Spring 2025 SOWK 487w Week 15 - Group Work in Organizational and Community Settings

Spring 2025 SOWK 487w Week 15 - Group Work in Organizational and Community Settings

title: Spring 2025 SOWK 487w Week 15 - Group Work in Organizational and Community Settings date: 2025-04-30 10:26:47 location: Heritage University tags:

• Heritage University
• BASW Program
• SOWK 487w

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In week 15, we are shifting our focus from treatment to task groups. The readings this week focus on interdisciplinary group work. Bronstein (2003) helps us look into interdisciplinary teamwork and the skills and processes necessary to implement it successfully. Nancarrow et al. (2013) look at the productive aspects of a team. During class, we will do an activity about organizing our priorities and ethics, and a lecture on the learning content for the week.

The agenda includes:

• Prioritizing your values activity
• Conceptual Framework for CBPR groups
• Ethical Dilemmas in Macro Social Work Practice
• Working in teams and multidisciplinary settings
• Energizer activity

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Be able to explain what a Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership is and some of the criteria for how we would measure the effectiveness
• Demonstrate and discuss ethical responses in a community practice setting
• Describe what makes for effective interdisciplinary team processes

Week 15 Plan

The agenda includes:

• Prioritizing your values activity
• Conceptual Framework for CBPR groups
• Ethical Dilemmas in Macro Social Work Practice
• Working in teams and multidisciplinary settings
• Energizer activity

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Be able to explain what a Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership is and some of the criteria for how we would measure the effectiveness
• Demonstrate and discuss ethical responses in a community practice setting
• Describe what makes for effective interdisciplinary team processes

Prioritize Your Values

[Small Group Activity] Ranking Values

Have moved papers and ranked them. Share with people nearby.

• Acceptance
• Family
• Friends
• Health
• Honesty
• Love
• Money
• Respect
• Spirituality
• What you want

Assessing CBPR Groups - Overview (1 of 7)

(Israel et al. 2013) taken from the Garvin text, p. 439 The following is a Conceptual Framework for Assessing Group Dynamics as an Aspect of the Effectiveness of the CBPR Partnership Process

It includes:

• Environmental Characteristics
• Structural Characteristics
• Group Dynamics Characteristics of Effective Partnerships
• Group Dynamics Characteristics of Effective Partnerships
• Intermediate Measure of Partnership Effectiveness
• Output Measures of Partnership Effectiveness

Assessing CBPR Groups - Environmental Characteristics (2 of 7)

When assessing any type of group, looking at the environmental characteristics is important. Characteristics impact all of the other areas evaluated.

• Previous collaboration
• Community response to issue
• Geographic / cultural diversity
• Social and economic determinants of health
• Challenges/barriers (e.g. institutional policies, time constraints)

Assessing CBPR Groups - Structural Characteristics (3 of 7)

CBPR groups function the best when they are more highly structured, and so looking at the structural characteristics is also important. These include:

• Membership
• Complexity
• Formalization

Assessing CBPR Groups - Group Dynamics (4 of 7)

Another area assed is the group dynamics characteristics of effective partnerships. These include:

• Shared leadership, including task and maintenance leadership behaviors
• Two-way open communication
• Recognition of conflicts and constructive conflict resolution
• Cooperative development of goals and shared vision
• Participatory decision making process that are flexible and use consensus for important decisions
• Agreed-upon problem-solving processes
• Shared power, influence and resources
• Development of mutual trust
• Collaborative evaluation of both task/goal and process objectives
• Well-organized meetings with collaboratively developed agendas and facilitation consistent with these characteristics (management)

Assessing CBPR Groups - Partnership Programs and Interventions (5 of 7)

The actual work of the group includes both partnership programs and interventions that can be separately evaluated.

Assessing CBPR Groups - Intermediate Measure (6 of 7)

The more soft version of the measures are related to participants perceptions and impressions. These intermediate measure of partnership effectiveness include:

• Perceived effectiveness of the group in achieving its goals
• Perceived personal, organizational, and community benefits and costs of participation
• Extent of membership involvement
• Shared ownership and cohesiveness/commitment to collaborative efforts
• Individual, group and community empowerment: Future expectations of effectiveness
• Bridging social ties
• Synergy

Assessing CBPR Groups - Output Measures (7 of 7)

Probably the area that is most often thought of for measuring success is the output measures of partnership effectiveness. This looks at:

• Achievement of program and policy objectives (e.g., collaborative problem solving, quality of life, health)
• Institutionalization of programs and/or partnerships

Ethical Dilemmas in Macro Social Work Practice

I think that in thinking about doing group work in a community setting, it’s important to continue to consider ethics. The following are four ethical dilemmas.

[Small Group Activity] Have students form four groups. Each one review one of the ethical dilemmas. Then rotate members to join other groups. Each group reviews each ethical dilemma.

Disciplinary Perspectives: A Type of Progression

Terms you might find in the literature around different integrations of disciplines are as follows: multi, inter, and trans. Transdisciplinary work is a hallmark of the Ph.D. program I am participating in. Choi and Pak (2006) provide some concise definitions to what each of these is:

• Multidisciplinary: Multidisciplinarity draws on knowledge from different disciplines but stays within their boundaries.
• Interdisciplinary: Interdisciplinarity analyzes, synthesizes, and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole.
• Transdisciplinary: Transdisciplinarity integrates the natural, social and health sciences in a humanities context, and transcends their traditional boundaries.

Multidisciplinary or Interdisciplinary Teams

Multidisciplinary (or interdisciplinary) teams can be found in working in child welfare as discussed in the text or in a number of other contexts.

• What are multidisciplinary teams?
• Examples of multidisciplinary teams
  • Psychiatric consulting at TCCH BHS
  • School IEP meetings
  • Wraparound meetings
  • Pasco Discovery Coalition

Definition of a Team

Abramson (2002) as cited in Gavin describes that effective interdisciplinary teams incorporate the following aspects:

• Different Disciplines: A group of professionals from different disciplines
• A common purpose
• Professional Perspectives:Integration of various professional perspectives in decision making
• Integration of the client and family into the team decision-making process
• Active communication
• Expertise-Based Roles: Role division based on expertise
• A climate of collaboration

Characteristics of a “good team” as identified by team members (1 of 3)

Nancarrow et al. (2013) go on to report on what are some of the characteristics of what a good team member does.

• Good communication: Communication primarily referred to intra-team communication
  • Included team members feeling as though they could listen as well as speak out within a team context; and the ability to discuss and resolve difficulties within the team.
  • It was suggested that being part of a large team hinders good communication by limiting the “two-way” communication and that some peoples’ views do not travel “upwards”.
• Respecting/understanding roles:
  • Importance of respecting and understanding the roles of other team members; that the limitations and boundaries of each role were well understood; and to have an understanding of how the roles have the potential to impact on patients.
  • Practitioners should also be aware of how their own role fits within the team, and differs from that of other team members, and that roles and responsibilities are made explicit.
• Appropriate skill mix: Skill mix refers to the mix and breadth of staff, personalities, individual attributes, professions and experience.
  • Teams value diversity, and clearly need input from a range of staff who bring complementary experience and attributes to the team.
  • Teams also felt that it was important to have the full complement of staff.
• Quality and outcomes of care: Ensuring the quality and outcomes of care was identified as an important component of a good team and includes several reflective mechanisms both within and external to the team.
  • Teams emphasized the importance both to have systems for capturing their effectiveness (such as measuring patient outcomes); and to meet their targets.
  • This included suggestions that teams are able to reflect; accept criticism and act on it; have defined outcomes; follow-up patients; provide feedback to other services (for example, on appropriateness of referrals and timeliness and appropriateness of information provided); and celebrate their own successes; and clinicians keeping their skills up to date.
• Appropriate team processes and resources: This theme includes access to sufficient physical resources (office space, parking, computers); privacy to make confidential phone calls; appropriate and efficient systems and procedures, including induction processes, policies, and paperwork that serves the need of the service whilst avoiding duplication.
  • Workload management, having enough time to do the job, and time management were highlighted by several teams.
  • Finally, the pathway for patients and the integration of the team with wider services was seen as an important procedural issue.

Characteristics of a “good team” as identified by team members (2 of 3)

• Clear vision: Participants identified the need for a clear vision, role, and purpose of the team.
• This was both to steer the direction of the team, but
• also required so that teams could establish appropriate referral criteria into the team.
• Flexibility (of the team and the individuals within it): The need for flexibility was identified as an individual attribute “ability to cover each other’s roles, but knowing your boundaries”.
  • Individuals also need to be flexible to respond to the constantly changing service environment and patient needs (for instance, the flexibility of working hours).
  • Flexibility of the service was also identified, for instance, flexibility in referral criteria.
• Leadership and management: All teams identified the importance of good leadership, and the characteristics of a good leader are explored elsewhere.
• Team culture: camaraderie and team support/relationships:
  • The importance of team culture was the largest theme, with 66 items within this theme.
  • Trust, mutual respect, reliability, commitment, and support were the most commonly raised themes.
  • But team culture included the importance of informal relationships, camaraderie, fun, and friendship between colleagues.
• Training and development opportunities: Opportunities for gaining new knowledge, sharing knowledge, continuing professional development, and education.

Characteristics of a “good team” as identified by team members (3 of 3)

• External image of the service: The importance of the external image of the service was raised by half of the teams and included the physical presentation of the staff (that is, whether or not they wear uniforms);
  • the external image portrayed to outside agencies through their external points of contact (for instance phone systems that do not work properly);
  • the external marketing of the service, which is important for managing referrals and the workload of the team.
• Personal attributes: Several personal attributes were identified as being important to having an excellent team.
  • These included approachability, appropriate delegation, being able to compromise, confidentiality, decisiveness, empathy, good organization skills, initiative; knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses;
  • open to learning; acquiring, demonstrating, and sharing new skills and knowledge, patience, personal responsibility, protective, reflexive practice, tolerance
• Individual rewards and opportunity: Participants identified the importance of the individual returns on teamwork, which included
  • good financial rewards;
  • opportunities for career development;
  • autonomy;
  • challenges within the role and the opportunity to think outside the box.

Introduction

[Whole Class Activity] Complete activity called ninja. Students stand in circle and pass along. Mainly an activity to get people moving and laughing.