TY - JOUR
T1 - Agency-university partnerships for evidence-based practice
T2 - A national survey of schools of social work
AU - Bledsoe-Mansori, Sarah E.
AU - Bellamy, Jennifer L.
AU - Wike, Traci
AU - Grady, Melisa
AU - Dinata, Erna
AU - Killian-Farrell, Candace
AU - Rosenberg, Karla
N1 - Funding Information:
Federal agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Institutes of Health, routinely link requests for proposals and contracts focused on the translation of research findings into practice and policy. Increasing attention is being given to EBP in social work through publications in leading social work journals dedicated to the topic, EBP-related presentations at major social work conferences, a growing body of social work research on EBP, and recent changes to CSWE accreditation standards that place greater emphasis on training in EBP (CSWE Commission on Accreditation, 2008). Despite increased attention to EBP and the expanding body of practice-relevant research, few studies have systematically examined strategies to facilitate the adoption of EBP in agencies (Addis, 2002; Gira, Kessler, & Poertner, 2004; Kirk & Reid, 2002). As EBP is increasingly demanded by policymakers and funding organizations, and the potential benefits of EBP are underscored in social work as well as among professionals from other disciplines with whom social workers collaborate, both agencies and schools of social work are faced with how best to incorporate EBP into social work education and practice.
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - Efforts to disseminate and implement evidence-based practice (EBP) and empirically supported interventions (ESI) have been rapidly increasing in social work education, research, and practice. Nevertheless, the gap between research and practice remains substantial, reducing the opportunity for social work clients to benefit from the best available practices. Partnerships between schools of social work and community agencies to promote EBP, ESI, or both offer a promising solution to this problem. However, little is known about these partnership efforts. This article presents the results of a national, Web-based survey conducted with Council on Social Work Education-accredited schools of social work (N = 126) designed to explore partnership efforts between schools of social work and community agencies to promote EBP in social work practice. Results indicate that the majority of respondents perceive EBP as beneficial. The most common EBP partnership efforts included individual faculty members conducting EBP research in partnership with agencies, partnerships with field placement agencies for student training, and provision of EBP-related resources such as library access to agencies. Obstacles to agency-university EBP partnerships included time, funding, and limited agency resources. Addressing these barriers and building from schools' current limited partnership efforts to develop more comprehensive partnership models may help to narrow the gap between research and practice.
AB - Efforts to disseminate and implement evidence-based practice (EBP) and empirically supported interventions (ESI) have been rapidly increasing in social work education, research, and practice. Nevertheless, the gap between research and practice remains substantial, reducing the opportunity for social work clients to benefit from the best available practices. Partnerships between schools of social work and community agencies to promote EBP, ESI, or both offer a promising solution to this problem. However, little is known about these partnership efforts. This article presents the results of a national, Web-based survey conducted with Council on Social Work Education-accredited schools of social work (N = 126) designed to explore partnership efforts between schools of social work and community agencies to promote EBP in social work practice. Results indicate that the majority of respondents perceive EBP as beneficial. The most common EBP partnership efforts included individual faculty members conducting EBP research in partnership with agencies, partnerships with field placement agencies for student training, and provision of EBP-related resources such as library access to agencies. Obstacles to agency-university EBP partnerships included time, funding, and limited agency resources. Addressing these barriers and building from schools' current limited partnership efforts to develop more comprehensive partnership models may help to narrow the gap between research and practice.
KW - dissemination
KW - evidence-based practice
KW - partnership
KW - social work practice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84886399250&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/swr/svt015
DO - 10.1093/swr/svt015
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84886399250
SN - 1070-5309
VL - 37
SP - 179
EP - 193
JO - Social Work Research
JF - Social Work Research
IS - 3
ER -