Registered in England & Wales No. If you’re like many social workers, you probably haven’t thought about the readability of the print materials your agency provides to clients. Effective Communication Skills for Social Workers. Interestingly, 93% of teens in American schools are fond of writing, when it’s not a part of their school curriculum; rather when it is for themselves. 3099067 In particular, this article focuses on the second element of this model which is concerned with having a sound understanding of the values and principles of ethical professional writing. It’s not surprising that social workers are unaware of readability as an issue. The lessons you gain from a Master of Social Work … Use short words and short sentences. Available at: http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp, Corley, M. A. Praise and compliments, and even negative feedback, can be used as gas for your social work tank to keep you moving on your career path. You can paste your text into any of the free online readability calculators listed at the end of this article and get an estimate of reading grade level in a few seconds. Every day, social workers must communicate with clients to gain information, convey critical information and make important … London: Cassell. Her low-literacy fact sheets and brochures have been published by the National Cancer Institute and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University. National Center for Education Statistics. The complexity of their writing task arises because they must deal with confidential client information while usually writing for multiple audiences… If you only have access to graphics unrelated to the text, do not use them. This does take practice! This is also the time for you to share your thoughts with clients … Social work ethics do not condone the use of language that undermines a person’s well-being. We conclude that this framework will promote writing competence and benefit clients. When you learn to write clearly enough for clients with limited literacy skills to understand what you write, you improve the clarity of all of your professional writing. Simply put: A guide for creating easy to understand materials. Social workers write a lot and their writing has a major impact on people's lives. The starting point for this paper is the view that social work practice is a highly skilled activity and one that calls for an extensive knowledge base and considerable intellectual abilities. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. As anyone studying public relations knows, online publications, publicly circulated … It does mean that if you read what you’ve written out loud, it should sound pretty close to the way you speak. She all, Kadian McDonald | Client Relationships and Ethical Boundaries for Social Workers in Child Welfare. All social workers should engage in professional supervision to help encourage and develop critical thinking abilities. White, S., & Dillow, S. (2005). As I learned myself, there’s a side benefit to making that effort. (2003). All rights reserved. Social workers write a lot and their writing has a major impact on people's lives. Writing may be a fundamental skill, but it is one that students and practitioners cannot afford to take for granted. First, after reviewing the literature on the importance and challenges of writing well in social work (and having hosted a number of writing workshops for social workers and human services practitioners), we argue that the development of students' writing skills must be framed within the social, political and ethical professional circumstances in which students will be working in the future. The purpose is what you want your audience to know or to do after reading it. Readability should matter to social workers because many of our clients are poor, and people who are poor are more likely to have limited literacy skills (Corley, 2003; White & Dillow, 2005). I speak from experience. Although people who are poor may be more likely to have difficulty with reading, there are many other individuals in this country who are not good readers. Available free at Harvard University School of Public Health: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/resources/doak-book/. National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Use active voice. Writing is a key part of the job; social workers frequently write documents such as assessment reports, case notes, letters, emails, and support plans. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/practice/innovative-actions/index.html, Medline Plus. This means that social work students must achieve more than the basics of technical writing skills. Avoid acronyms and jargon. Yick, A. “If … Lots of print with little white space looks intimidating. It really does make a difference. Use plenty of white space. Fancy fonts (including. As an added benefit, these guidelines will make your agency’s print materials easier for everyone to read. Detailed note taking ability – The ability to take excellent notes is extremely important as you listen … 186-205). Proposals for British readability measures. http://www.wordscount.info/wc/jsp/clear/analyze_smog.jsp, http://www.readabilityformulas.com/free-readability-calculators.php, http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/resources/doak-book/, http://www.problemgamblingprevention.org/tips/Readability-scores.pdf, http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/plaintrain/index.html, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/practice/innovative-actions/index.html, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/etr.html, http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing/pdf/Simply_Put_082010.pdf, Client Relationships and Ethical Boundaries for Social Workers in Child Welfare, Transgender Day of Remembrance 2020: What Social Workers Need To Know, What I Wish I Had Known: Burnout and Self-Care in Our Social Work Profession, Fusing Fitness With Mental Health Treatment in Supportive Housing and Related Settings. The importance of research in a social work framework Social work, often considered a relatively modern profession, has developed through advances in knowledge, social reforms, democratic ideas and … Downing & A. L. Brown (Eds). Nearly half of … You may think that lowering the reading grade level is all it takes to make text easy to read. If you use images of people, be sure they look like the people you’re trying to reach and that they’re culturally appropriate. It does. These same people don't hold evaluation in much regard because they … It’s easier for poor readers to follow text written in a conversational style. Maxine is a Social Work, who encourages her clients to call her at home when they need her. Do not use illustrations just to “fancy up” a brochure. Here’s the good news if the materials your agency gives to clients are in need of improvement. Retrieved 9/10/10 from: http://nces.ed.gov/naal/. If eligibility criteria or application instructions are buried in unnecessary details and complicated language, people may be discouraged from applying for services or taking part in programs your agency offers. Writing may not be part of your job description, but in most social work settings, writing is part of the job. Are state Medicaid application enrollment forms readable? Unfortunately, most of us don’t learn about the importance of readability or how to make our writing readable while we’re in school. The way you format and lay out the text can either help people to read it or discourage them from trying. When the job at hand involves writing - such as in the case of professional writers, journalistsand other communications professionals - then your literacy skills are clearly going to be important. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email, Ethical Professional Writing in Social Work and Human Services, /doi/full/10.1080/17496535.2015.1009481?needAccess=true. The complexity of their writing task arises because they must deal with confidential client information while usually writing for multiple audiences. Combining different fonts will make your text look busy and confusing. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 20, 423–431. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. U. S. Department of Education. Clients do not need to know who the agency’s director is, how many clients the agency assisted last year, when and how the agency was founded, or what the staff members’ educational backgrounds are. This doesn’t mean using slang. Readable materials should be written no higher than the 8th grade reading level, according to the U.S. Department of Education. It … Students searching for Why Writing Skills are More Important Than Ever found the following related articles, links, and information useful. They’ll give up before they locate or understand need-to-know information, such as: who to call for financial assistance, or when the food pantry is open, or where to find shelter from an abusive partner. The first step is to review your agency’s existing materials and answer two basic questions about each piece: The target audience is the people you’re trying to reach—clients, prospective volunteers, the general public, other professionals, and so forth. Retrieved 2/15/11 from: http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED475392.pdf, Doak, C. C., Doak, L. G., & Root, J. Great gift book for social work graduates! Supervision. Illustrations can make a flyer or brochure more attractive and eye-catching, which may encourage people to pick it up. Social work is an important … I have been treating transgender people 2012. Do not use more than one font. I highly respect this article. Living in a area which is affected by poverty, drugs, high crime rates and bad education has motivated me to become a social worker … They improve readability by illustrating the messages in the words. Although writing skills are important for internal communications, they are just as important externally, if not more so. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 12 (1), 91. People outside your agency won’t understand the abbreviations and “social work speak” you use with your colleagues.