Engaging social work practitioners in research: challenges and opportunities.
Contemporary emphasis on measuring and evaluating observable, behavioral outcomes reflects a major change in the profession toward greater empirical basis for social work practice. This intellectual and methodological shift has created a gap between practitioners and researchers. While social work practitioners definitely should be more knowledgeable and receptive to interventions that have proven to be effective in helping people, social work academics must pay more attention to the realities of social work practitioners who struggle daily with expanding caseloads, ever-increasing time pressures to help clients whose lives are embedded in poverty, unemployment, oppression, racism, homelessness, and violence.
a School of Social Work , University of Connecticut , West Hartford , Connecticut , USA.
Alex
A
Gitterman
D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012107:Research Design; D012947:Social Work / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards
education; practice research; social work