Social Work Commons^™

A Tale Of Two Situations: A Case Report Of The Merger Between Dermatology Outcomes And Prescription Drug Access, Kara Ye, Yasseen Amellal, Will Evans, Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal

This case report illustrates a case of guttate psoriasis in a young adult and the logistical role dermatologists can play in patients acquiring their prescriptions and improving the quality of their care.

Job Crafting, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job crafting?

Job crafting is defined as “the physical and cognitive changes individuals make in the task and relational boundaries of their work” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001, p. 179). Job crafting is a proactive work behavior by which individuals adapt their job or their perceptions of their job in order to change their identity, shape their job tasks to their liking, and alter the meaning of their work (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001).

Job crafting is most often conceptualized along four categories of increasing structural job resources (i.e., expanding one’s autonomy or variety of resources), increasing social job resources …

Job Design, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job design?

Every job has an inherent design—the collection of duties, responsibilities, required competencies, environment, relationships, and resources involved in the job. This design may be intentional or unintentional. The concept of job design, however, is a more purposeful process of shaping a job’s characteristics with the goal to increase employee motivation, performance, and job satisfaction as well as lower turnover and absenteeism in the workplace (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). According to Job Characteristics Theory, this is done through enhancing the five core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, job autonomy, and feedback from the …

Skill Up Tennessee: Job Training That Works, Christopher T. Sneed, Sreedhar Upendram, Clint Cummings, Janet E. Fox

The Journal of Extension

Employment and training services offered through Extension are part of and continue a long tradition of policy-focused employment and job training. This paper chronicles the successes of UT Extension’s work as a third-party partner in the delivery of workforce development programming geared toward individuals receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The paper begins with an overview of the federal program and a discussion of how Tennessee forged a state-level partnership for the delivery of workforce services. Data showing program success including number of participants served, supportive services offered, and economic impact are highlighted. Finally, lessons learned are outlined.

Meaningful Work, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is meaningful work?

Meaningful work is defined as “work experienced as particularly significant and holding more positive meaning for individuals” (Rosso et al., 2010, p. 95). In general, meaningful work is considered to be work and work accomplishments that are viewed as valuable, worthwhile, and aligning with one’s values (Allan et al., 2018). Current theory suggests that meaningful work tends to result from self-actualization or from working towards a higher purpose (Lepisto & Pratt, 2016). More specifically, meaningful work may come from feeling a sense of unity with other people, serving others, from developing oneself, or from working towards …

Factors Contributing To Recurrent Homelessness Among Single Mothers Using Shelters, Favour O. Akhidenor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on the long-term benefits of early homelessness prevention and intervention. And scaling up support for single parents with children is essential to improving economic status, good health, human capital, and well-being across all areas of life expectancy. Chronically homeless people, homeless veterans, and homeless families have all been the subject of specific studies. Yet only a few studies have investigated single mothers' return to homelessness (Anderson, 2021). Studies suggest that between 4 and 25 percent of women, who were previously homeless, end up using shelter services again, despite being provided with "permanent" housing (Johnson, 2016). This indicates that, as …

Personality Tests, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are personality tests?

In an employment context, personality tests are tools that assess candidates’ or employees’ enduring dispositional traits, for the purpose of hiring, training, or employee development. Personality is generally thought to reflect one’s authentic personal disposition and lasting mental structure (Allport & Odbert, 1936). Although individuals may behave differently in different conditions and environments and may experience passing moods, personality is thought to be displayed through broad patterns of behavioral tendencies over time in each individual (Allport & Odbert, 1936). Though there are hundreds of individual personality traits and measures in existence, the majority of those that …

It Takes A Village: An Examination Of Educational Achievement For Transition-Age Youth In Foster Care, Khalilah Louis Caines

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

For the 20,000 youth that exit the foster care system each year in the United States, educational achievement is difficult to attain as they navigate the transition into adulthood with limited supports and resources (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). These youth are three times more likely to drop out of high school than their counterparts. Only 50% graduate from high school, and only 3% obtain a college degree (Courtney et al., 2011). Current efforts to support this population primarily focus on individual, relational, and economic factors with less consideration for the impact of community characteristics on educational …

Assessing The Barriers To Reintegration Among Returnees In Nigeria, Itunu Ilesanmi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Reintegration for internally displaced returnees in Nigeria needs improvement due to the barrier returnees encounter when returning to their communities of origin. As a path to recovery following the unsettling experiences of generalized violence caused by Boko Haram terrorist attacks in Northeastern Nigeria, there is a need for best practices to mitigate challenges during reintegration for internally displaced returnees. With an estimated 2.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Northeastern Nigeria at the end of 2022, 1.98 million have returned to their prior residence, where they must cope and survive while attempting to reintegrate without effective and efficient support to …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Youth Experiencing Homelessness: A Qualitative Study, Bryan A. Pecoraro

Dissertations, 2020-current

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted youth experiencing homelessness (YEH). During the coronavirus outbreak, millions of people’s health worldwide was negatively affected. In addition to poor physical health, society’s mental health was affected by political discourse, viral mitigation factors, social distancing, and distrust of both the media and government. Decades of research with those experiencing homelessness suggest that the housing insecure suffer from a litany of poor outcomes. Their physical and mental health are negatively affected by traumas and illnesses suffered prior to, and during, their transience. This study takes a phenomenological …

Empower: A Self-Regulation Program For Youth In Residential Foster Care, Cristina Eversole, Angela Labrie Blackwell, Jazminne Orozco Arteaga

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This poster describes how the development and implementation of a self-regulation program, EMPOWER, utilized interventions such as mindfulness exercises, creative arts, sound/music therapy, and sensory grounding techniques to help youth in residential foster care enhance occupational engagement and quality of life.

Exploring Occupational Therapy’S Role In Foster Care: A Mixed Methods Study On Financial Literacy Education For Foster Youth, Ashley Carmichael, Karen Park

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Background: Foster youth are children under 21 years old who have been removed from their homes due to neglect or abuse and are susceptible to early adversity and trauma (Alternative Family Services, n.d.; AOTA, 2017). Financial literacy is the knowledge and skills to take control of finances (National Financial Educators Council, n.d.). In the foster care setting, occupational therapists (OTs) provide client-centered care that traditionally focuses on transitional life skills, such as seeking employment (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2017).

Problem/Purpose: The lack of resources for foster youth to gain financial literacy skills leads to a disadvantage in …

Examining The Usefulness Of Interprofessional Education (Ipe) For Legal, Social Work, & School Psychology Student Training To Support Justice Involved Youth, Mary Comis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The school-to-prison pipeline is defined as a set of policies that contribute to the removal of students from the school environment and into the justice system (Justice Policy Institute, 2011). These students have unique and complex needs that include educational needs, legal needs, and community needs; however, these students often lack the support necessary to assist them when navigating the complexities of the educational and legal system. As a result, the complexity of the challenges these students face can be provided through a holistic legal representation team, where a school psychologist, social worker, and lawyer, can coordinate their efforts to …

Caregiver Burden: Support Needed For Those Who Support Others And The National Health Service, Michael Stephanou

Patient Experience Journal

This literature review focuses on the complexities and inequalities of informal caregiving in the UK and was inspired by the story of the following individual: EL is a 68-year-old Caucasian lady who attended Movement Disorder Clinic and was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease Dementia following many years of symptoms. The diagnosis came as a big relief to EL and her daughter (SL) who were eager to get treatment started as soon as possible. EL lives alone with SL and solely relies on her for care and support. SL does not have children and devotes her daily routine to looking after her …

The Impact Of Guaranteed Income On Political Participation, Daniel Horn

Doctoral Dissertations

This three-paper dissertation examines the impact of guaranteed income (GI) and cash transfer (CT) programs on political participation, aiming to contribute to understanding how social policies can shape civic engagement. The first paper provides a comprehensive literature review on GI and CT programs, focusing on their potential effects on political participation. By analyzing existing studies, this paper identifies key findings and gaps in the literature, setting the stage for further empirical investigation. The second paper develops and tests a new instrument called the Brief Political Participation Scale (BPPS), designed to measure political participation concisely and reliably. The third paper presents …

A Call To Action: Person-Centered Care Aligned With Reproductive Justice For Incarcerated Pregnant People With Substance Use Disorder, Essence Hairston, Aunchalee El Palmquist, Andrea K. Knittel, Kevin Mensah-Biney, Crystal M. Hayes, Amelia Mack, Hendrée E. Jones

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Although research has proven that jails and prisons are ineffective in preventing or reducing substance use among pregnant people, the USA continues to rely heavily on the criminal legal system as its intervention. Pregnant people with an opioid use disorder are more likely to experience incarceration than pregnant people without an opioid use disorder. In some states, pregnant people are transported from jail to prison through the process of safekeeping in order to receive physical or mental health care that the jail does not provide, despite conviction status. When pregnant and postpartum safekeepers with an opioid use disorder experience incarceration, …

Experiences With Environmental Gentrification: Evidence From Chicago, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings, Richard T. Melstrom

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Environmental contamination and limited access to green spaces disproportionately burden communities of color with negative impacts on residents’ health. Yet, cleaning up contamination and creating green spaces has in some cases been associated with displacing long-term residents as the neighborhood becomes desirable to more affluent, often Whiter, populations through environmental gentrification. We used mixed methods to investigate environmental gentrification in the city of Chicago, IL, USA. We examined quantitatively the relationship between green areas, brownfield cleanups, and indicators of gentrification, including race and ethnicity, income, households without children, and home ownership. We explored through qualitative interviews how key informants perceive …

Elucidating College Students’ Stressors: Photovoice As A Pedagogical Tool And Qualitative Methodology, Deanne Priddis, Heather L. Hundley

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Traditional research examining student stress relies on surveys using pre-determined categories. This study diverts from that approach by adopting a Communication in Conflict class assignment over seven classes (N = 115) using photovoice to determine if results fluctuate by using a different methodology. Additionally, we sought to understand if the sources of stress vary by gender and semester. The data revealed seven categories as the main stressors of student conflict: 1) time management, 2) mental health, 3) finding oneself, 4) future uncertainty, 5) other, 6) financial, and 7) past mistakes. Regardless of participants’ sex/gender or semester in which the data …

An Examination Of Power In A Triadic Model Of Parent–Child–Pediatrician Relationships Related To Early Childhood Gender Development, Eline Lenne, Christina J. Sun, Susanne Klawetter

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, the authors introduce the Triadic Model of Pediatric Care, an innovative conceptual framework for pediatric practice with transgender and gender diverse children. The Triadic Model of Pediatric Care consists of three experts—pediatricians, primary caregiver(s), and children—who each possess unique insights, knowledge, and decision-making power. This model guides pediatricians to provide gender-affirming care that acknowledges children as experts of their own experience and worthy of bodily autonomy, while also working to ensure primary caregiver(s) have the information and support necessary to provide a safe and nurturing developmental environment for their child. The authors provide a recommendation for how …

Care Transition Assessment Redesign In The Acute Care Setting, Darla M. Johnston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a gap in case management professional practice with a lack of consistent, research-based transition evaluation (TE) tools available and used in practice. An evidence-based case management TE is necessary to develop a holistic and comprehensive discharge plan for hospitalized patients. Updating and implementing an evidence-based case management TE would positively impact the transition of care and promote improved health outcomes including a reduction in readmissions. This quality improvement project used a quantitative nonexperimental, interventional pretest-posttest design. Kirkpatrick’s multidimensional knowledge attitudes assessment (KAP) education evaluation model was used to assess (1) the influence an educational offering on evidence-based assessment …

Self-Care For Counselors During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Penney Siddiqui

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

COVID-19 took the world by surprise early in 2020, and rapidly became a global threat. While not the first global pandemic declared by the World Health Organization, COVID-19 was different from past pandemics both in the speed of transmission and in the psychosocial impact. Not only did COVID-19 impact the physical health of those who contracted the virus, it also impacted the mental health of the general population. Mental health counselors held a dual role in this pandemic, facing the psychosocial impact themselves while simultaneously providing care for others. Recent studies explored the psychosocial impact on health care professionals and …

Community Empowerment In Sajang Village Through Coffee Soap Making And Entrepreneurship Training, Agustino Zulys, Muhammad Iqbal Syauqi, Elva Dissa Adriana, Muhsinatul Istiqomah, Bambang Heru Susanto, Banu Muhammad Haidir

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

Rural entrepreneurship is believed to be one of the most strategic ways to advance community empowerment that can directly lead to national economic development, by optimizing local resources, technology, and digitalization. This article elaborates on the program conducted to support the community’s economy and increase business and digital marketing literacy in Sajang Village, Sembalun, East Lombok. The program consists of bar soap products making workshop that optimizes coffee and copra as the local potential, targeted for people of productive age who are interested in establishing a home-based business. The soap manufacturing process is informed by laboratory research formulas that have …

Associations Between Parenting Strategies And Bmi Percentile Among Latino Children And Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Sandy Magaña, Vanessa L. Errisuriz, Amy Pei-Lung Yu, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Weiwen Zeng, Mansha Mirza, Sandra Vanegas, Stephany Brown, Deborah Parra-Medina, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Maintaining healthy weight is a challenge for all children, and particularly for children with IDD compared to nondisabled children and for Latino children compared to non-Latino White children. Parenting practices related to food intake and physical activity have been found to be important in maintaining children's weight. In this study, we describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity status among Latino children with IDD and their maternal caregivers and determine the relationship between food and physical activity parenting practices and childhood obesity among Latino children with IDD.

Methods: We interviewed 94 Latino parent/child dyads and collected information about parenting …

The Covid Whirlwind On The Veterinary World: End-Of-Life Care And Euthanasia During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth Chalmers, Paula Gerstenblatt, River Hodgdon

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Veterinary providers experience job-specific psychological stress from their dual role in both providing medical care to pets and supporting pet-owner clients through end-of-life care and the euthanasia process, contributing to compassion fatigue and burnout in the field. COVID-19 has impacted the provision of veterinary care and affected communication between providers and pet owners. This qualitative study explores the experiences of veterinary providers who provided end-of- life care and performed euthanasia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants for this qualitative study were recruited and interviewed using criterion sampling from four veterinary practices in the northeastern United States. Inductive thematic analysis was used …

Mental Health Problems Among Elementary School Students Mandated To E-Learning: A Covid-19 Rapid Review Caveat, Renée M. D'Amore, Angelina N. Halpern, Lauren R. Reed, Kevin M. Gorey

International Journal of School Social Work

Extended lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic mandated millions of students worldwide to e-learning and by default made many of their parents proxy homeschool teachers. Preliminary anecdotal, journalistic and qualitative evidence suggested that elementary school children and their parents were probably most vulnerable to this stressor and most likely to experience mental health problems because of it. We responded with a rapid review of 15 online surveys to estimate the magnitude of such risks and their predictors between 2020 and 2021. The pooled relative risk of mental health problems among school children and their parents was substantial (RR = 1.97). Moreover, …

Social Work Educators’ Perceptions Of School Social Work Leadership – What Are The Characteristics That Make A Leader?, Christine Vyshedsky

International Journal of School Social Work

Social workers in school settings are uniquely poised to propose and implement proactive solutions to climate stressors, but they may not capitalize on this opportunity to lead. This study explored the perceptions of Masters’ level social work educators, who set the tone and expectations for school social workers through curricula, towards the inclusion of leadership-related skills within school social work curriculum. A survey of educator administrators (n = 75) at Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited institutions examined leadership as defined through a combination of two proposed definitions for social work leadership, delineated by Holosko, 2009 and Hopson & …

Social Work 603 Library Handout, Ashley Rosener

Handouts

A handout designed for SW 603 students who need to learn how to find articles and policies on a chosen topic.

Bullying Victimization And Perpetration: Some Answers And More Questions, Dexter R. Voisin, David B. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. government has defined bullying victimization as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated”.1 Conceptualizations of bullying and the use of the term vary by audience and context. For instance, for some, bullying behaviors might include acts of aggression or violence, whereas for others bullying might center on name-calling, exclusionary social practices or even spreading rumors and vicious lies.2

Feasibility Of A Stress Reduction Program Among Foster Youth In College, Alexis Melinda Ferioli Morin, Jennifer E. Lape

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Foster youth endure traumatic adversities, which can lead to obstacles when transitioning to young adulthood and pursuing postsecondary education. This vulnerable population is required to navigate independent living while also managing stress that commonly arises from postsecondary education.

Method: A pre test, post test pilot design was employed to determine the potential impact and feasibility of an evidenced-based multi-factorial stress management program in reducing foster youth’s perceived stress during postsecondary education. Participants (n = 3) received one, 90-min individual occupational therapy session weekly over 6 weeks. Author-generated stress management surveys along with the Perceived Stress Scale …

Differences Among Family And Professional Guardians: A Statewide Survey Of Characteristics, Training, And Practices Related To Decision-Making, Kristin Hamre, Derek Nord

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This cross-sectional study sought to examine the differences between family and professional guardians across personal and role characteristics, training received, and their inclusion of people they serve in decision making. A total of 237 subjects serving as guardian to adults in the state of Indiana completed an online survey. Results showed group differences across race, education, as well as diagnosis and age of those served. Overall, training was limited across both groups, and family guardians received significantly less training across several topics. Finally, family and professional guardians were found to significantly differ in their willingness to allow people they serve …