Social Work Commons^™

Resources Needed By Transitional Participants For Independent Living, Odell Jonathan Cole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A lack of resources for youth making the transition from foster care into independent living is a significant issue in the United States. However, this lack of resources may be overcome through successful career pathway programs. The purpose of this case study was to explore which career pathway strategies are useful for an organization attempting to help young people make a transition into independence. During the developmental planning stage of the program, plans were put in place for a program to help young people find guidance in a career field as they learn to live on their own and become …

Role Of Social Workers In Psychiatric Patient-Centered Care With U.S. Veterans, Alesia Michelle Noce-Owen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers play an important role in the implementation of patient-centered care (PCC) within an interdisciplinary treatment team in an inpatient psychiatric unit. The PCC approach can become overwhelming and stressful for interdisciplinary team members because the definition of PCC varies across disciplines. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore social workers’ perceptions of their role within an interdisciplinary team, including barriers to social work inclusion and PCC. Ecological systems theory provided the framework for the study. Interview data were collected from 2 focus groups containing a total of 10 purposively selected social workers. A grounded …

The Phenomenology Of Accompaniment: A Journey Of Transformation, Siobhan O'Donoghue

Dissertations

Accompaniment is a humanitarian approach that seeks to ameliorate the suffering of individuals and communities that are vulnerable, and often struggling with the effects of collective traumas. Despite the fact that accompaniment models are being utilized in various parts of the world, the topic has seldom been explored in the literature. the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of accompaniment for migrants. Purposeful sampling was used to identify 28 participants who represented both accompaniers and the accompanied. Data were collected through 13 interviews and 3 focus groups and analyzed using Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenological method …

Homeless With Breast Cancer On Skid Row, Los Angeles: A Review Of Services For Women, Eva Dittrich

Theses and Dissertations

This study reviews the literature on breast cancer in general and narrows to within the context of the homeless population of Skid Row, Los Angeles, positing that the experience of breast cancer while homeless is a compounded traumatic experience with complex and numerous practical challenges. It poses the following question: What services are available to homeless women on Skid Row, Los Angeles, the information about which can be found online? Which and how many services are dedicated to breast cancer screenings and treatment? Are other types of cancer screening and treatment services advertised on the included service organizations' websites? A …

Creating Accessible Survey Instruments For Use With Autistic Adults And People With Intellectual Disability: Lessons Learned And Recommendations, Christina Nicolaidis, Dora Raymaker, Katherine E. Mcdonald, Emily M. Lund, Sandra Marie Leotti, Steven K. Kapp, Marsha Katz, Leanne Beers, Clarissa Kripke, Joelle Maslak, Multiple Additional Authors

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite growing appreciation of the need for research on autism in adulthood, few survey instruments have been validated for use with autistic adults. We conducted an institutional ethnography of two related partnerships that used participatory approaches to conduct research in collaboration with autistic people and people with intellectual disability. In this article, we focus on lessons learned from adapting survey instruments for use in six separate studies. Community partners identified several common problems that made original instruments inaccessible. Examples included: (1) the use of difficult vocabulary, confusing terms, or figures of speech; (2) complex sentence structure, confusing grammar, or incomplete …

Childhood Abuse And Early Menarche Among Peruvian Women, Yasmin V. Barrios, Sixto E. Sanchez, Christina Nicolaidis, Pedro Garcia, Bizu Gelaye, Qiuyue Zhong, Michelle A. Williams

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

Childhood abuse has been associated with age of menarche in some studies, but not all, and few have assessed the independent associations of sexual and physical abuse with early menarche. We examined the association between childhood abuse and early menarche among pregnant women in Lima, Peru.

Methods

Multinomial logistic regression procedures were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for early menarche (≤11 years) in relation to any physical or sexual childhood abuse, physical abuse only, sexual abuse only, and both physical and sexual abuse in a cohort of 1,499 pregnant (first trimester) women.

Results …

Peer Practice Brief: How Youth Partners Can Collaborate With Family Partners In Wraparound, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Youth partners and family partners each have key roles on Wraparound teams, and they work with each other as well as with care coordinators, other team members, and, of course, family members and young people. Their roles are similar in function but separate in practice, as the family partner is a designated peer support specialist for the family member and the youth partner is a designated peer support specialist for the youth participating in the Wraparound process. It is crucial that these supports work with each other — as well as with the other members of the team, the youth, …

Exploring College Student Identity Among Young People With Foster Care Histories And Mental Health Challenges, Rebecca Miller, Jennifer E. Blakeslee, Chanel Ison

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

For this study, researchers from Pathways Research and Training Center at Portland State University explored the perspectives of college students with foster care histories and self-identified mental health conditions. Researchers aimed to better understand how the relationship between students’ foster care identity and their newly forming student identities might impact academic success. We conducted interviews with students participating in the FUTURES intervention efficacy study, which evaluated the impact of a 9-month self-determination coaching program for students enrolled in their first two years of college at Portland State University, Portland Community College, or Mt. Hood Community College. Interview participants (N=18) were …

Patterns Of Substance Use Before And After Hospitalization Among Patients Seen By An Inpatient Addiction Consult Service: A Latent Transition Analysis, Caroline King, Christina Nicolaidis, P. Todd Korthuis, Kelsey C. Priest, Honora Englander

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background and aims: Polysubstance use is common and contributes to morbidity and mortality of hospitalized patients, and yet little is known about patterns of substance use among hospitalized patients, or how an addiction consult service (ACS) might impact polysubstance use after discharge. The objective of this study was to identify patterns of substance use at admission and after discharge among hospitalized patients with substance use disorders who saw an ACS.

Design: Prospective cohort study. We used latent transition analysis of substance use scores at the time of hospital admission and 30 to 90 days posthospitalization.

Setting: Single, …

An Expert Discussion On Structural Racism In Autism Research And Practice, Desiree R. Jones, Christina Nicolaidis, Lisa J. Ellwood, Arianne Garcia, Khalilah R. Johnson, Kristina Lopez, T. C. Waisman

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autism research has a race problem. Despite improvements in screening and diagnosis, autism continues to be underdiagnosed in Black and Hispanic children , and those who obtain a diagnosis often have limited access to support services. Racial disparities persist during the transition to adulthood, with autistic adults from racial and ethnic minority groups experiencing a number of challenges, including lower rates of employment, social participation, and postsecondary education compared to White autistic adults. While these studies highlight the important intersection between race, ethnicity and autism, people of color remain consistently under-represented in autism research , and dialogues regarding the impact …

Determinants Of Motivation For Mentoring Among Adults Volunteering To Mentor Youth, Miriam Miranda-Díaz, Hyuny Clark-Shim, Thomas E. Keller, Renee Spencer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most youth mentoring programs rely on volunteers to serve as mentors to youth. This study investigates factors associated with motivations for volunteering in this capacity, specifically altruistic and self-oriented reasons for becoming a mentor. Because adults who volunteer as mentors and youth mentees typically come from different socio-cultural backgrounds, the study examines demographic characteristics associated with these different motivations. In addition, the study addresses the empathy-altruism hypothesis suggesting that individuals with higher levels of empathy exhibit greater altruistic tendencies. For this analysis, the focus is on ethnocultural empathy and its association with volunteer motivations. The sample consisted of 1,000 volunteers …

Exploring Fit For The Cultural Adaptation Of A Self-Determination Model For Youth Transitioning From Out-Of-Home Care: A Comparison Of A Sample Of Swedish Youth With Two Samples Of American Youth In Out-Of-Home Care, Tina M. Olsson, Jennifer E. Blakeslee, Martin Bergström, Therése Skoog

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Prior research has established evidence for self-determination enhancement as a promising intervention for youth transitioning from out-of-home care. Understanding how participants in these prior trials compare to adolescents in target contexts may inform practice by highlighting the extent to which such models are expected to benefit young people.

Objective

To assess the extent to which self-determination enhancement is a promising strategy for the Swedish context.

Design

Cross-sectional study comparing a sample of Swedish youth (n = 104) in out-of-home care aged 15+ on a range of outcomes with two archival data sets (My Life; Better Futures) of youth …

Learned Lessons: Growing Social Workers’ Preparation For Upstream Policy Practice, Ann Curry-Stevens, Lisa Hawash, Sarah Bradley

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last 10 years, the MSW program at Portland State University has gone from graduating 15% of its students in the macro concentration, to 32%, while the national average remains under 9%. This article traces that experience through a historically-grounded narrative line, and extracts learnings that are potentially relevant for the profession. Curricular practices include reviewing the content for horizontal and vertical integration, introducing macro content early in the first year of the program with sufficient time to inform students’ choice of concentrations, and providing students influence to shape content in the advanced year. Faculty specializations and community reputation …

Assessing Refugees' Multidimensional Poverty In The United States, Mitra Naseh, Miriam Potocky, Shanna L. L. Burke, Paul H. Stuart, Fatma Huffman

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: This study is among the first to calculate refugee poverty using the capability approach in the United States. The concept is novel as it avoids limitations of the monetary approach to poverty and provides a more comprehensive perspective on multiple deprivations that refugees might experience within their first five years of arrival to the United States. As the majority of refugees flee war or conflict-affected areas, they frequently escape with limited assets (Jacobsen, 2005; Potocky & Naseh, 2019). Often they spend their last resources on paying the smugglers to reach safety (Jacobsen, 2005) and arrive to host countries with …

Easa Connections: Community-Based Participatory Research To Develop A Peer-Based Early Psychosis Web Resource With Young Adults, Dora Raymaker, Tamara G. Sale, Mariam Rija, Nicholas Buekea, Nybelle Caruso, Ryan P. Melton, Natalie Cohrs, Veronica Gould, Christina Wall, Mirah L. Scharer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young adults (YA) who have experienced early psychosis (EP) have valuable information about their recovery process yet are often left out of research. We used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in partnership with the Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA) EP program and Portland State University to develop a peer-driven, web-based, recovery resource.We used our CBPR process to collaboratively develop the resource and conducted an iterative usability study to test and refine it. The resource was well-received and accessible. YA partners emphasize the importance of being prepared to learn about research and one’s self, being open to new experiences, …

Shadow Women: Wives Betrayed By Sex Buyers, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Shadow women are women whose husbands betray them by using prostituted women. Until now, there has been almost no attention paid to the harm to the wives or partners of men who use prostituted women. In this interview, Dr. Ingeborg Kraus talks to the former wife of a sex buyer. She describes the impact of her husband’s betrayal on her and her family. This type of harm needs to be taken seriously and more research done on it.

Rebuilding Lives Post-Disaster, By Julie L. Drolet, Lucas Prieto

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Julie L. Drolet, Rebuilding Lives Post-Disaster. Oxford University Press (2019). 258 pages, $39.95 (Paperback).

Examining The Experiences Of Homicide Co-Victims To Inform A Survivor’S Guide To Healing, Grae Pollard

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The traumatic and unexpected death of a loved one, such as suicides, homicides, and traffic fatalities, is one of the most difficult experiences a person may go through. In Summit County, Ohio, bereaved families are served by Victim Assistance Program (VAP), who help promote the healing process through education, advocacy, and crisis intervention. VAP identified a need for a workbook to assist families with navigating the days and weeks that follow the death of their loved one. In order to create a brochure considerate of the possible needs of families grieving the tragedy, various aspects of their experience were researched. …

Home Health Care Resource Binder: A User-Friendly Guide For Crossroads Hospice And Palliative Care, Deanna Eder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Patients and families searching for home health care need accurate information regarding the community resources available to them to promote aging in place and to maintain their quality of life. In connection to the social workers at Crossroads Hospice and Palliative Care, the researcher identified a need for a centralized source of up-to-date information regarding local home health care agencies due to the current resource deficit. Social workers and other health care professionals are expected to benefit from a concise list of resources readily available to provide their patients and families with adequate support to make informed decisions about a …

Harm Reduction Through Effective Volunteer Training, Rebecca Hohman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Through a combination of business education and social work competencies, an in-depth analysis of volunteer training was created from existing data and applied to qualitative survey data of nonprofit leaders in the local city of Akron, Ohio. The overall aim of the project was to base volunteer training on evidence, as evidence-based practice is a hallmark of social work practice. In doing so, the training would also aim to build connections among volunteers and between volunteers and the organization to retain the volunteers who were trained and increase the efficiency of the training. Thus, the project sought to reduce two …