Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons^™

Clean Needles And Bad Blood: Needle Exchange As Morality Policy, Elizabeth A. Bowen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The morality policy framework is a lens for understanding the unique characteristics of policies that attempt to regulate personal morals and behaviors. Needle exchange, a controversial intervention for reducing the transmission of HIV in injection drug users, shares many of the hallmark characteristics of morality policies. Analyzing needle exchange from a morality policy perspective, focusing on the 21-year ban on federal funding for needle exchange, reveals how value-based arguments have been used in the needle exchange debate and explains why the issue is likely to remain controversial in the United States. This analysis adds to the understanding of moral and …

Spiritual Care Within Oncology Care: Development Of A Spiritual Care Program At An Indian Health Service Hospital, Catherine Witte, Tamana D. Begay, Kathryn Coe

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Spiritual care is essential in providing quality health care for patients and their families and is supported in the mission of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Their mission is to raise the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level. This paper will describe the spiritual care programs at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, an IHS hospital located in Phoenix, Arizona. Two hospital committees, the Volunteer Chaplains’ Association and the Traditional Cultural Advocacy Committee, provide spiritual care for the medical center and work to sustain a presence of spiritual and cultural awareness …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Safety Skill Intervention For Child Victims Of Neglect, Heather H. Hill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Child neglect is the least studied, yet most frequently indicated, type of child maltreatment. Still, there are few assessment and treatment methods specifically designed for victims of child neglect. Unintentional injuries have long remained the leading cause of death for children in the United States after the first year of life, and research suggests the majority of these child fatalities are actually the result of child neglect. Homes of neglectful families are often inundated with safety hazards but child-focused home safety skill interventions have yet to be developed. Thus, the present study focused on the development and initial evaluation of …

A Descriptive Analysis Of Bookings In Sibley County Jail Between January 1, 2008 And December 31, 2009, Deanna Aufderheide

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Each year approximately 12 million admissions and releases occur in U.S. jails (Solomon, A. L., Osborne, J. W. L, LoBuglio, S. F., Mellow, J., & Mukamal, D. A.). Those that cycle in and out of jail often times are unstable. These instabilities include: substance abuse, lack of housing and employment, mental illness, and health concerns. More than 80 percent of offenders are incarcerated for less than one month; some for a few hours or a few days (Solomon, et. al.). This concern was identified by the Public Health Nurse (PHN) who has seen the same offenders being booked in, time …

Diagnostic Classifications And Resource Utilization Of Decedents Served By The Department Of Veterans Affairs, Sonia A. Duffy, Laurel Copeland, Faith Hopp, Robert J. Zalenski

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Given the volume and cost of inpatient care during the last year of life, there is a critical need to identify patterns of dying as a means of planning end-of-life care services, especially for the growing number of older persons who receive services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods: A retrospective computerized record review was conducted of 20,933 VHA patients who died as inpatients between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2002. Diagnoses were aggregated into one of five classification patterns of death and analyzed in terms of health care resource utilization (mean number of inpatient days and …

Outcomes Associated With A Home Care Telehealth Intervention, Faith Hopp, Peter Woodbridge, Usha Subramanian, Laurel Copeland, David Smith, Julie Lowery

Social Work Faculty Publications

To determine whether adding telehealth technology to traditional home care services increases health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and home care satisfaction, and decreases resource utilization among home care patients. This trial included 37 home care patients receiving services in a Veterans Affairs medical center, randomized into intervention and control groups. Outcome measures included patient satisfaction and HRQOL at baseline and 6-month follow- up, and the use of inpatient and outpatient services before and during the 6-month study period. Intervention group patients reported greater improvement in the mental health component of HRQOL, (t = 2.27; df = 15; p = …

Research In Home-Care Telemedicine: Challenges In Patient Recruitment, Usha Subramanian, Faith Hopp, Julie Lowery, Peter Woodbridge, David Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study reports challenges in recruiting patients for a randomized controHed trial of home-care telemedicinae. Descriptive statistics on patient eligibility for home-care telemedidne services and patient refusals for participation are provided. Frequency counts of reasons for study exclusion and participant refusal and Chi-square tests to compare race and age-related differences are given. Of 302 home-care patients reviewed, 197 (65.2%) did not meet inclusion criteria. The most common reasons for study exclusion were patients either needing <2 visits per month (n = 59, 30%) or >3 skilled nurse visits per week (n = 46, 23.4%). Of the eligible patients (n = 105), 79 …

A Peculiar Logic Of Pro-Abortion Advocacy, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies a weakness in pro-abortion advocacy and how this weakness can be resolved to support said advocacy.

Structuring Support For Volunteer Commitment: An Aids Services Program Study, Taryn Lindhorst, Ronald Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since the AIDS epidemic began over a decade ago, the bulk of services for people living with HIV in the community setting have been provided by volunteers. Volunteers are confronted with the stigmatized status of people with HIV and must learn to manage multiple crisis issues. This paper describes research on volunteerism in a buddy program for people living with AIDS and the perceptions of volunteers about the structural supports of the volunteer program. Issues around perceptions of stress and the relationship between bereavement and volunteering are explored.

Crisis Intervention Services In Mental Health: A Review Of The Literature, Roger A. Lohmann, Ellen Neidermeyer

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper is a review of the literature on mobile crisis services and other forms of modern crisis intervention services. It is the first part of a larger project, termed the North Central West Virginia Crisis Study. The purpose of this literature review is to identify recent published literature on crisis services, with particular attention to crisis response services. No attempt has been made to survey the voluminous literature on crisis intervention practice skills and techniques.

Trends In Hospital And Nursing Home Care Expenditures, Maine, 1982 To 1986, Maine Department Of Human Services

Maine Collection

Trends in Hospital and Nursing Home Care Expenditures, Maine, 1982 to 1986

Maine Department of Human Services - Office of Data, Research, and Vital Statistics

John R. McKernan, Jr., Governor, Rollin Ives, Commissioner, Brenda Smith, Planning and Research Associate, May, 1989.

"This report produced under Appropriation No. 1310-4010."

Contents: Introduction / Hospital Care Expenditures / Nursing Home Care Expenditures / Comparison of Hospital and Nursing Home Care Expenditure Trends / Concluding Remarks / References

A Study In Self-Defeat: The Public Health Venereal Disease Clinic, Joseph F. Sheley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper relates the results of three months of participant observation and interviews in a public venereal disease clinic. The research was directed toward assessment of the relationship of clinic efficiency (a smoothly operating bureaucratic clinic) and clinic effectiveness (a major reduction of illness within a community). The venereal disease clinic is described as an efficient and well planned health unit with three major objectives: a) checking the increase of V.D. through preventive medicine; b) detection and treatment of V.D. within the community; and c) provision of health services to lower S.E.S. segments of the population. Research results indicate that …

An Exploratory Study Of Children’S Mental Health Needs In The Pact Target Area Of Southeast Portland, Richard L. Bossardt, Clifford G. Larsen

Dissertations and Theses

The original, and still primary, purpose of this study was to provide a statistical data base for a grant proposal to fund a children's mental health service agency in the PACT target area of Southeast Portland. Since the conception, the plan has been subsumed under the planning auspices of a group whose aim is to work toward expanding and consolidating mental health services in all dimensions for the Southeast Portland area. The geographical focus of this study is on that section of Southeast Portland which has been designated by the Office of Economic Opportunity as a poverty pocket because of …

Barriers To Attainment Of Health Care In West Central Maine : A Critique By The Poor, Health Facilities Planning Council

Maine Collection

Barriers to Attainment of Health Care in West Central Maine : A Critique by the Poor

"Conducted by the Health Facilities Planning Council, 11 Parkwood Drive, Augusta, Maine under contract to Maine Department of Health and Welfare, June, 1969."

Contents: Foreword / Table of Contents / Introduction / Map / Franklin County / Housing / Dental Rot / Franklin County Memorial Hospital / Family Planning / RN's / State Public Health Nurses / Unmet Health Needs / The Last Outpost / Home Visit in Farmington Falls / Home Visit in Industry / Home Visit in Rangeley Area / Conversations on …