Assessing engagement skills in public child welfare using OSCE: a pilot study

A two-station (scenario) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was developed and tested for validity and reliability for assessing social work engagement skills in public child welfare. The simulated scenario was designed to allow for demonstration of skill with an involuntary adolescent and parent presenting as resistant. Independent raters assessed participants comprised of BSW students, MSW students, and experienced public child protection social workers (n = 17, station one, n = 16 station two). Scales demonstrated high internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and initial discriminate groups validity. Findings suggest a promising approach for directly assessing social worker skill in engagement of clients. Implications for use of OSCE in child welfare are discussed.     

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Detecting and Responding to Elder Mistreatment: Creating a University-Community Partnership

As the aging population grows, the problem of elder mistreatment is escalating. Cases of elder mistreatment are anticipated to increase further as the—baby boomers age and the number of elderly individuals living and receiving care at home increases (Stiegel 2006; Kennedy 2005; Meeks-Sjostrom 2004). While there has been increasing attention placed on understanding the dynamic of elder mistreatment, advancement of public policy and scholarly work has been hampered due to the fact that much of this work occurs in disciplinary silos. This paper spotlights one example in which university scholars from various disciplines partnered with social service providers, legal professionals, and healthcare educators in the community to enhance the development of a sustainable comprehensive elder justice network.