Digital Commons Network^™

Child Welfare Workers Perceptions Of Their Competencies At Detecting And Reporting Abuse Of Foster Children, Shameka Angela Manigault

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child abuse is a national issue in the United States. Past research has revealed that child welfare workers competency at detecting and reporting child abuse comes with challenges and barriers. Poor recognition and reporting of suspected maltreatment are problematic because a lack of action on the part of child welfare workers may leave children vulnerable to continued abuse, which could result in increased morbidity and mortality for the children. This generic qualitative study examined child welfare workers perceptions of their professional competencies at detecting and reporting abuse of foster children during out-of-home placements. Bandura's principles of self-efficacy as presented in …

Perceptions Of Probation Officers Placing Juvenile Sex Offenders In Rural South Carolina, Anthony Rochell Nelson Sr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the western world, juveniles move through the criminal justice system by the hundreds of thousands. The probation services for many juveniles, however, are lacking due to the limited amount of psychological counseling, mental health facilities, and available mentors. Probation officers face accelerated challenges for juvenile sex offenders, particularly those residing in rural areas where resources are even more limited. Using the attribution theory, this qualitative case study explored the perceptions and decision-making challenges facing four juvenile intensive supervision officers in rural South Carolina when placing youthful offenders. Interviews were coded and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results showed that …

Strategies To Sustain Funding In The Nonprofit Sector, Mark Sami

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofits provide much needed services to communities, especially to the poor and

vulnerable population, but the majority are operating in an environment of uncertainty

because of scarcity of resources. It is imperative that nonprofit managers implement

strategies to ensure the sustainability of their organizations. Grounded in the general

systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore

strategies that nonprofit managers use to sustain funding in the nonprofit sector. The

study participants were 3 nonprofit managers, including 2 from the Caribbean, and 1

from the United States. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and a review …

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Social Work Practice In Suffolk, Va., Porcha Lynn Porter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a well-known disorder that children are increasingly diagnosed with, but the school setting is still unprepared for this disorder. Research has also shown that there is still a need for school staff be more educated and trained on this disorder so that they can see how the environment, including the school setting, plays a significant role in increasing the symptoms including adding to the stigma. The gap in literature found that the social expectations that shape the school environment can create a challenge for children with an ADHD diagnosis and contribute to the stigma …

Impact Of Leadership Changes On Employee Engagement In A Behavioral Health Organization, Martina Burnett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The increased need for patient care at the target behavioral health organization (BHO) required greater employee engagement to provide better services. Identifying strategies that are helpful for health care leaders to engage employees is beneficial to ensuring better patient care. A case study was conducted to determine whether changes in leadership in the social work department (SWD) of the BHO had an influence on employee engagement. The Baldrige excellence framework and its criteria for performance excellence were used to examine the behaviors of leaders and the ways their performance and work processes sustained the BHO during organizational changes. Data were …

Georgia Government Leaders' Lived Experience Creating And Implementing Health Equity Policies, Tracy M. Clopton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Georgia’s racial and ethnic minority communities have a continual problem of disproportionately worse health outcomes, including higher chronic disease and behavioral risk factors, compared to their nonminority counterparts. The average cost per year for chronic disease between 2016 and 2030 could be $64.6 billion in medical costs and $26.8 billion in lost employee productivity for Georgia. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of Georgia legislators and health program staff to determine policy solutions to reduce chronic disease and behavioral risk factor disparities in the racial and ethnic minority population. The theoretical lens for the study …

Behavioral Health Leadership Perspectives On The Transition To Medicaid Managed Care, Cynthia Lyn Gee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare and behavioral healthcare reform are sweeping across the United States to improve health outcomes, increase client satisfaction, and to decrease healthcare expenditures through statewide transitions to Medicaid managed care (MMC). Leaders of behavioral health organizations face significant challenges when implementing wide scale organizational change. A case study design was used to explore senior leaders’ experiences with transitioning from a fee for service environment to MMC at a behavioral health organization, which operates in the Northeastern region of the United States. The Baldrige excellence framework was used as a conceptual lens to assess the organization’s effectiveness in key factors. Senior …

Rural Community Mental Health Agency’S Strategies To Involve Parents In Children’S Psychosocial Treatment, Kerry Ellen Morrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The increased prevalence of children’s mental illness and the need for community-based treatment with enhanced outcomes is propelling the need to improve children’s mental health treatment to the forefront of children’s mental health policy reform. Including parental involvement in children’s mental health treatment increases the possibility of improved treatment outcomes. However, policy, social, attitudinal, and fiscal factors have affected the strategies used to overcome the barriers to facilitating parental involvement. The purpose of this in-depth qualitative case study was to understand the strategies that one mental health agency used to overcome the barriers to facilitating parental involvement in the psychosocial …

How Do Parenting Styles Influence The Academic Performance Of African-American College Students At An Hbcu On The East Coast, Chaka P. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Various studies have shown that the style of parenting has a significant influence on the academic performance and success of students. Furthermore, these studies have shown this evidence on academic performance in different contexts, that is at different grade levels and in different countries. The dearth of literature on the relationship between African-American parenting styles and academic performances is important as there is no universally acknowledged best way of parenting. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between parenting styles and academic performance of African-American college students at historically black colleges and universities on the East …

The Effects Of Absenteeism On Organizational Outcomes: A Principal Component Analysis, Lee L. Hisey

Management Faculty Publications

This study surveyed the Louisiana Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve data base to determine the effects of absenteeism on the association between number of customers served by the organization and measures of organizational output, customer satisfaction, and employee behavior. The Principal Component Analysis indicated that quality of the organization’s output, employee’s satisfaction with their work, and training on employee performance are all positively associated with change in the number of customers served.

Classroom Accommodations For Student-Veterans Attending Community Colleges, Terry Dionne Mc Quay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Soldiers have returned from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and have enrolled in post-secondary education in large numbers, especially at community colleges because of flexible course scheduling. The problem explored in this study was the need for 1 community college to have better information regarding classroom needs for student-veterans with PTSD or a TBI. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of both student-veterans with PTSD or a TBI and faculty concerning classroom accommodations for student-veterans at the study site. Knowles' theory of the adult learner served …

Gay-Affirmative Social Work Practice With Homeless Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Youth, Aissa Deloatch-Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth are overrepresented in the homeless population and experience higher rates of discrimination and unfair treatment when accessing services and shelter. Research indicates that homeless LGBT youth remain homeless for longer periods of time than their heterosexual peers because of bias and stigmas associated with their gender identity and sexual orientation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine if social workers in the city of New Haven, Connecticut, used an affirmative model of intervention when working with homeless LGBT youth. Maslow’s self-affirmation theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. The interview …

Perceptions Of Physician Influence On Healthcare Accessibility, Samuel N. Jacobs-Abbey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A significant portion of the U.S. population across the country has limited access to quality healthcare; however, this situation is more pronounced in rural areas. One potential solution is for healthcare practitioners to move their services to underserved rural areas to improve healthcare coverage. No previous studies have explored the perceptions of practitioners regarding their influence on healthcare access, particularly the potential impact of moving healthcare services to underserved areas. Thus, the purpose of this research was to address this gap. A qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted. A sample of 24 participants was selected using purposive sampling, from the target …

Increasing Culturally Competent Care Of Lgbtq Patients By Providing Staff Education, Victoria Jacoby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The majority of health care professionals do not feel confident or competent to adequately care for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) patient. Research has identified a link between poor preparedness of the provider/staff and poor patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an in-person staff education module about providing culturally competent care to LGBTQ patients. The study focused on providers’ attitudes, preparedness, and confidence in caring for a LGBTQ patient. The Iowa and Kirkpatrick models were utilized to ground and evaluate the study. This study was a one-group pre- and posttest …

Disaster Survivors’ Experiences With Disaster Volunteers, Christa Frances Lopez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The intention of this qualitative case study was to understand the disaster survivors’ experiences with disaster volunteers. Understanding the experiences of the survivors with the volunteers may determine how disaster volunteer training could be improved to inform how overall assistance is provided to disaster survivors. The community affected by the disaster can be overwhelmed by the impact of the disaster on their homes and possessions. This stress can be alleviated by the offerings of volunteers. However, volunteers may also pose a challenge as they may lack the appropriate training, may not understand the culture or community norms, and thus may …

Cultivating Forgiveness, Resilience And Positive Change: A Resilience Intervention Pilot Study Among Persons With Disabilities, Susan Stuntzner, Angela Macdonald, Michael Hartley, Jain Sachin

Counseling Faculty Publications

Resilience is an area of emerging interest and applies to people living with a disability.1–3 However, research suggests that few, if any, resilience interventions have been developed and facilitated among people with disabilities.4–6 To address this void and assist people with disabilities in building resilience-based skills, Stuntzner and Hartley3 developed a 10-module resilience intervention (i.e., Stuntzner and Hartley’s Life Enhancement Intervention: Developing Resiliency Skills Following Disability). The following article is a pilot-study utilizing Stuntzner and Hartley’s3 10-module resilience intervention. The intervention was facilitated among a group (N=11) of individuals with varying disabilities. Stuntzner and Hartley’s3 resilience intervention (SHRI) was used …

Postpartum Depression Education And Screening In A Hospital Setting, Amanda Snyder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

It is estimated that 24.3% of women in Florida who have recently given birth experience postpartum depression (PPD), which approximates the national percentage. Perinatal nurses are often not provided specific education relating to PPD nor provided reliable methods to screen patients in the hospital setting. The focus of this project was to increase the number of mothers identified as needing follow-up for PPD by formally educating perinatal staff members on the signs and symptoms of depression, while including validated methods of screening patients compared to the current practice of general assessment and verbal interviewing. The approach was supportive of the …

Social Workers' Role In Treating Individuals With Neurological Impairments From Brain Trauma, Kimberly D. Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nearly 1 billion individuals worldwide are diagnosed with a neurological condition. Neurological conditions might harm an individual’s overall mental state and quality of life. This qualitative action research project examined the social worker’s role in treating individuals with neurological impairments due to brain trauma. Information was gathered using a focus group of 4 rehabilitation social workers in Dallas, Texas, about their experiences related to utilizing social work practice with patients who have neurological conditions. Data from this action research project revealed an understanding of the psychosocial benefits of social work services for individuals with neurological impairments due to brain trauma …

Impact Of District-Wide Free Lunch On Third-Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension, Rita A. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poverty has an enormous impact on children and their success in school. Children with low economic status often perform poorly in math and reading. Poor reading skills often lead to truancy, low rates of high school graduation, low-paying jobs, and cycles of illiteracy in generations of families. The fundamental cause theory was the theoretical lens used for this study. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative ANOVA quartile split study was to examine the impact of universal free and reduced lunch (FRL) policy changes on third grade reading normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores. The research design included data analysis for examining …

The Impact Of Technological Advances On Older Workers, Toni Mcintosh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The general problem addressed in this study was the treatment of older workers in the information technology industry that contributes to age discrimination in the workplace. Age discrimination is against the law irrespective of whether it is aimed at older workers in the workforce or becoming job candidates at an advanced age. Although previous research has shown that age discrimination is prevalent in work environments, little has been suggested to eradicate the issue in the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the issue of age discrimination as it relates to workers over the age of …

Investigating How Teachers Meet State Standards For Multicultural Curriculum, Richard Olufemi Adelani

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem of this study was the lack of evidence on how teachers, who teach world languages and English language learners in middle and high schools in a local district, use multicultural resources to supplement state of New Jersey core curriculum students learning standards and meet the cultural and linguistic needs of students they teach. School library online circulation files showed that few world languages teachers checked out library resources for their classrooms between August 2014 and May 2018. The purpose of this case study was to investigate how teachers supplement core curriculum to meet state standards regarding cultural diversity. …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients' Sociological Resilience, Self-Determination, And Decision-Making For Life-Sustaining Treatments, Jeremy Jon Van Tress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffer from a rare, progressive, untreatable, and fatal neuromuscular disease. Their decision-making for life-sustaining treatments may not be fully self-deterministic. While researchers have examined resilience and self-determination in people with mental health problems and chronic illness, none have researched these variables in ALS patients from a socioecological framework. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between people with ALS socioecological resilience, self-determination, and decision-making for life-sustaining treatments. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed-methods design was used, with online surveys completed by 197 people with ALS who were solicited through the National ALS Registry. …

Methamphetamine Screening And Brief Intervention In A Hospital Heart Failure Program, Tamra Chavez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe efficacy of screening, brief, intervention, referral to treatment (SBIRT) in reducing or eliminating methamphetamine use has not been investigated and addressed among patients with heart failure. According to urine toxicology screens at admission at a county hospital, approximately 50% of patients in a heart failure program were positive for illicit substance use, and the majority of these tests (>60%) were for methamphetamine use, one of the most cardiotoxic drugs available. This quantitative study used an existing dataset to test the theory of intentional behavior by examining whether SBIRT intervention increases the patient’s ability to make a behavioral change …

Rural Counselors’ Use Of Technology To Address Professional Isolation, Jacqueline Dale Grantland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRural counselors experience high levels of stress and burnout because of increased job demands, a lack of professional resources, and professional isolation in rural community practice. Technology can be a useful tool for counselors to maintain connectivity and access resources not readily available. However, a gap in the literature exists on rural counselors’ experience with technology to remediate professional isolation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological framework with an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was to explore licensed professional counselors’ experiences with using technology to address professional isolation in rural community practice. The inclusion criteria included the counselors having 2 years …

Predicting Behavior To Engage In Fall Prevention Practices: The Role Of Interests And Basic Psychological Needs, Jan Fay Kress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA fall is associated with adverse outcomes that include occupational, physical, cognitive, and psychological decline together with economic and caregiving burden. Despite the continued increase in prevalence of falls globally, most studies address the well-known risk factors of falls but exclude the behavioral risk factors associated with human actions, emotions, and everyday choices. Following the theory of self-determination and person object of interest framework, this quantitative, nonexperimental study was conducted using face-to-face and web surveys to examine the relationship between motivational, relational, and sociodemographic/medical conditions to predict engagement in fall prevention practices in a sample of 75 community dwellers, 65 …

Adolescent Suicidal Ideation And Parental Perception, Parenting Style, And Parental Denial, Julie Mann

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent suicidal ideation is a substantial health concern in the United States, from both mental and physical perspectives. Parent-child connectedness (PCC) ostensibly plays a considerable role in reducing the problem. Along with parents of youth who are struggling with suicide, mental health care providers and school administrators would appreciate understanding more effective strategies for eliminating adolescent suicidal ideation. This cross-sectional, quantitative study sought a statistically significant relationship between PCC measured as parental perception, parenting style, and parental denial (independent variables) and the dependent variable of adolescent suicidal ideation. Bandura’s social cognitive theory, Baumrind’s parenting style theory, and Mowder’s parent development …

Geographic Access To Community Mental Healthcare And Adherence To Treatment Among Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Marie Smith-East

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Disparities in access to mental health care for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders continue to exist in the United States despite the creation of mental health policies seeking to improve access to care. As an integral element of healthcare system delivery, access is influenced by spatial (location) and non-spatial (sociodemographic) factors. Highlighting both spatial and non-spatial dimensions of access to mental healthcare, this study employed an innovative approach encompassing the geography of access and the integration of location analyses to bridge the gap between psychosocial dynamics and mental health services for improving cost-effective continuity of care. The aims were as …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Trauma On Foster Youth Aging Out Of The Florida Foster Care System: Implications For Supportive Interventions And Practices, Kesia Vazquez

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S. there are approximately 25,000 youth that leave the Child Welfare System without a stable long-term housing arrangement and are left to age out of foster care and transition into adulthood (Dion, Dworsky, Kauff, & Kleinman, 2014, p. iii). These foster youth alumni (FYA) travel through various paths yet share many traumatic events that cause long-term effects that influence coping skills. This qualitative and phenomenological study aims to investigate the various traumas experienced, before and during foster care, and the coping skills that FYA have developed. A total of 16 FYA, from the Florida Child Welfare System, were …

A Qualitative Study On The Perceived Value Of Emotional Intelligence Training On Foster Parents, Omar Shere Johnson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of a child in the foster care system rely heavily on the preparedness ofthe foster parent. For decades, researchers and practitioners have written about the challenges that foster children face while in the foster care system and discussed ways to assist them. This research discusses another way to improve the preparedness of a foster child as they go through the foster care system—improving the parenting skills of the foster parent using emotional intelligence. The entirety of this study is the analysis and study of this specific research question, “What perceived impact can emotional intelligence training (IV) have on …

Staff Under New Market Rules: A Case Study Of A Group Home For People With Intellectual Disabilities In Sweden, Sven Trygged

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Swedish caring services have transformed from a public ­operated to a market inspired contract system. This pilot case study of a group home explores what the shifts of contractor entail for staff concerning work regulation, work content and job satisfaction, personal development, relationships with colleagues, and consequences for service users. Procurement documents were studied and interviews performed with four experienced staff members. Results show that manager turnover, administrative changes, and terms of employment contracts increased conflicts and staff vulnerability. Staff responses are discussed in terms of exit, voice and loyalty.