AbstractThis paper applied a critical narrative analysis to narratives of youth self‐identifying as having mental health concerns. Instances of epistemic justice and injustice were identified related to youth's interactions with clinical and educational institutions as well as with parents and peers. Youth experienced instances of institutional ignorance related to their experiences, as well as implicit and explicit silencing of their experiences. Youth also experienced validation from practitioners and teachers who validated their needs and knowledge of their own experiences. Implications for practice and research are discussed around promoting epistemically just practice with youth and in the mental health system.
To examine how social work students and faculty perceive and embody cultural competence, we conducted five focus groups with graduate students ( N = 16) and faculty members ( N = 10) from Canadian schools of social work. We interrogated how different theoretical frameworks related to cross-cultural social work practice (CCSWP) have been circulated and reified in social work education, and how certain dominant frameworks have been translated to embodied cross-cultural interactions in social work practice. To examine the praxis of CCSWP, which is often subtle and embedded in the semantics of languages and discourses, we were informed by critical theories of power, language, and discourses to analyze the data. The interview transcripts of both student and faculty focus groups showed similar dominant discursive patterns: (1) critiquing the conceptual use of cultural competence, (2) having a preference for terms such as cultural humility, cultural safety, or other constructs, and (3) describing the embodied practice of these constructs mainly as a general practice and omitting cross-cultural work. Participants differed in their expressed opposition to cultural competence and the exact terms they preferred as an alternative. Overall, participants discursively changed from a critical debate on semantic and conceptual differences between these constructs to negating them altogether as meaningless, effacing the very notion of cross-cultural social work and its embodied practice. In the end, cultural competence was discounted as both oppressive and anti-oppressive, a position which is reflected in the contested scholarship on cultural competence.
Purpose: Social justice is a foundational social work value, but social work education continues to experience ongoing challenges with how to teach students to embody social justice values. The aim of this scoping review is to map empirical studies on teaching methods that translate social justice value into teachable curricula. Methods: Following Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework, we conducted a rigorous process in which we screened 5953 studies and included a final sample of 35 studies. Results: Our findings identified seven main teaching approaches: intergroup dialogue, online asynchronized discussion board, simulation and role play, group work and presentation, written reflection, community-engaged learning, and social action-oriented learning. In terms of competency development, most of the studies focused on awareness and knowledge versus skill-building. Most teaching methods emphasized students' affective experiences during the social justice learning activities. Discussion: Challenges, lessons learned, and future recommendations of each teaching method are presented.
We sought to determine the minimum number of observations needed to determine hand hygiene (HH) compliance among healthcare workers. The study was conducted at a referral hospital in South Korea. We retrospectively analyzed the result of HH monitoring from January to December 2018. HH compliance was calculated by dividing the number of observed HH actions by the total number of opportunities. Optimal HH compliance rates were calculated based on adherence to the six-step technique recommended by the World Health Organization. The minimum number of required observations (n) was calculated by the following equation using overall mean value (ρ), absolute precision (d), and confidence interval (CI) (1 − α) [the equation: [Formula: see text] ]. We considered ds of 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, with CIs of 99%, 95%, and 90%. During the study period, 8791 HH opportunities among 1168 healthcare workers were monitored. Mean HH compliance and optimal HH compliance rates were 80.3% and 59.7%, respectively. The minimum number of observations required to determine HH compliance rates ranged from 2 ([Formula: see text] : 30%, CI: 90%) to 624 ([Formula: see text] : 5%, CI: 99%), and that for optimal HH compliance ranged from 5 ([Formula: see text] : 30%, CI: 90%) to 642 ([Formula: see text] : 5%, CI: 99%). Therefore, we found that our hospital required at least five observations to determine optimal HH compliance. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13756-021-01035-1.
Purpose: The most common form of social work (SW) practice in Canada is clinical which requires specialized knowledge and advanced clinical skills. The SW profession is more than 100 years old, but regulation is new to Canada and presently most jurisdictions have regulatory bodies to advance safe, competent, and ethical practices. Regulatory bodies establish admission requirements, standards of practice, ethical guidelines, supervision, continuing education requirements, and measures for complaints and discipline. Methods: This article examines regulation of SW practice in Canada with a focus on registration requirements, clinical SW designation, use of controlled acts such as psychotherapy and diagnosis, supervision, continuing education, technology, private practice, and how regulatory bodies address diversity, equity, reconciliation, racism, and discrimination. Results: This critical examination of clinical SW practice found inconsistent standards across the country. Conclusions: It is important to harmonize the three pillars including education, association, and regulation to strengthen clinical SW practice in Canada.
