International Social Work Contributing to the Reduction of Inequalities: Strategies for Development and Implementation

There is a growing interest among social work investigators, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations to engage in international research, with an emphasis on reducing health and social inequalities. The U.S. National Institute for Mental Health and the World Health Organization, among other funding sources, are increasing support for global research initiatives. Despite this growing focus on global research, there are not systematized outlines that help social work investigators to develop and implement global research. The goal for this roundtable is to discuss processes of developing sustained, ethically-engaged international research collaborations focused on vulnerable and marginalized communities. In addition, the intersectional identities of the participants inform interrelated social justice issues. This roundtable will describe the experiences of four social work researchers conducting international studies in Chile, Colombia, Cote d'ivoire, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, and the Caribbean. Through in-depth discussion of three case studies, this roundtable will provide social work researchers an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills regarding the development and implementation of international research with vulnerable populations. The first presenter will discuss the cross-cultural challenges, knowledge-production opportunities, and ethical responsibilities of international researcher in the context of a transnational study focused on pediatric suicidal behaviors. Presenter two will draw on lessons learned from research focused on pregnant adolescents from a qualitative dissertation to a current mixed method investigation of the implications of service delivery systems. In addition, related strategies on the development of a transnational international social work course focused on HIV prevention and intervention strategies will be discussed. Lastly, the third presenter will discuss her research in South Korea on the mental health and school outcomes of adolescents growing up in institutional / orphanage care. Parallel to describing their studies, presenters will introduce strategies that can help junior researchers to (a) build international collaborations within multicultural and interdisciplinary teams working with vulnerable and marginalized communities; (b) develop guidelines to deal with local and international research bureaucracies; (c) identify cost effective practices, including the use of cloud-based and social-media resources, to enhance projects' implementation and research synergy, and (d) seek funding opportunities to support global research in social work. In light of the need to establish effective conditions enabling international research collaborations, the presenters will discuss the critical role that multicultural and interdisciplinary teams can play in advancing global social work research. The presenters will introduce real case scenarios in which collaborators faced and solved important decisions at the ethical, conceptual, methodological, implementation, and analytic levels. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions, share their experiences, and discuss the implications to social work research, policy and practice focused on reducing global health inequalities.