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Social Worker as a Multidisciplinary Team Member: Embedding Three Cs (Competence, Confidence and Compassion) in Social Work Education in Mental Health

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Social Work Education, Research and Practice

Abstract

Social workers have been very active and increasingly so, as part of a multidisciplinary team over the years, in supporting consumers with mental health issues. Knowledge about mental health and the skills to work effectively with consumers who have mental health problems are basic requirements for contemporary social work practice as it is estimated that approximately 45% of Australians will experience a mental illness at some point in their lifetime. This paper focuses on the role of the social worker as a multidisciplinary team member who makes an important contribution to the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of consumers within their context-specific life situations, but who in doing so, are sometimes challenged, confronted and undermined. This paper explores these issues in detail and contends that social work education in mental health needs to be strengthened to empower social workers in their roles. The authors argue that in the current context of practice and the challenges faced by the profession, embedding the three Cs—competence, confidence and compassion—in social work education will empower social workers to respond more effectively to these challenges.

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Acknowledgements

The authors received a James Cook University Learning and Teaching grant to support this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    Abraham P. Francis & Amy Forbes

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  1. Abraham P. Francis
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  2. Amy Forbes
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Correspondence to Abraham P. Francis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ilango Ponnuswami

  2. Social Work and Human Services, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Abraham P. Francis

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Francis, A.P., Forbes, A. (2020). Social Worker as a Multidisciplinary Team Member: Embedding Three Cs (Competence, Confidence and Compassion) in Social Work Education in Mental Health. In: Ponnuswami, I., Francis, A.P. (eds) Social Work Education, Research and Practice . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9797-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9797-8_5

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