The Writing Series Project: A model for supporting social work clinicians in health and mental health settings to disseminate valuable practice knowledge

Abstract

Topic Social work practitioners working across health and mental healthcare settings deliver innovative services in their daily work that benefit patients and their families. Regrettably, this expertise is seldom disseminated publicly through peer-reviewed journals, papers at professional meetings, or empirical practice-based research. Such activities tend to be dominated by academic scholars, who often overlook valuable clinical information and view it as unreliable (Esptein, 2001). However, without greater involvement from practitioners, quality research may become narrowly defined (Heron & Murray, 2004). Our objective is to describe a writing series project between academics and practitioners, at the Gold Coast Health Service District and Griffith University Australia, to promote the dissemination of social work practice knowledge to a wide audience, thereby improving service delivery and client outcomes. As Griffith University expanded and began offering their social work degree at the Gold Coast, the Gold Coast Health Service District - which provides care to a rapidly rising population - began major construction of a 750-bed university hospital. The building of a major teaching and research hospital in close proximity to Griffith University Gold Coast Campus offered unique opportunities for health and mental health social workers to begin partnering with academics in research, writing, teaching, and practice. Consequently, a writing group series was launched in March 2009 for health and mental health social work clinicians. This presentation will offer a glimpse into our process of developing this project. Attention will be given to the facilitating factors and challenges we encountered along the way. We will describe the program objectives and outcomes, and we will end with suggestions for other universities and health agencies considering such collaborations. Conclusions/Implications for Practice Preliminary evidence suggests that this model has considerable relevance for social workers who wish to enhance their clinical skills and knowledge, and disseminate their knowledge within lay, clinical and academic arenas. Given the trend in Australia, and internationally, toward evidence-based social work - and an organisational expectation in health services that clinicians will engage in scholarly activities - partnering with universities is essential. This partnership can bring together the research skills of academics with the clinical expertise of healthcare professionals. Moreover, dissemination of social work knowledge can enhance professional credibility, visibility, and pride, particularly in healthcare arenas wherein medicine and nursing dominate research activities.