Training Social Work Master's Students for Integrated Health Care Settings: the Importance of Specialized Education

Published In

Journal of Teaching in Social Work

Document Type

Citation

Publication Date

5-26-2024

Abstract

Integrated health care poses a unique opportunity for social workers to deliver person-centered, empowering, and collaborative care addressing all aspects of patient health. This study analyzed four years of data from a project designed to train social work master’s students to be effective members on integrated teams. Students that participated in the project achieved statistically significant levels of improvement from pre- to posttests with large effect sizes on the Behavioral Health Consultant Core Competency Tool skills (n = 93, Cohen’s d = -1.752, t(92) = -16.894, p < .001) and the Team Skills Scale (n = 94, Cohen’s d = -1.558, t(93) = -15.101, p < .001). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests confirmed improvements. No existing evaluations of integrated training for social work students capture behavioral health competencies data. Offering specialized training in integrated behavioral health work to students has immense potential benefit for outgoing social workers seeking to support patients.

Rights

© 2024 Taylor & Francis

DOI

10.1080/08841233.2024.2344469

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42184

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Share

COinS