Digital Commons Network^™

Examining Factors Associated With The Use Of Face Coverings During Covid-19: A Survey Of Shoppers In Greater Grand Forks, Minnesota And North Dakota, Isaac Karikari, Tanis J. Walch, Ashley Evenson, Carenlee Bardull, Bret Weber, Stephanie Scallon, Delton Gabe, Mikale Kuntz, Gabriel Wavra, Emily Possis, Courtney Leben, Hailer Boushee, Madeline Comeau

Social Work Faculty Publications

Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic’s persistence and recent spikes in cases have heightened the need for the promotion of protective behaviors notably, the continued use of face coverings (or ‘masks’ in the common parlance for COVID-related face coverings). Effective messaging on mask use is essential to more fully resonate with individuals and their shared communities. Studies covering rural or mostly-urban regions in the U.S. are sparse. Accordingly, an interdisciplinary team of social work and public health researchers explored mask wearing behaviors in a small, urban metro community consisting of two cities spanning North Dakota and Minnesota that …

Gender In The Time Of Covid-19: Evaluating National Leadership And Covid-19 Fatalities, Leah C. Windsor, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Alistair J. Windsor, Robert Ostergard, Susan Allen, Courtney Burns, Jarod Giger, Reed Wood

Social Work Faculty Publications

In this paper we explore whether countries led by women have fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than those led by men. Media and public health officials have lauded the perceived gender-related influence on policies and strategies for reducing the deleterious effects of the pandemic. We examine this proposition by analyzing COVID-19-related deaths globally across countries led by men and women. While we find some limited support for lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women, they are not statistically significant. Country cultural values offer more substantive explanation for COVID-19 outcomes. We offer several potential explanations for the pervasive …

Perceptions Of Workload And Job Impact As Predictors Of Child Welfare Worker Health Status, Austin G. Griffiths, David Royse, Chris Flaherty, Crystal Collins-Camargo

Social Work Faculty Publications

Turnover in the child welfare workforce remains a problem with detrimental consequences. While a robust body of literature has explored the influence of job factors on employee retention, and the presence of secondary traumatic stress and other related experiences in this population, little is known about the impact of such factors on the physical health of the practitioner. This manuscript is a first step in documenting the relationship between worker characteristics, perceptions of their job, and their self-reported health status. Utilizing the Child Welfare Employee Feedback Scale (CWEFS), a Binary Logistic Regression model identified Workload and Job Impact as significant …

Development And Validation Of The Parental Smartphone Use Management Scale (Psums): Parents’ Perceived Self-Efficacy With Adolescents With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Yi-Ping Hsieh, Cheng-Fang Yen, Wen-Jiun Chou

Social Work Faculty Publications

The psychometric properties of the Parental Smartphone Use Management Scale (PSUMS) and its prospective relationships with symptoms of smartphone addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were studies in a sample of parents of adolescents with ADHD. This is a scale to measure parents’ perceived self-efficacy on managing their children’s smartphone use. Construct validity (exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis), criterion-related validity (known-group validity and concurrent validity), and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) were performed for data analyses. The results showed that the PSUMS had good factorials validity and high reliabilities, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging between 0.93 and 0.95. The 17-item …

Victimization Of The Homeless: The Role Of Public Perceptions And Implications For Social Work Practice, Marion Murray, Simon Funge, Jay Gabbard

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Child Sexual Abuse And The Impact Of Rurality On Foster Care Outcomes: An Exploratory Analysis, Austin G. Griffiths, April L. Murphy, Whitney Harper

Social Work Faculty Publications

Given the cost of long-term foster care placement in both human and economic terms, few studies have specifically explored if any factors help to predict why this vulnerable population spends significantly more time in foster care. The overarching goal of this exploratory study was to use binary logistic regression to investigate whether any child demographic or environmental characteristics predicted the discharge of a child placed in Kentucky's foster care system for child sexual abuse. Results indicated that children in the most rural areas of the state were over 10 times more likely to be discharged from foster care during the …

United Way Of Southern Kentucky's Dolly Parton Imagination Library: A Program Evaluation, Simon Funge, Dana Sullivan

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Show Me: Effectively Collaborating With Community Partners To Develop Students' Macro-Practice Skills, Rashida Crutchfield, Simon Funge

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Risk Factors For Early Death Among A Sample Of Previously Incarcerated Youth, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare, Miyuki Fukushima Tedor, Linda M. Quinn, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

Most previous research regarding early death prior to, or during, young adulthood among previously detained delinquent youth has focused predominantly on males or on their cause of death. This study extends previous research by evaluating potential factors that are associated with early death in a random sample (N = 999) of formerly detained youthful offenders in New York stratified by gender (50% female). Existing case records were referenced with the National Death Index to determine if the formerly detained youth were deceased by the time they would have reached age 28. Regression analyses were run to determine if any of …

Diagnostic Classifications And Resource Utilization Of Decedents Served By The Department Of Veterans Affairs, Sonia A. Duffy, Laurel Copeland, Faith Hopp, Robert J. Zalenski

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Given the volume and cost of inpatient care during the last year of life, there is a critical need to identify patterns of dying as a means of planning end-of-life care services, especially for the growing number of older persons who receive services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods: A retrospective computerized record review was conducted of 20,933 VHA patients who died as inpatients between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2002. Diagnoses were aggregated into one of five classification patterns of death and analyzed in terms of health care resource utilization (mean number of inpatient days and …

Outcomes Associated With A Home Care Telehealth Intervention, Faith Hopp, Peter Woodbridge, Usha Subramanian, Laurel Copeland, David Smith, Julie Lowery

Social Work Faculty Publications

To determine whether adding telehealth technology to traditional home care services increases health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and home care satisfaction, and decreases resource utilization among home care patients. This trial included 37 home care patients receiving services in a Veterans Affairs medical center, randomized into intervention and control groups. Outcome measures included patient satisfaction and HRQOL at baseline and 6-month follow- up, and the use of inpatient and outpatient services before and during the 6-month study period. Intervention group patients reported greater improvement in the mental health component of HRQOL, (t = 2.27; df = 15; p = …

Research In Home-Care Telemedicine: Challenges In Patient Recruitment, Usha Subramanian, Faith Hopp, Julie Lowery, Peter Woodbridge, David Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study reports challenges in recruiting patients for a randomized controHed trial of home-care telemedicinae. Descriptive statistics on patient eligibility for home-care telemedidne services and patient refusals for participation are provided. Frequency counts of reasons for study exclusion and participant refusal and Chi-square tests to compare race and age-related differences are given. Of 302 home-care patients reviewed, 197 (65.2%) did not meet inclusion criteria. The most common reasons for study exclusion were patients either needing <2 visits per month (n = 59, 30%) or >3 skilled nurse visits per week (n = 46, 23.4%). Of the eligible patients (n = 105), 79 …