Decisions, Assessment, Risk and Evidence Studies (DARES)
There is a growing programme of research, teaching and organisation development on decision making, assessment, risk and evidence within in social work at the University of Ulster designed to support the development of professional practice.
Professional Judgement and Decisions
Decision making is of crucial importance to the social work profession. Lives and liberty depend on decisions taken in crises and high risk situations such as in child protection and mental health. A central issue is the professional judgment of the social work practitioner working at the interface between the needs of clients and families and statutory duties to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect on behalf of society.
Assessment Tools and Processes to inform Decisions
Professional judgments increasingly have to be based explicitly on relevant knowledge and sound reasoning applied to the circumstances and attributes of the client and family. A central element in practice is the development of robust approaches to assessment to aid sound decision making, involving both efficient assessment systems and rigorous assessment tools. Assessment tools may be designed to support the comprehensive gathering or ordering of information, to predict the likelihood of harm, to guide analysis or to support multi-professional working as well as gathering data for monitoring and service development purposes.
Risk and Decisions in Professional Practice
The uncertainties of life for all of us mean that many decisions made by social workers are in the context of risk. One aspect of the role of a Social Worker is to support clients in reasonable, reasoned risk-taking decision making, such as when a person with a disability seeks a more independent life style. Another common situation is the decision about long term care options where an older person has dementia or has had a hospital admission for a stroke or a fall. It is important to understand how clients, families and professionals themselves conceptualise risk so as to improve decision making in this challenging area.
Creating and Using Evidence in Decisions
Human decisions are generally thought to be based on the present evidence and a rational decision process. For professionals a key issue is to make the knowledge base and decision process explicit for purposes such as accountability, reflective learning and teaching skills to others. For Social Workers this demand for more explicit decision making relates particularly to such contexts as inter-professional case conferences in complex care situations, and contested court hearings in relation to child protection. The emerging world of evidence based practice is concerned with explicit use of the best available knowledge to inform decisions. This involves knowledge and skills in areas such as retrieving research and other knowledge from electronic sources, appraising its quality, synthesizing the findings, disseminating knowledge to guide practice, and applying knowledge appropriately in individual decisions about client care.
DARE biennial Symposium
A symposium on Decisions, Assessment, Risk and Evidence in Social Work was held in 2010. This attracted over 70 researchers, educators, policy makers, managers and senior practitioners from England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to share current developments and to promote collaborative research, service development and teaching initiatives. A second symposium will take place on 2 - 3 July 2012. The plenary speakers are Professor Hazel Kemshall from Leicester, England and Professor Aron Shlonsky from Toronto, Canada. To receive publicity contact Mrs Sharon Lucas at dare@ulster.ac.uk.
Further information will be added to our website over the coming months:
www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/irss/dare2012.
Education and Training
A module of Post Qualifying Education for Social Workers focused on ‘Professional Decision Making’ has been created in collaboration with employers in Northern Ireland including the Health and Social Care Trusts and voluntary sector organisations. This is part of the Initial Professional Development Programme designed to extend the knowledge and skills of Social Workers during their first two years after qualifying. This is a unique development in the UK and internationally.
For further information on this click here. http://prospectus.ulster.ac.uk//course/?id=9189
One of only two known text books specifically on social work decision making has been written to support this module: Taylor BJ (2010) Professional Decision Making in Social Work, Exeter: Learning Matters Post Qualifying Social Work Series.
Click here for further information. http://www.learningmatters.co.uk/title.asp?myBid=719
For further information on the DARES programme of research, development and teaching on decision making, assessment, risk and evidence in social work contact Dr Brian Taylor, Member of the Institute for Research in Social Sciences at bj.taylor@ulster.ac.uk