Examining Best Practices in Macro Social Work Essays

Evidence based practice is the basis for needed change in practice and function. It is a sound method for scientific, fact-based change. Changes which have no evidence to support them are fragile, unscientific, and subjective. These changes don’t effect real change over time, as they aren’t able to be proven to a more general population.

As a social worker many problems may arise because of the constant grey area of either letting your personal values interfere with your professional opinion. It is essential to provide your client with information and tools to help them succeed and overcome their problems. Following the core values is essential to being a resourceful, competent social worker. In some cases, core values are in conflict. In a situation where more than one core value is in conflict it is considered an ethical dilemma (Hick, 2009). It’s not guaranteed that a perfect solution will arise, therefore one of the core values is subsided because the other has more of an impact on the client.

Social work practice works with many people in different situations, needing concise help from professionals. This assistance includes a range of skills such as; identifying the problem or problems, apply and use evidence based practice and theories and critical reflection. All these skills are integral parts of best practice in social work, and are needed by all service users.

Within this essay Evidence based Practice will be identified and the significant effect it has on the nursing profession, barriers will also be explored in the implementation of Evidence Based Practice.

Making the transition from evidence based theory to evidence based practice takes both the clinical knowledge and social care environments to make them successful (Perry, Bellchambers, Howie, Moxey, Parkinson, Capra, & Byles, 2011).

In the field of social work, workers are constantly faced with practice issues, ethical conundrums, lack of needed supervision, and personal feelings regarding the work they do. When supervision is limited or nonexistent, one course of action could be to form a consultation group of one or more peers or mentors. This allows the social worker to receive supportive feedback and critical advice when needed. The construction of peer consultation groups can provide an opportunity to meet informally with peers to converse about issues regarding practice in a helpful and confidential setting. For this paper, I met with Latisha White on Tuesday, September 15th, in order to form a small peer consultation group to discuss the benefits and conflicts of working with Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs). We met at the Social Work Building and then, for almost one hour, we conversed at South Union. When a fire drill was conducted, Latisha and I fled from South Union and finished our discussion at the Engineering Hall for another hour.

They believe that best practices allow social workers to draw into their professional decision-making. It also involves an appraisal of not only the quality of available research, but also the values that guide the research, policies, and practices within the social work field (Petr & Walter, 2005).

The use of evidence based practice is extremely important so that nurses can provide the best possible, and safest care to our patients. Evidence based practice can be defined as the practice of nursing in which interventions are based on data from research that demonstrates that they are appropriate and successful (Catalano pg. 6). It is required in order to achieve the highest quality and most cost –effective care for our patients.

Donze, A., & Broede, J. (2010, June). The Role of Qualitative Research in Evidence-Based Practice. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from

Research has only one source of proof and that is the research itself (Levin, 2006). The focus of research is on whether the intervention being researched is ready to be applied to clinical practice (Levin, 2006). Evidence-Based Practice reviews and assesses current clinical practice and presents a new or improved clinical practice (Levin, 2006). Evidence-Based Practice begins by questioning a current clinical practice (Levin, 2006). The question will then help guide the reviewer to reliable research in a reputable database, to find quality evidence that will answer the clinical question (Levin, 2006). The evidence then has to be evaluated for legitimacy and incorporated into clinical practice and lastly it will be assessed to determine if it is successful and if it meets patient preference and satisfaction (Levin,

Theories and research are thus responsible for distinguishing the professional practice of social work from any other informal ways of helping. The application of social work theories and research is imperative because it helps social workers to mitigate unfavorable situations in their practice. Through theory application, social work practitioners are actively involved in a quest of self-improvement and improving practice which is achieved by utilizing and replacing of well researched and adequately tested strategies (Osmond and O'Connor, 2014).

Gibbs (1988) model will facilitate a critical analysis of different approaches to assessment and interventions highlighting the potential dangers to practice in relation to the power invested in the role of a social worker, requiring an awareness of this as a means of ethical and anti-oppressive practice.

The two key elements in successful practice are the social workers ability to guide clients through the phases of the change process and assist clients in making decisions that will result in enhancement of their social functioning or the improvement of a social condition (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 52). Social workers select and use specific techniques that have been individualized to the needs and situation of the client or client group being served, and the resources that are applied to help resolve the client’s problem or concern (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 51).

The following information will briefly discuss my critique of the ecological model and the pie theoretical framework. Moreover, from a social work perspective, it is important to look at all interrelated components of any issue or problem, to effectively work towards a solution. Our mission in social work, is to meet the needs of our client population. Also, we have to be culturally competent in this field, and aware of oppression, and human diversity, to effectively work with our client population. Lastly, we as social workers have to be research informed, and knowledgeable about interventions to effectively work with any given population.

Moreover, the human relations approach is likely to balance the physical and mental well-being of employees which in turn affect their performance outcomes with themselves and clients (Hasenfeld). Also, agencies must develop policies for evaluating both employees and customers’ outcomes. This may include asking the clients’ perspective about the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Policies that implement systematic reviews are essential elements of evidence-based practices (Sheafor, 2011). These reviews will help identify where employees are being or not being effective or efficient. In this tradeoff, organizations are being less efficient in the present to become more effective and efficient in the future. In addition, this tradeoff is determining employees’ abilities and clients’ satisfaction. As we discussed in class, good social work does not mean that there are good results because a client may not have a positive outcome. Alternatively, incompetent social work can produce good results because clients may favor the relationship instead of developing a positive outcome.