| Course | MSW 520 International Social Work |
|---|---|
| Week | 5 |
| Paper type | Intervention adaptation write-up |
| Length | About 620 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 520 Week 5
Adapting Problem Management Plus for Rohingya Women in a Cox's Bazar Women-Friendly Space: What the Published Manual Assumes, Which Parts Stay Fixed, Each Change With a Reason and Who Can Deliver It Without a License to Work
Student Name
Chamberlain University
MSW 520: International Social Work
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Adapting Problem Management Plus for Rohingya Women in a Cox's Bazar Women-Friendly Space: What the Published Manual Assumes, Which Parts Stay Fixed, Each Change With a Reason and Who Can Deliver It Without a License to Work
The Method as Published
Problem Management Plus is a brief psychological intervention developed by the World Health Organization for adults affected by adversity. It teaches four strategies: managing stress, managing problems, getting going and keeping doing, and strengthening social support. It is delivered by trained non-specialists in five weekly sessions. In a trial in Peshawar, Pakistan, 346 adults with high distress were randomized, and those receiving the intervention had lower anxiety and depression three months later than those receiving enhanced usual care (Rahman et al., 2016). A trial in Nairobi with women affected by gender-based violence found reduced distress, delivered by lay community health workers (Bryant et al., 2017).
What the Manual Assumes
A private room. A participant who can attend five weeks in a row at a fixed time. A helper who is employed and supervised. Homework written on a sheet. A participant whose problems can be worked on by the participant's own action. Each of these is uncertain in the camps, where a systematic review notes the lack of privacy and safe spaces for women (Tay et al., 2019).
Fixed Parts and Movable Parts
Fixed: the four strategies, the order in which they are taught, the use of trained and supervised non-specialists and the screening for high distress and impaired functioning. Movable: examples, session length, venue, written materials and whether sessions are individual or in a group.
Every Change With a Reason
Venue: sessions move to the women-friendly space, because shelters offer no privacy. Format: groups of six women rather than individual sessions, using the group version of the method, because helpers are few and women prefer to come together. Timing: sessions at mid-morning, after water collection and before the midday meal. Materials: picture cards replace written worksheets, because many participants did not attend school. Examples: problems used in teaching come from the camp, such as a ration card error or a daughter's safety on the route to the learning center, not from the manual's examples. Managing problems: the step that asks a participant to choose an action is kept, but the helper adds a step asking who in the camp can act, since many problems need a block leader or an agency.
The Parts Left Out
The written diary between sessions is dropped. The individual follow-up session at three months is replaced by a group reunion, which may lose detail on each woman's progress.
Dropping the diary loses a record helpers could use in supervision, so helpers will note one sentence per participant after each session instead.
Who Delivers It, and Under What License
Rohingya women cannot be formally employed in Bangladesh. Helpers would be Rohingya community volunteers receiving the incentive payments allowed by the government, trained for eight days and supervised weekly by a Bangladeshi psychologist from the implementing NGO. That arrangement keeps the method's use of non-specialists, but the helpers carry real responsibility without a contract, and the plan must say who is accountable if a participant discloses a risk.
How the Adaptation Will Be Checked
Distress and functioning are measured before the first session and three months later, using measures already translated for the camps, and helpers' fidelity to the four strategies is checked in supervision.
References
Bryant, R. A., Schafer, A., Dawson, K. S., Anjuri, D., Mulili, C., Ndogoni, L., Koyiet, P., Sijbrandij, M., Ulate, J., Harper Shehadeh, M., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D., & van Ommeren, M. (2017). Effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention on psychological distress among women with a history of gender-based violence in urban Kenya: A randomised clinical trial. PLOS Medicine, 14(8), Article e1002371. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002371
Rahman, A., Hamdani, S. U., Awan, N. R., Bryant, R. A., Dawson, K. S., Khan, M. F., Azeemi, M. M.-U.-H., Akhtar, P., Nazir, H., Chiumento, A., Sijbrandij, M., Wang, D., Farooq, S., & van Ommeren, M. (2016). Effect of a multicomponent behavioral intervention in adults impaired by psychological distress in a conflict-affected area of Pakistan: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 316(24), 2609-2617. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.17165
Tay, A. K., Riley, A., Islam, R., Welton-Mitchell, C., Duchesne, B., Waters, V., Varner, A., Moussa, B., Mahmudul Alam, A. N. M., Elshazly, M. A., Silove, D., & Ventevogel, P. (2019). The culture, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Rohingya refugees: A systematic review. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 28(5), 489-494. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796019000192
MSW 520 Week 5 instructions, in plain terms
The adaptation write-up compares a method as published with the same method running in a second place. Describe the source model briefly and accurately: its developer, its evidence and the populations it was tested with. Then list what the manual takes for granted, such as a private room, steady attendance, literacy or employed helpers. Separate the fixed parts, which carry the method's active ingredients, from movable parts such as examples, venue and materials. Give every change a reason drawn from the setting. List what you leave out and what that might cost. Say who would deliver the method and under what license or employment arrangement. Translation alone is not adaptation; the question is whether the arrangement can run.
How this MSW 520 Week 5 example is built
The method section describes the four strategies and five weekly sessions, then reports the Peshawar trial by Rahman et al. (2016) with 346 adults and the Nairobi trial by Bryant et al. (2017) with women affected by gender-based violence. The assumptions section lists a private room, steady attendance, employed helpers, written homework and problems a participant can solve alone, citing Tay et al. (2019) on the lack of privacy for women in the camps. Fixed and movable parts are separated. Each change has a reason: the women-friendly space for privacy, groups of six, mid-morning timing, picture cards and a step asking who in the camp can act. The diary and individual follow-up are dropped. A section on delivery describes incentive volunteers and weekly supervision, and a closing section plans measurement.
MSW 520 Week 5 rubric: what full points look like
Faculty grade the comparison between the published method and the adapted one. The largest loss is a write-up where translation is the only change, which answers a question about vocabulary rather than delivery. Next is adaptation without a ceiling, where so much changes that nothing of the original remains. Credit goes to a list of the manual's assumptions, a clear line between fixed and movable parts and a reason for each change grounded in the setting. Listing what is dropped shows honesty. The question of who delivers the method, under what employment or license, is expected at this level. The source's evidence must be reported accurately, in APA style.
MSW 520 Week 5 help: mistakes that cost points
The write-up that loses most simply translates the materials and calls the method adapted. A second common problem changes everything, including the active ingredients, so the evidence no longer applies. Some list changes without reasons, or give reasons that would apply anywhere. Others ignore who delivers the method, assuming licensed counselors exist where they do not. If your method is different, perhaps a parenting program moving from Oregon to rural Uganda, the same steps apply: assumptions, fixed and movable parts, a reason for each change and the delivery arrangement. A write-up drafted for your method would quote the trial populations and name the person who would run each session.
Get a MSW-520 Week 5 example written to your instructions
Send the model your section named and the setting it has to move to, with the rubric, and a write-up is built on that pairing: the assumption list, the changes with reasons, and what was given up. Turnaround is 24 to 48 hours and the first one is free.
More MSW 520 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 520 Week 1: What Makes Practice International
- MSW 520 Week 2: UNHCR Bangladesh Agency Profile
- MSW 520 Week 3: Rohingya Household Case Study
- MSW 520 Week 4: Chicago Resettlement Service Plan
- MSW 520 Week 6: Diaspora Community Assessment
- MSW 520 Week 7: Cross-border Case Consultation
- MSW 520 Week 8: International Practice Paper
- MSW 521 Week 5: Post-impact Needs Survey
- MSW 517 Week 5: Young Caregivers Group Plan
- MSW 524 Week 5: Presenting Problem Analysis
- MSW 516 Week 5: Agency Level Self-Efficacy Reading
MSW 520 Week 5 questions, answered
Does the method have to move from a wealthy country to a poorer one?
No, and reversing it often makes a better paper. A community health worker model developed in one region and taken into an American city meets exactly the same audit: licensing, reimbursement, supervision and whether anyone is permitted to hold that role. Sections rarely fix the direction, and the reasoning is the same either way.
How much of the original evidence should I report?
Enough to say what was tested, on whom, and with what result, which is usually a paragraph. The reason for keeping it short is that the evidence belongs to the version you are about to change, and the write-up's honest position is that the adapted method inherits a weaker claim than the original one holds.
Can I say a method should not be transferred at all?
Yes, where the audit supports it. A conclusion that the receiving setting already runs something equivalent, or that no one there may lawfully deliver the model, is a finding and is marked as one. What fails is a refusal reached on general grounds, with no assumption tested and no local provision examined.
Where can I find a free MSW 520 Week 5 sample paper?
A full MSW 520 Week 5 adaptation of Problem Management Plus for Rohingya women in a Cox's Bazar women-friendly space is posted here, with margin notes.
Which parts of the method stay fixed in the MSW 520 Week 5 sample?
The four strategies and their order, delivery by trained and supervised non-specialists and screening for high distress, while venue, format, timing, materials and examples change.