Social Work is a profession and discipline dedicated to achieving social inclusion and integration of people in emergency situations. It focuses on supporting people who are affected by and at risk of poverty, as well as delinquents, addicts, chronically and/or mentally ill people, children and young people at risk, people with disabilities, etc. Social Work also advocates for combating poverty, promoting the health and well-being of people, and achieving social justice. It is further committed to upholding fundamental democratic values and human rights.

On a case-by-case basis, social workers and social pedagogues assess their clients’ subjective life situations to plan and design tailor-made support.

In the project TransSoDia, three universities from the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria intensify their cooperation to enhance the diagnostic skills of students and practitioners of Social Work.

The collaboration aims to improve Cooperative Social Diagnostics instruments and further develop innovative didactic designs.

The cooperation partnership is co-funded by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.

Social diagnostics is an integral part of the curricula of the study programs Social Work and Social Pedagogy at the three partner universities. The universities share a common approach to teaching knowledge and skills on Cooperative Diagnostics instruments. In particular, they all use the Ego-Centered Network Map and the Biographical Time Bar, which were both developed at the St. Pölten UAS. The technical solutions for these methods existing at the time of the project’ s start – easyNWK and easyBiograph – were outdated and required comprehensive changes of the input options, the visualisation possibilities, and the evaluation functionalities. The cooperation partnership TransSoDia took up these challenges to design the instruments in the most user-friendly way possible and according to practical criteria.

The project pursued and achieved three main objectives:

1. The professional basics of diagnostics within the context of Social Work were expanded. These basics were used to create multimedia information and learning materials, which were made available as toolkits for Biographical Diagnostics and Network Diagnostics.
2. Modern, web-based software solutions were provided to allow for the digital implementation of the Network Map and the Biographical Time Bar.
3. Common didactic designs and formats for transnational and digital higher education teaching at bachelor level and further training at university level were developed.

These objectives were achieved in two ways: First, the project partners engaged in professional exchange about the teaching of Social Diagnostics and its theoretical foundations and shared their respective experiences in implementation and their empirical insights. Second, they worked closely with students and practitioners to identify and specify requirements for cooperative instruments. Interdisciplinary collaboration with media computer scientists ensured that the software solutions met the professional and technical requirements and guaranteed that their expansion took into account the specific needs of users and students.

In an iterative process, lecturers, students, and practitioners tested and evaluated software prototypes and toolkits. The results of this evaluation were used to improve the materials and, eventually, provide professional, up-to-date, and user-friendly instruments and information materials.

Thanks to the project, numerous materials were developed to support lecturers, students, and practitioners of Social Work in gaining knowledge and skills in the field of Network Diagnostics and Biographical Diagnostics. Next to the web apps easyNWK and easyBiograph, handbooks, articles, videos, and podcasts on Network Diagnostics and Biographical Diagnostics were made available to the wider public on the websites www.easynwk.com and www.easybiograph.com. 

The partner universities seek to integrate teaching of these improved concepts and instruments into their curricula in the long run. For this purpose, additional materials for lectures and practical training as well as concepts for further education offers were provided.

During the last project year, the results were presented at transnational events and expert symposia. The reports, short manuals, and software solutions were translated to English to make them accessible to an international professional community.

In the following, the developed products are grouped by product formats:

Web Apps:

• easyNWK – Software for the Creation of Digital Network Maps, web app. With the ego-centered network map, relations to family members, friends/acquaintances, colleagues, and professional helpers are recorded. The cooperative visualization and analyses of the network structures and the potential for attainable social support serve as a starting point for interventions to promote inclusion and health. The software easyNWK was further developed within the framework of the TransSoDia project to meet the requirements from practice and research and variations were added to meet the requirements of the target group.
• easyNWK User Manual (PDF). The user manual of the software easyNWK 2.7 offers detailed guidance on the use of the web app. It contains information on accessing, creating and editing network maps, storage and export functions, and data protection aspects. In addition, implementation possibilities within the framework of Social Diagnostics are described.
• easyBiograph - Software for the Creation of Biographical Time Bars, web app. Biographical Time Bars display a person’s biography as multidimensional actions. Based on a biographical interview, the family, housing, educational, work, health, and support biography of a client is marked across time axes. The cooperative analysis allows for targeted intervention planning to recognize and foster individual coping strategies. For the relaunched easyBiograph, a new, modern web-based software solution for the multidimensional visualization of life events and phases was created.
• easyBiograph User Manual (PDF). The user manual for the software easyBiograph 2.2 offers an extensive instruction on creating and editing Biographical Time Bars. It contains detailed information on entering dates and time periods. Furthermore, it describes modification and visualization options, such as zoom functions, 5-year lines, and color modes. In addition, it outlines storage options, data protection, and security aspects.

Videos:

The video series comprehensibly conveys basic knowledge on approaches, methods, and principles of Social Diagnostics in general. More specifically, the videos describe how to explore and assess ego-centered networks and specifically subjective biographies. The videos (in German) mainly target students and professionals in the field of Social Work.

• Diagnostik in der Sozialen Arbeit: Eine Einführung (YouTube), video 
• Diagnostik in der Sozialen Arbeit: Was ist ein Fall? (YouTube), video 
• Diagnostik in der Sozialen Arbeit: Gütekriterien (YouTube), video 
• Netzwerkdiagnostik: Eine Einführung (YouTube), video 
• Netzwerkdiagnostik: Erhebung und Analyse mit easyNWK (YouTube), video 
• Biografische Diagnostik: Eine Einführung (YouTube), video 
• Biografische Diagnostik: Erhebung und Auswertung mit easyBiograph (YouTube), video 

Podcast Talks:

The podcast talk series explores controversially discussed perspectives on diagnostics in Social Work. Discussions with experts offer insights into the professional discourse and the current state of theoretical basics and concepts. Made available on YouTube and Spotify (in German), the podcasts target students, practitioners, and lecturers of Social Work wishing to listen to the perspectives of renowned experts.

• Was ist denn sozial an Diagnostik? (YouTube) or Spotify, podcast talk with Tom Friedli & Joseph Richter-Mackenstein
• Und was diagnostizieren wir eigentlich? (YouTube) or Spotify, podcast talk with Rita Hansjürgens & Dieter Röh
• Soziale Netzwerke: Beziehungen und Potenziale (YouTube) or Spotify, podcast talk with Peter Pantuček-Eisenbacher, Heiko Löwenstein & Joseph Richter-Mackenstein
• Erlebt oder sicher gewusst – Biografie als Fakt oder subjektive Konstruktion (YouTube) or Spotify, podcast talk with Anna Lena Rademaker & Sabine Ader

Scientific Texts on Network Diagnostics and Biographical Diagnostics:

• Egozentrierte Netzwerkkarte. Grundlagen und Anwendungsleitfaden. (PDF) (Ego-Centered Network Map. Basics and User Guidelines), user manual. The ego-centered network map allows users to visualize and analyze a person’s social relations. In Social Work, it is used as a tool for Network Diagnostics. This handbook gives a comprehensive introduction to basic concepts and the theoretical foundations of ego-centered network maps, outlines the basic structure of network maps, and offers practical advice on interviewing and the evaluation of network maps. By providing insights into empirical findings, it offers guidance for the professional assessment of structures and qualities of ego-centered networks for cooperative planning of social support.

• Biografische Diagnostik. Handbuch zur kooperativen Diagnostik von Lebensläufen und Biografien in der Sozialen Arbeit. (PDF), (Biographical Diagnostics. Handbook on Cooperative Diagnostics of Life Course and Biographies.), text. This handbook aims to introduce the concept and theoretical foundations of Biographical Diagnostics. It gives an overview of common methods and instruments. Firstly, sociological findings are used to define the terms Biography, Everyday Biography Work, and Biographical Diagnostics and explain the purpose of the latter. Secondly, the handbook explains that biography is a modern concept and goes on to explore the biographical challenges faced by people these days. From its very beginning, Social Work has researched biographical questions. This can be demonstrated when exploring the perspectives of selected pioneers of Social Work. Lastly, the handbook presents methods of biographical diagnostics which are widely used in Social Work. The focus is on biographical narrative interviews and the Biographical Time Bar as both are used in all fields of action in Social Work.
• Instrumente der egozentrierten Netzwerkdiagnostik. Instrumente zur Visualisierung und Analyse von sozialen Beziehungen einer Person. (PDF), (Instruments of Ego-Centered Network Diagnostics. Instruments for the Visualization and Analysis of a Person’s Social Relations.) Text. This publication presents various instruments for the visualization and analysis of social relations, which are used in Social Diagnostics. It describes objectives and application areas of seven central instruments: "Social Atom", sociograms and ecograms, the eco map, the Social Networks Inventory (SNI), the Network Scheme, the VIP map, and the Social Support Network Map (SSNM).
• Effekte der Person-Umfeld-Beziehungen. Synopse aktueller relevanter Erkenntnisse aus der Erforschung egozentrierter Netzwerke für die Soziale Arbeit. (PDF), (Effects of Person-Environment Relations. Synopsis of Current Relevant Findings from the Research of Ego-Centered Networks for Social Work.) Text. This review provides an overview of current findings from empirical research on relations of support networks and psychosocial health, personality, professional success, and poverty, thereby providing insights as to where to direct the diagnostics focus in Social Work. 
• Literatur zu Netzwerkdiagnostik. Kommentierte Literaturempfehlungen für Lehrveranstaltungen und Seminare zu Netzwerkdiagnostik. (PDF), (Literature on Network Diagnostics. Commented Literature Recommendations for Courses and Seminars on Network Diagnostics). Text. This document aims to provide lecturers and students with an overview of important literature on theoretical backgrounds, empirical findings, and methodological approaches to social networks. The compilation recommends texts on Social Network Analysis and various instruments on Network Diagnostics. Relevant research on typical structures of ego-centered networks and the relations between support networks, social and health inequality are presented. In addition, influential works on network theory and network research are listed.
• Kommentierte Literaturliste zu Biografischer Diagnostik. Empfohlene Literatur für Lehrveranstaltungen und Seminare. (PDF), (Commented Literature List on Biographical Diagnostics. Recommended Literature for Classes and Seminars.) Text. The commented literature list is tailored to classes and seminars. It offers extensive descriptions and assessments of central scientific works and articles which are dedicated to biography research, narrative identity, and Social and Socio-Pedagogical Diagnostics. Complemented with information on theoretical concepts, methodological approaches, and practical use cases, this document serves as a scientifically sound guide for students, researchers, and practitioners of Social Work.

Further Unpublished Results

• Written comparison of the integration of teaching Social Work Diagnostics at the three partner universities
• Collection of training instructions for teaching knowledge and competencies at bachelor level and university-level further education
• Slides on the basics of diagnostics in Social Work, on Network Diagnostics, and Biographical Diagnostics
• Concepts for transnational training offers (microcredentials)