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An undergraduate social work program developed a strategy to address student self-reports of low knowledge and comfort levels in policy advocacy and community practice. The pilot, entitled Advocacy-in-Action Exchange, is intended to infuse experiential learning in social policy and community practice courses, hypothesizing that student perception of their knowledge, skills, and comfort in these areas would increase due to the community-engagement-inspired plan. Through community relationships, community profiles, and policy examination, students developed project goals and culminating products with their community partners. Pre- and post-quarter questionnaires were completed by a total of 124 students on the first and last days of the courses. Twenty-nine students voluntarily participated in focus groups. This exploratory study utilized a mixed methods approach and revealed that students reported a significant increase in knowledge in the policy courses. In the community practice courses, students reported a significantly increased sense of importance for macro social work. Themes from qualitative results centered on student difficulty with the ambiguous nature of community practice, increased perception of community practice, and the value of learning through community relationships. Lessons learned promote faculty and community partnerships and encourage educators to embrace creative approaches to community-centered assignments for policy and community practice courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese community-service social workers face work alienation due to role stress. This study highlights the impact of government resources on a role stress–professional efficacy–work alienation research model. Paradoxically, state support may escalate role stress, thus hindering professional development and causing work alienation in this state-dominated profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the professional identity development of social workers who participated in an academic elective course alongside at-risk adolescent girls aged 16–18. The course, influenced by critical pedagogy, and community and feminist social work, emphasized three core principles: flattening power hierarchies, challenging socio-structural oppression, and mutual learning. In-depth interviews were conducted with course graduates, social workers with 1 to 4 years of experience. Phenomenological analysis uncovered that the course acted as a ‘transitional space’ between student and professional life. Three subthemes emerged: recognizing the vulnerability and strengths of adolescent girls, reflecting on personal life experiences, and learning about forming partnerships with clients. Forming partnerships with clients was enabled by three vehicles: daring to be equal, daring to be authentic, and learning from clients’ knowledge. This study highlights the creation of a ‘community of practice’ through innovative teaching methods and community involvement. It underscores the importance of hands-on experiences and engagement with real-life contexts to bridge the gap between theory and practice, enhancing understanding of concepts like partnership and nonhierarchical approaches in both community and general social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores dementia care in Japan’s aging population with a focus on mitigating social isolation and loneliness in older adults with dementia. Through an in-depth examination of case studies, the study highlights several community-based interventions, including Community Cafés, the Dementia Supporter Caravan, and the Omuta City Dementia Care model. These cases provide insights into how these initiatives foster community engagement and inclusive environments. Using a socio-ecological (SE) framework, the analysis focuses on the effectiveness of leveraging social capital to address the social challenges faced by people living with dementia (PLwD) and their caregivers. The case studies emphasize context-sensitive strategies tailored to Japan’s cultural and demographic landscape, offering lessons for reducing isolation and promoting community support for older adults with dementia.

Copyright of Alternativas: Cuadernos de Trabajo Social is the property of Alternativas: Cuadernos de Trabajo Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Welfare Policies & Social Work Journal / Revista Internacional de Políticas de Bienestar y Trabajo Social is the property of Asociacion Internacional de Ciencias Sociales & Trabajo Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the United States, adults from marginalized communities experience disproportionate barriers to healthcare which can have a profound impact on overall health and well-being. This phenomenon is especially true for those within the African American, Latinx, and Native American communities. These barriers include Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) which refer to environmental conditions including economic stability, access to quality education, access to quality healthcare, access to quality housing, and community resources that profoundly impact health. One way to address healthcare barriers is to provide Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) which brings care to individuals with complex healthcare needs where they are most comfortable. Despite the importance, many HBPC teams do not include social work services. Patients may benefit when these services are offered because social workers are experts in social care and work with adults with complex healthcare needs to address SDOH. In this paper, we discuss RUSH@Home which is one HBPC program where social work plays a critical role in patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article features insights from 15 Druze social workers in Israel regarding their experiences dealing with out‐of‐home placement for Druze children. The study reveals the distinct challenges faced by social workers in bridging professional and socio‐religious values and the caution with which they navigate a complex reality and strive to provide culturally appropriate interventions while facing limitations on their freedom of action. Socio‐religious characteristics of the Druze influence the interventions of social workers including the restriction on adoption and limited interaction between divorced partners. The process of removing a child from their home can be complex and challenging. This is often due to concerns regarding stigma and the strong desire within closely knit communities to preserve the family name and reputation. Moreover, most Druze social workers reside in Druze villages which can blur the line between personal and professional boundaries. This article underscores the importance of hearing the voices of minority therapists in order to promote culturally competent interventions in social work within the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an experiment in Participatory Action Research (PAR), entitled ‘Citizendev’, funded by a Brussels research programme inspired by co-creation and based on the tools of ‘Livings-labs’. Stimulated by the concept of « popular centrality » (Rosa Bonheur 2019), Citizendev experimented with a form of community-based urban development, based on the creation of citizen collectives in working-class neighbourhoods, sharing their needs, resources and know-how. After presenting the experiment, its objectives and methodologies, the article looks at the physical and relational proximity to which researchers, associations and citizens are bound in these Living Labs. Secondly, it examines the potential tension between the proximity inherent in the approach and the challenges of replicability and transferability to other territories and scales.

This small-scale qualitative study, involving commissioners of carers' services, contextualized in academic and other literature, adds to an understanding of groupwork for carers within the context of an English legal framework. Five commissioners, from different parts of England, participated in an online focus group. The dataset was analyzed thematically using a reflexive Thematic Analysis approach. Three themes were developed from the data. One theme indicated that differing understandings of the purpose of group activities for carers co-existed in each area and another that system-wide blocks meant that the choice of provider depends on factors like ability to risk-manage the contract value rather than skills needed to serve whole populations. This led to a third theme of commissioners attempting to "engineer" the development of successful groupwork. The findings suggest that Community Social Work is likely to be successful in working with carers but may face challenges within a quasi-market approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community social work (CSW) is often regarded as a practice with a variety of intervention models. The objectives of the present article are to examine CSW's philosophical and theoretical roots and to bridge the gap in the literature regarding the theoretical and philosophical origins of CSW and to conceptualize these theoretical bases as a paradigm with ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological aspects. The ontology of the proposed CSW paradigm relies on ecological theory, critical theory, and community psychology. The paradigm's epistemology relies on the basic assumption that community members are autonomous subjective human beings with important and valid knowledge who make decisions concerning their lives. Axiologically, the most prominent value of the paradigm is participation, from which other central values derive. The paradigm's methodology derives from its three abovementioned components. The conceptualization of a CSW paradigm provides a theoretical foundation for community interventions and refining the goals of these interventions. The paradigm can be used as a pedagogical and identity-building tool with students and social workers who focus on CSW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralization of social functions to municipalities, also known as municipal decentralization, triggered new contexts of practice in municipal social intervention. Municipalities are now dealing with more work and a focus on working in partnerships, which calls for greater dynamism of the local social action teams. This process has pushed the social workers to practices that alternate between mediation through the construction of access to a universal standard of social rights and the development of social intervention models with specific access to certain contexts and social groups. The objective of this paper is to envision new forms of standardization of social action within the framework of municipal decentralization, combining place-based perspectives with community and structural social work. What can we learn from social workers' perspectives on the context of social functions in order to envision forms of place-based standardization of municipal social action? We seek to analyze the professional visions of local social action systems reform, discussing new contexts of practice; new place-based functions; and their correlation with political mediation for universal and intermunicipal social rights, instrumental dimensions of concrete work, and dimensions of value attributed to practicing social work. We organized the research according to the phenomenological paradigm, mobilizing the qualitative method and the multiple-case study. Based on evidence from the discourse of all professionals involved in the study, the findings indicate that the transformations of local social action systems, associated with the processes of social functions decentralization, imply greater comprehensiveness of social intervention, the ability to work in partnerships, and new place-based approach matrices, but they also present challenges for social workers in terms of multilevel governance that may favor the standardization of access to better social well-being between municipal territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of community organization and the typology of J. Rothman's models for community intervention. On the basis of the theoretical analysis, the advantages and difficulties in the implementation of each of the three models are commented. Some methods and practices of community social work in the context of each of the three models analysed are also outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debating represents an active teaching–learning method in higher education. Engaging in debates helps to acquire and develop transversal skills, which are essential to successfully function in personal, academic, and professional spheres. In this quantitative, descriptive, and explanatory study, we analyse how attitudes included within transversal competences were acquired through a debate activity conducted as a part of the social work programme at the University of Alicante. A total of 74 students participated, with an average age of 22.34 years, the majority of which were women. The students were divided into two evaluation groups: a peer evaluation group and a teacher evaluation group. Using an ad hoc questionnaire, three categories of variables were studied: sociodemographic variables; organisational and activity evaluation variables; and variables relating to the acquisition of attitudes. The results indicated that debating favoured communication, innovation and entrepreneurship, social commitment, critical thinking, information management, autonomy and self-regulation, as well as teamwork. Variations were also found according to the university admission modality and the evaluation agent. These results highlight not only how useful debating can be as a pedagogical tool, but also the need to consider different contextual factors when implementing debate activities in the context of university studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Trabajo Social is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Public outrage over police-involved deaths of people in mental health crisis has prompted governments to expand access to crisis services that partner police with social workers. Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCIT) offer assessment and support for people in distress while averting escalation. Little attention has been given to the requisite competencies for social workers on MCITs. This narrative review, informed by crisis theory and the author's experience as an MCIT social worker, provides a roadmap of knowledge and skills to familiarize practitioners, educators, and students with this growing intervention model. Social workers on MCITs should have the capacity to engage complex clients, de-escalate tension, assess for risk, plan for safety, provide brief addiction counselling, diffuse interpersonal conflict, link clients with community resources, advocate for change, challenge systemic racism, build constructive relationships, and document services with awareness of relevant legislation. The role of social workers on MCITs is multifaceted and requires attention to balancing client well-being, client safety, and community safety. The practice insights discussed in this article are relevant to preventing harm and loss of life while facilitating engagement between clients and mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralization of social functions to municipalities, also known as municipal decentralization, triggered new contexts of practice in municipal social intervention. Municipalities are now dealing with more work and a focus on working in partnerships, which calls for greater dynamism of the local social action teams. This process has pushed the social workers to practices that alternate between mediation through the construction of access to a universal standard of social rights and the development of social intervention models with specific access to certain contexts and social groups. The objective of this paper is to envision new forms of standardization of social action within the framework of municipal decentralization, combining place-based perspectives with community and structural social work. What can we learn from social workers’ perspectives on the context of social functions in order to envision forms of place-based standardization of municipal social action? We seek to analyze the professional visions of local social action systems reform, discussing new contexts of practice; new place-based functions; and their correlation with political mediation for universal and intermunicipal social rights, instrumental dimensions of concrete work, and dimensions of value attributed to practicing social work. We organized the research according to the phenomenological paradigm, mobilizing the qualitative method and the multiple-case study. Based on evidence from the discourse of all professionals involved in the study, the findings indicate that the transformations of local social action systems, associated with the processes of social functions decentralization, imply greater comprehensiveness of social intervention, the ability to work in partnerships, and new place-based approach matrices, but they also present challenges for social workers in terms of multilevel governance that may favor the standardization of access to better social well-being between municipal territories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required health care professionals to cope with an unexpected emergency situation, and to provide solutions for a wide range of problems at the community level. As community social workers work on the macro level and deal with entire communities in emergency situations, the current study examined how well they functioned during the first wave of the pandemic in Israel. The study included in-depth interviews with twenty community social workers who work as managers of community social work departments in Israel. It utilised a qualitative-constructivist perspective. Three main themes were highlighted regarding the managers' coping with the pandemic: (i) creative thinking, which was reflected in their development of solutions and fundraising, both in general and for special groups in particular; (ii) functional flexibility; and (iii) communal networking with community members and organisations. The unique qualities and personal resources of community social workers in public social services played an important role in their coping with the pandemic, and community practice is critical for dealing with emergency situations. Findings are discussed in light of the theoretical perspectives of resilience. Implications for community practice are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debating represents an active teaching–learning method in higher education. Engaging in debates helps to acquire and develop transversal skills, which are essential to successfully function in personal, academic, and professional spheres. In this quantitative, descriptive, and explanatory study, we analyse how attitudes included within transversal competences were acquired through a debate activity conducted as a part of the social work programme at the University of Alicante. A total of 74 students participated, with an average age of 22.34 years, the majority of which were women. The students were divided into two evaluation groups: a peer evaluation group and a teacher evaluation group. Using an ad hoc questionnaire, three categories of variables were studied: sociodemographic variables; organisational and activity evaluation variables; and variables relating to the acquisition of attitudes. The results indicated that debating favoured communication, innovation and entrepreneurship, social commitment, critical thinking, information management, autonomy and self-regulation, as well as teamwork. Variations were also found according to the university admission modality and the evaluation agent. These results highlight not only how useful debating can be as a pedagogical tool, but also the need to consider different contextual factors when implementing debate activities in the context of university studies.

The social work profession emphasises the importance of social workers' involvement in community practice, which aims to promote social policy and social change via peoples' organising and acting. The current qualitative study compares between the perceptions and everyday experiences of governmental and non-governmental community social workers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-six community social workers in the public social services and non-governmental organisations in Israel, findings highlight similarities and differences along three main themes: (i) community social workers' constructions of their professional role, referring to soft community practice verus radical community practice and to aspects of influence; (ii) the tension between the professional freedom they hold and the limitations imposed on them; and (iii) professional position within the organisation and the field of community social work. We discuss these findings in light of the theoretical perspectives of perception of organisational politics and emotional labour. Implications to community practice are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the ideas expressed by a group of social workers of the local authorities in a region of north-eastern Italy (Friuli Venezia Giulia) about community social work. Since renewed scientific and operational interest on the part of the social work in community intervention has coincided with the emergence of neoliberal policies to contain spending on welfare systems, this article seeks to understand whether social workers view community social work as a tool to compensate for cuts in social spending or, rather, as a strategy to promote an independent social and political awareness on the part of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has required public social services departments to cope with an unexpected and unprecedented emergency situation. As community social workers work on the macrolevel and deal with entire communities in emergency situations, the present study investigated the challenges they face as well as the factors that promoted they are coping during the "age of COVID." Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 managers of community social work departments in Israel, findings highlighted three main themes: (a) organizational politics, which impeded community social workers' work; (b) the mobilization of both professional community social work staff as well as civilians; and (c) the perception of the crisis as an opportunity. Findings pointed to the challenges, promotive factors, and perceptions of community social workers in public social services departments who have had to cope with the pandemic. We discuss these findings in light of the theoretical perspectives of "the politics of pandemic" pandemic, social support, and resilience. Implications for community practice are outlined. Public Policy Relevance Statement: The COVID-19 pandemic required the public social services, including community social workers, to help people cope with the pandemic that harmed their well-being. Findings might have suggested that organizational politics impeded the community social workers' work, while the mobilization of people and the ability to perceive the crisis as an opportunity, promoted better interventions and improved the community social workers' feeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the systematization of the experience of accompaniment to executing teams and methodological adjustments for the continuity of the work of social technical assistance of housing projects in the context COVID-19, implemented by the Social Habilitation Section of Serviu Metropolitano between March of 2020 and May 2021. It was sought to safeguard the participation of families and communities in housing projects, methodologically supporting the executing teams of technical assistance work in the social area. The experience was characterized by the generation of spaces for meeting and feedback between executing professionals of sponsoring entities and social supervisors of Serviu RM, regarding the challenges and opportunities for the social participation of families and communities in contexts of physical distancing. Regarding the role of social supervision, the idea of a "cooperative" supervision model is installed. The experience shows social innovation processes with mixed face-to-face and virtual strategies, flexible and creative in the use of technological tools that contribute, without replacing face-to-face, to participatory processes, highlighting the role of community social work in the area of politics housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Society & Social Work is the property of Journal of Society and Social Work and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Eleuthera is the property of Universidad de Caldas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Loneliness and social isolation have become significant concerns in many countries, particularly amongst people experiencing mental health problems. A social intervention—Connecting People—has been found to increase their access to social capital, though it has been difficult to implement with high fidelity in community mental health teams (CMHTs) in England. This study aimed to evaluate outcomes for mental health service users of a practitioner-led implementation of Connecting People in CMHTs. It used a pragmatic non-randomised two-group pre-post study to evaluate the implementation process in CMHTs. Implementation materials co-produced with service users were provided to the intervention teams for practitioners to use with the support of a senior social worker in each mental health National Health Service Trust (n  = 5). Service users were interviewed at baseline (n  = 151) and at six-month follow-up (n  = 127), and their outcome and cost data were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. Analysis of primary and secondary outcome variables found no differences between the intervention and control groups. The economic evaluation found no significant differences between groups in mean costs or outcomes. The findings suggest that it could be difficult for social workers to implement Connecting People in CMHTs or that it does not improve outcomes for CMHT users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reorganization of social welfare due to the decentralization reform implemented in Ukraine calls for the development and implementation of new practice models of service delivery best suited for community social work. The research is dedicated to discussion of the development of new models of community social work from a Ukrainian perspective, taking into consideration the community social work and community social service delivery concepts given in the literature and community-based practice models implemented abroad. The article reviews the major competencies social workers need to provide services within the local communities. Implications for future research in the field of community social work are addressed in the concluding part of the paper.

The article identifies the components and factors of the quality of life of the population of the northern region. The specifics of social work in the North are presented. The authors considered the rating of Northern regions of Russia on quality of life and noted the relationship between the quality of life with a form of social work. The potential of community social work in the North focused on activities in the local community and aimed at strengthening individuals, families and social groups is also discussed. The authors revealed priorities and individual areas of social work according to the territorial principle in the development of approaches to implementation of the Federal project “Strong family” of the party “Edinaya Rossiya” (“United Russia”) in the Arkhangelsk region.

Copyright of Cuadernos de Trabajo Social is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The matter of the role of the social worker within religious communities has occupied researchers and professionals during the last several years. One of the religious communities discussed in the literature is the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, as a result of its insular nature, the distance it keeps from society at large and the growing need for professional treatment within this sector. To date, the literature regarding religious communities has focused mainly on individual and group interventions. The current article, however, focuses on the unique task of community social workers in the ultra-Orthodox community and the challenges of conducting macro-level interventions. Focusing on core issues of community social work, the current study aims to shed light on community development (including building trusting and cooperative relationship, empowerment and leadership) and promoting social change. The article focuses on challenges and opportunities in community social work in a closed religious community and provides principles for each of the above points of intervention. Finally, with reference to community social work's goals, the article conceptualises the main goal of the community social worker in these kinds of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acciones e Investigaciones Sociales is the property of Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y del Trabajo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Based on the 60’s television archives, sources that are by and large ignored in research, this paper describes the women’s work in the social housing, in the high-rise estates. What kind of activities and attitudes, what kind of knowledge and expertise are shown on TV ? This paper is centered on two women. One does household chores all day long whereas the other is involved in the community social work. The women’s work is analysed by crossing the Reconstruction politics into the postwar period, the empowerment of women and the documentary films from the Sixties. It emerges between the professional sector and the militancy. It is shown from various angles : in these films, the women are : a housewife, a specialist of Home Economics, a shopekeeper, a community organizer, a visiting nurse. Often, they are all of these. The empowerment of women from the working-class comes up on the screen.

This article is based on a research that examined the experiences and challenges faced by women Palestinian community social workers, citizens of Israel. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were performed with community social workers, who define themselves as Palestinian women. The findings point to three central challenges that they face as part of their community work in Israel: professional, political and gender challenges. This research brings up the voices of the female Palestinian community social workers who practise community work in Israel. It contributes significantly to the academic knowledge of community work and to the research work about the practising of the profession by female Palestinian-Arabs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Eleuthera is the property of Universidad de Caldas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The author describes how her experience as an adolescent in residential treatment at Chestnut Lodge informs and enriches her work in creating connection with the patients she treats as a community social worker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]