An Aggregate Fieldwork Model: Cooperative Learning,Research, and Clinical Project Publication Components

An occupational therapy psychosocial level-two fieldwork model, which consists of cooperative learning, clinical project or research publication, and interdisciplinary collaboration and intervention, is herein outlined. An example of the model is presented using an acute inpatient psychiatric setting with a multidisciplinary staff and 50 occupational therapy interns. Data on the aggregate fieldwork model collected over a two-and-a-half-year period from: 1) logs; 2) supervision; 3) peer reviewed publications; 4) conference presentations; 5) verbal feedback from the occupational therapy educational institutes; and 6) the supervisor's comparisons with other fieldwork models is presented. The outcome of the aggregate fieldwork model is that students do well, seem to learn more than in 1:1 supervisory models, and manage to publish while on fieldwork. It is hoped that more academic programs will consider working with clinical educators to develop programs based on this model.     

Description and Formative Evaluation of Attendance in a Parent Program Inolving Reintegration of Conduct-Disordered Students into Regular Classes

The purposes of this article is to describe a parent involvement program and to conduct a formative evaluation regarding the impact of attendance at parent group meetings, for parents whose children were enrolled in a day-treatment facility for conduct-disordered students and the degree to which these students were successfully reintegrated into public schools. Preliminary results suggest that a mainstreaming program which offers a therapeutically-oriented parent group may be a worthwhile way of assisting successful reintegration of conduct-disordered adolescents into regular classes in public schools.     

Communication with Older Persons: Part I-Looking Within

ABSTRACT

How is healthy (salugenic) religion to be distinguished from sick (pathogenic) religion in modern life? Humanistic psychology and religion have benchmarks by which they can be defined. The healthy religion indicators can be related to aging and to physical wellness or wholeness. Such a correlation is especially helpful in a changing 21st century world.     

Mixed-Design Training Outcomes for Fellows Serving At-Risk Youth Within Integrated Care Settings

We used an exploratory mixed-methods design with single-case comparative analysis and analysis of covariance to evaluate the potential effectiveness of an interprofessional clinical training in a mental health counseling program. Initial findings indicate those engaging in specialized learning experiences that attended to critical aspects of youth behavioral health care experienced benefits with regard to their professional development, interprofessional socialization and valuing, and counseling self-efficacy. Implications for the usefulness of trainings focused on interprofessional experiences are framed in relation to professional trends concerning integrated health care.     

Interdisciplinary research and interprofessional collaborative care in a memory clinic for rural and northern residents of western Canada: Unique training ground for clinical psychology graduate students

Abstract: In Canada, interprofessional education (IPE) and interdisciplinary health research initiatives are beginning to transform the academic health sciences, including graduate training programs for clinical psychologists. In response to mandates and directives from national health policy and research funding bodies, academic training programs are re‐structuring course offerings, practicum training experiences, and research activities to better prepare students for their future roles within interdisciplinary research groups and collaborative patient‐centred clinical teams. As an example of this transformative movement in IPE, described herein are the recent training initiatives in the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan, and the role of clinical neuropsychology in an innovative interprofessional rural and remote memory clinic.     

A Developmental Framework for Collaboration in Child-Serving Agencies

Collaboration for the purpose of interdependent problem solving represents a fundamental reform of services for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families, which have typically been categorical, poorly coordinated, costly, overly restrictive, and frequently provided outside of the children's home communities. This article presents a developmental framework for collaboration that is based on the experience of families, service providers, administrators, and community members who have been involved in local collaborative processes in their own communities. The framework provides those interested in building collaboration a clear identification of the stages of collaborative development, defining characteristics of each stage, collaborative activities typical of that stage, and identification of the catalyst for change to the next stage. The results of this project indicate that while well-developed professional collaboration is a necessary component of collaboration, it is not sufficient in and of itself. The sites participating in this project related their experiences in building collaborative processes to both the development of strong interagency collaborations and the development of family participation. Their experience indicates that these two processes must be fully developed and woven together to achieve the goal of true collaboration.     

Exploring Initiative as a Signal of Knowledge Co‐Construction During Collaborative Problem Solving

Peer interaction has been found to be conducive to learning in many settings. Knowledge co‐construction (KCC) has been proposed as one explanatory mechanism. However, KCC is a theoretical construct that is too abstract to guide the development of instructional software that can support peer interaction. In this study, we present an extensive analysis of a corpus of peer dialogs that we collected in the domain of introductory Computer Science. We show that the notion of task initiative shifts correlates with both KCC and learning. Speakers take task initiative when they contribute new content that advances problem solving and that is not invited by their partner; if initiative shifts between the partners, it indicates they both contribute to problem solving. We found that task initiative shifts occur more frequently within KCC episodes than outside. In addition, task initiative shifts within KCC episodes correlate with learning for low pre‐testers, and total task initiative shifts correlate with learning for high pre‐testers. As recognizing task initiative shifts does not require as much deep knowledge as recognizing KCC, task initiative shifts as an indicator of productive collaboration are potentially easier to model in instructional software that simulates a peer.     

Understanding Interdisciplinary Collaborations as Social Networks

The dynamics of interdisciplinary collaboration invite further investigation if we are to make this endeavour more rewarding and productive. We are using social network analysis to track the development of a new interdisciplinary collaboration on complex interventions to improve population health. It involves nineteen scholars across four countries. We report the Baseline network of formal relationships among the scholars, along with the impact of the collaboration on these relationships in the first 18 months. We observed statistically significant increases in the density of six types of relationship networks: citing publications by other members of the collaboration, email contact, meeting with each other (outside of the formal annual meeting), visiting one another's institution, submitting research grants together and working on research projects together. The initial strategic role in the network of key 'gate keepers' has not altered substantially (betweenness centralization of the networks), but reciprocity has increased, that is, people are more likely to cite those who have cited them and work together. Increased collaboration is also reflected in the rise in number of subgroups over time and the increase in the average number of subgroup memberships. Use of social network analysis to understand the dynamics of interdisciplinary collaborations is a relatively new field. It invites reflection about what the optimal network structures for interdisciplinary collaborations would look like.     

Commentary: is collaboration a viable target for family therapists?

It is hoped that this commentary might serve to begin a discussion regarding collaboration, what is meant by it and whether it is a worthy goal for family therapists. I present the varying and sometimes contradictory meanings of the word, ‘collaboration’, as it is used in the therapy literature. Many of these meanings incorrectly imply an equality of the therapist–client relationship that only obscures the power differential that exists in the therapeutic relationship. A linguistic analysis of the primary meaning of ‘collaboration’ as ‘work with’ is presented. It is argued that equality between therapist and client cannot be achieved and need not be strived for. Therapists are encouraged to focus on the quality rather than the equality of their relationships.     

To Value and Address Diversity: From Policy to Practice

A basic assumption of Target 3 of the National Agenda is that the rates of identification, placement, and achievement of children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED) are strongly correlated with dimensions of diversity, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and culture. A related assumption is that culturally competent and linguistically appropriate exchanges and collaborations among families, professionals, students, and communities will enable our school systems to achieve better educational outcomes for all children, including those with SED. We discuss these assumptions in the context of current policies and suggest ways of translating these policies into practices.