What do urban college students really think about health insurance? A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: To determine barriers and opportunities to health insurance enrollment among an undergraduate students at a large urban university. Participants: Participants were 31 college students enrolled in 4-year and community colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY), and six health services and insurance enrollment specialists who facilitate and assist in the health insurance enrollment process for CUNY students. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with students and in-depth interviews with key informants in May 2017. Results: The research revealed important insights into how students perceive and value insurance and yielded recommendations for the university to improve enrollment of its students. Conclusions: Many colleges can increase student enrollment in health insurance by informing and educating students about the process. Improving enrollment processes can increase insurance rates and improve student population health.     

Understanding the development of differentiated instruction for students with and without disabilities in co-taught classrooms

Differentiation has gained international attention as a strategy associated with responsive teaching, and as a means for ensuring access to the curriculum for all pupils. This study investigates the development of differentiated instruction in 34 Greek co-taught classrooms. The aim is to explore how co-teachers understand the term ‘differentiated instruction’, and to identify the conditions surrounding its implementation as an inclusive strategy. Sixty-eight semi-structured interviews and 57 unstructured narrative observations were implemented with mainstream and special education co-teachers. We suggest that co-teachers understood differentiated instruction as a ‘child’s deficit-oriented activity’ for students with disabilities and not as a ‘context-oriented approach’ for all students. Co-teachers attributed the limited differentiated instruction observed to several contextual factors. However, we argue that the understanding of disability through the medical model and Foucault’s ‘medical gaze’ results in the construction of differentiated instruction as a remedial approach and, by extension, its limited use in mainstream classrooms.     

Social capital,disability, and usefulness of the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health for the development and monitoring of policy interventions

This paper provides theoretical links between the model of health and disability based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the complex notion of ‘social capital’. In practice, social capital mechanisms could contribute to better health through their use in health-promotion actions, and, in general, through their integration in inclusive policies and systems for facilitating the biopsychosocial model of disability. The present paper shows how ICF could offer an informational platform for conceptualizing and potentially measuring the causal linkages between social capital and health and disability.     

Marriage and family therapist interns' experiences of growth

Few studies have investigated therapist interns' growth experiences, both personal and professional, and the interplay between them. This qualitative study explored the reciprocal process of growth during clinical training: the personal life experiences that affect professional growth and the professional/clinical experiences that affect personal growth. Thirteen marriage and family therapist interns, using Internet discussion formats, identified numerous personal, clinical, and professional growth experiences. Implications of this study, illustrating the recursive and interactive flow between therapists' personal and professional growth, are presented.     

Review essay

This paper describes the use of a new teaching method that was developed to encourage students in their first years of study in social work at the Department of Social Work in Athens/Greece to improve their empathy and understanding toward vulnerable populations. The so called ‘diversity dolls’ method is a powerful as well as creative multiapproach that uses dolls (hand crafted dolls and/or readymade commercial dolls) as a basic means for helping students acquire knowledge about more complex or unfamiliar concepts like vulnerable populations and empathy. Dolls appear in all cultures and have a fascinating influence on people all around the world; they look like human beings and as such, can represent different characters. Thus, they are deemed suitable for teaching subjects like vulnerable populations. The ‘diversity dolls’ method proved to be a creative teaching approach for transferring and retaining valuable knowledge so that it can be used by students to achieve their learning goals. This paper looks into both the benefits and implications of using this creative teaching method in social work education.     

Flexible Work and Turnover: an Empirical Investigation across Cultures

We explored the relationship between three bundles of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and turnover for two of GLOBE's societal clusters, namely Anglo and Nordic. We collected data through a large‐scale international survey and found significant differences in the FWA–turnover relationship between the two clusters. Specifically, as unsocial hours (overtime, shift work, weekend work) and part‐time arrangements (part‐time and job‐sharing) increase in the Anglo cluster, so does turnover. Further, as schedule flexibility (telework, work from home and flexi‐time) increases in the Nordic cluster, turnover decreases. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of FWA policies and practices among nationally and internationally operating organizations.     

Social networks and the labour market mismatch

This paper assesses the extent to which social contacts and ethnic concentration affect the education-occupation mismatch of natives and immigrants. Using Australian panel data and employing a dynamic random effects probit model, we show that social capital exacerbates the incidence of over-education, particularly for females. Furthermore, for the foreign born, ethnic concentration significantly increases the incidence of over-education. Using an Alternative Index, we also show that social participation, friends and support and ethnic concentration are the main contributors in generating a mismatch, while reciprocity and trust does not seem to have any effect on over-education for both, immigrants and natives. Finally, we show that social networks are more beneficial for the relatively better educated.     

Correlation between the geometrical characteristics of streets and morphological features of trees for the formation of tree lines in the urban design of the city of Orestiada,Greece

This paper classifies the streets of the city of Orestiada, Greece, and examines the correlation between the geometric characteristics of streets and the appropriate height of trees that form the street tree lines so that the microclimate in each street may be improved. The rows of trees improve the aesthetic quality of the urban spaces, and also strengthen the sense of enclosure through tree planting, especially in monotonous urban landscapes. Our main aim is to augment the vegetation in urban areas to achieve the greatest shading of streets in order to contribute to the improvement of the urban environment in terms of bioclimatic conditions. The methodology used in this paper aims to promote the use of trees in urban design, and to evaluate the effects of shading at the city scale with regard to microclimate and energy saving, and to develop tree selection and design guidelines for recommended planting programs. It is expected that the results of the study will be useful to Urban Planners, Urban Arboriculturists, Urban Foresters and Landscape Architects that are engaged in the design and construction of streetscapes in Mediterranean region.