Social Work Commons^™

Childhood Predictors In The Severity Of Combat Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Veterans With Combat Related Exposure, Michael Bermes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emerging research suggests that childhood adversities may increase both the risk and symptomology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in our veteran population. Over 40% of our reintegrating military veterans return with significant mental health issues led by combatrelated PTSD. PTSD impacts veterans in numerous areas including unemployment, increased criminal justice involvement, increased treatment costs, divorce, co-morbid mental illness, greater levels of domestic violence, homelessness, high college dropout rates, suicide, and long term health problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of childhood adversities (abuse, neglect, and poverty) upon the severity of combat-related PTSD in veteran populations. …

Brain Development And Learning In The Primary Years .G2198, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In the primary years, children are beginning to think in complex ways about themselves, their environment, and others. Teachers can play a role in honing children’s brain development and learning.

Materials And Environments That Promote Learning In The Primary Years .G2199, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Leanne Manning

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Teachers can use multiple strategies to create a stimulating and responsive environment for children in the primary years. These strategies can lead to children’s overall social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.

To promote optimal development of the whole child, children need a variety of materials available to them daily that provide both challenge and success. They also need daily exposure to music, art, and movement activities.

Play And Learning In The Primary Years .G2200, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

During the school day, there should be opportunities for children ages 3-8 to gain a deeper understanding of academic concepts through play. Children’s play needs to be encouraged as an essential part of their healthy development. A wide variety of play experiences is necessary to develop a complex and integrated brain.

Research collected as part of the report Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School (2009) shows that children are spending fewer than 30 minutes a day in purposeful play or choice time in the kindergarten classroom, even less in grades 1-3. In contrast, young children …

The Role Of Relationships In The Primary Years .G2201, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Supporting a child’s healthy social and emotional growth takes commitment from all primary caregivers in the child’s life. This includes mothers, fathers, grandparents, teachers, and other key adults.

For many years, researchers have discussed the importance of attachment in early childhood. It is widely accepted that relationships are an important part of healthy developmental processes.

A wealth of research supports the need for strong, safe, and secure teacher-child relationships. We know that relationships are essential to learning, and that developmental achievements are the result of interactions with other people and with objects. Forgoing attention to the quality of the teacher-child …

The Importance Of Outdoor Experiences In The Primary Years .G2202, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Leanne Manning, Julia C. Torquati

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Daily experiences in natural environments can have immediate and long-lasting benefits for children. Increased physical activity is associated with decreases in depression and anxiety and increases in levels of concentration. It also is a key strategy in addressing childhood obesity.

Research overwhelmingly supports the need for children to experience natural environments often and in a variety of ways. For many reasons, children are spending increasing amounts of time inside the house watching television and playing video games. Also, many schools are cutting recess times or eliminating recess all together in favor of spending more time during the day focusing on …

Critical Reflectivity And The Development Of New Culturally Relevant Teachers ., Tonia Renee Durden, Diane M. Truscott

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Three case studies present how preservice teachers use reflections while learning to teach. Interviews and document analysis reveal that critical reflections evidence greater understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy and offer a platform for critical consciousness. Using critical reflectivity to develop teachers’ understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy is discussed.

Improving Self-Esteem Through Art For Incarcerated Youth, April Murphy, Jeff Beaty, James Minnick

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Accwic Training Curriculum, Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center

Other QIC-WD Products

Purpose The International Federation of Coaches (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” “Coaching is highly focused on individuals designing their future – and that of their organization – and achieving excellence through setting personally and professionally challenging goals and committing to taking the actions necessary to achieve them” (Byrne, 2007). In the field of child welfare, coaching is being utilized in work situations, at all levels of the system, to focus on specific skills and abilities to reach specific outcomes, enhance performance and …

The African Immigrant And Refugee Community In Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile, Ann Curry-Stevens, Coalition Of Communities Of Color

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since 1975, African immigrants, refugees and secondary migrants have been relocating to Multnomah County and now represent the fourth largest immigrant community after Latino, Asian, and Slavic immigrants. The African community here is incredibly diverse in its make-up, with over 28 different African countries and numerous ethnic groups represented. Estimates from 2003 suggest that African immigrants make up 2% of the foreign-born population in the Portland Metro (tri-county) area. Nearly half (45%) of the tri-county area’s African foreign-born population is from eastern Africa, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Other countries of origin include Sudan, Sierra …

Motivating Men Who Have Sex With Men To Get Tested For Hiv Through The Internet And Mobile Phones: A Qualitative Study, Magaly M. Blas, Luis A. Menacho, Isaac E. Alva, Robinson Cabello, Edwin Roberto Orellana

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) have the highest HIV prevalence in Peru, yet they are underserved by traditional preventive programs. In Peru, the Internet and mobile phones have emerged as an effective and convenient tool to reach this population.

Methods and Findings: From October 2010 to February 2011, we conducted eight focus groups with gay identified MSM (closeted and out-of-the-closet) and with self-identified heterosexual MSM in order to identify key features and preferences to be used to tailor culturally-appropriate messages that could be delivered through Internet and mobile phones to motivate MSM to get tested …

A Case Study Of The Effects Of Privatization Of Child Welfare On Services For Children And Families: The Nebraska Experience, Grace S. Hubel, Alayna Schreier, David J. Hansen, Brian Wilcox

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Privatization, or contracting with non-governmental agencies for provision of state or federally funded services, is a strategy that has gained recent attention from policymakers as a potential tool for successful child welfare reform. The Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives Project was created in 2007 as a joint effort between the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The framework identified by this project produced twelve key considerations for states moving towards a privatized system. This case study considers these twelve considerations in a description of the large-scale effort to …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Accwic Coaching Curriculum, Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center

Other QIC-WD Products

Purpose The International Federation of Coaches (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” “Coaching is highly focused on individuals designing their future – and that of their organization – and achieving excellence through setting personally and professionally challenging goals and committing to taking the actions necessary to achieve them” (Byrne, 2007). In the field of child welfare, coaching is being utilized in work situations, at all levels of the system, to focus on specific skills and abilities to reach specific outcomes, enhance performance and …

A Discourse Analysis Of Ontario's Family Health Teams, Rachelle Ashcroft

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Inspired by critical social work practice, this study engages in a discourse analysis of Ontario’s Family Health Team (FHT) model. The purpose for this study is threefold; namely, a) to deepen our understanding of health discourses promoted by Ontario’s FHT model; b) to explore how Ontario’s FHT model compares to Haggerty, Burge, Lévesque, Gass, Pineault, Beaulieu, & Santor’s (2007) conceptual model of PHC; and c) to promote critical reflection in order to help inform decisions on how to improve quality of care and enhance health equity in FHTs. This study is guided using the overarching question: What health care practices …

Short Text Messages To Motivate Hiv Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Qualitative Study In Lima, Peru, Luis A. Menacho, Magaly M. Blas, Isaac E. Alva, Edwin Roberto Orellana

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify features and content that short message service (SMS) should have in order to motivate HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lima, Peru.

Methods: From October, 2010 to February, 2011, we conducted focus groups at two stages; six focus groups were conducted to explore and identify SMS content and features and two additional focus groups were conducted to tailor SMS content. The text messages were elaborated within the theoretical framework of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model and the Social Support Theory.

Results: A total of …

Policies To Eliminate Racial Disparities In Education: A Literature Review, Ann Curry-Stevens, Analucia Lopezrevoredo, Dana Peters

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In response to an increasing need to understand the reach of the literature and the research undertaken on initiatives to eliminate racial disparities, a literature review was initiated in 2012 for the Eliminating Racial Disparities Collaborative within the All Hands Raised initiative to improve academic outcomes for students in Multnomah County. This was an expansive undertaking – and at the end, we have drawn upon about 160 different articles, some of which were meta-analyses of an array of publications in a particular field.

The first section in this report is a summary document that details each policy-based recommendation in this …

Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

People around the globe have embraced democracy to bring about positive social change to address our environmental, economic, and militaristic challenges. Yet, there is no agreement on a definition of democracy that can guide social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model is a unifying theory of democracy to guide healthy, sustainable, and just social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model consists of ten elements, organized as five polarity pairs: freedom & authority, justice & due process, diversity & equality, human-rights & communal-obligations, and participation & representation. In this model each element has positive aspects and negative aspects and …

Oral Care & Asian And Pacific Islander Communities In Oregon, Amira Caluya

Center to Advance Racial Equity Publications and Reports

This report attempts to describe the current knowledge of oral health care access within Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in Oregon based on secondary data from the Oregon Health Authority’s Smile Survey 2007, Smile Survey 2012; and the Coalition of Communities of Color’s 2012 report, The Asian and Pacific Islander Community in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile. To be clear, the 2012 survey report draft is cited most, as the 2012 survey reported more data on children of color compared to the 2007 survey. This paper also attempts to highlight the multifaceted aspects of access to care …