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Grief And Loss Issues And Women's Drinking Patterns, Joyce M. Halstrom

Theses and Graduate Projects

This exploratory, qualitative study was undertaken to explore the relationship of grief and loss and women's drinking patterns. The literature review focused on major contributors of grief work, theoretical frameworks of the grieving process, and an overview of alcoholism in women. Ten women who were recovering from alcoholism in a half-way house were interviewed using open-ended, semi-structured questions. The interviews focused on the respondents' drinking patterns, their grief and loss issues, and the treatment of those issues in their chemical dependency treatment program. Implications for social work practice is included. Results indicate the importance of prevention, intervention, and education of …

Bereavement Support In Central And West-Central Minnesota Schools: An Exploratory Study, Brenda K. Wiese

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study explored the need for services for school-aged children who have experienced the death of a close family member. Grieving parents and other adult caregivers may have difficulty supporting and assisting these children through the grief process. School social workers from fourteen school districts in central and west-central Minnesota were involved in this study. The results showed that the schools provide services which deal with children' s grief issues. Other needs as identified by the social workers included: 1) increased school social workers to support these students; 2) additional trainings in the area of working with grieving children; and …

Development And Implementation Of A Parent's Grief Support Group Concurrent With A Preexisting Children's Grief Support Group, Evelyn J. Swenson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Children who grieve need the support and understanding of their parent(s) in order to experience a grief reaction void of negative long-term effects. Parents experiencing grief are often exhausted from their own grief response having little energy to obtain support and information to provide a supportive atmosphere for their children. This study evaluates the efficacy of a parent grief support group in conjunction with a children grief group for ages 6-12 in response to the belief that the parent-child relationship undergoes extreme stress when a death is experienced in the family. A six session psycho-educational parent grief support group was …

The Utilization Of Hospice Care In Assisting To Meet The Needs Of Family Members Of Terminally Ill Patients, Karen S. Cartwright

Theses and Graduate Projects

The diagnosis of a teri'ninal illness greatly impacts the patient as well as the entire family system. The relevant literature mentions the concept that hospice can be beneficial to families by assisting them in meeting needs and providing support and guidance. Little research, however, as been done to support these beliefs. The purpose of this research study was to explore what benefits hospice provides to family members of terminally i]l patients. A questionnaire was mailed to 128 primary care persons of patients who were enrolled in the hospice program and died between February 1, 1996 and July 31, 1996. A …

Educating Children With Developmental Disabilities In Regular Education Classrooms: A Public Policy Analysis, Monique J. Larson

Theses and Graduate Projects

There is much controversy about how and where to best educate children with developmental disabilities. There are those who argue for the integration or complete inclusion of children with disabilities into a regular education environment. On the other hand are those who argue for continued and increased special education services that are provided outside of the regular education classroom. Currently in education there is a wide spectrum of environments in which children with developmental disabilities are being taught. The purpose of this study is to analyze the development and evolution of special education public policy, with an emphasis on the …

An Exploration Of Medical Social Workers' Participation In A Grief Education Seminar, Colleen Marie Hoffman

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a grief and death educational seminar for medical social workers at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This study described a seminar designed by the researcher: "The Grief Journey: Our Patients, Ourselves" and presented findings of the survey questionnaire and program evaluation. The study used primarily qualitative data to evaluate the preparedness of medical social workers in assessing grief after participating in a grief education seminar. The study population (n=23) were men and women participants of the grief education seminar presented January, 1997. The survey questionnaire and evaluations …

How Hospital Social Service Directors Perceive The Current And Future Role Of The Medical Social Worker, Molly Schwegman Martin

Theses and Graduate Projects

This research explored the current roles and attempts to understand the future roles of medical social workers in hospital settings. The subjects of this study were members of the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Social Work Administrators in Health Care who completed a 16 question mailed survey. The findings illustrated the necessity to expand social work services beyond the hospital walls into such areas as emergency rooms, community settings, and physician clinics. The information gathered and compiled for this study will be used by directors of hospital social work service departments, along with medical social workers, to examine and …

A Study Of Resident And Family Psychosocial Needs In Nursing Homes, Kathryn A. Rasmussen

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study sought to explore the attitudes of nursing home social workers regarding the relative importance of resident and family psychosocial needs and the frequency of psychosocial care functions performed by nursing home social workers. Previous research has shown that 30% of residents in-a typical nursing home, on average, will experience problems achieving psychosocial well-being' Of this 30% , 2/3 will also have serious behavior and/or mood problems related to psychosocial distress. The nursing home social worker faces the challenge of trying to meet the psychosocial heeds of nursing home residents. Because of the difficulty of this task it is …

The Effect Of Hospital Restructuring On Nurses' Perceptions Of Their Work Environment, Judy Reeve

Theses and Graduate Projects

Hospital restructuring has become commonplace in today’s competitive health care market. Often, such restructuring results in significant effects on the employees of the organization. Registered Nurses who continue to deliver patient care at the bedside may find themselves caught between duty to their patients and duty to their employer, yet there is Iittle research available which evaluates the effect of restructuring on either the nurse or the patient. This descriptive study analyzes staff Registered Nurses’ perceptions of their work environment following restructuring. Principles of restructuring, as delineated by Freeman & Cameron, served as the theoretical framework for this analysis. A …

An Exploration Of Nursing Home Social Workers' Training And Support Networks In The Area Of Death And Grief, Gena Du Bois

Theses and Graduate Projects

This exploratory study was formulated for the purpose of collecting data to define and substantiate the phenomenon of "Grieve out," coined by Dick Obershaw of Burnsville, Minnesota. "Grieve out" will be defined as ...emotional investment...staff invests and never divest of the relationship" upon the death of the resident. The definition of burnout will be discussed as it is not dissimilar to "grieve out." This thesis is based on Doka's theories of disenfranchised grief. Bowlby's attachment and loss theory, and Vachon's occupational stress theory. It is based on these theorists that this work will focus on boundaries. supportive networks, and specific …

Empowerment Of Patients In Health Care And Its Impact On Their Behavior, Laurie Dahley

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine if the lack empowerment in health care is demonstrated in overt negative behavior in patients. Previous research demonstrated increases in perception of pain, depression, and noncompliance with the medical regime to be common responses to the lack of empowerment. As the incenter hemodialysis population has a highly restricted medical regime, they were utilized as the subjects for this study.

An exploratory study utilizing existing data was conducted at Dakota Hospital Medical Center in Fargo, North Dakota. Nursing care plans were screened to identify the negative behavior in question for all patients currently …

Client Satisfaction In Home Healthcare, Leslie Throne

Theses and Graduate Projects

No abstract provided.

Training, Guidelines, And Use Of Anatomically Correct Dolls In The Investigation And Assessment Of Children Who May Have Been Sexually Abused, Evelyn Jean Rondeau Thompson

Theses and Graduate Projects

In the past ten to fifteen years the general knowledge about sexual abuse and the number of persons abused has greatly increased. Many of the victims are young children who may have difficulty verbalizing the incident. As a result, various tool have been developed. One of these is anatomically correct dolls.

The purpose of this research was to explore the use of anatomically correct dolls by child protection workers, law enforcement offices, and psychologists who work with sexually abused children. They were asked if they used the dolls, features of the dolls, training they had, and guidelines that were available …

It's Time To Prepare: Death Education For Social Workers, Leah Walton

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to develop a training program for social workers on death and dying. Data was collected by reviewing the literature, conducting interviews with professionals in the field of death and dying, and the participation in a seminar entitled "The Ticking of the Clock and The Tolling of the Bells". The information collected was combined and developed into a training program for social workers in long term care or hospital settings. The training program can also be adapted for use in the class room setting at the undergraduate or graduate level. The training program outlined five …

The Impact Of Gender Language Socialization On Women In Leadership, Evelyn G. Nelson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Gender language socialization is pervasive. Men and women are affected by gender language socialization. Women are being kept from leadership positions through gender language barriers. Both would benefit from having leadership roles more equally shared, honoring diverse styles of leadership, and acknowledging differences. My research design is evaluative. My study is qualitative. My criteria for determining causation is whether the dependent variables (women in leadership) are affected by the independent variable (gender role socialization). For this study, the results of the dependent variable are skewed by each culture studied. Thus, future studies need to know each cross-culture's perspective, but in …

The Coordination Status Of The Children's Mental Health Services In Minnesota, Carrie S. Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of the present study is to describe what services children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) have received before acute care hospitalization. According to the Minnesota children's Mental Health Act of 1989, children should be receiving a comprehensive set of services. This means that the children's mental health system is to be integrated and coordinated with all child-serving systems at the state, local and individual levels . This study examines the following three research questions: a) Is coordination of services being provided across disciplines?, b) Are children receiving case-management services?, and c) Are children receiving services in the least …