Topic: Therapy for intellectually disabled clients
Description:
Description: This is a research paper. You will first identify a problem that interests you( therapy for intellectually disabled clients) Then you will do a literature review: Include a minimum of 6-10 peer-reviewed articles, no more than 10-years old, primarily from the social work literature, that suggest various solutions to the problem. You will write a thematic synthesis and critique of the literature, not an article-by-article review. Your problem area and intervention should focus on the individual, but your literature review can include research on family, group, and pharmacotherapy interventions.
Then, based on your understanding of the literature, you will propose the best solution to the problem (i.e. best practice). You will end with an evaluation of how well the “best practice” intervention worked for your client. You should follow APA style guidelines for title page, abstract, headings, formatting, citations and references. APA style, quality of writing, grammar, typography, and spelling is worth 5 points. The paper is 11 – 15 pages, not including title page, abstract, or references.
1. Title Page (separate page; does not count towards the total number of pages)
2. Abstract (150 words) (separate page; does not count towards the total number of pages). An abstract is a summary of your paper which includes the major points from each section. (Most people write the abstract last).
3. Presenting problem (1 – 2 pages)
a) Identify and describe an individual client problem that you have either worked with or expect to work with upon graduation. Examples of a problem area include a diagnosis (e.g. depression; ADHD; substance abuse, etc.), a specific behavior (e.g. school refusal; suicidal ideation, etc.), or phase of life issue (e.g. death of a parent; divorce, etc.).
b) Write a brief description of a client (actual or imagined), the presenting problem, and the strengths and resources they could draw upon to address the problem.
c) Identify in one or two sentences the clinical practice issue you are going to research.
4. Literature review (2 – 4 pages) (Course Objectives 4 & 5)
Use Temple’s electronic database to find research articles related to your problem area. Include a minimum of 6-10 peer-reviewed articles, no more than 10-years old, primarily from the social work literature. Use your assigned texts as resources when appropriate.
The Social Work Desk Reference and the Encyclopedia of Social Work are always good stand-by references.
• See Temple’s website for tips on writing literature reviews: https://www.temple.edu/writingctr/handouts/disciplines/litreviews.htm
Conduct a thorough review of the literature to:
a) Discuss empirically supported treatments or therapy approaches that have been studied to address this problem, including goals, interventions and outcomes and describe what has been found to be effective or not effective in addressing this problem.
b) Summarize the findings from your review of the research.
5. Best Practice Approach (3 – 4 pages) (Course Objective 4)
a) From your summary of the research literature, identify the practice model or treatment that is most effective (i.e. has the most empirical support) for resolving your client’s problem.
b) Describe the key ideas and major assumptions of that practice model.
c) Evaluate the evidence: What are the strengths and limitations of the existing literature? How applicable is the research to your client? Have researchers done studies on clients that “look” like your client? e.g. they are the same age, gender, race, SES, nationality, etc? How does the research fit with the client’s needs or preferences for treatment?
d) Discuss how this approach does or does not account for the needs of culturally diverse clients?
6. Intervention (4 – 5 pages) (Course Objective 3)
a) Develop a plan for implementing or applying the Best Practice approach with your client
b) Identify the goals of treatment. For each goal, specify at least two objectives.
c) Specify one or more techniques you would use in your intervention
d) Give examples of how you would use the technique(s) with your client (include sample dialogue if appropriate).
7. Evaluation (1 page) (Course Objective 6)
a) Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment (i.e. how will you know if you have successfully achieved the client’s goals for treatment?).