Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Human Trafficking In Orlando, Florida, Danielle Cador

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: My goal for my social change portfolio is to bring heightened awareness to my community through proper training, education, and community involvement to increase the prevention of human trafficking in Orlando, Florida.

Significant Findings: Human Trafficking has become a $150 billion industry globally (Toney-Butler et al., 2023). It has become a type of pandemic that either no one seems to be talking about or gets overlooked. Florida is listed as one (1) of the top three (3) states following California and New York where human trafficking is prevalent (Human Trafficking Hotline, 2021). Women and young girls typically come …

Smashing The Stigma: Promoting Mental Health And Resilience Among Veterans, Anna Wagle

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: This portfolio aims to bring awareness and identify strategies and interventions to reduce veteran suicide rates by starting with the problem's source.

Significant Findings: This portfolio focuses on the high rate of U.S. veteran suicide, with 16.8 suicides per day and 51% more likely to die by suicide than non-veterans ("National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report," 2022; Vincent-Roller, 2022). Key findings highlight the complexity of suicide risk across various levels. The portfolio recommends enhancing mental health services, destigmatizing mental health, strengthening social support, and providing tailored interventions like peer support and trauma-informed care for transitioning veterans (Hester, 2017; …

Preventing Burnout Among Mental Health Professionals In Charlotte, Nc, Robert Marcy

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of this social change project is to find ways of preventing burnout among mental health professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Significant Findings: Burnout among mental health professionals is a critical issue for which prevention strategies can be highly effective. Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, with demand for services, including those provided by mental health professionals, increasing with the growing population. Charlotte’s population growth, coupled with the lingering impacts of COVID-19, places Charlotte’s mental health professionals at increased burnout risk. Burnout among mental health professionals negatively impacts the individual and the clients …

Depression And Anxiety Among Lgbtqia+ Teens In Salt Lake City, Utah, Brittany Bullen

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: If we can create better programming to support LGBTQIA+ teens in Utah, we can decrease the suicide rate and the rates of depression and anxiety in this population.

Significant Findings:

Due to the unusually high rate of suicide among LGBTQIA+ teens in Utah (The Trevor Project, 2022), there is clearly a need for improvement in the quality and availability of programming that supports that population. Because teens go through so much emotional upheaval during their transition to adulthood (MacMillan & Copher, 2005), they are particularly vulnerable to the discrimination many of them face when exploring their sexuality. Keeping …

Prevention Of Adult Obesity Through Targeting Adolescents With Counseling Educational Groups Combining Nutrition, Mindfulness, Self-Esteem, And Healthy Living, Kerri Shoumaker

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of this portfolio aims to prevent adult obesity through the immersion of counseling educational groups targeting adolescents within the communities of Kitsap County.

Significant Findings: Kitsap County, Washington, has an adult population of 214,142 people (United States Department of Commerce, 2022). Approximately 30% are obese, which is 2% higher than Washington state (CDC, n.d.-b). Obesity increases the risk factor for severe diseases, including depression, and is a major risk factor for premature death (Bergantin, 2020). Mitigating risk factors through bolstering protective factors is essential for obesity prevention at multiple levels of the Social-Ecological Model. Social Cognitive …

Combat Veteran Mental Health Care Advocacy, Gerald Graham

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal: The goal of Combat Veteran Mental Health Care Advocacy is to promote, support and draw attention to critical combat veteran mental health issues, such as PTSD, depression and substance abuse, where the real and actual consequence may lead to suicide.

Significant Findings: Presently, there are about 18 million living veterans (Inoue et al., 2023; Vespa, 2020), of which approximately 7.7 million served between 1990 and the present; roughly 42 percent of the total (Vespa, 2020). Wounded Warrior Project (2022) reported that these combat veterans face significant mental health issues such as sleep deprivation, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. …

Addiction Prevention In Itasca County, Minnesota, Amanda Keech

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The purpose and goal of this portfolio is to raise awareness regarding alcohol consumption by highlighting influential factors and prevention techniques in order to decrease excessive drinking rates for adults residing in Itasca County.

Significant Findings: Excessive drinking is present in 23% of the population in Itasca County (County Health Ranking & Roadmaps, 2018). Excessive alcohol consumption is a growing public health issue resulting from multiple systemic, cultural, governmental, and individual risk factors that are present within the rural community. Individual risk factors include food insecurity, poverty, housing instability, a family history, trauma, medical issues, and the presence …

The Sunnyside Movement Towards Mental Health Prevention And Resiliency, Eva Williams

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: To increase Mental Health awareness and resources among adults with untreated mental disorders in the Sunnyside community (Understanding Houston, 2023).

Significant Findings: 18,6004 residents reside in Sunnyside. Nearly half (48%) were between 20 and 64 years of age, 18% were 65 or older, and many out of this group have untreated mental disorders or have been hospitalized for mental health symptoms (Sunnyside Survey Shows Neighborhood's Social Fabric Is Strong, 2019). These findings include the LGBTQ community, which accounts for about 40% of people who reported experiencing mental illness in the last year (Kolanek, 2020). The target problem in …

The Impact Of Gun Violence On African American Adolescents In Baltimore City, Maryland, Valerie Taylor

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The aim of this social change portfolio is to prevent gun violence in African American males in Baltimore City, Maryland, through increasing awareness in schools and communities.

Significant Findings: African American males are perpetrators and victims of gun violence at a substantially high rate in Baltimore City, MD. They are disproportionately affected in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities” (Shulman et al., 2021). According to County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (2018), data from 2016 to 2020 revealed 44 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people in Baltimore City, Maryland, compared to 12 people per 100,000 in the whole state of Maryland and 12 …

Suicide Awareness And Prevention With Montana (Three Forks) Youth, Joshua Jarvis

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: Lower the number of suicide attempts or completions with Montana (Three Forks) youth.

Significant Findings: The rate of suicide has increased dramatically over the last 30 years, and the rate for suicide for those between the ages of 5-14 have increased at least 60% since 1981 (Rosston, 2022). The population for this social change portfolio is Montana youth and the problem is suicide attempts and completions. Not all groups of youth are equally at risk for suicide, with Native Americans and the LGBTQ+ population facing a much higher risk of suicide attempts and completions (Rosston, 2022). The consequences …

Severe Housing Problems In Santa Clara County, Ca, Jessican Rothwell

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: My goal for social change within the community is to prevent severe housing problems by educating individuals and families of low and middle-income levels on available home environment assessments and housing rehabilitation programs.

Significant Findings: Severe housing problems plague numerous mid and low-income households in Santa Clara County, leaving them vulnerable to significant physical and mental health problems. This social change portfolio discusses the scope and consequences of severe housing problems as well as potential risk and protective factors at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels through a socio-ecological lens. In addition, this portfolio addresses two theories …

Preventing Psychiatric Hospitalizations In Sangamon County, Illinois, Rachel E. Rambach

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of my Social Change Portfolio is to prevent increased psychiatric hospitalizations by reducing the stigma associated with mental health through education, awareness, and resources.

Significant Findings: Sangamon County ranks in the worst 25% of Illinois counties in terms of hospitalizations due to mental health in people 18 years and older (Springfield Memorial Hospital, 2021). There were 7,483 preventable hospitalizations among Black people recorded in 2020, compared with 3,696 white people (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2018). The social-ecological model shows the tremendous impact that individual relationships, community and society have on the issue of psychiatric hospitalizations, …

Sex Trafficking In Reno, Nevada, Makayla Terelak

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The aim of this social change is to prevent the frequency of sex trafficking in the Reno/Sparks area through strengthened awareness and advocacy.

Significant Findings: Sex trafficking is defined by forced labor of sexual acts, and is typically done through force, fraud, and coercion (Harmon, 2022). The victims of this crime are often vulnerable populations like children and young women. It is estimated that 25 million people in the world were victims of human trafficking (Harmon, 2022). In Reno, Nevada it is a huge hub for sex trafficking. This can change with more border controls and awareness throughout …

Harmful Consequences Of Vaping Among Adolescents, Eva Uhlianitsa

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: Raise awareness of e–cigarettes use and harmful consequences, as well as make media campaigns promoting a variety of positive identities not associated with vaping.

Significant Findings: Adolescence in the US abusing e-cigarette products that lead to significant health problems. Those are respiratory, digestive issues, and brain development complications (Grimm, 2022). The LGBTQ + youth population is at higher risk of developing vaping addiction due to stigma, rejection, physical abuse, and bullying (Kelleher, 2009). Implementing Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Stages of Change theories can increase the chances of preventing substance use (National Cancer Institute, 2005).

Objectives/Strategies/Interventions/Next Steps:

1. …

Prevention, Mental Health Risk, Lgbtq+ Youth And Young Adults, Jackson County, Indiana, Darrian S. Jamison

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: Acknowledge and highlight the increased mental health risks for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults while working to implement prevention efforts to mitigate, and eventually eliminate the increased risks for this population.

Significant Findings: The LGBTQ+ youth and young adult population faces many challenges throughout their daily lives. One such challenge plaguing the community is their increased risk for mental health concerns compared to their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts (The Trevor Project, n.d.; Marlay et al., 2022). In the rural Jackson County, Indiana community, very few prevention and treatment efforts are implemented to serve this community. It is worth noting …