Dean and Professor Gautam N. Yadama
To solve the most intractable problems of our day鈥攁nd of tomorrow鈥攚e must draw upon a diversity of disciplines and partner with those who experience these issues. Only then can we create and scale up appropriate evidence-based interventions. At the Boston College School of Social Work, we are advancing a bold and innovative agenda for transdisciplinary social work research, education, and practice. It is not an easy undertaking, but the outcomes are rewarding and impactful. 聽
We are pursuing multiple paths to increase access to evidence-based interventions, reduce risk and vulnerability in people鈥檚 lives, and improve the quality of life in our communities. Such efforts need a keen understanding of culture, diversity, and the complex adaptive systems driving marginalized and vulnerable livelihoods. Moreover, they require enduring partnerships with a network of practitioners, government agencies and non-governmental organizations, and communities. It is imperative that evidence-based interventions鈥攚hether to address mental health, the trauma of war and displacement, social isolation of the elderly, or to improve the health and well-being of women and children鈥攔each those most in need.
This remains a central concern at the school and is reflected in our efforts to adapt solution-focused therapy for Latinx clients; to 别虫辫补苍诲听Sugira Muryango, a father-engaged, playful parenting home-visiting intervention for 200,000 families facing extreme poverty in Rwanda developed by the Research Program on Children and Adversity and their partners; and in our partnership with the Foundation for Ecological Security to address the complex social and environmental problems of the poor. I invite you to read further on these and other contributions from our school. We are setting a high standard for action.