Can "tourism" change children's lives?

The question of whether a study tour can do more than stimulate, refresh or entertain its students by changing the way they work when they get back home is the subject of a forthcoming Unit journal article.

The European Journal of Social Work is publishing an account of the results of two Unit trips to the US during 2005 that enabled participants from the UK and Ireland to see model prevention and early intervention programmes in action and to meet their developers.
 
On the basis of interviews 30-36 months later, the article considers how far the experience changed participants’ thinking and led to innovations in services and service planning inside their organizations. It also identifies factors that helped or hindered the process. The article sheds light on how to get proven programmes adopted and implemented well, the challenges of cross-national policy transfer, and methods for promoting research utilisation.
 
See: Axford N, Jonas M, Berry V, Green V and Morpeth L (in press) "Can study tours help promote evidence-based practice in children's services?" European Journal of Social Work.