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Targets of Change and Interventions in Social Work: An Empirically Based Prototype for Developing Practice Guidelines

Enola K. Proctor

Washington University

Marlys Staudt

University of Tennessee

Objective: Studies evaluating interventions were used as data to illustrate a rudimentary prototype of practice guidelines comprising two components: a taxonomy of outcome targets, and their associated arrays of interventions. We use the data to discuss the adequacy of intervention research in social work for contributing to practice guidelines. Method: Data were all the outcomes and their associated interventions investigated and reported in 13 social work journals over a four and a half year period, totaling 126 studies. Results: The outcomes and interventions were classified according to eight outcome target domains, yielding the practice guidelines prototype. The research was unevenly distributed across the eight target domains, and a pattern of ‘single outcome-single intervention’design was evident across all target domains. Conclusions: Data suggest insufficient attention to comparative evaluation of interventions and to assessing effectiveness across client populations and service settings, and need for better-designed and prioritized intervention research overall.

Key Words: interventions • practice guidelines • intervention research • outcomes

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