Social Work Commons^™

Understanding The Perspectives And Attitudes Of 12-Step Participants Towards Medication-Assisted Treatment, Christopher Scott

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: The effects of living with a substance use disorder (SUD) are vast. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has grown increasingly popular as a recovery tool among substance users but does not align with the popular 12-step model, which demands complete abstinence from narcotics and mind-altering substances. Objective: The primary aim of this phenomenology study was to explore the perspectives and attitudes towards MAT among 12-step participants. The secondary aim was to compare the responses of treatment and non-treatment professionals. Methods: This study used non-probability sampling methods to recruit participants who reported regular participation in a 12-step program. Semi-structured …

Food Insecurity At Los Abuelitos, Rosalina Duran

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Food insecurity among the senior population is a social problem that can cause malnutrition, chronic conditions, and death. CHISPA Housing Management and Community Services is a non-profit organization that builds low-income senior housing in Monterey County and provides senior hot lunches to its residents. The causes of food insecurity are a lack of income, chronic conditions, and transportation issues. The consequences of food insecurity are the deterioration of their physical and mental health. This capstone project is an assessment that consists of gathering data on the residents who reside at the Los Abuelitos Townhome housing rather than taking advantage of …

Moving At The Speed Of Trust, Sun Ho Lee

Masters Theses

Moving at the Speed of Trust is a workbook of strategies — practices, definitions, and techniques — to nurture community-building in support of inbetweeners who live between power structures and cultures and are often left out. Inbetweeners are those individuals whose lives are in transition through recent immigration or forced translocation from Asia to America.

These strategies revolve around threads of trust: kin, giggles, vulnerability, and shared experience. With these threads, we can question power. We can preserve stories, expand the ways we connect, shift perspectives on what is “standard,” and cultivate a community rooted in understanding. To understand each …

Therapeutic Gardening For Mental Health In Substance Use Recovery, Stephanie E. Schafer

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

As the clinical nurse leader (CNL) in this project, I used the “[CNL]

Essential 1: Background for Practice from Sciences and Humanities” (Competencies and Curricular Expectations for Clinical Nurse Leader Education and Practice, 2013) and its competencies to focus on designing nursing care for a clinical or community-focused population based on biopsychosocial, public health, nursing, and organizational sciences and to synthesize evidence for practice to determine appropriate application of interventions across diverse populations. With the help of the CNL competencies and collaboration with the healthcare team, we created and implemented a therapeutic garden for residents in a substance use …

Prescribing Music To Forensic Settings: A Literature Review, Sydney A. Bouchard

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Though prison is inherently musical, evidence-based forensic music therapy is rather understudied. This thesis critically reviews musical experiences in forensic environments and synthesizes its intersection with inmates' psychological distress. Additionally, the literature explores how forensic music therapy can act as a health and social resource for the incarcerated and their communities. Engaging in this work is vital because healthier correctional systems mean healthier communities (Hopwood, 2021). This review synthesizes relevant literature to inform better practices in music therapy, counseling, and healthcare and seeks to popularize discussion around an otherwise unpopular population, incarcerated folx. Emerging themes include (1) incarceration breeds negative …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

Support For Social Workers Treating Adolescent Substance Abusers, Monica Delucia, Kethura Solano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examines the barriers social workers experience when working with adolescent substance users. Research has not fully explored if intervention techniques are effective or suggest other approaches that may support substance use disorder professionals including supervisor support, training, and intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if social workers who provide interventions to adolescent substance users have the adequate resources to be successful in their field. The literature review provides a better understanding of the common themes social workers experience when working with adolescent substance users.

This study used a qualitative design and interviewed 8 professional social …

Challenges In Discharge Planning For Adults Transitioning From An Inpatient Psychiatric Level Of Care Experiencing Homelessness, Deanna` R. Mccaskill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness and the homeless population are a growing concern in the United States. Homeless individuals utilize emergency rooms and acute inpatient stays more than those with housing. Social workers play a vital role in discharge planning, starting on the first day of admission. This action research study explored the challenges of social workers developing discharge plans for adults transitioning from an inpatient psychiatric level of care experiencing homeless. The theoretical framework implemented in this study was systems theory. Data were collected from 12 purposively selected master’s level social workers in the format of individual and focus group interviews. Eight …

Exploring The Distinction Between Support And Enabling In Families With Substance Use Disorder, Krystal N. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a pervasive public health problem facing families in the United States. Although families are frequently urged to support loved ones who have SUD and cautioned against enabling them, there is a dearth of literature that distinguishes between supporting and enabling. Through qualitative interviews, this phenomenological study examined the experiences of eight parents with adult children with SUD who were currently in recovery. Five themes emerged from the data including: (a) living in despair, (b) addiction and recovery knowledge, (c) support group philosophy, (d) coping with addiction, and (e) differentiation. The results from this study suggest …

Effect Of Family Engagement On The Behavioral Health Of Mentally Ill Offenders, Jessica Rae Horn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, 40% of incarcerated individuals have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, but they often lack the support system needed to navigate their incarceration. This study addressed ways to understand how family engagement opportunities can improve the behavioral health of mentally ill offenders. Specifically, five research questions were used to explore the degree to which the practice of family engagement was understood as a method for providing support to mentally ill incarcerated individuals. The study followed the Baldrige Framework of Excellence to identify current organizational leadership and management issues that can help reach its goals, improve …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

Challenges In Discharge Planning For Adults Transitioning From An Inpatient Psychiatric Level Of Care Experiencing Homelessness, Deanna` R. Mccaskill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness and the homeless population are a growing concern in the United States. Homeless individuals utilize emergency rooms and acute inpatient stays more than those with housing. Social workers play a vital role in discharge planning, starting on the first day of admission. This action research study explored the challenges of social workers developing discharge plans for adults transitioning from an inpatient psychiatric level of care experiencing homeless. The theoretical framework implemented in this study was systems theory. Data were collected from 12 purposively selected master’s level social workers in the format of individual and focus group interviews. Eight …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

Trauma Exposures Across The Life Course For Individuals Who Experience Incarceration, Maria Morrison

Brown School Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, with 2.2 million people currently behind bars, 60% of whom are people of color. At the same time, there is an unprecedented political consensus to develop strategies for reducing the incarcerated population and safely returning the majority of incarcerated individuals to society. While there has been a substantial research focus on the potential of this population to commit acts of violence post-release, this tells only half the story. This dissertation hopes to provide a more complete picture of the role of violence in the lives of individuals released …

Social Worker Student’S Anxiety, And Alcohol Consumption During The Covid-19 Pandemic, David Adler

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely impactful on a vast majority of the population, either from losing a possible loved one, or the pandemonium that arose in its wake. The purpose of this study is to better understand how much of an impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on social worker students’ mental health, specifically, how it has affected their levels of stress, anxiety, and levels of alcohol consumption. This study is significant because the pandemic has had a substantial impact on the mental health of so many individuals, and it is important to research just how large these effects …

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one …

Caregiver-Child Conversations About Sex In African American Women, Hannah King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using grounded theory methods, this study examines the experience of African American women during their caregiver-child conversations about sex and the impacts of the conversations on their sexual attitudes. The process of these conversations begins with an unplanned topic and progresses further to identify six essential themes of these conversations: gender differences, race and religion, protective/emphasis on protection, lack of knowledge, withholding knowledge, and sex negativity/shame. African American women’s description of the process included feelings of shame and negativity towards their sexuality. Caregivers promoted positive messages about sex by having open conversations that advocated for equality between the genders, empower …

Accessibility Of Mental Health Resources In Schools, Zitlaly Lizeth Cruz-Roman, Vianney Consepcion Sandoval

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine parents’ and staff’s perception of the accessibility and awareness of mental health resources in school. Mental health resources are made available in school settings; however, not all families and students are aware of the resources being provided. To address the accessibility of mental health resources, research needs to take place to understand why these resources are not being utilized. Individuals’ mental health will improve by creating awareness of the resources since they will be aware of the resources and use them based on their needs. The research project utilized quantitative research methods and descriptive research …

Promoting Health Equity Among Racial And Ethnic Minorities During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alexandra Viramontes, Deserry Salgado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Racial and ethnic minorities experience disproportionate health outcomes during a pandemic, yet preparedness plans have failed to address the social determinants of health that produce the most severe impact. By examining social workers’ perspectives on the health disparities faced by racial and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study provides insight into the ways in which services can be improved in a future health crisis. In this exploratory study, a qualitative approach was utilized where social workers were asked to participate in interviews consisting of open-ended questions. The qualitative data was obtained in the form of interview transcripts, which …

Barriers To The Use Of Palliative And Hospice Care Among The Latino Population, Diana Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patients suffering from irreversible and terminal illnesses may benefit from the services provided by Palliative and Hospice Care to control any symptom burden and assist in navigating complex medical decisions. Many patients may express hesitation in accepting and enrolling to this service due to misconceptions. Language barriers may add an additional layer of complexity. This study explored the challenges Palliative Care providers encounter when introducing concept of hospice to Spanish-speaking patients their families for the first time. This study implemented qualitative research methods by using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Ten members of an In-patient Palliative Care Team at a University Hospital …

Rural Pregnant Women’S Experiences With Substance Use Disorder: A Qualitative Study, Cami Weber

Dissertations

Rural pregnant women with substance use disorder (SUD) are an understudied vulnerable population that often experiences poor pregnancy outcomes (Higgins et al., 2019; Jumah, 2016; Kramlich et al., 2018; Shaw et al., 2015). Despite the high prevalence and high burden associated with SUD, rural women are less likely than non-pregnant women to seek addiction treatment and complete an outpatient treatment program during pregnancy (Shaw et al., 2015). This study aimed to give voice to rural Missouri women with SUD. The research questions explored the life experiences and motivations for seeking treatment using a qualitative, descriptive research design with grounded theory …

Understanding And Supporting Asian American Youth’S Mental Health Within Cultural And Family Contexts, In Young Park

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mental health problems are a major health issue among East Asian American (EAA) youth. Although previous research has explored the risk and protective factors associated with mental health problems of EAA youth, many studies have employed Eurocentric perspectives, thereby excluding their unique cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values. To better understand mental health needs and support these youth, further research that identifies different factors associated with mental health problems in their cultural context and assesses evidence-supported and culturally responsive interventions is needed.

This three-manuscript dissertation is presented in three papers. The first manuscript presents an integrative conceptual framework that uses two …

African American Youth Decline To Extend Foster Care Despite Their Needs, Rhonda Flowers-Corpening

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the United States, African American children are disproportionately placed in foster care and experience a myriad of problems, including physical and emotional abuse. As a result, negative post-discharge outcomes are revealed in existing literature, such as substance abuse, unemployment, homelessness, sexual promiscuity, and mental health issues. The purpose of this generic qualitative inquiry was to explore the foster care experience from the perspective of African American foster care alumni. The goal was to understand why the decision is made not to extend foster care services, despite their ongoing needs for support and lack of preparation for adulthood. Ecological Systems …

The Role Of Organizational Leaders In Employee Self-Care: A Change Management Approach, Olivia Dawn Honaker

DSW Capstone Projects

Although literature demonstrates that helping professionals have had high levels of stress and burnout for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issue. The already burdened healthcare workers, now facing increased workloads, long hours, and high-level exposure to trauma, have created an urgency to address this significant risk to helping professionals. The current capstone will bring awareness to organizational leaders regarding the importance of employee self-care and the benefits of implementing employee self-care programs. First, a systematic literature review will examine self-care in helping professions and explore how organizational leaders operationalize employee self-care programs. In addition, the capstone aims …

How Being Aware Of Military Culture Influences Social Work Practice With Female Military Personnel, John Raymond Gonzalez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Active-duty women in the military seek help through the Family Advocacy Program (FAP) on military bases from social workers with a master’s degree in social work (MSW) who are hired by the federal government or by firms that contract with social workers to serve military personnel. Most of those social workers have no military background per se, which brings into question how being aware of the military culture might influence their practice with female military personnel. Grounded in self-awareness theory, which places focus on one's awareness relative to one's culture and environment at any time, the purpose of this action …

School Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Compassion Fatigue Syndrome, Gloria I. Collazo Cartagena

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School social workers face domestic violence, trauma, social violence, and mental and emotional health problems in their work context. Indeed, compassion fatigue results from professionals’ continuous exposure to these problems. This study explored school social work professionals’ perceptions of compassion fatigue. For this, the following questions were explored:the perception of school social workers working for the Puerto Rico Department of Education about compassion fatigue.

How Social Workers Contribute To Outcomes Of Adolescent Participants In Wilderness Programs, Tracy Dockler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The wilderness environment has become recognized as a viable treatment modality for addressing the psychosocial and behavioral needs of treatment-resistant adolescents. Even though social workers provide services in these specialized programs, little is known about how they perceive the contributions they make to the outcomes of the adolescent participants. The conceptual framework of wilderness treatment with a focus on the wilderness experience, as well as on the physical, social, and psychosocial aspects of participant functioning guided this study. In this qualitative study, a semistructured interview guide was used to elicit the thoughts of five master’s level social workers (MSWs) regarding …