School of Human Services & Social Work

The family conference is a common occurrence in many medical and community settings, yet there is limited literature concerning its practice particularly in relation to rehabilitation. The function and process of conferences are often based on practice wisdom and tradition and are informed by the particular medical condition or disability the conference attempts to address. There are mixed reports concerning the level of participation and satisfaction of participants, that is, the client, family members and professionals, in conferences, and few related to the capacity of conferences to meet intended goals. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature concerning family conferences and discuss its application to one practice setting. In one spinal injuries unit, a quality review that drew on available evidence concerning the purpose and functions of family conferences has prompted a number of practice improvements in two stages. Most recently the “family conference” has been renamed “RAP” (Rehabilitation and Planning) Conference that more properly reflects its purpose and functions. Preparatory and education strategies have been developed for participating professionals and improved client preparation has been supported through the provision of complementary information provision methods.

Rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, family conference

Family conferences are regularly conducted in a number of settings. However, the published literature offers limited insight into the conference environment as created by the interdisciplinary team. The level of client participation in this process remains unclear. A participatory observation study was conducted with an accidental sample in a spinal injuries rehabilitation setting. Language and behaviours exhibited by family conference members provided data for analysis. The findings indicate that individuals with a disability were participatory members in the family conference and were able to express their point of view even if it differed from the view of the professional team. However, the finding that family members were less engaged in the process suggests that they have different needs to the person with a disability and these needs might have to be met in a different way. It is important that professionals develop an awareness of their own language and behaviours and the potential impact of these factors on the individual and the family in family conference processes.

family conference, rehabilitation, spinal cord injury

Korean-Australian intercountry adoption has been practiced for 30 years. This longevity provides unique opportunities to develop critical perspectives on a complex, global practice. This paper presents understandings drawn from a study that explores Korean intercountry adoption using Actor Network Theory. It argues that the practice of intercountry adoption in Australia has been shaped by adoption-driven influences and characterised by controversy and competing discourses. It concludes that contemporary understandings necessitate a global, contextual, and critical view that is inclusive of emerging voices and alternate discourses. The challenge for practitioners and policy makers is to ensure the complex nature of the phenomenon is understood by all stakeholders. This will involve remaining child-focused, promoting multilevel interventions, incorporating research findings, and resisting wholly positive discourse that promotes singular perspectives. An awareness of how the internet is used to forge networks and promote discourses is crucial in ensuring multiple perspectives are considered in this contentious practice field.

Discipline specific and multidisciplinary training programs have been developed to provide practitioners working in health and disability fields with various combinations of knowledge, skills, attitudes and practitioner comfort important for such discussions. There is little, however, which demonstrates the long term effectiveness of such training programs. The current study is a 2-year follow-up to a randomized controlled trial that examined the effectiveness of a sexuality training program for rehabilitation practitioners working within spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Using both questionnaire based and qualitative data, findings suggest that training can have long-lasting effects on practitioner knowledge, comfort and attitudes in addressing sexuality issues with clients. Training that is developed around the individualized needs of practitioners and the settings within which they work may be particularly effective. Future research is needed to explore the applicability of this type of training to other rehabilitation and healthcare settings.

Spinal cord injury. Education. Interprofessional. Sex.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r548832260j26306/

Australia’s relationship with intercountry adoption as an institutional practice began with the Vietnam War. The desire to ‘rescue’ children by adopting them into Australia was ignited by the global media’s depiction of ‘Operation Babylift’, the dramatic rescue of children from Saigon during the fall of the city in 1975. Despite concerns about the motivations and process of these adoptions, altruistic discourse dominated and the practice became desirable to many Australians for a range of reasons. These tensions remain today. International adoption became the solution to children at risk while at the same time alleviated the distress felt by the Australian public to their plight.

The humanitarian discourse of child rescue by adoption became influential. It was embraced and mobilised by the media, in turn, influencing the attitudes of individual Australians and families. Adoption sanctioned by government proved possible. Parent groups, recently formed, grew in size and influence, changes were made to legislation to accommodate it and government departments incorporated the practice. Adoption from Vietnam to Australia though short-lived was a forerunner to the expansion of adoption to other sources in Asia.

This paper discusses the Australian legacy of intercountry adoption from Vietnam and how it shaped contemporary practice.

Background: Practitioner expertise regarding the management of complex ethical dilemmas is often assumed. Healthy professional/client relationships are challenged daily in health settings. Boundary breaches can have serious consequences for individuals and organisations. Yet, the reality is few practitioners receive specific training regarding professional boundaries and ethical decision making. This issue was addressed through a research agenda that utilised an interprofessional learning approach.

Aim: To evaluate a Professional Boundaries for Health Practitioner (PBHP) training course.

Methods: The training was first developed from a needs assessment and provided to 55 rehabilitation practitioners across the continuum of care. It addressed domains of knowledge, comfort, experience and ethical decision-making of practitioners in a randomised control trial. The training was then rolled out to 109 practitioners working in a range of settings across Queensland funded by the Queensland Health Community Rehabilitation Workforce Project, an Australian Government Pathways Home initiative. A questionnaire generating quantitative and qualitative data relating to anticipated outcomes and relevant to the population was used.

Results: There was 100% response rate. Quantitative evaluations were extremely positive. Five dominant themes were drawn from the thematic analysis of qualitative findings. These were teaching methods, ethical decision making, supervision, critical reflection and separation from the workplace.

Conclusions: Evaluation of PBHP suggests that the interprofessional learning context was beneficial providing a meaningful way of raising ethical awareness, developing skills, engendering collaborative relationships and expanding critically reflective practice. A number of barriers to delivering the training, such as staff shortages and assumptions about practice, and implications for multilevel training were identified.

Popular discourse that describes intercountry adoption (ICA) has changed little since the 1950s. Increasingly evidence is mounting that necessitates a paradigm shift in how the international community conceptualises and responds to ICA. Outmoded thinking focuses solely on individual solutions for individual children rather than approaches that address the structural issues that separate children from their families in the first instance. Currently the only overarching international framework for ICA is a legal one which is limited when applied to prevention. A socioecological perspective and lessons learned from other arenas suggests a new international vision and intersectoral collaborations are needed.

(Available via Informit data base - http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=697192441582945;res=IELHSS)

A strong case for including leadership in social work programs has been articulated since the 1980s. Yet specific leadership courses are not commonly included in Australian social work curriculums. It is argued that there is a difference between ‘teaching’ leadership and ‘teaching about’ leadership. Using a critically reflective approach to social work leadership assists students to develop a professional identity that includes future possibilities for leadership in a way that is personally meaningful. This paper reflects on leadership from the perspectives of social work students and educators. A thematic analysis conducted on student reflections completed over one semester and teacher reflections on the findings are presented. A postmodern narrative approach informed the analysis from which three themes, self-transformation, caring for self, and value-based leadership, are discussed. The paper concludes that a critically reflective approach to leadership education in the human services is important to the integration of theoretical knowledge, skill development and individualised contexts.

http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fpl/index.html
Cuthbert, D., & Fronek, P. (2014). Perfecting adoption? Reflections on the rise of commercial offshore surrogacy and family formation in Australia. In A. Hayes & D. Higgins (Eds.), Families, policy and the law: Selected essays on contemporary issues for Australia (pp. 55-66). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Institute of Family Studies. http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fpl/index.html