating their impacts. It argues that collaborative research is needed with participants in Indigenous led multisector collaborations to advance knowledge of culturally relevant approaches to their evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Interprofessional learning is one strategy used to combat the 'silos' that too often characterize patient/client care within the health and helping professions. Yet, despite longstanding recognition of the multidisciplinary nature of child welfare and the need for coordination and collaboration between professionals there is little evidence of a child welfare focus in current interprofessional education initiatives. Drawing on the concept of 'interprofessionality,' this paper presents a university-community collaboration between nursing, social work and education to prepare students for interprofessional practice in child welfare. It highlights the lessons learned from this initiative and links these lessons to a broader education and research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can be assumed that the "good governance" of child welfare is no different in a single industry "instant town" than in any other type of town. In other words, it relies on healthy families, cohesive communities, and a range of adequate services and supports. However, single industry towns, common in the Canadian north, face unique challenges in achieving these. The following paper highlights some of these challenges based on a case study of the town of Grande Cache, Alberta, at a time when it was undergoing economic crisis and significant community change. The impact of these changes on the Regional Child Welfare Authority's efforts to restructure community roles and relations is also noted. It is argued that efforts to build community capacity to address child welfare must take into account the unique dynamics of specific community contexts and find ways to work effectively with and within them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]