Social Work Commons^™

Social Work Research And Evidence-Based Practice In Experimental Medicine Exploring Issues In The Xenotransplantation Context, Alan Lipps, Kyeonghee Jang

School of Social Work

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to discuss challenges to interdisciplinary evidence-based social work practice (EBP) within a context of xenotransplantation (XTx) using genetically modified animal organs, and the broader context of experimental medicine.

Method: This paper reviewed EBP terminology and discussed the meaning and function of evidence-based social work practice within an IDT in a XTx setting. Meta-analytic systematic reviews, and psychosocial surveys, were discussed to glean insights into ways in which IDTs can incorporate those research methodologies into EBP within an experimental medical (i.e., XTx) context. Several issues that arise while conducting psychosocial research in preparation for …

Meta‐Analysis Of Public Perception Toward Xenotransplantation, Chace Mitchell, Alan Lipps, Luz Padilla, Zoie Werkheiser, David Kc Cooper, Wayne Paris

School of Social Work

The shortage of donor organs for transplantation is an international problem. One promising option to meet the need is xenotransplantation (XTx; eg, pig‐to‐human). However, there are still questions surrounding XTx that must be answered before proceeding to clinical trials. The current work is a meta‐analysis of articles published between 1985 and 2019 to analyze the factors most strongly associated with agreement and opposition toward the procedure. Although 80% (41/51) of the published studies were related to the opinions of patients, only three provided sufficient data for analysis. Thus, the bulk of what we really know about attitudes toward XTx comes …

Project Miracle: Increasing Empathy Among Psychosocial Support Staff Working With Refugees Through Brief Training In Motivational Interviewing, Miriam Potocky, Kristen L. Guskovict

School of Social Work

Motivational interviewing (MI) is presented as a mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) approach for increasing empathy among psychosocial support staff working with refugees in resettlement. In a pilot study, 34 case managers in US refugee resettlement non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were trained in MI in a 3-h webinar format using a randomized controlled trial with a wait-list condition. Outcome was measured using the Helpful Responses to Refugees Questionnaire, which assesses empathetic responses to common refugee scenarios. Training group participants’ responses significantly improved from before to after training compared to the wait-list group which received no training; these results were subsequently …

Repatriation Of Afghan Refugees From Iran: A Shelter Profile Study, Mitra Naseh, Miriam Potocky, Paul H. Stuart, Sara Pezeshk

School of Social Work

One in every nine refugees worldwide is from Afghanistan, and Iran is one of main host countries for these refugees. Close to 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees have depleted resources in Iran and resulted in promoting and sometimes forcing repatriation. Repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran to Afghanistan has been long facilitated by humanitarian organizations with the premise that it will end prolonged displacement. However, lack of minimum standards of living, among other factors such as private covered living area, can make repatriation far from a durable solution. This study aims to highlight the value of access to shelter …

Mitigating Psychological Distress Among Humanitarian Staff Working With Migrants And Refugees: A Case Example, Kristen L. Guskovict, Miriam Potocky

School of Social Work

Ongoing acute stress in humanitarian work leads to psychological distress among humanitarian workers. Stress management within humanitarian agencies requires responses at both the individual staff member and agency levels. Stress management is often conceptualized in four categories: stress that can be accepted; stress that can be altered; stress to which individuals can adapt; and stress that can be avoided. Humanitarian workers accept the stress created by the environment in which they choose to work. They can manage stress by altering their own behaviors through improved communication skills and the implementation of self-care plans. They can adapt, with the help of …

Assessing Refugee Poverty Using Capabilities Versus Commodities: The Case Of Afghans In Iran, Mitra Naseh, Miriam Potocky, Shanna L. Burke, Paul H. Stuart

School of Social Work

This study is among the first to calculate poverty among one of the world’s largest refugee populations, Afghans in Iran. More importantly, it is one of the first to use capability and monetary approaches to provide a comprehensive perspective on Afghan refugees’ poverty. We estimated poverty using data collected from a sample of 2,034 refugee households in 2011 in Iran. We utilized basic needs poverty lines and the World Bank’s absolute international poverty line for our monetary poverty analyses and the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for our capability analyses of poverty. Findings show that nearly half of the Afghan …

Caring For Orphans And Vulnerable Children In Institutional Care Facilities In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Social Development Intervention., Reuben Addo Phd

School of Social Work

No abstract provided.

Case Study: Healthy Texas Women Program In The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, Saul Francisco Delgado

School of Social Work

The public healthcare system faces continuous transformations and challenges of constant adjustments to the increasing usage of fee for service revenue and the decrease of federal investment to women’s healthcare services and to the safety net healthcare providers (Meit, 2013; Weisman, 1997).

In 2016, the Texas 84^th Legislation Session determined to consolidate two existing women’s healthcare service programs into one a single program: the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) program. The new women’s program is a preventative care program that provides services of family planning and chronic illness care under a complete fee for service reambursement system as its sourse …

Measuring Organizational Climate At The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, Sarah E.A. Floyd

School of Social Work

The aim of this study was to answer the question, according to the Competing Values Framework, what is the organizational climate of the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District (ATCPHD)? Organizational climate for this study refers to the collective perceptions of employees on their interactions with their peers, management, and the organization. This study surveyed the 64 employees at the ATCPHD with the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM). Forty employees participated in the study. The study determined that the climate of the ATCPHD, according to Competing Values Framework (CVF), was the Human Relations organizational climate with a secondary climate of Relational Goals. …

Enhancing Empathy Among Humanitarian Workers Through Project Miracle: Development And Initial Validation Of The Helpful Responses To Refugees Questionnaire, Miriam Potocky, Kristen L. Guskovict

School of Social Work

Background: Empathy is an important tool needed for service providers working with people who have experienced trauma, such as refugees and torture survivors. However, the high caseloads, rigorous deadlines, and overwhelming circumstances under which humanitarian workers typically operate often make it challenging to employ empathy. The Helpful Responses to Refugees Questionnaire (HRRQ) was developed to measure empathetic responsiveness, a core skill of Motivational Interviewing, among service providers working with refugees, including torture survivors.

Methods: The HRRQ was adapted specifically for measuring empathy in refugee contexts, including among asylum-seekers and torture survivors. Face validity and content validity were established by a …

Can Online Consumers Contribute To Drug Knowledge? A Mixedmethods Comparison Of Consumergenerated And Professionally Controlled Psychotropic Medication Information On The Internet, Shannon Hughes, David Cohen

School of Social Work

Background: Ongoing initiatives to filter online health searches exclude consumer-generated content from search returns, though its inferiority compared with professionally controlled content is not demonstrated. The antidepressant escitalopram and the antipsychotic quetiapine have ranked over the last 5 years as top-selling agents in their respective drug classes. Both drugs have various off-label mental health and non–mental health uses, ranging from the relief of insomnia and migraines to the treatment of severe developmental disorders.

Objective: Our objective was to describe the most frequently reported effects of escitalopram and quetiapine in online consumer reviews, to compare them with effects described in professionally …

Youth At Work: Adolescent Employment And Sexual Harassment, Susan Fineran, James E. Gruber

School of Social Work

An examination of the frequency and impact of workplace sexual harassment on work, health, and school outcomes on high school girls is presented in two parts. The first compares the frequency of harassment in this sample (52%) to published research on adult women that used the same measure of sexual harassment. The second part compares outcomes for girls who experienced harassment versus those who did not.

Improving Treatment Through Research Directing Attention To The Role Of Development In Adolescent Treatment Success, Eric F. Wagner

School of Social Work

Treatment of adolescents with alcohol use problems can be as successful as in adults, but the success often is short-lived, with most treated adolescents relapsing within a few months. Developmental differences among adolescents may contribute to this high rate of relapse, and treatment approaches that pay direct attention to the patients’ developmental status may improve outcomes. To date, studies assessing adolescent alcohol treatment rarely have investigated the association between developmental stage and outcome. In addition, even experts do not fully agree on the developmentally appropriate outcomes that should be evaluated in adolescent treatment studies. Research methods and variables used to …

Comparing The Impact Of Bullying And Sexual Harassment Victimization On The Mental And Physical Health Of Adolescents, James Gruber Phd, Susan Fineran Phd, Licsw

School of Social Work

A sample of 522 middle and high school students from a school district in a northeastern state in the U.S. was used to address two questions about bullying and sexual harassment: Is one more frequent than the other, and are there gender or sexual orientation differences in this regard? And, does one have greater adverse health effects than the other, and, if so, for whom? Bullying occurred more frequently than sexual harassment for both girls and boys but not among sexual minorities. Girls were bullied or harassed as frequently as boys, but sexual minorities experienced higher levels of both. Compared …

The Impact Of Bullying And Sexual Harassment On Health Outcomes Of Middle School And High School Girls, James Gruber, Susan Fineran

School of Social Work

The impact of bullying and sexual harassment on six health outcomes among middle school girls were compared to these outcomes among high school girls. High school girls experienced more bullying and sexual harassment and poorer health outcomes than their middle school counterparts, but the impact of these experiences was less among high school students. Differences in outcomes may be the result of better support systems and coping mechanisms among high school girls and/or challenging developmental changes during middle school. Sexual orientation, race, and disability had some notable relationships to bullying and sexual harassment experiences as well as health outcomes.

Do Antidepressants Cure Or Create Abnormal Brain States?, Joanna Moncrieff, David Cohen

School of Social Work

No abstract provided.

Peer Sexual Harassment And Peer Violence Among Adolescents In Johanesburg And Chicago, Susan Fineran Phd, Licsw, Larry Bennett Phd, Terry Sacco Msw

School of Social Work

In this comparison study of peer sexual harassment and peer violence in South African and US schools, the roles of gender and power in the experience, perpetration, and reaction to peer sexual harassment, physical violence and sexual violence are described for 208 South African students and 224 US students age 16-18.

Review Of: The Road Not Taken: A History Of Radical Social Work In The United States, David Wagner

School of Social Work

No abstract provided.

Adolescents At Work: Gender Issues And Sexual Harassment, Susan Fineran Phd, Licsw

School of Social Work

This study by Dr. Susan Fineran, Professor Emerita, University of Southern Maine, describes adolescents' experiences with sexual harassment while working part-time and attending high school. In a sample of 712 high school students, 35% of the 332 students who work part-time report experiencing sexual harassment (63% girls, 37% boys). Results revealed that there are differences in the experience of sexual harassment by gender, work relationship, and emotional reaction. Students experienced harassment from supervisors (19%), coworkers (61%), and unidentified others at work (18%). Girls reported being significantly more upset and threatened by the sexual harassment they experienced at work than boys …