Social Work Commons^™

Hospice Psychosocial Service Availability And Utilization In The United States, Amary Alcide

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information has been sparse on the hospice psychosocial support offered through the American hospice system. This study examined the hospice psychosocial services that are available and utilized within the United States. In addition, the characteristics of patients and families who utilized these services were comprehensively assessed. Data from the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) was analyzed in this cross-sectional study (National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS], 2007). Hierarchical linear regression, hierarchal logistic regressions as well as chi-square test of independence were used to analyze the data.

It was hypothesized that for profit hospice ownership status would predict …

Santeria As An Informal Psychosocial Support Among Latinas Living With Cancer, Adelaida M. Rosario

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among Latinos, Santería functions as both a religion and a health care system in occurrences of health versus illness within various Latino sub-groups in the U.S. This exploratory study offers a comprehensive analysis of the function of the folk healing tradition Santería as a culturally congruent informal mental health support that assists with coping with the psychosocial sequelae of living with cancer among Latinas in Miami-Dade County, FL. It (a) determined the attitudes of Latinas living with cancer towards Santería as an informal mental health support and (b) explored how Santería offers Latinas effective mental health support that assists in …

Predictors Of Independent Living Outcomes Among Older Women Receiving Informal Care, Julie Grochowski

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the predictors of independent living outcomes among community–living older women who received informal care. The central hypothesis was that older women’s level of functioning is influenced by their relationship with their informal caregiver. The study attempted to understand the independence of older women through the perspective of both informal caregivers and the older women themselves. The following eight variables were measured: 1) the older women’s independence (dependent variable); 2) the relationship between older women and their informal caregivers (independent variable); 3) roles of both the informal caregiver and older women (independent variable); 4) the older women’s attitudes …