Kimberly Strom-Gottfried

THE IMPLICATIONS OF MANAGED CARE FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

The advent of various forms of managed care means unprecedented changes for health and mental health service delivery and, by extension, for educators training those who deliver these services. Although the medical and nursing fields have begun to respond to these changes, social work has not. Yet managed care brings implications for every aspect of the social work curriculum; social workers must not only understand its impact, but be prepared to assume an expanding role in evolving systems. This paperexamines the evolution and current status of managed care, describes the content areas most relevant to social work education, and offers mechanisms by which educators can incorporate material on managed care.

CONFRONTING ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN MANAGED CARE: GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY

As managed care continues to alter the landscape of health and mental health services, so too does it affect social work education. In addition to changes in curricular emphases and the availability and selection of field education sites, managed care presents students with legal and ethical issues involving conflicts of interest, client confidentiality, informed consent, negligent care and client abandonment, and pressures to breach fiduciary responsibilities. This article examines each of these dilemmas and illustrates ways they are manifested under managed care. The authors describe resources for anticipating, avoiding, or addressing such difficulties. They conclude with recommendations for assisting students with this difficult content.

An Integrative Framework for Developing Comprehensive Examinations to Measure Student Social Work Competencies

ABSTRACT Social work and other professions are endeavoring to promote student proficiency with respect to core competencies of the discipline, and the attainment of these competencies must be demonstrated objectively in some way. This article provides an illustrative guide for social work educators seeking to develop comprehensive examinations to assess students’ acquisition of professional competencies, particularly at the master’s level and across generalist and specialization levels of practice. An integrative framework is presented, highlighting 5 central stages of examination development: planning, creating and implementing, evaluating, revising, and perpetuating. These stages are illustrated with a case example, followed by key conclusions, methodological considerations, and other implications for moving forward on efforts to effectively develop examinations to measure student social work competencies.