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Introduction To The Special Issue: Mind-Body Interventions In Social Work Practice, Melinda Mccormick, Yvonne Unrau

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Introduction to the Special Issue

A Systematic Review Of Yoga Interventions In The Incarcerated Setting, Alexandra S. Wimberly, Jia Xue

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

While yoga interventions in the incarcerated setting are on the rise, little is known regarding their efficacy. The objective of this article is to assess the effects of yoga on the well-being of incarcerated populations. Two reviewers systematically searched PubMed, PsycInfo, EBSCO MegaFILE, Web of Science, Science Direct, AMED, and Google Scholar for yoga intervention studies in jails and prisons. The search yielded 54 results; ten papers met inclusion criteria. Evaluated outcomes included stress, cognitive performance, mental and physical well-being and re-incarceration rates. While the majority of yoga practiced was hatha, yoga interventions also included a focus on yogic philosophy …

Intensive Care In Oncology: Admission And Outcomes In Adult Patients With Cancer, Surya John

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Historically, patients with cancer have been perceived as poor candidates for ICU admission. General ICU admission criteria lists cancer patients as low priority in ICU admission depriving them of the care they rightfully deserve. The purpose of this literary synthesis was to examine ICU admission criteria, risk factors, and outcomes of ICU admission in relation to hematological and solid tumor cancers and discuss ways that practitioners and nurses can educate patients with cancer and their families on appropriateness of ICU care.

Methods: A total of 768 articles were found in a literature search including all literature from 2005 to …

Harmful Or Helpful? Direct To Consumer Advertising, Sally A. Kiss

The Graduate Review

Policy change in 1997 by the Food and Drug Administration made the United States only one of two countries to allow direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). DTCA refers to the promotion of prescription medications through media directly to consumers as opposed to distribution of information only medical professionals. Supporters argue that DTCA educates consumers and helps them to make more informed decisions about their health care. On the other side, opponents argue that it leads to otherwise healthy people believing they are sick, thereby increasing profits for pharmaceutical companies. After reviewing the history of DTCA and literature demonstrating the pros and cons …

Drawing Comparisons Across Community Health Agents (Acs), Nurses And Physicians In Brazil’S Unified Health System (Uhs), Rahbel Rahman

Social Work Faculty Scholarship

Recent WHO guidelines emphasize on empowering communities to take ownership of their healthcare needs. Brazil’s UHS is a model for delivering community-based care through Family Health Strategy (FHS) interdisciplinary teams - ACS, nurses, and physicians. Our study compares nurses, physicians and ACS on their perceptions of work environment, professional skills, cognitive capacities and job context. Global health administrators and policy makers can leverage on comparisons across providers to develop interprofessional training and implement system-level interventions.

Transdisciplinary Health Teams In Brazil's United Health System, Rahbel Rahman

Social Work Faculty Scholarship

Integration of social services (i.e., civil registration, community mobilization) with disease prevention services (for e.g. HIV prevention services) has been recommended as a key strategy by practitioners, policy makers and researchers to solve the multifactorial determinants of chronic diseases faced by minority groups.

An Exploration Of Home-Based Therapists’ Supervisory Experiences: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Cherre Camper

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

In-home family therapy has become one of the most common options of treatment for providing services to families who do not typically utilize a private clinic (Lawson, 2005; Reiter, 2000; Yorgason, McWey, & Felts, 2005). Researchers have given some attention to the topic of home-based therapy and to general supervision, but little attention has focused on the actual supervision experiences of home-based therapy providers. This phenomenological study explored the supervision experiences of seven past and current in-home therapists: marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and social workers (MSWs). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, and data was analyzed to develop …

Parents’ Perception Of Stepped Care And Standard Care Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Young Children, Alison Salloum, Victoria R. Swaidan, Angela C. Torres, Tanya K. Murphy, Eric A. Storch

Social Work Faculty Publications

Delivery systems other than in-office therapist-led treatments are needed to address treatment barriers such as accessibility, efficiency, costs, and parents wanting an active role in helping their child. To address these barriers, stepped care trauma focused-cognitive behavioral therapy (SC-TF-CBT) was developed as a parent-led, therapist-assisted therapy that occurs primarily at-home so that fewer in-office sessions are required. The current study examines caregivers’ perceptions of parent-led (SC-TF-CBT) and therapist-led (TF-CBT) treatment. Participants consisted of 52 parents/caregivers (25–68 years) of young trauma-exposed children (3–7 years) who were randomly assigned to SC-TF-CBT (n = 34) or to TF-CBT (n = 18). Data were …

[Social Work] Newsletter, 2016, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Social Work.

Social Work Newsletter

Inside This Issue:
--From the Department Head: Year In Review Fall 2015-Spring 2016
--Professor Spotlight: Katherine van Wormer
--Professor Highlights: Laura Praglin, James McCullagh, Steven Onken, James, Hanson, Augustina Naami, Ga-Young Choi, Anita Gordon
--Staff Highlights: Debra Laneville, Ann Thill
--Department News: Distance Education MSW, Exploring Korean Exchange Programs
--Department-Wide Events: Social Work Ethics Conference, Iowa NASW Symposium, Annual Awards and Scholarships Ceremony
--In the Field
--2016 Trauma Conference: Advancing Trauma Understanding and Response in 2016
--Agency Highlights: Jen Alexander, Peg DeArmond, Sheri Floyd
--A Spiritual Awakening: From Incarceration to Full-Time Student
--Student Highlights: Trevor Dismore, Vanessa McNeal
--MSW Foundation …

Social Work Curriculum Review Case Study: Service Users Tell Us What Makes Effective Social Workers, Elizabeth C. Watters, Cheryl-Anne Cait, Funke Oba

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

This paper presents the findings from community focus groups, comprised of social service users, and explores the characteristics of effective social workers. Focus groups were conducted as part of a case study to inform a Master of Social Work (MSW) curriculum review at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Social Work. Wilfrid Laurier University has two MSW programs—the MSW Aboriginal Field of Study (AFS) and a non-Aboriginal program. The case for this study was the non-Aboriginal MSW program. Ongoing program evaluation that includes feedback from service users honours the knowledge of marginalized communities, and is an accreditation requirement of the Canadian …

Masshealth (Medicaid) Clinicians' Perceptions Of In-Home Therapy With Children And Families, Kathryn E. Cole

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study identifies the attitudes of clinicians providing in-home therapy and related services under the umbrella of MassHealth in Massachusetts. It examines who is doing In-Home Therapy, whether these clinicians (and bachelor’s level providers known as providers of therapeutic training and support) feel adequately prepared to do this work, the kinds of training these clinicians receive, what could be done in order to help them feel more successful, find job satisfaction, and want to continue providing in-home therapy.

Three hundred and four participants completed an online, anonymous survey that collected basic demographic information including gender, age, race, education, professional background, …

Working With Compassion : The Impact Of Loving Kindness Meditation On Compassion Satisfaction And Compassion Fatigue Among Social Workers And Other Mental Health Workers, Dianne Gallo

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Loving kindness meditation is a practice that involves actively cultivating compassion and intentionally directing compassion towards one’s self and towards others. Compassion fatigue refers to burnout and secondary traumatic stress that may result from caregiving, while compassion satisfaction refers to the enjoyment and sense of fulfillment that may come from caregiving. This mixed-methods study explored the impact of one week of a daily ten minute loving kindness meditation practice on mental health clinicians’ levels of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Eleven participants committed to a daily ten minute loving kindness meditation practice for one week during which they worked with …

Filial Responsibility In The Family Of Origin Experiences Of Social Workers, Aphrodite Easton

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory quantitative study examined social workers’ family of origin experiences of filial responsibility, including emotional and instrumental caregiving. Additionally, this investigation explored the relationship between social workers’ past and current caregiving experiences, reported coping strategies, and the perceived fairness of their families of origin. This research was carried out through an anonymous, online survey of 46 part- and full-time MSW students and MSW graduates using self-report measures including a demographic survey, the Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult, and the Proactive Coping Inventory.

In support of the study’s main hypothesis, participants’ childhood experiences of filial responsibility were significantly correlated with adulthood experiences …

The Use Of Specialization : ǂB Are Artists A Clinically Distinct Population?, Camila D. De Onis

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This research study explored how clinical social workers perceive their practice with clients who self-identify as artists. The study was based on qualitative interviews with 13 participants who described their clinical experiences with people who self-identify as artists and discussed whether they believe that this type of client is clinically distinct. Using grounded theory (Engel & Schutt, 2013), the study analyzed responses, clinical examples, nature of interventions, and personal reflections that each participant shared about her or his practice. Case vignettes provided real-world examples of the great satisfaction participants feel about their work with so-called artist-clients as well as concrete …

Hospice Social Work And The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Christine A. Couture

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore how hospice social workers based at United States hospice agencies perceive changes in their work responsibilities in relation to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Secondly, this study sought to explore hospice social worker support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act healthcare policy reform.

A nonprobability sample of availability was used to find research participants. The researcher recruited participants through online social and professional networking groups and forums and by snowball sampling methods. Self-selected participants electronically confirmed their eligibility for participation in the study, prior to completing the 20-question online …

Refusing To Relax My Smile : Building Resistance Through Hip Hop Therapy : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Beats, Rhymes And Life, Stephanie Clowdus

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explores how hip hop therapy programming promotes resilience in youth. Based in Oakland, CA, Beats, Rhymes and Life (BRL) provides hip hop therapy to 12-24 year olds through their Therapeutic Activity Groups (TAGs). The purpose of this study is to establish evidence of how TAGs improve psychological resilience in youth program participants and of BRL’s effectiveness as a culturally congruent mental health provider. This study is part of a larger program evaluation in efforts with five other student researchers completing Smith College School for Social Work theses. Additionally, this study in particular serves as a pilot of a …

Clinical Perspective On Non-Suicidal Self Injury In Adolescents : A Qualitative Study, Rachel E. Weiner

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

There has been an increase in the number of adolescents who engage in non-suicidal selfinjury (NSSI). This qualitative study explored clinical social workers’ perceptions of the causes of NSSI and the processes whereby social workers develop treatment for this behavior. This research was based on 10 in-person interviews conducted with Massachusetts licensed clinical social workers (mean average experience=20 years) who treat adolescent self-harm. Findings suggest adolescents often feel pressure to cut in order to fit in and therefore are more likely to engage in self-harm if their peers are encouraging this behavior. Further findings suggest that many participants seemed less …

Resolving Dissonance : How Experiences Of Flow Of Live Music Performance Facilitate Dedifferentiation And Impact The Subject Well-Being Of Young Adults, Amanda N. Sposato

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This mixed methods study sought to explore how experiencing a state of flow, or optimal enjoyment, while performing live music impacted the subjective well-being of young adults. Live music performance serves as a space of transgressive eroticism, which is necessary to facilitate dedifferentiation, an intrapsychic state developmental and relational state of merger where new ego growth occurs.

67 young adults (18-35 years of age) who had performed live music in the past year completed an anonymous online survey consisting of an empirical assessment of the convergence of flow and well-being utilizing the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996), Scale …

Bless Your Heart But Hide The Children : The Effect Of Entertainment Media Depictions Of Social Workers On Public Opinions About Social Work As A Profession, Abigail R. Spear

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explored the effects of entertainment media depictions of social workers on public opinions of social work as a profession. Specifically, this study focused on the power of short clips depicting a social work character to influence participants’ views of social work as positive or negative and the social desirability of social work as a profession. One hundred and nineteen participants viewed a short video clip, which included a positive, negative, or no depiction of a social worker. Participants then completed a survey assessing positive or negative attitudes towards social workers and the desirability of social work as a …

Cultivating Resilience : Antidotes To White Fragility In Racial Justice Education, Katherine E. Roubos

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores what skills, tools and approaches may be helpful antidotes to white fragility in racial justice education. This study is in response to the challenge posed by white fragility, as defined by Robin DiAngelo (2011) in which white people experience such extreme emotions in response to learning about racism in the USA that they become either defensive such that they are unable to engage in a learning experience, or so swept up in guilt or shame that they require substantial emotional tending in order to continue to engage in the educational experience. Robin DiAngelo frames this phenomenon …