Translating Social Work Research for Social Justice: Focusing Translational Research on Equity Rather than the Market

Abstract

Management of the dissemination of effective interventions in social work is often uncertain, and even when attention is paid to diffusing effective, innovative interventions, the focus is often disproportionately on a marketplace orientation of increasing the market share of branded, manualized interventions and social service treatment products. Public health frameworks of dissemination can improve knowledge translation in social interventions by focusing dissemination efforts on achieving equity and increasing the availability of effective interventions to all those who can benefit from them rather than simply focusing on commercial processes. This article identifies three equity-focused translation frameworks that can aid the dissemination of effective social interventions at the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Keywords:

• Evidence-based practice
• translational research
• social justice
• equity
• market

Notes

Earlier drafts of this work were presented at the annual meetings of the American Public Health Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems.