Digital Commons Network^™

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.

A Green New Deal For Social Work, Rupaleem Bhuyan, Stéphanie Wahab, Yoosun Park

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this editorial, we consider what climate action would mean for the social work profession. The urgency to address climate change compels social work practitioners, educators, and researchers to embrace a vision of social work that is committed to restoring human well-being and the natural world.

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 …

Participatory Action Research And Co-Researching As A Tool For Situating Youth Knowledge At The Centre Of Research, Staci B. Martin, Jessica H. Burbach, Lulis Lares Benitez, Irisa Ramiz

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Too often youth from vulnerable communities see themselves talked about in academic research, but are rarely involved as co-researchers or co-authors of research. The purpose of this article is to share our reflections on engaging youth, their experiences and their perspectives on the multi-levels of impact of participatory action research methodologies, such as community-based action research or youth participatory action research. This article discusses more broadly how our participatory methodologies have impacted our co-researchers and ourselves. In it, we provide additional details about our past research projects, as well as theorizing those details in terms of how critical theory serves …

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.

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.

Editorial: Stories Still Untold, Grant Charles, Ben Anderson-Nathe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. The article offers information on the human history is a narrative of the powerful pushing the less powerful down and trying to keep them there. Topics discussed include without sufficient attention to history, to current circumstance, to all the points of intersection that we do not yet see, any single course of action reflects a limited and incomplete narrative; and mentions it is easier to think that there are victims and perpetrators than to admit that some among us are both.

Emerging Strategies For Engaging Young People In Systems Of Care, Research And Training Center For Pathways To Positive Futures, Portland State University

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Systems of care are increasingly serving older youth and young adults up to age 24, and in our research and training work with providers, we hear about the challenges of engaging young people in typical services. Many providers are responding to the unique developmental needs of this population by adapting the design and delivery of their services to better engage and retain young people in system of care supports. Overall, strategies include expansion of drop-in center programming, adaptations to practice models like Wraparound, and new outreach efforts using social media and other technologies. Our purpose here is to share some …

High School Completion In Context: Student- And School-Level Factors Related To On-Time Graduation, Mathew C. Uretsky

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background/Context: There is an expansive body of research concerning high school graduation; however, most studies omit students who persist through four years of high school without earning a diploma. In addition, there is scant research exploring longer-term outcomes among students whose academic trajectories do not fit within the traditional four-year model of high school graduation, including eventual graduation, post-secondary enrollment, or engagement in the workforce.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The current study addresses the substantive gaps in research regarding high school non-completion by examining the college and workforce outcomes of persisters—defined here as students who do not formally …

Quality Of Life And Stigma Among People Living With Hiv/Aids In Iran, Mohammad Ebrahimi Kalan, Jian Han, Ziyad Ben Taleb, Kristopher P. Fennie, Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi, Maryam Dastoorpoor, Nima Hajhashemi, Mitra Naseh, Shahnaz Rimaz

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Stigma against HIV profoundly affects the quality of life (QOL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). We aimed to assess the factors associated with QOL in PLWHA in Iran, specifically HIV-related stigma, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Two hundred PLWHA participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using sociodemographic, stigma, and WHO-QOL-BREF questionnaires. Correlations, ANOVAs, and Student’s t-distribution tests were performed as bivariate analyses. We employed stepwise multiple linear regression analysis to explore the main factors associated with QOL domains.

Results: Six domains of QOL were negatively correlated with three domains of stigma (p < 0.001 for all). Stepwise multiple linear regression revealed that, after adjusting for con-founders, lack of healthcare insurance, having no basic knowledge of HIV/AIDs prior to diagnosis, low monthly income of participants and family, and stigma (blaming and distancing, discrimination, and fear) were associated with low mean score of different domains of QOL.

Conclusion …

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 …

Innovations In Leadership Development: Centering Communities Of Color, Ann Curry-Stevens

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

With innovative funding from a large local foundation, communities of color in Portland, Oregon developed an array of leadership programs to serve communities of color. This article shares the models they developed, including overviews of curriculum, theories of change, and concrete evidence-based gains achieved by the programs. Innovations include a leadership model that is rooted in community leadership, and the emergence of community priorities to guide the programs, alongside culturally-specific programs that are effective in reaching and supporting the participation of emerging and existing leaders of color. Community priorities included advocacy engagement that resulted in achieving real gains during the …

Is Online Training An Effective Workforce Development Strategy For Transition Service Providers? Results Of A Comparative Study, Eileen Brennan, Claudia Sellmaier, Pauline Jivanjee, Leigh Grover

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Service providers working with transition-aged young people with mental health disorders require specialized research-based training to better meet their needs. A 10-module interactive online training program, Promoting Positive Pathways to Adulthood (PPPA), was developed to build service provider competencies to improve outcomes for the youth with whom they work. In total, 19 organizations participated in a longitudinal quasi-experimental study that compared training outcomes for participants receiving PPPA online training only (Group 1) with those receiving PPPA online training with team-based practice activities (Group 2). Most of the 63 service providers participating in the training were females, below 40 years, had …

Development And Testing Of An Assessment Of Youth/Young Adult Voice In Agency-Level Advising And Decision Making, Janet S. Walker, Brie Masselli, Jennifer E. Blakeslee, Caitlin Baird, Kristin Thorp

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is a range of stakeholder benefits when youth- and young adult-serving agencies include service recipient “voice” in advising and decision making regarding agency policies and programming. Yet many agency stakeholders lack awareness of strategic best practices to ensure the consistent and meaningful participation of young people in decision-making processes, and few tools exist to evaluate agency efforts. This paper describes the development and validation of the Youth/Young Adult Voice at the Agency Level (Y-VAL), an assessment of the extent to which agencies have implemented best practices for supporting meaningful participation. The Y-VAL is intended for research purposes, as well …

Lifetime Economic Burden Of Intimate Partner Violence Among U.S. Adults, Cora Peterson, Megan C. Kearns, Wendy Likamwa Mcintosh, Lianne Fuino Estefen, Christina Nicolaidis, Kathryn E. Mccollister, Amy Gordon, Curtis Florence

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: This study estimated the U.S. lifetime per-victim cost and economic burden of intimate partner violence.

Methods: Data from previous studies were combined with 2012 U.S. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey data in a mathematical model. Intimate partner violence was defined as contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking victimization with related impact (e.g., missed work days). Costs included attributable impaired health, lost productivity, and criminal justice costs from the societal perspective. Mean age at first victimization was assessed as 25 years. Future costs were discounted by 3%. The main outcome measures were the mean per-victim (female and …

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

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

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 …

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 Faculty Publications and Presentations

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 …

What’S Happening During Home Visits? Exploring The Relationship Of Home Visiting Content And Dosage To Parenting Outcomes, Peggy Nygren, Beth Green, Katie Winters, Anna Rockhill

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research has documented modest positive impacts of early childhood home visiting programs. However, understanding more about what home visitors do during visits and how much time they spend on specific topics may provide insight into the variability in effectiveness of services. Methods Outcome data were collected via parent survey at program enrollment and 12 months from 123 women in three MIECHV-funded home visiting models. Home visitors completed weekly home visit content and activity logs. Results Families received an average of 28 visits during the study (3.1 visits per month). Of ten content areas, the three most often discussed were early …

Storying Experience: Young Children's Early Use Of Story Genres, Erin Elizabeth Flynn

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study is to support early childhood teachers’ understanding of the diversity and sophistication present in young children’s storytelling to counteract singular and tacit conceptualizations of story. Drawing on the notion of genre, this study uses systemic functional linguistics to examine rhetorical patterns in the storytelling of a group of children in multilingual and multicultural classrooms. Stories were collected in the context of a small group storytelling activity called story circles. Participation in story circles resulted in 176 stories. Children’s stories were parsed into story stages and story genres based on functional purpose and known patterns in …

The Integration Of Early Psychosis Services In A System Of Care Framework: Opportunities, Issues, Tamara G. Sale, Patrice Fetzer, Jennifer Humensky, Megan Baker, Kate Hardy, Douglas Noordsy, Steven Adelsheim

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since the beginning of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative in 1993, the system of care (SOC) framework has provided the foundation for community- based service development in the United States and has focused on improving the lives of children, youth, and young adults who experience the most complex mental health needs and their families. In recent years, with greater understanding of early psychosis, the SOC framework has expanded to include young adults presenting with signs of early psychosis.

The SOC approach brings children, youth, and young adults with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED)1 and …

Help-Seeking On Facebook Versus More Traditional Sources Of Help: Cross-Sectional Survey Of Military Veterans, Alan R. Teo, Heather E. Marsh, Samuel B.L. Liebow, Jason I. Chen, Christopher W. Forsberg, Christina Nicolaidis, Somnath Saha, Steven K. Dobscha

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The media has devoted significant attention to anecdotes of individuals who post messages on Facebook prior to suicide. However, it is unclear to what extent social media is perceived as a source of help or how it compares to other sources of potential support for mental health problems.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the degree to which military veterans with depression use social media for help-seeking in comparison to other more traditional sources of help.

Methods: Cross-sectional self-report survey of 270 adult military veterans with probable major depression. Help-seeking intentions were measured with a modified General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. …

Social Network Enhancement Strategies To Address Limited Support Networks In Young Adulthood: State Of The Science, Jennifer E. Blakeslee

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This review focuses on populations where systems involvement is presumed to impact the size, strength, and supportiveness of social networks, including young people who have experienced out-of-home placement in foster care, juvenile justice, or residential treatment.

Editorial: Children And Youth In The Era Of Climate Change, Kiaras Gharabaghi, Ben Anderson-Nathe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. An editorial is presented on the impact of global warming and climate change on human life, social relations, economic prospects, and ecological health. It expresses the view that young people is changing rapidly as climate change increasingly transitions from a scientific observation. An overview of the challenge of climate change to child and youth serving communities.

The Role Of Youth-Run Organizations In Improving Services And Systems For Youth And Young Adults: A Commentary On The State Of The Science, Brie Masselli, Johanna Bergan

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The authors of this commentary are part of the leadership team of Youth MOVE National (YMN), a youth-run, chapter-membership organization focused on improving services and systems for youth and young adults by uniting the voices of individuals who have lived experience within those systems. Their perspective on priorities for future research reflects their appreciation of formal research literature, and is complemented by what they have learned through their work with YMN's extensive chapter network, through partnering with service systems and agencies around the nation, and through connecting with young people around the country.

Editorial: In A World Of ‘Us’ And ‘Them’: The Case Against Intervention-Focused Research, Kiaras Gharabaghi, Ben Anderson-Nathe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. The authors consider the manifestation of "us" and "them" narratives in research on children and youth and on intervention research in child and youth services. They say much of the research is damage-focused despite the best intentions. They mention damaged-centered research written by scholar Eve Tuck in 2009 in the "Harvard Educational Review." The authors add that intervention-based research is blind to the daily life of young people within their self-formed communities.

From Mentor To Faculty: Reflections On The Praxis Of Care, Roberta Hunte, Joseph Wightman

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hunte and Wightman come to teaching positions in Portland State’s University Studies (general education) program after having served as graduate and undergraduate mentors in the Peer Mentor Program. The unique model employs successful graduate and upper-division undergraduate students as teaching assistants in Freshman and Sophomore Inquiry classes to promote greater student success at the university. The authors reflect on their pedagogy from the perspectives as former mentors and current faculty. They discuss how their pedagogy has evolved through roles in University Studies. This article is constructed as a dialogue, using excerpts from those conversations. It explores issues of equity and …

Editorial: Dismantling Children’S Rights In The Global North, Kiaras Gharabaghi, Ben Anderson-Nathe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Editorial. The article discusses children's rights in the global North. Topics discussed include responsibility of all states and their governments to protect those rights, need to mitigate infringements on the rights of children and youth, and dependency of children and youth on their families and families are willing to take to provide them with opportunities for health, education and safety.

A Screeching Halt: Family Involvement When A Youth With Mental Health Needs Turns 18: Commentary On State Of The Science From A Family Perspective, Janet S. Walker, Malisa Pearson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The authors of this commentary are part of the leadership team for FREDLA (Family-Run Executive Director Leadership Association). FREDLA serves as the national representative and advocate for family-run organizations and their executive directors, and supports effective stewardship of family-run organizations focused on the well-being of children and youth with mental health, emotional or behavioral challenges and their families. Their perspective on priorities for future research reflects not only their appreciation of formal research literature, but also what they have learned through their work with family-run organizations and through connecting with family members and other caregivers around the country.

Mitigating Early Loss Of Community Participation In Early Psychosis Services: State Of The Science, Tamara G. Sale, Dora M. Raymaker, Mariam Rija, Veronica Gould, Christina Wall, Ryan P. Melton

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the early stages of treatment for psychosis, community engagement and social networks are threatened through a combination of symptomology and negative messages and reactions from the environment which may result in internalized stigma, disempowerment, and prolonged isolation. While treatment programs attempt to mitigate these factors, ambivalence toward treatment and the basic concept of psychosis, along with difficulty engaging in conversation, make initial engagement more difficult. Self-determination theory and growing recovery literature point to the importance of maintaining a sense of community relatedness and connection, and developing a sense of agency and competence as important to active recovery and retention …