SOWK 551.001. Health and Social Care Praxis. - School of Social ...

School Vision: Building upon a foundation of social justice and an ethic of care, we are
a community of learners actively engaged in the development of critical, transformative
knowledge for social work practice.
Year/Term Fall, 2011
Course Title SOWK 551: Health and Social Care Praxis
Course Schedule Thursdays, 2-5 p.m.
Course Location Jack Bell, Room 224
Instructors Email Address
Vaughan Marshall vaughan.marshall@ubc.ca
Sylvia Lai slai@providencehealth.bc.ca
The University of British Columbia
School of Social Work
Course Outline – SOWK551
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides a critical analysis of theoretical perspectives relevant to social
work practice in the health and social care fields. The content includes: health, mental
health, addictions, trauma and disabilities across the lifespan. The course will take a
structural approach in focusing on social work practice and policy development.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
When you have completed this course you will be able to:
Articulate various theories related to illness, disability, and mental health
Apply theory to the practice of social work in health care settings
Describe various ethical issues that arise in health care social work
Articulate the ways in which your own beliefs and values affect your practice in
health care social work
REQUIRED COURSE TEXTS:
There are no required texts for this course. Readings are available online and through a
custom course package.
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OUTLINE AND READINGS (Tentative):
SOWK551 – 2011-2012 – V. Marshall and S. Lai
Week 1: September 8 (Introduction to the course/ Social Determinants of Health)
Reading:
Ashcroft, R. (2010). Health Inequities: Evolution of two paradigms. Health and
Social Work, 35(4), 249-256.
Bolaria, B.S. (2002). Sociology, medicine, health, and illness. In B.S. Bolaria and
H.D. Dickenson (Eds.). Health, illness, and health care in Canada (3 rd
ed.). (pp. 3-19). Scarborough ON: Nelson.
Gregorian, C. (2005). A career in hospital social work: Do you have what it
takes? Social Work in Health Care, 40(3), 1-14.
Mikkonen, J., & Raphael, D. (2010). Social determinants of health; The Canadian
facts. Available online at: http://www.thecanadianfacts.org/ (Click on
“Download the Canadian facts).
Week 2: September 15 (Trauma, Coping, Post-Traumatic Growth)
Reading:
Mundy, E., & Baum, A. (2004). Medical disorders as a cause of psychological
trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. Current Opinion in Psychiatry,
17, 123-127.
Tedeschi, R.G., & Calhoun, L.G. (2009). The clinician as expert companion. In
C.L. Park, S.C. Lechner, and A.L. Stanton (Eds.). Medical illness and
positive life change (pp. 215-235). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Week 3: September 22 (Disability)
Reading:
Olkin, R. (1999). What psychotherapists should know about disability. New York:
Guilford. (Chapter 2: “The Minority Model of Disability”)
Wendell, S. (1996). The rejected body: Feminist philosophical reflections on
disability. New York: Routledge. (Chapter 1: “Who is disabled? Defining
disability” and Chapter 2: “The social construction of disability.”)
Week 4: September 29 (Field Visit to GF Strong)
Reading:
Olkin, R. (1999). What psychotherapists should know about disability. New York:
Guilford. (Chapters 3 and 4: “The Disability Experience” and Chapter 8:
“Etiquette with clients with disabilities”).
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Week 5: October 6
SOWK551 – 2011-2012 – V. Marshall and S. Lai
Reading:
Lightfoot, B., Panessa, C., Hayden, S., Thumath, M., Goldstone, I., & Pauly, B.
(2009). Gaining insite: Harm reduction in nursing practice. Canadian
Nurse, 105(4), 16-22.
Wood, E., Tyndall, M.W., Montaner, J.S., & Kerr, T. (2006). Summary of findings
from the evaluation of a pilot medically-supervised safer injecting facility.
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 175(11).
http://www.canadianmedicaljournal.ca/content/175/11/1399.full
Week 6: October 13 (Group presentation 1: Chronic Illness)
Reading:
Auslander, W., & Freedenthal, S. (2006). Social work and chronic disease:
Diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS. In S. Gehlert and T.A. Browne
(Eds.). Handbook of health social work (pp. 532-567). Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
Levin, R., & Herbert, M. (2005). The experience of urban Aboriginals with health
care services in Canada. Social work in Health Care, 39(1/2), 165-179.
Week 7: October 20 (Group presentation 2: Addiction)
Guest Speaker: Joanne Schwartz
Reading:
Doweiko, Y. 2006). The process of recovery. In Concepts of chemical
dependency (6 th ed.). (pp. 386-396). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks-Cole.
Larimer, M.E., Palmer, R.S., & Marlatt, A. (1999). Relapse prevention: An
overview of Marlattès cognitive-behavioral model. Alcohol Research and
Health, 23(2), 151-160.
Week 8: October 27 (Group Presentation 3: Mental Health)
Guest Speaker: Mary Squires, Early Psychosis Intervention
Reading:
Cotton, C., & Ridings, J.W. (2011). Getting in/getting out: The DSM, political
activism, and the social construction of mental disorders. Social Work in
Mental Health, 9(3), 181-205.
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SOWK551 – 2011-2012 – V. Marshall and S. Lai
Week 9: November 3 (Group Presentation 5: Caregiving, Eldercare/ Residential Care/
LTC)
Guest Speaker: Teresa Robitaille
Reading:
Fredricksen-Goldsen, K.I., & Hoy-Ellis, C.P. (2007). Caregiving with pride: An
introduction. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 18(3-4), 1-13.
Krogh, K., & Johnson, J. (2006). A life without living: Challenging medical and
economic reductionism in home support policy for people with disabilities.
In D. Pothier and R. Devlin (Eds.). Critical disability theory: Essays in
philosophy, politics, policy, and law. Vancouver: UBC Press.
McCabe, G. (2008). Mind, body, emotions, and spirit: Reaching to the ancestors
for healing. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(2), 143-152.
Week 10: November 10 (Field Visit: St. Paul’s Hospital)
Reading:
Kouriatis, K., & Brown, D. (2011). Therapists’ bereavement and loss
experiences: A literature review. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 16, 205-
228.
Sorensen, R., & Iedema,R. (2011). End-of-life care in acute care hospital:
Linking policy and practice. Death Studies, 35, 481-503.
Week 11: November 17 (Group Presentation 4: Loss/ Grief/ End-of-Life)
Reading:
Goldsworthy, K.K. (2005). Grief and loss theory in social work practice: All
changes involve loss just as all losses require change. Australian Social
Work, 58(2), 167-168.
Murray, J.A. (2001). Loss as a universal concept: A review of the literature to
identify common aspects of loss in diverse situations. Journal of Loss and
Trauma, 6(3), 219-241.
Stroebe, M. & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with
bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197-224.
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Week 12: November 24 (Field Visit: Child and Youth)
Guest presenter:
Mary Erb, SW in Cardiology at BC’s Children’s Hospital
SOWK551 – 2011-2012 – V. Marshall and S. Lai
Reading:
Beder, J. (2006). Hospital social work: The interface of medicine and caring. New
York: Routledge. (Chapter 7: Pediatric oncology social work).
Jones, B. (2010). Pediatric oncology social work. Podcast available at:
http://socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com/2010/01/pediatric-oncology-socialwork.html
(36 minutes)
Week 13: December 1 (Wrap-up)
ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment 1: Online Journal (6 x 10% = 60%)
You are required to post 6 journal entries over the course of the term. You are free to
choose which weeks you want to post journal entries. Journal entries will:
Reflect on material covered in class or during a site visit that week
Integrate, expand upon, and/or critique material from assigned readings, or other
readings you have located; and/ or
Address a topic presented by the instructors
Each journal entry should be 750-1000 words long. We recommend that you write your
entry in Word, and copy it into your journal. Your journal entries are short papers, and
we expect them to be well-written and appropriately referenced.
To post a journal entry, use your CWL to sign on to the course’s Vista site:
www.vista.ubc.ca. Click on the “Discussions” icon (looks like a thumbtack) on the lefthand
side of the screen.
Be sure to give titles to each journal entry that include the entry number – e.g. “JE1,”
“JE2,” etc.
Assignment 2: Class Presentation (30%)
You will collaborate with 4-5 other students to do a class presentation on a specific
topic. Your group may choose to do a symposium, with students doing individual
presentations that address various facets of the same topic. Alternatively, your group
may choose to do joint presentations and incorporate class activities. Your group will
have 90 minutes to present.
Attendance/ Participation (10%)
In this course learning and teaching are considered a shared responsibility. The role of
the instructors is to guide, facilitate and support your learning; your responsibility is to
use the resources, and to actively engage in dialogue and reflective, critical thought.
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SOWK551 – 2011-2012 – V. Marshall and S. Lai
The course is designed to foster discussion, debate, and critical examination of
concepts relevant to the practice of social work in health care.
Your commitment and active participation in the learning activities will support your own
learning as well as the learning of your colleagues. Attendance at class and active
participation are therefore expected.
GRADING CRITERIA:
Letter
Grade
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
Percent
Range
90-100
85-89
80-84
76-79
72-75
68-71
64-67
60-63
55-59
Mid-
Point
95
87
82
77.5
83.5
69.5
65.5
62.5
57
Represents work of exceptional quality. Content, organization and style are all
at a high level. Student demonstrates excellent research and reference to
literature where appropriate. Also, student uses sound critical thinking, has
innovative ideas on the subject and shows personal engagement with the topic.
Represents work of good quality with no major weaknesses. Writing is clear
and explicit and topic coverage and comprehension is more than adequate.
Shows some degree of critical thinking and personal involvement in the work.
Good use of existing knowledge on the subject.
Adequate and average work. Shows fair comprehension of the subject, but has
some weaknesses in content, style and/or organization of the paper. Minimal
critical awareness or personal involvement in the work. Adequate use of
literature.
D 50-54 52 Minimally adequate work, barely at a passing level. Serious flaws in content,
organization and/or style. Poor comprehension of the subject, and minimal
involvement in the paper. Poor use of research and existing literature.
F 0-49 Failing work. Inadequate for successful completion of the course or submitted
beyond final date of acceptance for paper.
COURSE POLICIES [attendance, participation, academic dishonesty]:
Excerpt from the UBC calendar:
Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars,
etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations.
Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to
classes.
The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the Disability Resource Centre.
The University accommodates students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting
assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Please let your instructor know in advance,
preferably in the first week of class, if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. Students who plan to
be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume they will be
accommodated, and should discuss their commitments with the instructor before the drop date.
It is recommended that students retain a copy of all submitted assignments (in case of loss) and should also retain
all their marked assignments in case they wish to apply for a Review of Assigned Standing. Students have the right
to view their marked examinations with their instructor, providing they apply to do so within a month of receiving their
final grades. This review is for pedagogic purposes. The examination remains the property of the university.
Academic Dishonesty:
Please review the UBC Calendar “Academic regulations” for the university policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other
forms of academic dishonesty. Also visit www.arts.ubc.ca and go to the students’ section for useful information on
avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation.
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