Edward Cohen, San Jose State University – TeleSocialWork: A Case Study of Online Services

Many health services have gone virtual; but are they right for all?

Edward Cohen, professor in the school of social work at San Jose State University, examines social services.

Edward Cohen received his M.S.W. and Ph.D. in Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught research methods (UC Berkeley) courses in managed care (UC Davis) and has provided training to mental health agencies in improving agency performance through the use of data and evaluation. Practice experience includes over 17 years in senior positions as a clinician, administrator, policy planner and consultant in both private and public mental health and social service agencies. Dr. Cohen was Director of the Center for Social Services Research at the University of California at Berkeley prior to joining the faculty at SJSU. He is past editorial board member of the journal Research on Social Work Practice and the International Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and Mental Health. He now serves on the editorial board of Child and Adolescent Social Work.

TeleSocialWork: A Case Study of Online Services

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the population’s well-being, and on how social and health services are being delivered. Telehealth has been shown to be effective in medicine and psychological services. Can programs in the social services be effectively adapted for online care? That’s the question addressed by a recent study of a family intervention designed to prevent child abuse and improve family functioning. “Celebrating Families!” is a program of parent training classes for families with multiple problems, including a history of trauma, parental substance use, and risks for child maltreatment. Originally designed for in-person administration, “Celebrating…” has been implemented in over 40 states and tribal authorities. The highly relational and experiential intervention consists of 16 weekly classes with groups of families and there are versions for all ages of children and adolescents. The objectives are to improve family and individual resiliencies, address the impact of substance use problems in the family, improve family relationships, and improve parents’ ability to cope with emotional stress. “Celebrating” is effective at reunifying families torn apart by family violence and child maltreatment, and studies to date have shown good outcomes for all family members.

Due to the pandemic program developers had to adapt the intervention to online virtual administration – directly to families’ homes. The study in a large California county compared in-person and online outcomes in the areas of parenting skills, family strengths, parental self-efficacy, and learning. In all areas of outcomes, both in-person and online participants showed comparable improvements from pre- to posttest. More families completed the class cycles online than those in-person. The study showed that such relational interventions can be administered online and can be just as effective as in-person programs. This is important considering that the pandemic may be altering how health and human services are provided going forward.