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Social workers' perceptions of barriers to interpersonal therapy implementation for treating postpartum depression in a primary care setting in Israel
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Social workers' perceptions of barriers to interpersonal therapy implementation for treating postpartum depression in a primary care setting in Israel

Rena Bina, Adi Barak, Barbara Posmontier, Saralee Glasser and Tali Cinamon
Health & social care in the community, v 26(1), pp e75-e84
Jan 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12479
PMID: 28726342
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12479View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Adult Depression, Postpartum - psychology Depression, Postpartum - therapy Evidence-Based Practice Female Humans Israel Primary Health Care Psychotherapy, Brief - methods Qualitative Research Social Perception Social Work - methods Social Workers - statistics & numerical data Young Adult
Research on evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation in social work often neglects to include evaluation of application barriers. This qualitative study examined social workers' perspectives of provider- and organisational-related barriers to implementing a brief eight-session interpersonal therapy (IPT) intervention, a time-limited EBP that addresses reducing depressive symptoms and improving interpersonal functioning. Implementation took place in a primary care setting in Israel and was aimed at treating women who have postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms. Using purposeful sampling, 25 primary care licensed social workers were interviewed between IPT training and implementation regarding their perceived barriers to implementing IPT in practice. Data analysis was facilitated using a phenomenological approach, which entails identifying the shared themes and shared experiences of research participants regarding barriers to implementing IPT. Three themes emerged from the analysis of interviews: Perceived lack of flexibility of IPT intervention in comparison with more familiar methods social workers previously applied, specifically regarding the number of sessions and therapeutic topics included in the IPT protocol; insecurity and hesitance to gain experience with a new method of intervention; and organisational barriers, including difficulties with referrals, the perception of HMOs as health facilities not suitable for therapy, and time constraints. Addressing perceived barriers of social workers toward implementing EBPs, such as IPT for postpartum depression, during the training phase is crucial for enabling appropriate implementation. Future training should include examining practitioners' attitudes toward implementation of EBPs, as part of standardised training protocols.

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14 Record Views
10 citations in Web of Science
11 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Social Work
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