Social Work Commons^™

Urban School-Based Behavioral Health Providers' Attitudes Towards Evidence Based Practices, Erik D. Maki

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) in schools show promise in meeting the behavioral health needs of urban students, however there are multiple barriers to implementation. Providers’ attitudes towards EBPs may be one of these barriers. Through a cross sectional survey design, this dissertation answers four major research questions: 1) Is the EBPAS-50 an appropriate tool to use with school based behavioral health providers, 2) Do attitudes vary depending on level of experience (student vs. professional), 3) Do attitudes vary depending on a practitioners’ hire status (school-hired vs. non-school hired), and 4) Do EBPAS-50 scores predict implementation of EBPs? Participants were 160 …

Volunteering Among Surviving Spouses: The Impact Of Volunteer Activity On The Health Of The Recently Widowed, Kimberly J. Johnson

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Numerous studies link volunteering to positive mental and physical health for older adults, and recent studies have suggested that volunteering may be particularly beneficial for those who are widowed. This research examines the potential of volunteering to buffer participants from stress-related health declines associated with the death of a spouse.

Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this research investigates the moderating role of volunteering on the self-rated health and depressive symptoms of recently widowed older adults. Consecutive waves of the HRS are used to identify respondents who experience the death of a spouse or who remain married, and those …

It's Not So Simple: Understanding Participant Involvement In The Design, Implementation, And Improvement Of Cash & Counseling Programs, Erin E. Mcgaffigan

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For more than three decades, the United States federal government and the states have worked to restructure the long-term care system to be more community based and responsive to personal preferences. Some argue that those who seek such services should be actively engaged in their design (Morris, 2008; Priester, Hewitt, & Kane, 2006). While many who design and implement home and community-based services may believe that participant engagement could be beneficial, most plans move forward with little to no provision for such engagement. The existing literature provides very little insight into the implications of such decisions.

The Cash & Counseling …