Terry Mizrahi

Understanding collaboration between social workers and physicians: application of a typology.

Abstract This article builds on prior analyses of data collected from a qualitative study of 50 pairs of social worker-physician collaborators in. This article presents the elements of a typology of collaborators from both professions developed from those analyses. The typology was also applied to the entire sample and each respondent characterized according to type (traditional, transitional or transformational). Further analysis was done to evaluate the relationships between type and collaborative perspectives. The sample was primarily transitional (56%-58%) and there were more traditional social workers (22%) and transformational doctors (24%) than anticipated. Social workers, as a group, were much less satisfied with the doctors than the doctors were with them although both groups of traditional respondents were the most dissatisfied. Both groups were least transformational in relation to control over decision making.

An Evolving Paradigm of Supervision Within a Changing Health Care Environment

ABSTRACT As hospitals attempt to decrease their costs to survive in todays health care market, they are implementing resizing strategies that promise greater efficiency. A by-product has been the elimination of many management and supervisory positions. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a stratified random sample of 750 hospitals (yielding a 46% return rate) to study the types of supervisory models being utilized and the factors associated with their differential use. While concern is expressed about the erosion of clinical supervision, the data suggests that the majority of social workers are receiving supervision from a social worker.

Interdisciplinary Community Collaboration: Perspectives of Community Practitioners on Successful Strategies

ABSTRACT Six focus groups were convened to collect data on successful interdisciplinary community collaboration (ICC) strategies. Participants came from a variety of disciplines but shared the common identification of having worked in similar communities. Participant assignment to one of six groups was designed to insure diversity by gender and race or ethnicity. They discussed four questions received in advance. Prior consented tape-recorded sessions were transcribed and reviewed by group facilitators using a process of member checking. Data analysis utilized the qualitative methodology known as grounded theory. Results indicate that organizers must have (1) a knowledge base of strategic planning, management, and administration, (2) an intra- or interpersonal skills set, and (3) well-defined values and attributes. The Practice implications are that further research is needed to more fully explore the complexity of ICC work.

The Impact of Organizational Change on Social Work Staffing in a Hospital Setting: A National, Longitudinal Study of Social Work in Hospitals

Abstract Market forces continue to shape the health care environment, producing radical changes within the hospital. These changes are affecting social work structure, staffing, and processes within the hospital setting, particularly in the area of social work staffing. This paper examines the changes impacting hospital settings over three fiscal years. A primary question is whether or not social work staffing is being negatively impacted by these hospital changes, and what factors predict the downsizing of social work staff.

COPING WITH PATIENTS: SUBCULTURAL ADJUSTMENTS TO THE CONDITIONS OF WORK AMONG INTERNISTS-IN-TRAINING*

Interns and residents in internal medicine use a variety of strategies to distance themselves physically and emotionally from their patients. These strategies include avoidance of patients, narrowing of doctor-patient interaction, and treating patients as non-persons, These subcultural adjustments enable doctors to cope with heavy case loads and other demands of graduate medical training. The stress of the work situation leads interns and residents to express strong negative feelings about all aspects of their work. Subcultural adjustments and emotional stress impair doctor-patient relationships and decrease the quality of medical care in teaching hospitals.

Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education in the USA, Israel and Canada: Deans’ and directors’ perspectives

This article utilized survey research to examine where interdisciplinary collaboration is occurring and being taught in social work programs in three countries. Findings indicate that social work programs participate in high levels of interdisciplinary collaboration at the university—community level and the interdepartmental level and teach it through an array of courses.

Towards Interdisciplinary Community Collaboration and Development

SUMMARY This article looks at the conceptualization and practice of interdisciplinary community collaboration and development (ICCD) in Israel and the US. It is based on the work of two interdisciplinary professional groups which were initiated by social workers—one in Israel and one in the US. This article presents a mapping of key issues and concepts, including distinguishing between mono-, multi-, and inter-, trans-disciplinary and inter-perspectives. The article addresses the issues of multiple professional identities, identification of a common core knowledge base and skills among disciplinary specializations for community development practice, and an understanding of inter-organizational perspectives. A qualitative methodology was used to conduct a content analysis of data from dialogues among professional practitioners in the Israeli and the US groups. Despite differences in the purpose, frequency and intensity of the two forums, there is an underlying belief in the importance of these discussions and in the commitment to interdisciplinary practice. Both groups believe that multiple types of expertise are needed, alongside new models of both inter-organizational and interdisciplinary relationships as well as professional-community interactions. Recommendations include the need for further examination of interdisciplinary community collaboration and development.

Women’s Ways of Organizing: Strengths and Struggles of Women Activists Over Time

This article presents a longitudinal qualitative study of the strengths and struggles of a diverse group of 27 women organizers in 1989 and 2003. It highlights the resilience of their core biography, as well as individual and collective differences based on changing context, careers, and aging over 13 years. On the basis of these women’s perspectives, the article examines an analytic document, A Framework for Feminist Organizing, that was produced by a women organizers’ collective and reinforces and modifies its practice principles. The study builds on the growing literature on feminist theory and practice applied to the field of community organizing, activism, and progressive social change.

Education for Interdisciplinary Community Collaboration and Development: The Components of a Core Curriculum by Community Practitioners

Social workers are actively engaging in the practice of interdisciplinary community collaboration (ICC) with the goal of bringing diverse groups together to improve the conditions of communities and enhance the quality of life of population groups. Yet, collaborations are challenging and require great skill and commitment. The pedagogy and the content of curricula have become a more prominent part of teaching to macro practice students and practitioners the art of effectively convening and moving collaborative efforts forward. This article adds to the literature on the content and methods of teaching students and novice practitioners the competencies embedded in ICC. It provides empirical data from six focus groups of experienced community practitioners (social workers and others) in New York City who identified components of a core curriculum for this work. Eight months later, these 33 community practitioners were asked to reprioritize the topics and concepts that they had collectively identified at the ...

Professional Determinants in Community Collaborations: Interdisciplinary Comparative Perspectives on Roles and Experiences Among Six Disciplines

This mixed-methodology research examines the interdisciplinary community collaborative (ICC) experiences of 50 participants from six professions: law, social work, psychology, public health, nursing, and medicine. They came together for 1 of 2 intensive days of structured dialogue and collaborative problem-solving around a common case scenario, in both mono- and multidisciplinary groups. The main purpose of this study is to explore the similarities and differences in how this group viewed their interdisciplinary collaborative experiences. This article features the quantitative and qualitative data from a self-administered questionnaire to the participants about their perspectives on their experiences after the structured dialogue day. The article presents: (a) the mapping of the professions with whom they have collaborated, (b) their perceptions of the positive and negative experiences about those collaborations, (c) their self-reported familiarity with and their perception of the leadership roles of the specific six disciplines, and (d) their perceptions about the strengths and limitations of their own profession’s ability to collaborate with other disciplines. It includes their reflections on the day’s experience. The main findings were: (a) Participants reflected their profession’s codes of ethics in valuing, learning from, and contributing to ICC activities, (b) participants understood the complexities and contradictions of ICC endeavors, and (c) participants identified professional determinants of ICC that positively and negatively affect ICC. The article concludes with recommendations about future directions for research and practice on interdisciplinary community collaboration.