Canadian social work education in mental health and addictions: understanding perspectives of faculty members

ABSTRACT

Social workers play an important role in the field of mental health and addictions, but there are concerns about the level of training and education offered by social work programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of Canadian social work faculty members on social work education in mental health and addictions. We conducted focus groups and individual interviews with faculty (N = 14) from English and French social work programs in seven Canadian provinces and one territory. Using thematic analysis, we generated four themes linked to social work faculty members’ perspectives on mental health and addictions in Canadian social work education. These included curriculum priorities and pedagogical approaches, gaps in the curricula, challenges to teaching mental health and addictions in social work education, and facilitators to strengthen the teaching of mental health and addictions in social work education. This study has important policy, practice, and education implications. Our findings underline the importance of including mental health in standards and policies set by accrediting associations, teaching students to use critical-clinical approaches, providing faculty with increased support, and developing a community of practice forsocial work faculty.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• social work education
• faculty members
• mental health
• addictions
• teaching
• learning
• social work practice

Acknowledgments

We would like to express appreciation to the faculty members from across Canada who gave time to participate in this study and share their perspectives on teaching mental health and addictions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Toula Kourgiantakis

Dr. Toula Kourgiantakis, PhD, MSW, RSW, CCFT is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Factor- Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on family-focused practices in mental health and addictions, accessibility, equity, and culturally adapted mental health services for youth and families, cannabis use and mental health outcomes in youth, and strengthening social work education and training. Dr. Kourgiantakis is a Registered Social Worker and Certified Couple and Family Therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience that informs her teaching and research.

Karen M. Sewell

Dr. Karen M. Sewell, PhD, MSW, RSW, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Her research interests stem from her practice in children's mental health, including supervision, evidence-supported interventions, and program development.She is also interested in social work education, including field education and the use of simulation in teaching/learning and research.

Rachelle Ashcroft

Dr. Eunjung Lee, PhD, MSW, RSW is an Associate Professor and Endowed Chair in Mental Health and Health at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto in Canada. She is a psychotherapy process researcher focusing on cross-cultural clinical practice in community mental health. Using critical theories in language, discourse and power, her research focuses on everyday interactions in clinical practice and simulation-based learning in social work education, as well as immigration, transnationalism, and politics of multiculturalism and welfare state.

Eunjung Lee

Dr. Rachelle Ashcroft, PhD, MSW, RSW is a social worker and an Assistant Professor with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. She has 14 years of social work practice in various health care settings. She began her career in HIV, sexual health, and community mental health. For ten years, she worked as a social worker in Winnipeg’s Health Science Centre in trauma, psychiatry, bone marrow transplant, nephrology, and neurosurgery. Her research focuses on strengthening mental health care, interprofessional collaboration, and integrating social workers in primary care. She is Vice-President at the Ontario Association of Social Workers.