6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities

Engagement

Engagement with individuals, groups, organizations, and communities in the social work field is guided by the NASW code of ethics. Social workers understand the importance of human relationships and collaborating with others. They value being able to connect with clients, listen to their stories, and amplify their strengths. Additionally, social workers can engage by assisting individuals, groups, and communities to reach their goals by providing interventions, advocacy, or connecting them with services. Networking is a way to connect with others about important information and to strengthen resources.  Understanding how to collaborate with other professionals and organizations to meet community needs is another form of engagement.

My favorite part of social work is being able to engage with the individuals I serve. I enjoy listening to client’s experiences and supporting them as they reach their goals. Building rapport and developing a therapeutic relationship with clients can make a big difference and is something I strive to do with each client. As an ethical social worker, I will utilize evidence-based interventions and a strengths based approach when engaging with others.

6.1: Examine evidence-based practices to prepare for professional engagement across systems

Course Evidence: During Mental health Emphasis I (SOCW-676-A), I was able to examine how Attachment Theory and Systems Theory family based therapy can help family systems develop healthier relationships and change negative patterns. I was then able to apply this knowledge to a case conceptualization project to assess a pseudo client family and develop evidence based treatment goals.

Field Evidence: An evidence based practice used with client systems is  Life Review Therapy.  I learned about this therapeutic approach while working with my field instructor. I then examined five research articles about this practice, wrote summaries of each, and talked about what I learned with my field instructor.

6.2 Engage with systems utilizing evidence-based practice strategies

Course Evidence:  While developing a non-profit program in Program Development (SOCW 612), I learned about the importance of engaging with a variety of systems in the community while starting a new program. The benefits of this are fundraising opportunities, referral sources, advertising, and community engagement. My group and I developed a stakeholder analysis matrix to plan how we would engage with systems for the benefit of our program.

Field Evidence: Many families rely on the hospice social worker to assist with end of life arrangements. Since Adoration of SweetWater serves a rural, low income area, the agency was getting many questions about low cost cremation options. I was able to make contact with the funeral homes in the service area and collect pricing information. I then made a resource sheet that could be utilized by the agency or shared with families and patients.

Knowledge: I used a variety of knowledge when completing the different practice behaviors in this competency. Some of those included evaluating theory,  analyzing research, fundraising strategy, collaborating with organizations, and communication.

Values: The value of human relationships is the social work value that I think of when I engage with others. In the classroom this skill was important when collaborating with group members as well as supporting the importance of good community relationships with stakeholders. While working with Hospice patients, I utilized networking skills to gather information, and empathy to share difficult end of life information with families.

Skills: Skills utilized include teamwork, oral and written communication, networking, conceptualizing a family therapy session, and creating a stakeholder matrix.

Cognitive: Applying is the cognitive domain I feel that I used for these projects. For each one of these projects, I applied what I had learned through course materials or research and applied it to engagement in the field. For example, after reviewing Life Review Therapy, I was able to include elements of this practice to encourage clients to reminisce about their lives as a means to promote dignity at the end of life.

Affective: Organization is the affective for this competency. I was able to formulate ways of engaging with others for each of these projects and consistently engaged with others in the field. An example of this is that I was able to develop an evidence based treatment plan for a pseudo client family and create a list of all funeral homes in the agencies service area to contact and gather information from.

Theory: Social Exchange Theory explains how in relationships, each party seeks to receive benefits. This theory applies to engagement as it shows how social workers can professionally develop relationships with clients by providing them with beneficial information and services.