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Teaching Crisis Assessment and Intervention via Interactive Technology:

A CD-ROM Program

Brett A. Seabury, DSW, ACSW and Christopher L. Atkins, BSW

School of Social Work

The University of Michigan

1080 So. University

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1106

This workshop will demonstrate an interactive video program that is designed to teach students and beginning practitioners how to assess and intervene in a crisis situation. This CD-ROM based program includes a PowerPointÔ tutorial on crisis theory, an interactive video program that simulates an interview with a client (Chipper) in active crisis, and a quiz that ties the tutorial to the interactive video program. The tutorial is composed of 68 frames covering the major concepts of crisis theory - i.e. stressors, hazardous events and conditions, the vulnerable state, the precipitating factor, active crisis, and crisis intervention techniques. The interactive simulation is composed of three hundred audio-visual files that are inter-connected to question prompts that are made by the student when completing the interactive interview. As the interview progresses, students are given choices (usually three) about what they want to say to Chipper. Each choice takes the student to another branch of the program, Depending on the choices students make, Chipper may become upset, put his head down on the table, or even walk out of the interview. If students are careful about what information they gather from Chipper, they will be able to hear what is going on in the Chipper's life, what seems to have pushed him into active crisis, and what immediate interventions might be taken to get him coping again. The quiz is composed of 18 questions covering the major concepts in crisis theory which can be applied to the interactive interview with Chipper (e.g. "Describe an intervention that you did with Chipper that was designed to connect him to his natural support systems.") Students are warned that before taking the quiz, they should probably interview Chipper at least three times and complete the whole tutorial.

This program is designed as a self-instructional tutorial which usually can be completed in about two hours by a conscientious student, or it can be used in a classroom setting with computer assisted projection system. The program has been played by over 200 students, and evaluation has demonstrated that students have responded positively to this kind of educational experience. The program was originally constructed to operate on a laser disc connected to a multi-sync monitor and computer. Because laser disc players were not readily available in most schools of social work, the program was later reformatted to be streamed over the world wide web using the RealMedia Ô player. This format was also problematic because the time in buffering the interactive program took as long as 30 seconds which drastically slowed down the interview, This program is now being made available to agencies, educators, and students in a CD-ROM format. In this format the computer necessary to play Chipper requires a Pentium II computer with a CD-ROM player. The program runs in Netscape 4.0 or higher, and RealMediaÔ player must be installed in the computer to play the interactive video.

The CD-ROM also contains an evaluation questionnaire which the author hopes will be returned as students in other universities and staff in field agencies complete this program. This program is being distributed as share ware with a minimal price of $5 to cover the basic costs of reproducing the CD-ROM disks. When Internet II becomes a reality and the channel capacity of the present Internet is increased, then this program will be made available on the world wide web to any high speed computer that is connected directly to Internet II.