Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work

Whāia te Ara Ora: Understanding and healing the impact of historical trauma and sexual violence for Māori

2024-06-15T12:09:42+12:00

Review of Whāia te Ara Ora: Understanding and healing the impact of historical trauma and sexual violence for Māori by Leonie Pihama, Ngaropi Cameron, Mereana Pitman, Rihi Te Nana. Māori & Indigenous Analysis Ltd., Ngaruawāhia, 2021. ISBN 978-0-473-51308-5, pp.183, Paperback, $NZD45.

The Sage handbook of decision making, assessment and risk in social work

2024-06-15T12:13:54+12:00

Review of The Sage handbook of decision making, assessment and risk in social work by B. J. Taylor, J. D. Fluke, J. C. Graham, E. Keddell, C. Killick, A. Shlonsky, & A. Whittaker (Eds.) SAGE Publications, 2023. ISBN: 9781529790191, pp.656, hardcover, $AUSD243 from booktopia.com.au.

Defining the boundaries of disability critical perspectives

2024-06-15T12:18:41+12:00

Review of Defining the boundaries of disability critical perspectives by Licia Carlson and Matthew C. Murray (Eds.). Routledge, London, 2021. ISBN 9780367684167, pp.156, paperback, $NZD75

Social work practice during times of disaster: A transformative green social work model for theory, education and practice in disaster interventions

2024-06-15T12:22:34+12:00

Review of Social work practice during times of disaster: A transformative green social work model for theory, education and practice in disaster interventions by Lena Dominelli. Routledge, Milton Park Abington Oxton UK, 2023. ISBN 978-0-367-61645-8 (hbk); 978-0-367-61644-1 (pbk); 978-1-003-10582-4 (ebk), pp.309, $NZD68.40

“I am more me”: Post-traumatic growth for New Zealand healthcare social workers during Covid-19

2024-01-12T11:59:19+13:00

INTRODUCTION: The Covid-19 pandemic posed major challenges to healthcare workers working on the front line. Their risk for negative mental health outcomes is well established, and a high volume of research has been directed at the causes, as well as measures to increase workers’ coping and resilience. Further, holistic and salutogenesis-oriented research is emerging directed at the origins of wellness and opportunities to grow after experiencing adversity. We contribute to this evolving research by qualitatively exploring the experience of transformational growth for social workers who worked in healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand during Covid-19.

METHODS: We conducted semi-structured, online interviews with a sample of six social workers. Their accounts were analysed using an explorative semantic and interpretative form of reflexive thematic analysis, and five main themes were identified. The lens for analysis was Tedeschi and Calhoun’s post-traumatic growth (PTG) theory.

FINDINGS: Participants identified PTG in the form of an increased sense of self and self- identity. They reported significant vocational stresses and deep caring for their patients. They shared a strong occupational self-identification with the social work profession, which might have increased their likelihood of experiencing PTG. Most identified a transformational shift toward paying attention to their own needs.

CONCLUSION: These findings contribute to a new and more holistic perspective for our future pandemic response strategies. Further investigation is suggested to explore the identified shift in the balance between care for others and self-care within the profession.

Cyber-supervision during the Covid-19 pandemic: An exploratory international survey

2024-04-23T09:54:22+12:00

Introduction

This article reports the findings of an exploratory international survey on supervisees' and supervisors' experiences of cyber-supervision during the Covid 19 Pandemic. The survey aimed to establish a baseline of supervisees' and supervisors' experiences of cyber-supervision during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Methods

An online survey of 195 respondents was conducted. Demographic data and the supervisees’ and supervisors’ views were analysed descriptively. Spearman’s Rho correlations were undertaken using IBM SPSS 28 to examine the associations between supervisees’ and supervisors’ ratings of their situation, views and experiences of cyber-supervision, and overall satisfaction and evaluation.

Findings

The results showed that the respondents' supervision changed to online supervision, with video conferencing as the primary method. The supervisees and supervisors shared similar views about online supervision and their attitudes and views about online. Items that indicated a constructive view of online supervision correlated positively with overall satisfaction and evaluation. In contrast, items less favourable of online supervision correlated negatively with overall satisfaction and evaluation. Overall, it was found that the attitudes and perspectives of supervisees and supervisors about online supervision were related to their overall satisfaction and evaluation.

Conclusions

It is recommended that supervisees and supervisors discuss their attitudes about online supervision early in the relationship and that further research be undertaken on the influence and impact of supervisee and supervisor attitudes on online supervision.

The narratives of Asians amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand: Navigating a virtual realm in the context of anti-Asian racism

2024-03-09T11:48:01+13:00

INTRODUCTION: The Asian population, the third largest ethnic group in Aotearoa New Zealand, confronts persistent socio-economic exclusion exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic amidst rising anti-Asian racism. The study aims to explore Asians’ pandemic experiences and their impact on their quality of life in Aotearoa New Zealand, with the goal of contributing to tailored knowledge development for Asians in crisis situations.

METHODS: The study, theoretically grounded in symbolic interactionism, examines stories of 26 Asians representing Chinese, Indian, Filipino and Korean communities. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews identifies patterns encapsulating participants’ strategies to sustain their lives and challenges faced during the pandemic.

FINDINGS: The Covid-19 pandemic profoundly disrupts participants’ lives, evoking anxiety and uncertainty. In response, they turned to virtual realms to maintain daily routines and connections with their home countries. They often relied on ethnic communities for support due to difficulties in accessing formal support systems. Notably, North-east Asians face adversity from racism targeting individuals with a Chinese appearance, resulting in reduced self-esteem and weakened societal belonging.

CONCLUSION: The study sheds light on challenges Asians face amidst escalating anti-Asian racism and highlights the crucial role of ethnic social services during the pandemic. Social workers must engage with ethnic communities, partnering with ethnic social services, to address Asians’ needs in times of crisis.

He Whare Takata: Are wāhine Māori visible in Oranga Tamariki practice guidance?

2023-12-16T16:37:26+13:00

INTRODUCTION: The gauge of a society is how it responds to women and children and, in settler colonial nations, how it responds to the Indigenous women and children. This includes how society upholds the rights and responsibilities of women’s self-determination of body rights and reproductive Justice. Reproductive justice in the settler colonial environment of Aotearoa is tightly tied to the experiences of wāhine Māori and our lived realities across the colonial project. To give full rights and responsibilities to wāhine as holders of whakapapa, birthing practices, and keepers of knowledge, we must be willing to assess and critique society and hold colonial systems to account.

APPROACH: This article follows on from the companion literature analysis article “He Whare Takata: Wāhine Māori reproductive justice in the child protection system”, which provides a detailed description of pre- and post-colonial herstory, providing the reader with an extensive storying of wāhine as leaders. Both articles accept a mana wāhine foundational position that asserts the rakatirataka (leadership and self-determination) of wāhine and the inherent rights of wāhine as ‘he whare takata’, the house of humanity.

CONCLUSIONS: Drawing on the groundwork laid in the companion article, this analysis examines the Oranga Tamariki (OT) practice and evidence centres, specifically auditing content produced following the “Hawkes Bay Uplift” for evidence of a shift of practice that incorporates wāhine knowing, being and doing holding to the foundation of ‘he whare takata’.

What interventions can CAMHS provide for young people involved with Oranga Tamariki? A review of the literature

2024-03-04T11:02:45+13:00

INTRODUCTION: Many care-experienced young people face significant mental health challenges. However, this group is not well served by child and adolescent mental health services. In this first of a two-part series, we present the evidence for effective mental health interventions for care-experienced young people to inform clinical decision-making and improve mental health service delivery. This precedes a second review of principles for working effectively with care-experienced young people.

METHODS: This is a narrative review of the literature regarding mental health interventions for young people involved with child welfare. It is based on international reviews of mental health interventions with the addition of relevant research from Aotearoa New Zealand, especially with Māori young people.

FINDINGS: Appropriate mental health interventions include Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Wraparound, and assertive outreach approaches, as well as systemic interventions that work with the whole care system around a young person. Application of each of these interventions to meet the specific needs of care- experienced youth in Aotearoa New Zealand is discussed. The findings are also relevant to other jurisdictions with overrepresentation of Indigenous young people involved with child welfare services.

CONCLUSION: Individual and systemic interventions are recommended that can support holistic mental health care. There is little integration of cultural considerations and anti- discriminatory practice within the existing literature, despite many of these young people coming from marginalised communities. The authors argue that mental health interventions must be culturally appropriate to meet the needs of care-experienced young people.

How should CAMHS work with young people who are involved with Oranga Tamariki? A literature review of principles for working with care-experienced young people

2024-03-04T11:01:23+13:00

INTRODUCTION: Care-experienced young people tend to have high levels of mental health need which have remained largely unmet by child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). This review focuses on how CAMHS clinicians can better support the mental health of care-experienced young people.

METHOD: A narrative review of the current research on principles for working effectively with care-experienced young people is presented. The focus is on principles that can be applied across the full range of mental health interventions, with a focus on Māori perspectives of wellbeing.

FINDINGS: A set of practice principles framed within an ethic of care is presented that includes establishing a trusting and transparent therapeutic relationship, practising flexibly, promoting youth autonomy and choice, providing support to the whole system around the young person, interagency collaboration, and providing extra support during periods of transition. These approaches can be used across a range of mental health interventions and within a philosophy of care that is youth-centred and attuned to the cultural, practical, and developmental needs of care-experienced young people. While Māori youth are the focus of this review, the findings may be applicable for care-experienced young people from other marginalised groups.

CONCLUSION: CAMHS teams should be adequately resourced to enact a responsive ethic of care. Within multi-disciplinary teams, clinical social workers are well placed to promote holistic mental health care. The principles presented in this review can also be applied across other settings to support care-experienced young people to thrive.

Hidden in plain sight: A critique

2024-03-25T12:59:23+13:00

INTRODUCTON: In 2020, the Health and Disability Sector Review (H&DSR) for Aotearoa New Zealand was published (Simpson, 2020). It called for widespread structural change and reform within the health and disability sector. As a response to this report, Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand (AHANZ) sought advice from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) as to how their membership could contribute to addressing the issues raised in the H&DSR (Simpson, 2020). The resultant report, Hidden in plain sight (HiPS) is the focus of this critique (Hogan, 2021).

APPROACH: An overview of HiPS (Hogan, 2021) is presented along with an analysis using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) framework. Some of the critique offered is from social work literature based on research conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand.

CONCLUSIONS: What becomes evident is: 1) that the proposed change is general practice- centric; and 2) HiPS has not considered the wealth of experience of interprofessional collaboration that is already occurring within the sector. What at face value appears a positive response to the proposal of the H&DSR lacks substance when subjected to robust analysis.

Highlighting Aotearoa New Zealand research and scholarship: What we were reading in 2023

2024-06-15T10:56:09+12:00

Editorial for issue 36(2).