Dr Patricia Fronek - Griffith University

Site Degrees

BSocWk, PhD

Senior Lecturer, School of Human Services and Social Work

Dr Patricia Fronek is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Human Services and Social Work, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University. She has extensive social work experience that spans across a number of practice domains, including health, disabilities and intercountry adoption and has maintained research interests in these arenas. Patricia teaches in the undergraduate and masters programs in the School and supervises higher degree research students. Ethical professional boundaries between practitioners and clients and research for social workers are some of the topics for training and professional development provided to practitioners in the field. Patricia is a regular speaker at conferences and publishes in her research areas.

Current teaching areas

Teaches into the Bachelor of Social Work and MSW (Q) and supervises PhD students
Social Work Program Convener, Gold Coast

Research expertise

Intercountry adoption
Professional Boundaries
Sexuality and Disability
Interprofessional learning

Publications

Peer reviewed journal articles

Fronek, P. (2012, forthcoming). Operation Babylift: Advancing intercountry adoption into Australia. Journal of Australian Studies.
Kendall, M., Fronek, P., Ungerer, G., Malt, J., Eugarde, E., & Geraghty, T. (2011, forthcoming). Assessing professional boundaries in clinical settings: The development of the boundaries in practice scale. Ethics and Behavior, 21(6).
Fronek, P. & Cuthbert, D. (2011). The future of inter-country adoption: a paradigm shift for this century. International Journal of Social Welfare, 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2011.00799.x.
Fronek, P., Fowler, J. & Clark, J. (2011). Reflecting on leadership and social work: Social work students as developing leader. Advances in Social Work Education and Welfare, 13(1), 49-70.
Fronek, P., Kendall, M., Booth, S., Eugarde, E. & Geraghty, T . (2011). A longitudinal study of sexuality training for the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team. Sexuality and Disability. 29(2), 87-100. DOI 10.1007/s11195-010-9177-1.
Fronek, P. & Tilse, C. (2010). Controversy and its implications for the practice of contemporary social work in intercountry adoptions: A Korean Australian case study. Australian Social Work, 63(4),445-459. DOI: 10.1080/0312407X.2010.512957.
Fronek, P., Kendall , M., Ungerer, G., Malt, J., Eugarde, E., Geraghty, T. (2009). Too hot to handle: Reflections on professional boundaries in practice. Reflective Practice, 10(2), 161-171. DOI: 10.1080/14623940902786172.
Fronek, P., Kendall ,M., Ungerer, G., Malt, J., Eugarde, E. & Geraghty, T. (2009) Towards healthy professional-client relationships: The value of an interprofessional training course. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 23(1), 16-29. DOI: 10.1080/13561820802491006.
Mackay-Sim, A., Féron, F., Cochrane, J., Bassingthwaighte, L., Bayliss, C., Davies, W., Fronek, P., Gray, C., Kerr, G., Licina, P., Nowitzke, A., Perry, C., Silburn. P.A.S., Urquhart, S. & Geraghty. T . (2008). Autologous olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation in human paraplegia: a 3 year clinical trial. Brain. 131: 2376-86. doi:10.1093/brain/awn173.
Fronek, P. (2008). The RAP in rehabilitation: The family conference in practice. SCI Psychosocial Process, 21(1), 26-35.
Dorsett, P. & Fronek, P. (2007). Shifting sands: changing the way we think about practice. SCI Psychosocial Process, 20(1) 9.
Fronek, P. (2006). Global perspectives in Korean intercountry adoption.Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 16(1), 21-31.
Fronek, P. (2005). Insights from the family conference: Observations in rehabilitation. Australian Social Work, 58(4), 395-406.DOI: 10.1111/j.1447-0748.2005.00235.x.
Fronek, P. (2005). Six themes of adjustment shared by human participants in experimental surgery to the spinal cord. SCI Psychosocial Process, 18(2), 66, 8-75.
Fronek, P., Booth, S., Kendall, M., Miller, D. & Geraghty, T. (2005). The effectiveness of a sexuality training program for the interdisciplinary spinal cord injury rehabilitation team. Sexuality and Disability, 23(2), 51-63. DOI: 10.1007/s11195-005-4669-0.
Fronek, P. (2004). The development of a psychosocial screening model for human participants with spinal cord injury in experimental research. SCI Psychosocial Process, 17(1), 1, 6-11.
Booth, S., Kendall, M., Fronek, P., Miller, D. & Geraghty, T. (2003). Training the interdisciplinary team in sexuality rehabilitation following spinal cord injury: A needs assessment. Sexuality and Disability, 21, (4), 249-61.
Kendall, M., Booth, S., Fronek, P., Miller, D. & Geraghty, T. (2003). The development of a scale to assess the training needs of professionals in providing sexuality rehabilitation following spinal cord injury. Sexuality and Disability, 21(1), 49-64.

Book chapters

Fronek, P. (2011, forthcoming). Foreword. In J. L. Gibbons & K. S. Rotabi (Eds.), Intercountry Adoption: Policies, Practices and Outcomes: Ashgate.
Fronek, P. (2009). Intercountry adoption in Australia, a natural evolution or purposeful action. In C. Sparkes & D. Cuthbert (Eds.), Other People’s Children: Adoption in Australia, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, Australia: 37-54.
Dorsett, P. & Fronek, P. (2009). Case Management: Practitioner standards and skill development. In E. Moore (Ed), Case Management for Community Practice, Oxford University Press, 248-272.

Evaluations

Fronek, P., Chenoweth, L. & Clements, N. (2010). Evaluation of Self-Directed Leadership: Parents Creating Participatory Lives with Adults with Disabilities. Brisbane: Griffith University, School of Human Services and Social Work, Brisbane. A report prepared for Parent to Parent Association Qld.

Fiction

Fronek, P. (2012). The interruption. Nature, 482(7384), 268-268.doi:10.1038/482268a.