Social Work Commons^™

“It’S Embarrassing. I Get Angry. I Get Frustrated.”: Understanding Severe Hypoglycemia And Glucagon Usage From The Perspectives Of People With Type 1 Diabetes, Allyson S. Hughes, Katherine Chapman, Jeoffrey Bispham, Jeannett Dimsits, Stuart Weinzimer, Wendy Wolf, Nazanin M. Heydarian

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction

This study characterized the emotional impact of severe hypoglycemia, views of glucagon, and barriers to glucagon use from the perspective of adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Methods

Participants included individuals recruited from the T1D Exchange online community. The current study conducted 7 focus groups consisting of adults with T1D (N = 38, average age 49.4, SD = 16.11 years). Average duration of diabetes was 34.4 years (SD = 17.3) and average self-reported A1c was 6.8 % (SD = 0.7). Focus group interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.

Results

A range of emotions was expressed about severe …

Contact Based Intervention Reduces Stigma Among Pharmacy Students, Christine R. Bakos-Block, Tamara Al Rawwad, Marylou Cardenas-Turanzas, Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction

Interventions to reduce the stigma of substance use disorders by health professionals often include didactic instruction combined with an interactive component that includes a guest speaker in recovery. Few interactive studies have focused on pharmacy students. Community pharmacists are moving to the front lines to battle the opioid epidemic; therefore, pharmacy students should be included in interventions aimed at reducing stigma by health professionals.

Methods

This study examined the effects of a contact-based interactive intervention delivered by a peer recovery support specialist on perceived stigma of opioid use disorder among third-year pharmacy students (N = 115) enrolled in …

Implementation Of The Texas Community-Engaged Statewide Consortium For The Prevention Of Covid-19, Erika L. Thompson, Bettina M. Beech, Robert L. Ferrer, Lorna Mcneill, Jasmine J. Opusunju, Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, Emily Spence, Luis Torres-Hostos, Christopher I. Amos, Palak Desai, Jamboor K. Vishwanatha

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities aims to conduct community-engaged research and outreach. This paper describes the Texas CEAL Consortium's activities in the first year and evaluates progress. The Texas CEAL Consortium comprised seven projects. To evaluate the Texas CEAL Consortium's progress, we used components of the RE-AIM Framework. Evaluation included estimating the number of people reached for data collection and education activities (reach), individual project goals and progress (effectiveness), partnerships established and partner engagement (adoption), and outreach and education activities (implementation). During the one-year period, focus groups were conducted with 172 people and surveys with 2107 people …

The Role Of Community Factors In Predicting Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Workforce: A Longitudinal Study In Rural And Urban Settings, Wanlian Li, Guanghan Gao, Fei Sun, Lin Jiang

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The dual urban-rural division system in China has led to distinguishes in economic development, medical services, and education as well as in mental health disparities. This study examined whether community factors (community cohesion, supportive network size, foreseeable community threat, and medical insurance coverage) predict the depressive symptoms of Chinese workers and how community factors may work differently in rural and urban settings.

Methods: This secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the 2014 and 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS). The sample of this study includes 9,140 workers (6,157 rural labors and 2,983 urban labors) who took part …

Health Through A Human Right Lens At The Us-Mexico Border: Increasing Access To Healthcare For Central American Immigrants, Carolina Venturi, Diana Guízar-Sánchez, María Elena Ramos-Tovar, Melissa Torres, Flor D. Avellaneda, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, Omar Matuk-Villazon

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The number of immigrants seeking entry into the U.S. through asylum requests or through irregular means is increasing, and most come from the Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Immigrants come fleeing extreme poverty, violence, health and social inequities, and drastic climate changes. Most had limited access to healthcare at home, and even more limited care along the journey. Those that are allowed entry into the U.S., are confronted with feeling unwelcome in many communities, having to navigate an array of local, state, and federal laws that regulate access to healthcare. We need immigration policies that preserve the …

Remedios: Coping With Mental Distress Among Mexican Americans In The Rio Grande Valley, Romeo Escobar, Irán Barrera, Denise Longoria, John Gonzalez, Isaias Melgoza

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Latino population continues to increase, with estimates of 60 million living in the United States. Of the Hispanic population, 19% live in poverty. This may be a problem because according to research, living in poverty affects people’s social networks and self-worth negatively and is strongly associated with psychological issues. This study examined the perceptions of practitioners of mental health treatment of Mexican Americans who were experiencing mental distress and were residing in the U.S.- Mexico border. Findings suggest clients self-diagnose and try medications (usually purchased in Mexico) that were recommended to them by family members and/or social networks. Additionally, …

The Texas Community-Engagement Research Alliance Against Covid-19 In Disproportionately Affected Communities (Tx Ceal) Consortium, Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, Chris Amos, Bettina M. Beech, Robert L. Ferrer, Lorna Mcneill, Jasmine J. Opusunju, Emily Spence, Erika L. Thompson, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, Jamboor K. Vishwanatha

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires urgent implementation of effective community-engaged strategies to enhance education, awareness, and inclusion of underserved communities in prevention, mitigation, and treatment efforts. The Texas Community-Engagement Alliance Consortium was established with support from the United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct community-engaged projects in selected geographic locations with a high proportion of medically underserved minority groups with a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 disease and hospitalizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the Consortium. The Consortium organized seven projects with focused activities to address COVID-19 clinical and vaccine trials …

Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships During Covid-19: Providing Virtual Field Opportunities For Student Learners And Addressing Social Isolation In Older Adults, Omolola E. Adepoju, Sheara Jennings, Patti Schrader, Kathleen Reeve, Tracy Mcmanaman-Bridges, Lauren Gilbert, Ben King, Jessica Dobbins, Andy Rollins, Luis Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

While preventive and management measures are important to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, strategies like social distancing can have devastating effects on older adults who are already at risk for social isolation and loneliness. In response, two Colleges of Health Professions (Social Work and Nursing) at a large public University leveraged a partnership with a national health and wellbeing company to address social isolation and loneliness in Houston area older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. This intergenerational linkage initiative involved 707 older adults and 177 graduate social work and nursing students. This study describes the process of developing a virtual …

Suicide Among South Asian Americans: A Systematic Review Of Causal And Risk Factors, Susheelabai R. Srinivasa, Sudershan Pasupuleti, Rani Dronamraju

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper will provide an overview of suicide prevalence among South Asian Americans who constitute nearly one-third of Asian Americans and 1.7 percent of the United States population. South Asians, late 20th century immigrants, are a numerally small percentage of the population in the United States. As a distinct ethnic population despite significant diversity within, South Asians encounter unique challenges with myriad sub-cultures and struggles that make them vulnerable and underrepresented in policy and service utilization in mental health and health care due to various barriers. These conditions create vulnerability among first and subsequent generations as they go through social …

Associations Of Positive And Negative Affect On Health Risk Behaviors Among Latinos., John R. Moore, Zully C. Guerra, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Tatiana Londoño, Yessenia Castro

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Negative affect is widely emphasized in behavior modification interventions. However, positive affect is associated with smoking cessation, physical activity, and healthy dietary habits and may be an important treatment target. Few studies have examined the relationship between positive affect and health behaviors among Latinos, who disproportionately experience modifiable health risk behaviors. This study examined the independent associations of positive affect and negative affect on modifiable health risk behaviors among Latino adults.

Method: Data came from 432 persons who participated in one of two studies examining determinants of modifiable health risk behaviors among Latino adults. Primary outcomes were current smoking, …

Channa Reddy In Telangana Statehood Movement: Initiation, Intervention And Contribution, Jakkula Koteswar Rao, Ram Shepherd Bheenaveni

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present paper tries to explore some of the repeated accusations and half-truths against the Telangana leader – Dr. Marri Channa Reddy, who led the movement in 1969. It is believed that the leaders started the Telangana Statehood movement as a problem-solving movement against subregionalism. Dr. Reddy was a staunch opponent of Andhra’s internal colonization. This is not only absurd but also a parody of the truth. This is mainly due to the lack of original documents in an organized campaign for the separate state of Telangana. The print and electronic media reports speak of alarming national integration at the …