The Integration of Disability Content into Social Work Education: An Examination of Infused and Dedicated Models

Abstract

Disability content has been slowly integrated into social work curricula despite the large proportion of social workers supporting people with disabilities and its requirement in social work education by the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Schools of social work offer disability content to their students in three ways: infused, dedicated (specialization), or a combination of both. A content analysis of 1620 course titles and descriptions from the top schools of social work was conducted to assess the integration of disability content into social work curricula. Eighty percent of the schools included disability content in their curriculum. Disability content was more likely to be integrated using the infused rather than the dedicated model.