Social Work Commons^™

Intervention Development To Improve Foster Youth Mental Health By Targeting Coping Self-Efficacy And Help-Seeking, Jennifer Blakeslee, Brianne H. Kothari, Rebecca Miller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study articulates the iterative development of an intervention called Strengthening Youth Networks and Coping (SYNC), which is designed to target coping self-efficacy and help-seeking intentions and behaviors among youth in foster care. The overarching goal is to design an intervention that will be a feasible and acceptable enhancement to existing child welfare services, and that will address modifiable determinants among adolescents involved in child welfare system that are related to elevated risk for mental health challenges, limited support network capacity, and service disengagement after exiting foster care. In this paper, we describe our initial needs assessment, explain how we …

Volume 49, Issue 4 (2022)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Non-Physician’S Challenges In Sexual And Reproductive Health Care Provision For Women Of Reproductive Age With Cancer: A Scoping Review Of Barriers And Facilitators, Qi Chen, Emma Carpenter, Kari White

Publications and Research

Purpose: The American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice guidelines recommend that non-physicians such as nurses, social workers, psychologists should be prepared to discuss fertility and sexual concerns with patients. However, literature showed that the utilization rate of sexual and reproductive care for women with cancer remained low. We conducted a scoping review to describe non-physicians’ roles, barriers and facilitators providing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care to women of reproductive age with cancer.

Methods: We searched six databases for articles that met the following criteria: 1) English-language; 2) original research; 3) non-physician providers; 4) women with cancer under …

The Wheel Of Oppression: Rolling Towards Substance Use In Central Appalachia, Sydney Cox

DSW Capstone Projects

For nearly 100 years, Central Appalachia has been characterized by some of the highest poverty rates in the nation. Not coincidentally, the region has also been characterized by some of the highest rates of substance use. Despite decades of funding and support, Central Appalachia continues to foster a symbiotic relationship between poverty and substance use. The purpose of this project was to explore the missing link that ties the two poor determinants of health together and to provide a name to a phenomenon otherwise omitted from social work and policy making practice within Central Appalachia.

The first product of this …

Child Welfare: Workforce Retention, Competence, And The Connection To Social Work Education, Brittany Stanley

DSW Capstone Projects

While there are many avenues to discuss and explore, the key area of interest for the Capstone Project is that of retention of a competent frontline workforce. Each state has their own set of guidelines for hiring frontline workers which allows for variety in the educational backgrounds of the investigative and ongoing workers. This can become problematic when the educational background may not be the most suited for the work and challenges faced by child welfare workers.

During the development of the Capstone Project, one could not help but wonder that if workers were adequately prepared for the demands of …

Animal Adoption Profiles: An Application Of The Human-Animal Connection, Autumn Stowe

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Channa Reddy In Telangana Statehood Movement: Initiation, Intervention And Contribution, Jakkula Koteswar Rao, Ram Shepherd Bheenaveni

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

The present paper tries to explore some of the repeated accusations and half-truths against the Telangana leader – Dr. Marri Channa Reddy, who led the movement in 1969. It is believed that the leaders started the Telangana Statehood movement as a problem-solving movement against subregionalism. Dr. Reddy was a staunch opponent of Andhra’s internal colonization. This is not only absurd but also a parody of the truth. This is mainly due to the lack of original documents in an organized campaign for the separate state of Telangana. The print and electronic media reports speak of alarming national integration at the …

Improving Spanish Translations Of Tobacco Dependence Measures Using Cognitive Interviewing, Yessenia Castro, Annette Leija, Zully C. Guerra, Tatiana Londoño, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Virmarie Correa-Fernández

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background:

Cognitive interviewing is the practice of systematically collecting feedback about survey items from members of the priority population, with the goal of identifying and rectifying problems to increase the comprehensibility of the survey. Evidence is limited on the extent to which this method of pretesting improves survey items.

Objective:

The current study examined the utility of incorporating cognitive interviewing to improve the Spanish translations of two measures of tobacco dependence.

Methods:

Items from the Spanish versions of the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (68 items) and Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (19 items) were subjected to cognitive interviews with …

The Contribution Of Positive Affect And Loneliness On Readiness And Self-Efficacy To Quit Smoking Among Spanish-Speaking Mexican American Smokers, Tatiana Londoño, John R. Moore, Zully C. Guerra, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Yessenia Castro

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: The existing research on affective and interpersonal determinants of smoking cessation largely under-represents minority smokers, such as Latinos.

Objective: The current study examined associations between affective and interpersonal factors with intermediary smoking cessation variables among Mexican-American smokers (N = 290; 60% male).

Methods: Measures of positive and negative affect, social support, and loneliness were each examined for associations with measures of motivational readiness to quit smoking, and smoking abstinence self-efficacy. Significant predictors were entered into models simultaneously to examine their unique associations. Covariates included gender, age, and educational attainment.

Results: Negative affect (b = .68, SE b = …

A Seat At The Table: Visioning Social Work’S Leadership Future, Lucas Hall

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on the history of social work leadership, current trends in social work leadership, what is lacking and where we can go in the future. The systematic literature review was focuses on what is in the literature as it relates to social work leadership preparation. The conceptual paper proposes the creation of social work leadership fellowships and certification programs. Finally, the practice application paper is the full realization of the first two papers. A solution to the crisis of a lack of social work leadership preparation is proposed and fully fleshed out. The solution being the full-scale implementation …

Back To Basics: Re-Envisioning Job Satisfaction Through Social Work-Strengths-Based Leadership, Mary Mcdaniel

DSW Capstone Projects

Social work job satisfaction is a pressing concern, becoming even more dire, in times of depleted social work workforces like experienced in Kentucky in 2021 or during an overall depleted workforce like experienced nationally due to The Great Resignation labor trend of 2022. Over recent years, it has become evident social workers and social service workers are less willing to settle for employment experiences and work environments of high stress, exhaustion, and frustration. Instead, social workers’ work expectations are changing, with social workers looking for positive work experiences such as workplaces which promote wellness, self-care, work-life balance, flexibility, and professional …

Black Youth Are Suffering In Silence: Advancing Social Work Education To Better Address The Mental Health Of African American Youth., Alicia Dawson

DSW Capstone Projects

African American youth’s rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide have increased in the last three years due to COVID-19 and national social injustices. African American students who seek help at school are less likely to receive adequate treatment from school social workers. Mental health care for African American students should be available, and those services must be effective. African American youth continue to suffer in silence when school social workers lack African-centered conceptual teaching and therapeutic skills. Current social work education curriculums contribute to 'Whiteness,' which influences future social workers to carry biases and …

The Role Of Organizational Leaders In Employee Self-Care: A Change Management Approach, Olivia Dawn Honaker

DSW Capstone Projects

Although literature demonstrates that helping professionals have had high levels of stress and burnout for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issue. The already burdened healthcare workers, now facing increased workloads, long hours, and high-level exposure to trauma, have created an urgency to address this significant risk to helping professionals. The current capstone will bring awareness to organizational leaders regarding the importance of employee self-care and the benefits of implementing employee self-care programs. First, a systematic literature review will examine self-care in helping professions and explore how organizational leaders operationalize employee self-care programs. In addition, the capstone aims …

Bolstering Leadership Engagement To Community Coalition Work In Rural Appalachia, Melissa Slone

DSW Capstone Projects

Rural Appalachian communities are overwhelmed with high cancer rates, diabetes, disabilities, and substance use disorder. The challenges in addressing these increase when you factor in workforce shortages and limited funding. The literature documents the effectiveness of coalitions in addressing healthcare challenges within communities. The need is for leaders to reduce their hesitancy to engage in community coalition efforts and increase awareness of the impact community coalitions can have on addressing rural populations' health and well-being needs.

Product One was a systematic review focused on research that examined agency leaders’ perspectives on community coalition involvement. The purpose of conducting the systematic …

Healthcare Equity For Transgender Individuals, Mollie Staggs

DSW Capstone Projects

In the field of social justice and integrity, Social Work has dedicated itself to improving the welfare of the world, in which we all participate and interact. There are countless issues in our society that warrant professional attention for the fundamental purpose of positively impacting the livelihood of subcategories of people. For this particular Capstone Project, the focus is on transgender individuals’ systemic healthcare barriers that cisgender people within the United States do not similarly experience. The purpose is to unveil these disparities to then pose progressive alterations within the healthcare system to make the navigation and accessibility better for …

Children And High Conflict Divorce: Using Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy As Treatment, Ashley Berry

DSW Capstone Projects

The act of divorce has been commonplace throughout the world during the 20^th century, plateauing around the 1970s at around 50% of all marriages. While most divorces end peacefully, many contain ongoing conflict which can become detrimental to all involved, including the children. While historical treatment methods focus on changing the behavior of parents, there are instances where these methods may be ineffective, especially when the parents are unable or unwilling to change their conflictual behaviors. Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP), which has been used with individuals who have suffered from trauma, may be an option to use with this population …

Meta-Practice For The Bachelor Level: A Needed Compliment To The Generalist Model, Patrick Callahan

DSW Capstone Projects

Meta-practice in this concept is the web or roadmap, that is, the interconnectedness of the three pillars of the generalist model of social work. The generalist model teaches that micro, mezzo, and macro are interconnected. However, students and new professionals often do not understand precisely what the connection is. This work gathers the available literature, the conceptual idea of the introduction for the bachelor level of education, and an application of introducing it in a course for instruction. There is a need for introducing meta-practice at the bachelor’s level because of the continued globalization of society. By teaching the concept …

Neuroleadership A New Burnout Prevention Strategy, Zakery David Sloan

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines the current state of burnout, prevention strategies, prevalence, and introduces neuroleadership as a new leadership theory to advance burnout prevention among the public human service population. Neuroleadership presents a new conceptualization of leadership practice and burnout prevention method by utilizing neuro-informed leadership practices. This new neuro-informed leadership strategy is explored throughout the three major products of this capstone project including a systematic literature review, conceptual paper, and practice application paper.

The first product completed was a systematic literature review. This literature review included a total of 13 articles which were used to answer the research question, …

Defining Posttraumatic Stress In Law Enforcement: Normalizing Trauma Response, Britta D. Caudill

DSW Capstone Projects

Significant inequalities exist within the expectations of police officers regarding trauma exposure and the lack of mental health preventive efforts and treatment opportunities. The prevalence of stigma thrives within the thought process of this culture paired with the expectation for resiliency, as police culture focuses on the ability to repress emotion instead of utilizing appropriate coping methods. This review takes an interesting look at the history, definition, and diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by focusing on its evolution within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) over time. The primary goal is to establish a relationship between the definition …

Postpartum Depression: Mitigating Treatment Barriers For Women In Appalachia, Tabitha Simpson

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on maternal mental needs, specifically postpartum care and postpartum depression. Each article in this capstone centers on postpartum depression, treatment barriers, introducing standard care of practice for women in rural communities, and identifying gaps leading to further research in postpartum education. Countless articles were read and utilized in conducting the systematic literature review to begin this process.

The first article in the capstone, the Systematic literature review, details the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression and how it differs from a major depressive disorder. A thorough review of the literature was conducted, identifying the central concern of …