Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-131).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-131). Also available in print.

No description available.

This study examined the use of group Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) as an 8-week intervention to treat children, ages 8-13, displaying emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. The study looked at the effects of the intervention on the parent reports of child externalizing behaviors and parenting stress, and the children’s reports of self-esteem (Social Competence, Behavioral Conduct, and Global Self-Worth). The study included two phases. Phase 1 was a randomized control trial (RCT), which allowed for comparison of treatment to the waitlist-control as between group effects, pre- and post-intervention. Group comparisons could not be tested due to an inadequate sample size of children. Phase 2 involved the waitlist group completing the same 8-week therapy intervention and looking at all participants as a single sample over time, using three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Results from Phase 2 demonstrated tentative support for group AdPT. Additional analyses were conducted in Phase 2 examining differences between the two age groups, 8-10 and 11-13, and the mediating effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on the effectiveness of the intervention. While the analyses suggest that group AdPT is effective for younger and older children, the small number of older children (n = 7) limits the ability to draw definitive conclusions. Children with moderate levels of ACEs showed non-significant trends in improved externalizing behaviors and self-esteem compared to children with lower and higher ACEs. Implications for future research, practice and policy are discussed.

Incorporating spiritually-involved interventions into the treatment process for chronically ill patients is a trending subject in the field of medical social work. Literature suggests the integration of spirituality with patients diagnosed with a chronic medical illness appear to influence patient’s resiliency level. However, the lack of information and knowledge on the topic suggests medical social workers are still in the process of learning how to utilize spirituality as a form of intervention. This study explores how medical social workers in the Inland Empire perceive the practice of spirituality on resilience levels in adults diagnosed with a chronic medical illness. The data is collected through audio recordings from individual interviews with each participant. The audio recordings are transcribed into transcripts to identify themes and common categories among the participants. The results analyzed call for future research to continue on how to incorporate spirituality into the social work practice in the Inland Empire.

Involuntary turnover among field staff at wilderness therapy programs can result in therapeutic and financial difficulties for the program. This study sought to examine what factors field staff attribute their intent to turnover to. The factors of organizational commitment, burnout, age, and length of days spent in the field were examined to identify if factors identified as predictors of turnover in previous literature were also true for field staff employed by wilderness therapy programs. Three programs agreed to participate by forwarding emails to their field staff containing a link to the survey, and were also emailed a program director survey that asked some basic demographic questions about their program. The field staff survey was comprised of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey, The TCM Employee Commitment Survey, the intent to leave scale, as well as general demographic questions. A total of 13 field staff participated in the study, and as a result the use of multiple regression models was not possible due to the sample size. Six simple linear regressions were conducted to test the predictive hypotheses, and findings suggest that none of the six factors predicted turnover intentions among field staff. Pearson's correlations were conducted to examine the relationship between factors, and suggested that age is negatively related to intent to turnover and that burnout was identified as a stronger contributing factor of intent to turnover than organizational commitment, and the sub factor of continuance commitment. Findings suggested that wilderness therapy programs may want to consider the costs and advantages associated with a workers age when hiring new staff, and to consider using burnout measurement tools to identify burnout in staff so they may employ preventative measures to reduce the number of voluntary turnover among field staff. Future researcher may want to explore additional predictors of turnover intentions not examined in previous literature to continue developing knowledge about programs and those who are employed by wilderness therapy programs.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.

Thesis (M. Soc, Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

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This thesis aims to explore how medical social workers/counselors perform their work with people during crisis and how they accumulate and practice scientific crisis knowledge. This study is an empirical research paper based on qualitative interviews conducted with eight medical social workers. The data was analysed with Kvales model for categorization, which constitutes the basis of the research. The results of the research was then analysed with the use of Cullbergs crisis theory and a model of evidence based practice which is described by Topor and Denhov. The results show that the medical social workers practice the evidence based practice model, described by Topor and Denhov, in combination with Cullbergs crisis theory. The medical social workers acknowledged the individuals’ experiences in their work as well as their own experiences and scientific knowledge. Our conclusion is that the practice of medical social workers/counselors is varying, depending on the varying needs of the individuals. The social workers/counselor accumulates most knowledge through their own and the individuals’ experiences, but also from scientific crisis evidence.