CASE-STUDY OF AN AGENCY-UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A SCHOOL OF SOCIAL-WORK AND A MEDICAL-CENTER

The combination of social work's responsibility for accountability and social service financial constraints have resulted in a continuing em phasis on social work research. Social workers have written extensivel y about the importance of research in social work (Kirk, Osmalov, & Fi scher, 1976; Marsh, 1983; Thyer, 1991) and the obstacles to social wor k practitioners engaging in and/or utilizing that research (Simpson, 1 978; Rosen, 1983; Richey, Blythe, & Berlin, 1987). While most social w ork researchers come from academia, social work research which is dire cted towards application to the delivery of social services must event ually be tested in the field using authentic client/systems (Thyer, 19 89). This reality has resulted in a more recent and growing body of li terature focusing on agency-university collaboration in research (Rein herz, Grob, & Berkman, 1983; Young, 1986; Schilling, Schinke, Kirkham et al., 1988; Stiffman, Feldman, Evans et al., 1984; Chavkin, 1986; Tu rnbull, Saltz, & Gwyther, 1988). This paper will present a case study describing a collaborative research partnership between New Directions , the outpatient social work unit of Patient Services at Huntington Me morial Hospital, Pasadena, CA, and the University of Southern Californ ia (USC) School of Social Work, a partnership formed for the purpose o f evaluating the effectiveness of a treatment intervention. The goal o f presenting this case study is to contribute to the continuing need f or more discussion and examples of the complex issues involved in the formation and implementation of such a partnership.