Social work has a unique voice in health care. Social workers work with both the person and their environment within which the social determinants of health are paramount. This voice isn’t often heard due to barriers in combining clinical practice and research.

 

What are the barriers and enablers/motivators for social workers at Canberra Health Services in undertaking research? Would implementing the enablers/motivators support research activities?

 

This was a mixed methods study. A senior social work lecturer/researcher from Charles Sturt University ran eight co-operative inquiry workshops embodying the identified enablers/motivators A Research Capacity in Context (RCC) tool captured quantitative data and qualitative with free text boxes.  A streams of consciousness evaluation further added to the qualitative results.

 

There were significant increases in the RCC scores across the domains of individual, team, and organisation. This was further reflected in qualitative feedback such as the workshops created a safe place and time to think leading to statements” I can do research” The study led to a growth in confidence and renewed interest in social work research. To date two projects are close to being submitted for publication and several other research areas are being steadily progressed.

 

It has shown the importance of listening to what social workers need in order to conduct research and highlighted the benefits of coming alongside each other and working together to both tackle the barriers and create research growth.

 

Significance 

This study is replicable for all disciplines to combine clinical practice and research.

 

Alison McDonald1, Monica Short2, Nick Brown3,4, Rosemary (Rosy) Winter5, Charmaine Nicoll5, Mary Woodcock6, Catherine Spence7
 
 

1.     Canberra Health Services, Garran, ACT, 2605

2.     School of Social Work and Arts, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678

3.     Faculty of Health, University of Canberra Hospital, Bruce, ACT, 2617

4.     UC Clinical School, Canberra Health Services, Garran, ACT, 2605

5.     Office of the Director of Allied Health, MHJHADS, Canberra Health Services, Canberra, 2601

6.     Division of Cancer and Ambulatory Support, Canberra Health Services, Garran, ACT, 2605

7.     Australian Catholic University, Watson, ACT, 2602