ABSTRACT

Integrated care, an approach designed to improve health/ behavioral health outcomes and increase quality of life, has received international interest. Given the important roles social workers play in this approach, American universities have begun novel training programs to better prepare social workers to work in integrated care. The aim of this study is to better understand the experiences of recent MSW trainees, and how they can inform future educational/ training programs. Focus groups of MSW students who recently completed integrated care training programs were conducted (N = 9). Content analysis of the focus group data resulted in three main themes: Gaps in Knowledge about Integrated Care, Developing Professional Identity on a Team, and Adaptation of Core Social Work Skills. Student feedback aligns with current literature, highlighting variability among placements, need for additional training resources, and value of social workers on interprofessional teams. There were also unique findings, include challenges and rewards of professional identity development on teams and examples of adaptations of traditional social work roles in integrated care. In order to prepare social workers for practice, educational programs must develop effective curricula that span classroom and field education and make better use of expertise of practitioners in the field.

摘要

综合护理是一种旨在改善健康/行为健康结果并提高生活质量的方法，已引起国际关注。鉴于社会工作者在这种方法中发挥的重要作用，美国大学已经开始了新颖的培训计划，以更好地为社会工作者从事综合护理工作做好准备。本研究的目的是更好地了解近期 MSW 学员的经历，以及他们如何为未来的教育/培训计划提供信息。对最近完成综合护理培训计划的 MSW 学生进行了焦点小组 (N = 9)。对焦点小组数据的内容分析得出了三个主题：综合护理知识差距、团队职业认同的发展以及核心社会工作技能的适应。学生的反馈与当前文献一致，强调安置之间的差异、额外培训资源的需求以及社会工作者在跨专业团队中的价值。还有一些独特的发现，包括团队专业身份发展的挑战和回报，以及综合护理中传统社会工作角色适应的例子。为了让社会工作者为实践做好准备，教育项目必须开发涵盖课堂和现场教育的有效课程，并更好地利用该领域从业者的专业知识。