| Course | MSW 546 Social Work Practice - Evaluation |
|---|---|
| Week | 4 |
| Paper type | Practice effectiveness memo |
| Length | About 400 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 546 Week 4
Memorandum
To: Field instructor and clinical director
From: MSW student intern
Date: June 14, 2027
Re: Did behavioral activation help V.? A sized claim and what it rests on
The Claim
V.'s depression improved from moderately severe to mild over 20 sessions, and the behaviors targeted by behavioral activation increased; the work plausibly contributed, but other changes in V.'s life probably did too.
Findings
PHQ-9: 17 on January 19, 19 on April 8, 9 on June 10. Mornings walked: 0 a week at baseline, 3 of 3 for the last four weeks recorded. Goal attainment: Goal 1 at +1 and Goal 2 at +2 on June 10. Attendance: 18 of 20 scheduled sessions.
Interpretation
The rise in walks and activities followed the start of behavioral activation within two weeks, which fits the approach's mechanism of scheduling valued activity. The PHQ-9 drop of 8 points is large, and its final score falls in the mild band in the original validation (Kroenke et al., 2001).
A drop of this size would be meaningful for one client. It does not tell the agency how behavioral activation works across its caseload, which is why the recommendation below asks for the same two measures from other clients.
Alternative Explanations
1. Medication: V. began bupropion in late March. Its effect would be expected over several weeks, overlapping with the improvement.
2. The custody ruling in V.'s favor on May 10 removed a major stressor.
3. Season: longer days in spring.
4. Measurement: V. knew the worker hoped the scores would improve.
Each could explain part of the change. None can be separated from the work with one client and no comparison.
Recommendation
Continue offering behavioral activation to adults with moderate depression who report low energy, and record PHQ-9 and one countable behavior every four sessions so the agency can look across clients. A trial of the approach found it comparable to medication among more severely depressed adults (Dimidjian et al., 2006); the agency's own data could show how it works here.
What I Need
A spreadsheet template for recording scores across clients, and fifteen minutes at the July team meeting to present it.
With those two things, the agency could look across ten or twenty clients by the end of the year. That is still not a trial, but it would show whether V.'s pattern is typical here or unusual.
References
Dimidjian, S., Hollon, S. D., Dobson, K. S., Schmaling, K. B., Kohlenberg, R. J., Addis, M. E., Gallop, R., McGlinchey, J. B., Markley, D. K., Gollan, J. K., Atkins, D. C., Dunner, D. L., & Jacobson, N. S. (2006). Randomized trial of behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, and antidepressant medication in the acute treatment of adults with major depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(4), 658-670. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.4.658
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
MSW 546 Week 4 instructions, in plain terms
The practice effectiveness memo puts its conclusion first, sized to the evidence. State the claim in one sentence that includes how strong it is. Then give the findings with numbers and dates, kept separate from interpretation. Interpret the findings briefly, then name each alternative explanation specifically rather than gesturing at limitations. Make a recommendation the agency can act on, and say what you need to carry it out. Keep the memo to a page or so. The reader is a supervisor or director with little time, so headings should let them stop after any section and still know the conclusion.
Inside the MSW 546 Week 4 example
The memo opens with the sized claim: improvement from moderately severe to mild, the work plausibly contributing, other changes probably too. Findings list PHQ-9 scores of 17, 19 and 9, the morning counts, goal attainment scores and 18 of 20 sessions attended. Interpretation ties the timing to behavioral activation and the score bands to Kroenke et al. (2001), then notes one client says little about the caseload. Four alternatives follow: bupropion from late March, the May 10 ruling, spring and V. knowing the worker hoped for progress. The recommendation asks for PHQ-9 and one count every four sessions across clients, citing Dimidjian et al. (2006). The memo requests a template and time at a meeting.
Reading the MSW 546 Week 4 grading rubric
The grader checks that the claim comes first and is no larger than the evidence. A memo that builds to a conclusion at the end, or claims the intervention worked, loses the most. Credit goes to findings with numbers, interpretation kept separate, alternatives named one by one and a recommendation that fits the agency. The request at the end should be small and specific. Research should be cited accurately in APA and should not be stretched to cover the agency's clients. The usual memo header belongs at the top, with the subject line doing the work of a title. Plain language suits the audience. Findings should carry their dates so a reader can line them up with the alternative explanations.
MSW 546 Week 4 help: mistakes that cost points
Memos most often slip by putting background first and the conclusion last, where a busy reader never arrives. Another common gap is a limitations paragraph that lists no specific alternative. Some memos recommend something the agency cannot do, such as a randomized trial. Others make no request, so nothing happens. If your client did not improve, the same structure works: state the sized claim, the findings and what the agency should try. A memo a director could act on after reading the first paragraph has met the standard for this genre. Test the memo by reading only its first paragraph; if the reader would still know the conclusion and its size, the structure works.
Get a MSW-546 Week 4 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 4 instructions with whatever readings you have from earlier in the session, and a custom memo is written on them and returned inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Where your section supplies a memo template with fixed headers, the sample is built straight into it.
More MSW 546 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 546 Week 1: Work Versus Change Post
- MSW 546 Week 2: Goal Attainment Scaling for V.
- MSW 546 Week 3: Baseline and Follow-Up Chart for V.
- MSW 546 Week 5: Client Feedback Review
- MSW 546 Week 6: No-change Explanation
- MSW 546 Week 7: Termination Summary
- MSW 546 Week 8: Practice Evaluation Portfolio
- MSW 545 Week 4: Task Assignment Write-Up
- MSW 544 Week 4: Ecomap Write-Up for V.
- MSW 543 Week 4: Rapport Breakdown Analysis
- MSW 542 Week 4: Dual Relationship Walkthrough
MSW 546 Week 4 questions, answered
Who is the memo addressed to?
A supervisor or a team lead in most versions, and the assignment usually names one. It matters because the audience sets the register: a memo written to an instructor explains social work concepts, and a memo written to a supervisor assumes them and gets to the point. The example is addressed upward and shows what that changes about the wording.
Can I claim the work was effective?
You can claim what your readings will carry, which is usually a statement about one case over a stated stretch of time. Sections reward a claim that names its own boundary in the same breath, and penalize one that widens without warning into a statement about the method. Where the readings are thin, the honest claim is that something changed and the cause is open.
How long should the memo be?
Shorter than the essay instinct wants. A one or two page limit is common, and sections without one still mark for a document a supervisor could read in five minutes. What fills the space is findings and alternatives; what gets cut is background the reader already has and a literature review the memo was never asked for.
Where can I find a free MSW 546 Week 4 sample paper?
Read the entire MSW 546 Week 4 memo below; its first sentence sizes the claim, and the alternatives are named one at a time.
What does the MSW 546 Week 4 memo recommend?
Recording the PHQ-9 and one countable behavior every four sessions for adults offered behavioral activation, so the agency can look across clients rather than one case.