Social Work Commons^™

Inspiring Macro Practice Through Rural Social Work: Teaching Notes On Experiential Learning, Dana C. Branson

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Experiential learning is the cornerstone of social work education and has been shown to be highly beneficial to students, especially with increased self-confidence in skills, interest in similar work post-graduation, cultural humility, application of theory to practice, problem solving skills, and critical thinking. Additionally, experiential learning opportunities support the nine competencies of social work education and provides students with an opportunity to try out their budding skills with the guidance and supervision of seasoned social workers. This paper discusses an innovative course project that allowed a group of social work students to engage in macro-level social work practice and grant …

Lessons Learned From Covid-19: Provider Suggestions For Improving Service Delivery In Sexual Violence Resource Centers And Children's Advocacy Centers In Kentucky, Whitney Cassity-Caywood, Matthew Woodward, Austin Griffiths, Alecia Hatfield

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for human service providers, especially as face-to-face services were limited by both formal and informal efforts to protect public health. Telehealth has emerged as a main strategy to ensure continuity of care. This study explored adaptations to services in child advocacy centers (CACs) and sexual violence resource centers (SVRCs) across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, particularly using telehealth. This study highlights respondents’ suggestions about improving these service delivery systems and the particular emphasis on challenges and strengths of telehealth for reaching those in rural areas.

Exploring Regional Differences In Social Work Pedagogy: Attitudes Toward Poverty, Michael L. Burford, Peter A. Kindle, Laura Brierton Granruth, Elena Delavega, David H. Johnson, Susan Peterson, Mary Caplan

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study explores regional differences in student learning outcomes from pre and post-test surveys of undergraduate and first year graduate social work students (N = 373) enrolled in a social welfare policy class at six different CSWE accredited institutions. As expected, overall results showed a shift in student attitudes away from a personal deficiency explanation for poverty, a decline in stigmatization of poverty, and toward a more structural explanation for the causes of poverty, but significant differences were reported by geographical region. Future research should explore the instructor, pedagogical, and geographical factors that may help of hinder attitudinal preparation …

Grow Your Own: Educating Social Workers In Rural And Frontier Areas To Address The Behavioral Health Workforce Crisis, Michelle M. Levy, Christina D. Boyd

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Workforce shortages in behavioral health are a longstanding reality in most rural areas. Given the increasing impact of mental health and substance abuse in rural communities, it is critical to seek solutions to address the inadequate number of behavioral health professions in these areas. This paper focuses on a university’s efforts to prepare and support master’s level social workers for practice in their rural and frontier communities to address behavioral health workforce shortages.

Barriers To Implementation Of A Technology-Based Mental Health Intervention In A Rural Setting, Becky F. Antle, Lesley M. Harris, Jesse H. Wright, Tracy D. Eells, Amy Cappiccie, Sara M. Williams, Rebecca Katz, Ashley Logsdon, Jesse Owen

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study utilized qualitative focus groups with rural health providers and patients to explore barriers to implementation of a technology-based mental health intervention for the treatment of depression in a primary care setting. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was implemented in both urban and rural primary care practices to test the feasibility and effectiveness of computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) for depression. Early implementation identified lower rates of willingness to participate in the intervention by rural patients. Subsequently, focus groups were conducted with rural providers and patients to explore barriers to participation and strategies to overcome these barriers in future …

Attuning To Need: Reconceptualizing “Help” In Poor Rural Areas, Jennifer M. Frank, Laura Brierton Granruth, Brittany Leffler, Rachel Preibisch, Dawn Watson, Heather Girvin, Mary Glazier

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Social isolation is closely linked to overall health and well-being and is a serious concern for those in rural areas. Our research seeks insights into the needs experienced in poor rural areas by utilizing letter writing between students and community agency participants as a research methodology. In the letters, we observed that community participants relied upon friend and family style relationships and even viewed their agency relationships as such. This suggests that transforming "professional helping relationships" into alliances that are less impersonal might be in order. Such relationships and connections seemed conducive to the development of empowering self-efficacy. This finding …

Review Of The Book Homesteading The Plains: Toward A New History, Peter A. Kindle

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Review of the book Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History

Towards A Social Justice Agenda: Intimate Partner Violence Among Rural, African American Women, Shani Collins Woods

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The social work profession is rooted in community-based work that seeks to eradicate social injustice everywhere. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global phenomenon which impacts women from diverse socio-economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. It involves power and control, economic abuse, and physical and sexual violence. When compared to other racial and ethnic groups, African American women are likelier to experience physical violence, rape, and homicide. Intimate partner violence among African American women is a social justice issue.

When compared to other racial and ethnic groups, rural and/or low-income African American women are likelier to experience IPV. They are also likelier …

Review Of The Book Rural Poverty In The United States, Peter A. Kindle

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Review of the book Rural Poverty in the United States

Stinky Water And Other Ills: Environmental Justice For Rural Services, Michael R. Daley

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Environmental justice concerns affect rural communities and the people who are members of them. Social workers’ long-standing involvement in improving living conditions of the people and communities with whom they work make environmental justice an important responsibility. Yet there is a rural-urban divide on topics related to the environment, and rural and urban communities tend to establish different environmental priorities. Rural communities tend to prioritize local conditions and solutions over global and societal ones. Rural people distrust national policies especially those established by governmental as not being responsive to their interest. Some common environmental rural problems are identified. Environmental justice …

Holistic Approach To Addressing Community Needs In Rural Communities, Ebony L. Hall Lang, Stephanie J. Hamm, Nathalie P. Jones

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The purpose of this study was to assess health of a rural Texas community in efforts to better understand and develop a plan of action for developing community intervention for increasing availability of human resources. Researchers asked various questions to understand the availability and accessibility of resources within a rural community using a community needs assessment approach. Participants were recruited by the researchers directly within the community using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The sample size included 361 participants in a rural community. The overall quality of life for the rural participants was slightly lower than what researchers considered to …

Dress Like Me: An Exploration Of Rural Graduate Social Work Attire, Jody Long, Jocelyn Martin, Audra Pierce, Sean Creech, Stephen Guffey

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

During graduate school internship training, some students wear more formal attire and others casual attire. This study’s purpose was to explore rural areas clients’ preference for graduate social work interns’ attire. Clients from internship sites located in a rural southern location were asked their attire preferences based on comfort and confidence levels, degree of warmth, returning appointments, and during a crisis. One hundred and twenty-six subjects participated in the study and responded that casual dress was preferred in terms of specific impressions. The results of the study were to build rapport; graduate social work interns should consider their clientele when …

Mental Health Advocacy: Building An Interdisciplinary Program For Agriculture Professionals, Abby E. Blankenship, Erica E. Nason, Olivia Hayes, Sebastian Bliss

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The suicide rate among agriculturalists is 3.5 times higher than the general population. A number of external factors related to the farming and veterinary work put individuals in agricultural populations at risk for poor mental health outcomes, including economic variables (e.g. tariffs, market prices), environmental factors affecting yield (e.g. drought, pests), and exposure to difficult or traumatic life events (e.g., mistreatment of animals, loss of crop). Rural values including self-reliance, work orientation, and individualism combined with logistical and systemic barriers to competent behavioral health care further increase risk. Project GROW (Generating Resilience in Our Workforce) is a multifaceted full semester …

Promoting Environmental Justice Research And Practice For Social Workers In A Rural State: Methodology And Findings Of A Pilot Qualitative Study, Monika Leininger, Kirsten Havig

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Environmental justice work is an emerging field of practice that recognizes the interrelationship between social, economic, racial, gender, and environmental injustice and the impact social workers can have for policy and practice. Despite inclusion of environmental justice knowledge and practice as critical elements of ethical social work, little research exists on the topic in the professional knowledge base. Additionally, little research exists to date that specifically examines environmental justice knowledge and practice in a rural area. This pilot study examines awareness and knowledge of environmental justice issues and practice amongst licensed social workers in a rural western state using focus …

The Impact Of Prescription Pain Reliever Misuse And Heroin Use On Morbidity And Mortality By Level Of Urbanicity: 2002-2014, M. Fe Caces, Peter J. Delany, Michael A. Cala

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Non-medical use of prescription pain relievers (PPRs), heroin, and more recently fentanyl, continue to have major public health consequences in the United States. This article analyzes trends in PPR and heroin use, emergency department and hospital stays, substance use treatment services, and mortality to assess the relative impact of the opioid crisis on rural versus more urbanized counties in the United States. Our findings suggest that while more urbanized counties have had greater increases in opioid use, rural and less urbanized counties tended to be more negatively impacted than larger and non-rural counties. Disparities in service availability highlight the need …

Thinking Outside The Girl Box: Teaming Up With Resilient Youth In Appalachia, Rolanda L. Ward

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The fortitude of an isolated community is lived through the words of the writers. While Spatig and Amerikaner sought to examine the cultural norms and experiences of girls in a community not on the radar of most, they were surprised to find themselves a part of the story. Their struggle with this unexpected development, ultimately leads the reader to the conclusion that community work is not only transformative for the youth who are served, but also the professionals who serve them, and the researchers who seek to work in partnership to record their journey. This text challenges social science researchers …

Voices From The ‘Holler’: Implementation And Analysis Of An Advanced Advocacy Practice Course In Rural Appalachia, Leah Hamilton, Rachel L. Wright, Kellie Reed-Ashcraft

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The availability of quality macro education is a critical determinant to policy engagement among social workers, especially for those in geographically isolated areas. This mixed methods, pilot study compares self-assessed CSWE policy competencies of graduating MSW students who completed an Advanced Advocacy Practice course with a comparison group. Student course reflections were also analyzed for common themes. Results indicate that students who completed the course rated themselves higher across policy competencies than graduating MSW students who had not completed the course. They were also more likely to see policy advocacy as a “primary skill” for social workers. Qualitative analysis suggests …

Women Ascending To Leadership Positions In Rural Nonprofit Organizations, Jose Carbajal, Kristin Bailey-Wallace, Bonita B. Sharma, Tiffany Bice-Wigington, Wilma Cordova, Shanta Scott, Aparecida De Fatima Cordeiro Dutra

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study investigates women’s experiences as they ascended to leadership roles in nonprofit organizations in rural communities, primarily in East Texas. The aim of this study is to understand the lived experiences of women in top management as they ascend into leadership positions, as the characteristics and experiences of effective leaders in rural nonprofits may differ from those of urban nonprofit agencies. There is limited research regarding women’s leadership experiences in rural nonprofit organizations. Using a phenomenological inquiry approach, we interviewed 32 women currently serving in leadership roles in rural nonprofit organizations. The research question guiding this phenomenological study was: …

School Social Workers: Important Assets In Rural Areas, Dana C. Branson

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

As the American educational system continues to evolve and take on more social service responsibilities for students, their families, and the community, the need for school social workers has intensified. However, the demand considerably exceeds developed positions for school social workers. The increase in awareness of childhood trauma, toxic stress, poverty, and potential to spill over into the classroom places schools in a position where they need to be responsive to students’ multi-faceted needs. This conceptual article will discuss the overwhelming need for school social workers, barriers to obtaining school social workers, and the benefits school social workers can bring.

Food Pantries And Stigma: Users’ Concerns And Public Support, Peter A. Kindle, Mckayla Foust-Newton, Marissa Reis, Margaret Gell

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study compares the perception of stigma measured as social distance between users (n = 40) and non-users (n = 202) of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest. Utilizing the concept of social distance to measure social disapproval and stigma with a new Food Pantry Stigma Scale, these nonprobability results indicated that users’ perception of stigma was significantly higher than the non-using public (Cohen’s d = 1.56). These findings suggest that public support for need-based use of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest is substantially higher than those facing food insecurity anticipate.

Mindful Awareness Training: A Pilot Study Integrating Mindfulness Practices Into A Rural Jail-Based Substance Abuse Program, John Paulson, Veronica Huggins, Douglas A. Gentile

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Mindfulness practices are now utilized in a variety of behavioral healthcare settings, including the criminal justice system. This article summarizes the findings of a pilot project incorporating mindfulness practices into a jail-based substance abuse program in a rural county jail. Participants that engaged in a psychoeducational mindfulness group that utilized practices adapted from the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) curriculum had improved scores on measures of mindfulness, self-compassion, and quality of life. A mediated path model suggested that the length of time participants were involved in the group and their estimated amount of mindfulness practice outside the group was related to …

Rural Community Development As A Teaching Environment For Cross-Professional Training In Macro Social Work And Community And Regional Planning, Elizabeth Shay, Maureen Macnamara

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

A rural community development project combined faculty and students from two courses (community and regional planning, and social work practice in groups, communities, and organizations) housed in different colleges (Arts and Sciences, and Health Sciences, respectively) at a medium-sized public university in a small Appalachian community. The project required students from two different courses to cooperate on data collection, and collaborate on analysis and recommendations, in an exploratory effort at cross-professional training focusing on social work and community development in a rural region.

Recollections And Voices: An Appalachian Community Revisited, Kristina M. Hash, Christine E. Rittenour, Catherine Gouge, Tamba M'Bayo, Lori Hostuttler, Tyler Redding

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Scott’s Run has a rich history as a tight-knit, coal-built community in the heart of rural Appalachia. To learn more about the lives of the community members during the Depression Era, an interdisciplinary research team from five departments at a major university in the state conducted an oral history project focused on historical photos of the community. Individuals who grew up in the area reviewed photographs taken early in the 20^th century and provided information and shared stories related to the time and place of the images for context. The interviews uncovered key themes that told a much more …

A Review Of Literature: Identifying Barriers To Academic Success Among Students With Disabilities Attending College In Rural Regions, Kaycee Lynn Bills

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

College students who have disabilities are an oppressed population that faces many challenges related to accessibility barriers in higher education located in rural environments. The number of adults with disabilities attending college has been steadily increasing over the past decade. As the number of college students with disabilities continues to rise, it is essential for researchers to identify the barriers education attainment barriers they face in rural college settings. This study is a systematic review of literature that analyze past studies in order identify the challenges students with disabilities face in higher education settings located in rural regions. It also …

Rural Social Work And Environmental Justice, Pamela C. Twiss

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

While social work education and literature includes a growing body of work focused on environmental justice and the role of social work in addressing environmental injustices, limited attention has been paid to the disproportionate impact of these issues in rural areas. Many rural places can be more accurately described as rural-industrial in character. They produce the world’s food through highly mechanized agro-businesses, its timber, and much of its fossil fuels through large mining and drilling operations, each presenting threats to the surrounding environment and local peoples. This work describes environmental issues and injustices common to select large-scale rural industries, discusses …

Rural Social Work In Scotland, Colin Turbett

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

The idea that social work in rural areas in Scotland might best be based on different approaches to those used in urban areas (where the vast majority of the population live) has received scant attention in recent years. There is a dearth of research on which to plan services that fit with such a notion. However, given the Scottish Government’s emphasis on community engagement, this is of interest. This Insight looks at the particularities of the rural context, the policy framework, and goes on to describe approaches that can be used to help social workers living and working in rural …

Review Of Broke And Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country, Peter A. Kindle

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Review of Broke and Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country

Contemporary Mental Health Care In Rural Areas: Challenges And Strategies, Whitney Cassity-Caywood

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Mental health care and illness prevention present distinct challenges in rural areas with limited resources. This paper examines rural-specific mental health care concerns and uses a public health prevention model to discuss the most current and prolific strategies to address these issues. The unique role of the social work profession in implementing these strategies is highlighted.

Understanding Writing Challenges Of Rural Msw Students: Preparing Students For Ethical Practice, Jennifer A. Shadik, Sarah B. Garlington, Terry Cluse-Tolar, Glenn Abraham

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This study explores the attitudes and reflections of rural MSW students regarding writing. Twenty-seven students completed the modified Writing-to-learn Attitudes Survey (WTLAS). Fourteen completed an open-ended reflection where they were asked to assess their strengths and challenges in writing, as well as strategies for improvement. Results of WTLAS indicated students were anxious about writing, had difficulty organizing their thoughts, presenting their ideas clearly, and had little confidence in their writing. Results of the writing reflection indicated students were able to identify multiple challenges and strengths as well as means to remedy shortcomings. Qualitative analysis indicated the most frequent challenges were: …

Self-Care Among Social Workers Employed In Rural Settings: A Cross-Sectional Investigation, Diane N. Loeffler, J. Jay Miller, Theresia M. Pachner

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Despite growing recognition about the importance of self-care for social work professionals, research related to the topic has not kept pace with the changing landscape of the profession. Particularly, self-care practices among rural social work professionals have been overlooked in the research. Rural social work practice is, in many ways, decidedly different from practice in more urban areas. Thus, the primary aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the personal and professional self-care practices of rural social workers. Specifically, the study sough to better understand how often social workers engage in self-care and whether or not there are associations …