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

As a competent social worker, I understand that engagement with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities is a continual part of the process of social work practice. I will uphold the NASW core value of the importance of human relationships, and I will understand the theories of human behavior in the social environment when working with clients and constituencies. In engaging with systems, I will use evidence-based strategies in order to be an effective advanced practitioner.

“We forget that the accumulation of knowledge and the holding of convictions must finally result in the applications of that knowledge and those convictions to life itself”.  J. Addams

PRACTICE BEHAVIORS:

6A: Examine evidence-based practices to prepare for professional engagement across systems.

Academic Evidence:  In my fall 2019 Advanced Administrative Practice course, I wrote a paper on a program that my group developed on self-care for hospice employees. The purpose of the program is to work with hospice staff, including social workers, who may be experiencing anxiety, burnout, compassion fatigue, and turnover intention and improve their engagement with patients due to greater wellbeing within themselves.  If end-of-life workers practice regular self-care, they should be able to better engage with their patients and provide enhanced care in an often stressful field. We did a presentation on the pseudo program in class, using a powerpoint that I created.  I also did a SWOT Analysis and a Stakeholder Analysis for this program project and learned a lot about each of these important tools when planning a program.

Field Evidence:  In order to help me be better prepared for working with hospice patients, I researched to find a textbook on hospice social work.  I purchased one entitled Hospice Social Work by Dona Reese and read it in its entirety, gaining valuable information on professionally engaging with these individuals and their families.

The textbook is based on the theoretical foundation of person-in-environment, and I learned about engaging with clients from different religious, ethnic, and other cultural backgrounds.

Other Evidence:  I attended (affective level: receiving) a Demystifying Death Conference in April 2019 to learn how to engage with hospice patients dealing with “soul injuries” and journaled about this learning experience.  While upholding the NASW values of service and respecting the dignity and worth of the person, I learned how to engage with people in their last moments who need to forgive or be forgiven, who need to show emotion when they have kept them bottled up inside, and who need someone to practice reflective listening skills. This experience was grounded in Erickson’s psychosocial theory of integrity versus despair that some people have in later years of life, and I internalized what I learned about soul injuries and applied it to my own life.

6B: Engage with systems utilizing evidence-based practice strategies.

Academic Evidence:  In my Mental Health Emphasis class, I created (cognitive level: synthesis) a Mental Health Community Resource Guide to aide in engaging with mental health providers in the Chattanooga area.  This comprehensive guide will help me as I engage with systems and resources in my social work practice.  I gained valuable knowledge from this assignment about local resources in Chattanooga, and I used research skills and networking to compile (cognitive level: synthesis) the resource guide.

Field Evidence: I engaged with individuals and families at my hospice field placement on a regular basis and journaled about these experiences.  I also engaged with different systems through my field experience, including funeral homes, healthcare facilities, homeless shelters, and the area food bank.  These experiences required people skills, reflective listening skills and the social work values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, and the importance of human relationships.

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