University of British Columbia Study Design Evaluation Discussion Response

Respond to at least two colleagues by doing all of the following:

• Offer an analysis of their evaluations and subsequent recommendation. Note both strengths and areas that could be improved.
• Identify areas where your own original recommendations orevaluation was similar to or different from your colleagues’ originalevaluation and explain why.

Below are the 2 posts to respond to:

post 1

Proposed Study Design Evaluation

The social worker identified a candidate –Georgewho is 87- a former researcher himself and has agreed to take part inthe study. Because of George’s advanced age and rheumatoid arthritis hasnot been able to do many physical activities. His wife for 45-yearspassed away about twoyears ago. George entered the program in the wake of being hospitalizedfor blacking out while at the store. After medical examination, thedoctors evaluated slight psychological disabilities/dementia indicationsand proposed a geriatric case management intervention. The study’spurpose was to test the adequacy of one intervention with variousobjective issues (Plummer, Makris, and Brocksen, 2014).

Toevaluate the agency’s outcome, the team has opted to utilized amultiple-baseline, single-subject design (SSD). This system allows theresearcher to conduct the study and, more importantly, can measure theoutcome of the intervention. The measures commonly include,

how frequently and how long something happens, how firmly it is present, and how stable a phenomenon is (Mattaini, 2010). Thesingle-subject design commonly targets an individual with numerousimpediments, such as in the condition of George. The examination planinside the investigation is a multiple baseline design (MB) (Plummer,Makris, and Brocksen, 2014). Using MB implies the mediation introducedto George for the situation study was applied to each target dispute.The mentioned tasks were personal care, decreased mobility, longer-termplanning around living arrangements, and home safety. The social workermonitored the progress by using a 10-point assessment scale (Plummer,Makris, & Brocksen, 2014).

Solution-Focused and Task-Centered Approach

Theresult of the given study would be essential to adopt the casemanagement model with a solution-focused and task-centered approachmainly that fundamentally is centered around human conduct in which isgathered over time. SSR modality would enable the social worker tomonitor the client’s behavior him/herself and communicate with thoseclose to the client concerning his conduct if there are any notablechanges under certain circumstances (Mattaini, 2010). In essence, SSRallows the clinician to identify a baseline of the behaviors andvirtually to opt the solution-focused and task-oriented to appreciateany increase or decrease in behaviors. One could also end theintervention to see what occurs when the treatment is not in place;perhaps the up and down effect becomes more apparent.

Recommendations

Thepresented data and result in the given case seems to be satisfactory.Undoubtedly, if the social workers would submit their findings to anevidence-based research practice registry: one possible recommendationwould be using the same model, only taking other factors into accounts,such as age, gender, sexual preference, race, and religion, obviouslyfaced with George’s similar barriers (Mattaini, 2010). Suchcomparison can boost the validity of the treatment with a specificpopulation as merely adding more participants to the study does not helpestablish the study’s external validity when samples or populations arenot randomly selected. For example, social workers may utilize directreplication to decide whether the investigation is generalized. This ishelpful because direct replication permits a few cases in which the sameexperimenter repeats the experiment in the same setting with anotherset of cases. Consequently, the consistency of the results wouldultimately boost generalizability (Mattaini, 2010).

References

Mattaini, M. A. (2010). Single-system studies. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods (2^nd ed., pp. 241-273. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PDF).

Plummer,S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work casestudies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate InternationalUniversities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

Post 2

Evaluation of the Design

Thecase study involves a case manager, Chris, who is one of severalproviders in a midsize region for a small agency. In the single-subjecttext, Chris provides case management services to senior individuals. Theteam integrates solution-focused and task-centered models to approachthe elements of geriatric case management. George, aneighty-seven-year-old, widowed male, was referred to the program when hewas discharged from the hospital. Chris and the team’s evaluationrevealed that George could benefit from their program in several areas.Thestudy objective was to test the efficacy of one intervention withmultiple target problems (Plummer et al., 2014). According to Dudley(2014), a single system design (SDD) is a variation of a time seriesdesign on a practice level that involves several measures of the outcomevariable before and during the intervention. The SSD is a practice toolthat measures the relationship between the intervention and the outcomeof the client.

Supporting the Methods Used

Theresults prove that the study that Chris and the collaborators conductedis useful in this setting and with the population that the agencyserves. Two out of three of George’s identified problems were addressedby using the rating scales. As a result, I will adopt the model of casemanagement with solution-focused and task-centered approaches, as it isknown to be effective and reliable and is most commonly used byresearchers (Mattaini, 2010). The research design is a multiplebaseline design (MB), which means that the intervention presented toGeorge in the case study was applied to each sequential target problemand allowed time to assess the impact of the intervention on each issuebefore introducing it to the next challenge.Tomeet the requirements of an evidenced-based program, the findings ofthe study must be repeated and applied to other populations (Tankersleyet al., 2008).

Recommendations

Toimprove the study for next time, I would suggest the use of visualobservations along with the client’s self-observations about theprogress of their interventions that they are following. Observation isthe most direct and most precise method of measuring behavior andbehavior change. Self-monitoring (self-observation) is also a usefulapproach for data collection, as well as the use of rating scales andrapid assessment instruments (Mattanini, 2010). Chris and her team couldhave also used goal attainment scaling and behaviorally anchored ratingscales along with the 10-point scale to track the progression on morethan one goal at the same time.

References

Mattaini,M. A. (2010). Single-system studies. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook ofsocial work research methods (2nd ed., pp. 241-273). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. (PDF).

Plummer,S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social workcase studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate InternationalUniversities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

Tankersley,M., Cook, B. G., & Cook, L. (2008). A preliminary examination toidentify the presence of quality indicators in single-subject research.Education & Treatment of Children, 31(4), 523-548.

My post was:

Basedon the results of the outcomes of Chris’s assessment before and afterthe treatment plans, I would use the model of case management withsolution-focused and task-centered approaches used by Chris and her casemanagement program. The case management agency is described in detailand is shown to be a stable environment where variables like staffturnover can be maintained. George is also given an in-depth descriptionto show why he was involved in a geriatric case management program(Thyer, 2020). Chris decided what tasks to evaluate with George so thatthey could focus on the tasks he needed more help with and took care toensure that he was comfortable and truthful. Additionally, George wasfully involved in the planning and implementation of most decisionsinvolving his care. I believe that this would make me more willing totake part in the study and cause him to provide factual information.

Theperformance of tasks was evaluated collaboratively by George and Chris,which allowed Chris to ask for clarification and get the most accurateinformation possible. Using the 10-point clinical scale might havehelped George better rate how well he performed the task as he couldeasily give it a number from 1 to 10 (Kazi, 2019). The multiple baselinesingle-subject design used was very effective in measuring the casemanagement with solution-focused task-centered approaches used by thecase managers. The outcomes were measured multiple times every threemonths and tested different skills, which proved the efficacy of theapproaches. The study showed that George’s performance of all but one ofthe tasks, personal mobility, was improved and required to be studiedfurther. Though I would like to see the data from the other casemanagers, I am willing to adopt the case management withsolution-focused task-centered approaches used by Chris and hercolleagues.

Ibelieve that Chris and her colleagues need to conduct the study withmore people, only three cases were evaluated in this study, and beforethey can submit the study to the evidence-based practice registry, theymust ensure the efficacy of the program and increase the generability ofthe results by performing a large scale study (Fisher, 2020). Themeasurement of the performance of the tasks needs to be investigatedfurther to ensure that George or the other participants of the study donot exaggerate or understate the effects of the program.

References

Fisher,E. S. (2020). Reforming Health Care: The Single System Solution. NEJMCatalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, 1(5).

Kazi, M. A. (2019). Single-case evaluation by social workers. Routledge.

Thyer,B. A. (2020). Evaluating social work practice with single systemresearch designs. The Routledge Handbook of Social Work PracticeResearch.