Knowledge development for social work practice in health

Originally I was asked to discuss research for health practice. But research is a specialized and sometimes formidable enterprise. Many consider it removed from workaday practice. In short, research may be construed as somebody else’s business. The orderly development of practice knowledge depends, I argue, just as much on line practitioners as on evaluators and researchers. To enhance our knowledge, all of us need to be imbued with a common sense of purpose and a common language. And many steps are required in addition to formal, high-budget, long-term, controlled research.