Practice Research In The Human Services

Worldwide, there has been a growth in service user involvement in education and research in recent years. This handbook is the first book which identifies what is happening in different regions of the world to provide different countries and client groups with the opportunity to learn from each other. The book is divided into five sections: Section One examines service user involvement in context exploring theoretical issues which underpin service user involvement. In Section Two we focus on the state of service user involvement in human services education and research across the globe including examples of innovative practice, but also identifying examples of where it is not happening and why. Section Three offers more detailed examination of such involvement in a wide range of professional education learning settings. Section Four focuses on the involvement of service users in research involving a wide range of service user groups and situations. Lastly, Section Five explores future challenges for education and research to ensure involvement remains meaningful. The book includes forty-eight chapters, including seventeen case-studies, from all regions of the world, this is the first book to both highlight the subject’s methodological and theoretical issues and give practical examples in education and research for those wishing to engage in this field. It will be of interest to all service users, scholars and students of social work, nursing, occupational therapy, and other human service subjects.

This book offers a practical approach to conducting practice research in the field of human services. This evolving form of applied research seeks to understand practice in the context of the relationships between service providers and service users, between service providers and their managers, between agency-based service providers and community advocacy and support groups, and between agency managers and policy makers. Practice research represents a form of evidence-informed practice that involves a wide array of research designs and methods, in contrast to the narrower emphasis on experimental designs that characterizes evidence-based practice. The emerging principles and practices associated with practice research highlight: 1) including multiple, diverse stakeholders, 2) maximizing and negotiating participation, 3) promoting practitioner engagement in all phases of the research process, and 4) developing new identities for participants as research-minded practitioners and practice-minded researchers. The book is designed for researchers, practitioners, service users and students, and focuses on concrete experiences that illustrate the processes and activities involved in a specific, locally negotiated model of practice research. The book describes multiple practice research studies across an array of fields of practice in the human services, focusing on the research questions, designs, roles and relationships that have been developed in the context of a university-agency practice research partnership. These descriptions and stories are used to construct a comprehensive, detailed picture of the research process. Based upon these descriptions, the book synthesizes a set of broader principles and guidelines for practice researchers.

Delivers knowledge critical to understanding the multidimensional aspects of working with varied populations with disabilities This is the only introduction to disability book with an interdisciplinary perspective that offers cross-disability and intersectionality coverage, as well as a special emphasis on many unique populations. Comprehensive and reader-friendly, it provides current, evidence-based knowledge on the key principles and practice of disability, while addressing advocacy, the disability rights movement, disability legislation, public policy, and law. Focusing on significant trends, the book provides coverage on persistent and emerging avenues in disability studies that are anticipated to impact a growing proportion of individuals in need of disability services. Woven throughout is an emphasis on psychosocial adaptation to disability supported by case studies and field-based experiential exercises. The text addresses the roles and functions of disability service providers. It also examines ethics in service delivery, credentialing, career paths, cultural competency, poverty, infectious diseases, and family and lifespan perspectives. Reinforcing the need for an interdisciplinary stance, each chapter discusses how varied disciplines work together to provide services addressing the whole person. Active learning is promoted through discussion boxes, self-check questions, and learning exercises. Faculty support includes PowerPoints, model syllabi, test bank, and instructor manual. Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers. Key Features: Provides readers with key knowledge and skills needed to effectively practice in multidisciplinary settings Offers interdisciplinary perspectives on conceptualization, assessment, and intervention across a broad range of disabilities and client populations Underscores the intersectionality of disability to correspond with trends in education focusing on social justice and underrepresented populations Includes research and discussion boxes citing current research activities and excerpts from noted experts in various human service disciplines Promotes active learning with discussion boxes, multiple-choice questions, case studies with discussion questions, and field-based experiential exercises Includes instructor manual, sample syllabi, PowerPoint slides, and test bank Identifies key references at the end of chapters and provides resources for additional information Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers.

Arguing a case for making theory relevant to practice and ensuring that practice is informed by theory in an open, non-dogmatic way, this revised edition has been expanded to consider community work, justice, counselling and advocacy.

Social work and human service practitioners seek to address inequity and injustice and promote social change in many different practice contexts. Social Work and Human Services Best Practice, now in its second edition, offers ideas on 'best practice' in the context of a wide range of specialised practice areas. These include work in child protection, youth justice, mental health, healthcare, hospice and palliative care, rural and remote practice and environmental social work. The authors also bring their relevant knowledge from diverse fields and explore work with First Nation people, migrants and refugees, people with a disability, older people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This book will appeal to both beginning and experienced practitioners, drawing upon the historical background of social issues and presenting ideas for appropriate practice responses within the contemporary service environment.

"The evolution of practice research can be viewed as a 21st century development. As it will be defined and illustrated in this volume, it has been influenced by multiple forces. One of these forces is represented by the wave of interest in evidence-based practice that prioritizes the use of rigorous scientific methods in the form of random control trials (RCT) in order to determine service effectiveness. In particular, the central role played by the concept of "fidelity" to the procedures required to guarantee outcomes similar to those demonstrated in multiple RCT studies has generated concerns among researchers and human service practitioners attempting to take into account the diverse needs of service users and the diverse capacities of service providers. These developments have generated renewed interest in qualitative methods and what Flyvbjerg (2001) calls "the science of the concrete" that is defined in the first chapter. We view practice research as a form of evidence-informed practice that involves a wide array of research designs and methods, in contrast to the narrower emphasis on experimental designs that characterizes evidence-based practice"--