Social Work Commons^™

Inpatient Addiction Medicine Consultation And Post-Hospital Substance Use Disorder Treatment Engagement: A Propensity-Matched Analysis, Honora Englander, Konrad Dobbertin, Bonnie K. Lind, Christina Nicolaidis, Peter Graven, Claire Dorfman, Todd Korthius

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Hospitalizations due to medical and surgical complications of substance use disorder (SUD) are rising. Most hospitals lack systems to treat SUD, and most people with SUD do not engage in treatment after discharge.

Objective

Determine the effect of a hospital-based addiction medicine consult service, the Improving Addiction Care Team (IMPACT), on post-hospital SUD treatment engagement.

Design

Cohort study using multivariable analysis of Oregon Medicaid claims comparing IMPACT patients with propensity-matched controls.

Participants

18–64-year-old Oregon Medicaid beneficiaries with SUD, hospitalized at an Oregon hospital between July 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016. IMPACT patients (n = 208) were matched …

"I Wouldn't Know Where To Start": Perspectives From Clinicians, Agency Leaders, And Autistic Adults On Improving Community Mental Health Services For Autistic Adults, Brenna B. Maddox, Samantha Crabbe, Rinad S. Beidas, Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Carolyn Cannuscio, Judith Miller, Christina Nicolaidis, David Mandell

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most autistic adults struggle with mental health problems, and traditional mental health services generally do not meet their needs. This study used qualitative methods to identify ways to improve community mental health services for autistic adults for treatment of their co-occurring psychiatric conditions. We conducted semistructured, open-ended interviews with 22 autistic adults with mental healthcare experience, 44 community mental health clinicians, and 11 community mental health agency leaders in the United States. The participants identified clinician-, client-, and systems-level barriers and facilitators to providing quality mental healthcare to autistic adults. Across all three stakeholder groups, most of the reported barriers …

Factors Influencing Attrition In 35 Alzheimer’S Disease Centers Across The Usa: A Longitudinal Examination Of The National Alzheimer’S Coordinating Center’S Uniform Data Set, Shanna L. Burke, Tianyan Hu, Mitra Naseh, Nicole Fava, Janice O’Driscoll, Daniel Alvarez, Linda Cottler, Ranjan Duara

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: A lack of understanding of the causes of attrition in longitudinal studies of older adults may lead to higher attrition rates and bias longitudinal study results. In longitudinal epidemiological studies of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, high rates of attrition may cause a systematic underestimation of dementia prevalence and skew the characterization of the disease. This can compromise the generalizability of the study results and any inferences based on the surviving sample may grossly misrepresent the importance of the risk factors for dementia. The National Institute on Aging outlined a National Strategy for Recruitment and Participation in Alzheimer’s Disease …

Recommendations For Integrating Peer Mentors In Hospital-Based Addiction Care, Honora Englander, Jessica Gregg, Janie Gullickson, Onesha Cochran-Dumas, Chris Colasurdo, Juliet Alla, Devin Collins, Christina Nicolaidis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Legislators and health systems have recently begun to explore the use of peer mentors as part of hospital-based addiction teams. Integrating peers into hospitals is a complex undertaking still in its infancy. Peers’ lived experience of addiction and its consequences, combined with their distance from medical culture and hierarchy, is at the core of their power – and creates inherent challenges in integrating peers into hospital settings. Successful integration of peers in hospitals has unique challenges for individual providers, health systems, and the peers themselves. We have included peers as part of a hospital-based addiction medicine team at our hospital …

Upstream Predictors Of The Need For Developmental Education Among First-Year Community College Students, Mathew C. Uretsky, Stacey L. Shipe, Angela K. Henneberger

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective/Research Question. How do student- and school-level factors measured in the final year of high school contribute to the odds of a student being assessed to need remediation in Math during the students’ first community college enrollment? Methods. The present study draws on five years of linked secondary and post-secondary administrative records and includes the academic records for 18,814 students attending 228 high schools across 24 jurisdictions in Maryland. We used a series of multilevel models (MLM) to address the research question. Results. Using MLM, we identified both student and school-level factors, drawn from the final year of high school, …

Amp’S Top Ten Tips For Engaging With Young People, Research And Training Center For Pathways To Positive Futures, Portland State University

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This tip sheet advises service providers and others how to engage successfully with youth, using specific examples to illustrate effective (and ineffective) communication.

Suicide Ideation, Planning, And Attempts: The Case Of The Latinx Lgb Youth, Javier F. Boyas, Tatiana Villarreal-Otálora, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Mariam Fatehi

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Guided by an ecological systems theory (EST) framework, the purpose of the present study was to investigate how multiple micro, mezzo, and macro factors influence the suicidality continuum from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt among Latinx LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) youth living in the United States.

Methods: Data for this cross sectional-study included 451 participants who self-identified as Latinx LGB on the 2017-National Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. The analysis explored micro, mezzo, and macro-level factors’ association with three suicidality outcomes (ideation, planning, and attempt) at the bivariate and multivariate level. Since the outcome variables were dichotomized, univariate logistic …

Pathogens Without Borders: Ecological Determinants Of Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors Among International Travelers Across The Life Course, Yok-Fong Paat, Luis R. Torres

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

Drawing insights from the ecological theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore social determinants related to pathways to high-risk sexual behaviors of international travelers across their life span.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 45 international travelers in Houston, a critical transit point frequented by international visitors.

Findings

Overall, several ecological settings (individuals, interpersonal, institutional and contextual) related to two typologies of international travelers (risk takers vs non-risk takers) and their inclination to engage in high-risk sexual practices in an international or/and local context were identified.

Research limitations/implications

This research calls for the need to assess high-risk sexual …

Training Needs Of Peer And Non-Peer Transition Service Providers: Results Of A National Survey, Pauline Jivanjee, Leigh Grover, Kristin Thorp, Brie Masselli, Johanna Bergan, Eileen Brennan

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Participatory action research processes guided a national online survey of service providers working with transition age youth with mental health challenges. The survey investigated transition service providers’ ratings of the importance of competencies and skills, self-assessed need for training in these competencies and skills, their preferred training modalities, and obstacles to engaging in training. The 254 participants identified trauma-informed care, understanding youth culture, promoting natural supports, and using culturally responsive practices as most important training needs. Age, years in current job, years in transition work, and race/ethnicity predicted training needs regarding some competencies and skills. Peer providers expressed preferences for …

Rethinking Services With Communities Of Color: Why Culturally Specific Organizations Are The Preferred Service Delivery Model, Ann Curry-Stevens, Gerald Deloney, Matt Morton

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Racial disparities in social, education and health services continue unabated despite efforts to address them. At the margins of the service delivery system are lesser-known and minimally researched programs known as “culturally specific organizations” that have been developed by and with communities of color. These are organizations that have been developed by a specific community of color and continue to serve that same community of color. This article shares the insights of three leaders in racial equity, who have been immersed in Portland-based organizations for many years: two as organizational leaders and one as an academic research partner. The paper …

Confronting Gentrification: Can Creative Interventions Help People Keep More Than Just Their Homes?, Amie Thurber, Janine Christiano

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Gentrification is changing the landscape of many American cities. As land values rise, people may lose their homes, neighbors, and sites of significance, along with their sense of place, community, and history. There is a critical need to build and preserve affordable housing, yet housing alone will not address the more than material losses. What role can the arts play in sustaining place attachments, restoring relationships, and building place knowledge in gentrifying neighborhoods? This paper explores this question through a systematic review of current research. We identify four prominent alternative interventions in gentrifying neighborhoods—creative placemaking, public pedagogy, community organizing, and …

Dementia-Related Neuropsychological Testing Considerations In Non-Hispanic White And Latino/Hispanic Populations, Shanna L. Burke, Mitra Naseh, Miriam Rodriguez, Aaron Burgess, David Loewenstein

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hispanic individuals are at greater risk for health disparities, less than optimal health care, and are diagnosed at later stages of cognitive impairment than white non-Hispanics. Acculturation and different attitudes toward test-taking may result in decrements in performance, especially on unfamiliar measures that emphasize speed and accuracy. Non-Hispanic individuals often outperform Hispanic individuals on cognitive and neuropsychological measures in community and clinical populations. Current neuropsychological testing may not provide accurate data related to monolingual and bilingual individuals of Hispanic descent. Testing instruments were identified by searching academic databases using combinations of relevant search terms. Neuropsychological instruments were included if they …

Whose Land Of The Free? Latina Transgender Immigrants In The United States, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transgender women from Latin America are driven to migrate to the United States in pursuit of a place where they can escape violence and discrimination. However, their experience in the United States continues to be one of oppression. Transgender Latina immigrants in the United States are the target of systematic oppression and interpersonal violence that affect their overall health and well-being. These experiences have led many transgender Latina immigrants to assume leadership roles and to organise social movements in demand for their human rights and dignity in the United States. Recommendations are provided for community leaders, policymakers, and academics.

Uprooting: How Can I Ethically Sell My Home In A Gentrifying Neighborhood?, Amie Thurber

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In areas that are rapidly gentrifying, the decisions sellers make—to whom to sell, and for how much to sell—are of particular consequence to their neighborhood. As someone who studies the myriad harms of gentrification, these decisions were particularly acute when I was facing them myself. Interweaving Nashville history, gentrification scholarship, and personal reflection, this article traces the ways my family navigated the question of how ethically to sell our home in a gentrifying market in order to be accountable to the neighborhoods we left behind.

Using “Remote” Training And Coaching To Increase Providers’ Skills For Working Effectively With Older Youth And Young Adults With Serious Mental Health Conditions, Janet S. Walker, Caitlin Baird

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since about the turn of the century, a growing awareness of the poor outcomes resulting from “as usual” community mental health care has led to increasing efforts to implement programs and interventions with empirical evidence of effectiveness. However, these efforts have encountered numerous barriers, in particular the high cost of implementation, which has severely limited uptake and sustainment of empiricallysupported programs and interventions. Typically, the largest contributor to cost is the training and coaching required to ensure provider competence and fidelity to the intervention or program model. This paper describes a social innovation that aims to provide high-quality training and …

The Aaspire Practice-Based Guidelines For The Inclusion Of Autistic Adults In Research As Co-Researchers And Study Participants, Christina Nicolaidis, Dora M. Raymaker, Steven K. Kapp, Amelia E.V. Baggs, Elesia Ashkenazy, Katherine E. Mcdonald, Michael Weiner, Joelle Maslak, Morrigan Hunter, Andrea Joyce

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

As interest in autism in adulthood grows, so does the need for methods to promote the inclusion of autistic adults in research. Our objective was to create practice-based guidelines for the inclusion of autistic adults, both as research team members and as study participants. We conducted an institutional ethnography of three closely related research partnerships that used participatory methods with autistic adults over the years 2006–2018. We used an iterative approach which combined discussions with community and academic partners and artifact review. Guidelines to promote the inclusion of autistic adults as co-researchers focus on being transparent about partnership goals, clearly …

What Works In Education In Emergencies: Co-Researching And Co-Authoring, Staci B. Martin, Vestine L. Umubyeyi

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of our paper is to explore how innovative community-based action approaches such as co-researching, co-authoring, and co-presenting with participants-as-researchers, can deepen our understanding of ‘what works’ in education in emergencies (EiE). Our paper will offer insight into how co-researching supports participants in their self-determination, agency and creates space for them to speak for themselves, something that is often missing in research.

Data Needs For Children With Special Needs In Refugee Populations, Serra Acar, Ozden Pinar-Irmak, Staci B. Martin

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines the challenges that affect the identification and assessment of refugee children with special needs in Turkey and provides recommendations related to data collection and assessment of these learners that is broadly relevant in refugee settings.

Important Information For Parents And Friends Of Young People Experiencing Psychosis: Lessons Learned From Young Adult Graduates Of Easa, Dora Raymaker, Mariam Rija, Tamara G. Sale, Christina Wall, Natalie Cohrs, Veronica Gould

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This tip sheet, created with input of young adult graduates of the EASA program, offers tips for supporting a young person experiencing psychosis. Topics covered include improving communication, promoting recovery, and family self-care.

An Expert Discussion On Autism And Empathy, Damian Milton, Noah J. Sasson, Elizabeth Sheppard, Melanie Yergeau, Christina Nicolaidis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

As early as 1962, psychologists described children with “autistic psychopathy” as being “unable to achieve empathy.”² An empathy deficit has since become a core feature in many conceptualizations of autism, including the Theory of Mind (or mind-blindness) model and the Empathizing-Systematizing model.³ Researchers have distinguished between cognitive empathy (or theory of mind; the capacity to understand another person’s perspective or mental state) and emotional or affective empathy (the capacity to experience affective reactions to the observed experiences of others), asserting that autistic individuals have deficits in the former, but not in the latter.⁴,⁵ Even this …

Knowledge, Principal Support, Self-Efficacy, And Beliefs Predict Commitment To Trauma-Informed Care, Stephanie A. Sundborg

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Organizations are identifying trauma-informed care (TIC) as a priority yet implementation is slow. Research suggests commitment to a change effort is an important predictor for change behavior; however, there is little theoretical or empirical evidence exploring commitment to TIC. This study examines the variables that predict affective commitment to TIC including foundational knowledge, principal support, self-efficacy, and beliefs about trauma. Does foundational knowledge independently predict affective commitment to TIC or is this relationship mediated by other variables? Method: Data were collected from 118 participants working in human services, using cross-sectional survey design. Participants completed self-report measures of affective commitment …

Community-Engaged Teaching: Lessons From A Participatory History Project, Amie Thurber, Sarah V. Suiter

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

How can we create opportunities for students to gain experience in community-engaged scholarship that truly benefits the community given the constraints of the academic calendar, students’ varied capacity to develop reciprocal and responsive community relationships, and the tendency for community-engaged research to instrumentalize community partners in service to academic deliverables? This paper explores one attempt to meet this challenge: an experimental graduate course in community development that linked course content to a participatory history project. Designed as a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study, instructors studied the instructional process as well as outcomes for students and community partners. We …

Frequency Of Social Contact In-Person Vs. On Facebook: An Examination Of Associations With Psychiatric Symptoms In Military Veterans, Alan R. Teo, Benjamin K. Chan, Somnath Saha, Christina Nicolaidis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Social isolation is closely associated with negative mental health outcomes. Social media platforms may expand opportunities for social contact, but whether online interactions are as effective as face-to-face, or in-person, interactions at protecting against the negative effects of social isolation is unclear.

Methods: Participants consisted of U.S. military veterans who served since September 2001 and used Facebook (n = 587). Our independent variables were frequency of social contact occurring in-person and on Facebook. Dependent variables were probable psychiatric disorders and suicidality, measured using several validated screening tools. The independent effect of each form of social contact was assessed using …

A Systematic Review Of What Barriers And Facilitators Prevent And Enable Physical Healthcare Services Access For Autistic Adults, David Mason, Barry Ingham, Anna Urbanowicz, Cos Michael, Heather Birtles, Marc Woodbury‑Smith, Toni Brown, Ian James, Clare Scarlett, Christina Nicolaidis, Jeremy R. Parr

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autistic people are more likely to: be diagnosed with a range of physical health conditions (i.e. cardio-vascular disease); experience premature mortality (for most disease categories); and experience barriers to effectively accessing healthcare. This systematic review sought to identify studies that report on barriers and facilitators to physical healthcare access for autistic people. A total of 3111 records were screened and six studies were included: two quantitative, two qualitative, and two mixed-methodology studies. Patient-provider communication, sensory sensitivities, and executive functioning/planning issues emerged as important barriers to healthcare. Recommendations for clinicians and those planning services are discussed.

Wraparound For Older Youth And Young Adults: Providers’ Views On Whether And How To Adapt Wraparound, Janet S. Walker, Caitlin Baird

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Systems of care are increasingly extending eligibility to young adults up to age 24, often using Wraparound as the model for serving young people with the highest levels of need. Over the last few years, as we interacted with providers through our Wraparound-focused training, coaching and technical assistance, we participated in numerous conversations in which providers talked about how they were adapting their Wraparound practice in order to respond to the unique developmental needs of this population. Throughout these conversations, providers consistently affirmed that Wraparound was a valuable approach for working with older youth and young adults. However, many providers …

Editorial: Public Intellectualism And The Call For Grounded Speculation, Ben Anderson-Nathe, Grant Charles

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The author discusses the challenge of getting child welfare research to practitioners, families, and the young people whose lives it concerns.

Editorial: We Can Do Better Than "Adolescence", Ben Anderson-Nathe, Grant Charles

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. The author discusses the concept of adolescence and its acceptance as a biological imperative, a developmental mandate, and an explanation for young people's behavior. Topics discussed include the shift of the fundamentals of labor from largely agrarian to predominantly industrial forms, the 1904 naming of adolescence as a distinct life stage in the human experience, and adolescence as the default starting point for most adult interactions with youth in the academic and practice literatures.

The Mentor's Guide To Youth Purpose: The Art Of Helping A Young Person Find Meaning, A Sense Of Self, And Ways Of Giving Back To Their World, Meghan Perry

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

We can all benefit from purpose— an intention that supports our engagement in activities, causes, or contributions that invigorate us, get us planning ahead, and thinking beyond ourselves. Some people experience a plethora of purpose—a mindset that reinforces their engagement in a range of meaningful experiences while contributing to others— while many others have never, or only occasionally, identified or experienced opportunities to explore purpose. Wherever you happen to be on this spectrum, you found your way to this resource because you care about young people. And as a caring adult, you can tend to both individual and communal wellness …

Teaching Race, Racism, And Racial Justice: Pedagogical Principles And Classroom Strategies For Course Instructors, M. Brielle Harbin, Amie Thurber, Joe Bandy

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching on topics of race and racism presents unique challenges to leaders in the university classroom setting. Despite an increasing number of instructors bringing a critical analysis of racial in/justice to their curriculum, many report challenges in teaching this content effectively. In this article, we address these challenges. We define common challenges in teaching racial content and articulate four principles for course planning around topics of race, racism, and racial justice. Then, drawing on a systematic review of scholarship examining issues of difference within a diverse range of disciplinary settings, we introduce a set of five pedagogical strategies, and supporting …

Editorial: Disconnection And Mattering, Grant Charles, Ben Anderson-Nathe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. The article offers information on how the disconnection may affect the lives of children and youth and role of mattering to other people in overcoming the loneliness. Topics discussed include information on the empowering child and youth care; discussions on the intentional relationships and connection between children and youth; and the how engagements with young people reduces the loneliness.