What Does it Mean to Listen to People with Dementia?

A total of 19 people with dementia were interviewed as part of a study into unmet respite care need amongst caregivers and day-care attenders in Sheffield. Some important contextual debates associated with conducting social research with people with dementia are considered. These include informed consent, competency, and how the interests of caregivers and people with dementia are bound together. A form of process consent was used in conducting semi-structured interviews with day-care attenders. Day-care attenders spoke about 'being here' in a number of ways. These include their initial experiences, their sources of satisfaction and their sense of being in families. These substantive findings and the associated methodological insights suggest day-care attenders have important things to say as service-users if appropriate strategies for listening are employed. Service-providers can collaborate imaginatively with day-care attenders to actively explore how care might be shaped by the experiences of persons with dementia.     

“A heart with skill to listen”: Consultation to a child-minding project

Abstract

This paper describes a consultation to a child-minding project. It has implications for the development of day care for children, and discusses the importance of support to workers in relationship work, particularly in the management of feelings.     

Social workers’ opportunities to work with safer sex

The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about social workers’ opportunities to work with safer sex among at-risk adolescents and young adults. To investigate this issue, a survey has been sent to outreach work and non-institutional offices whose work focuses on alcohol and drugs to some extent. The survey was sent to 89 workplaces distributed throughout 33 municipalities in the region of Skåne in southern Sweden. Altogether 229 responses were collected, a response rate of 60.1%. The study shows that social workers have limited opportunities to work with safer sex issues and that the organizational resources to support this work are weak. Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats was applied to the data, with the analysis indicating that knowledge and organizational resources are key to enabling work with safer sex. It is also important that the personnel are interested in the subject and that they feel comfortable working with safer sex. The factors found to have the strongest direct effect on the personnel’s work with safer sex are: having the possibility to set aside time to work with safer sex, experiencing that safer sex is discussed at the workplace and being personally interested in the subject.     

Nanjing Women——Trying to Keep Pace with Fashion

Let's observe Nanjing women in winter.The reason I choose this season isbased on a simple, objective fact:autumn and winter make up most of theyear in Nanjing. The dry, cold days lasta long time. The spring won't arriveuntil people wait long enough; then itslips away almost at a blink of the eyeto give way to the hot summer days. It is a February day. According tothe time of the year the seasonshould be early spring. Yet the     

Sociality enhances birds’ capacity to deal with anthropogenic ecosystems

Urban species often adjust their behavior to survive in urban environments, characterized by the proximity of humans, habitat fragmentation and heterogeneous, fluctuating ecological resources. Several hypotheses have been put forth to explain how species manage living in heterogeneous and complex anthropogenic habitats. The ability of individuals or species to beneficially modify their behaviors in response to changes in the environment has indeed been alternatively explained based on phylogenetic, adaptive, and ontogenic arguments. In this study we investigated the role of sociality as a driver of behavioural flexibility in urban birds. Sociality can be defined as the tendency to associate with conspecifics or form a group and may influence a species’ ability to survive in an urban ecosystem to the extent that it represents advantages to species or individuals in terms of resource exploitation, fitness, and predation risk-avoidance. Given the potential benefits of sociality we hypothesized that sociality is a further characteristic that may explain how species have successfully expanded their range into urbanized areas. Based on this hypothesis, we predicted that pigeons (Columba livia) will show higher behavioural flexibility when in larger groups, whatever their genetic background and living-circumstances. Using pigeons as a model system, we compared 27 groups in France and Italy composed of four different genetic strains and varying living-conditions: free-living feral pigeons in urban areas, free-living domestic pigeons at the property of a local breeder captive, feral pigeons in a French ecological field station, captive domestic pigeons in an Italian ecological station. We tested two standardized behavioral measures of behavioural flexibility: thresholds for fear or neophobia and rates of problem solving. We found that group number affects neophobia and to a lesser extent problem-solving, suggesting that sociality is a factor enhancing birds’ faculties to establish in and cope with heterogeneous urban environments. We consider this hypothesis here as compatible and complementary to existing hypotheses on species’ adaptation to urban ecosystems.     

Supporting older youth: what's policy got to do with it?

The nonschool hours are an underused tool in supporting older youth in their transition to adulthood. Given competing demands on many teens' time and a host of other developmental realities, effective strategies for engaging high schoolers look much different from those of their younger counterparts, and those differences have programmatic and policy implications. Effective youth policies reflect an overarching vision that is about changing lives--a vision that addresses a range of risk and protective factors, simultaneously supports discrete programs and builds coherent pathways to success, and recognizes that children and youth grow up in families and communities. This chapter highlights policy innovations related to teens' involvement in out-of-school-time activities and then looks at three principles that can help ensure that youth policy supports the full range of older youth's unique developmental, social, and economic needs.     

Assessing social work and nursing students’ intentions to work with dying patients

This study assessed social work and nursing students’ intentions to provide end-of-life care, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A total of 181 social work and nursing students completed a questionnaire examining intentions to provide end-of-life care, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, death anxiety, subjective knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics. Students manifested a moderate level of intentions to provide end-of-life care, with nursing students indicating higher levels of intentions than social work students. Multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and previous experience were the main predictors of intentions to provide end-of-life care. Recommendations for academic programs are discussed.     

Using respondent-driven sampling with ‘hard to reach’ marginalised young people: problems with slow recruitment and small network size

This paper documents an experience of using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit socially marginalised young people in Sydney, Australia. Respondents were young people aged 16–24?years who were current illicit drug users and who reported at least one feature of social marginalisation (e.g. recent homelessness or juvenile detention). Four seeds initiated the sampling and 61 respondents were recruited until the sampling was closed due to slow progress at week nine. The paper examines: (1) the overall success of RDS and compares this with similar RDS studies; and (2) the sufficiency of network ties among respondents. The analyses suggest that RDS was generally successful in that, despite its small size, the sample achieved adequately long recruitment chains and variables converged to equilibrium. Nevertheless, recruitment was much slower than comparable studies. This could be due to the study population having reduced willingness to participate, a high proportion of respondents who did not fit the selection criteria, and small and disparate networks. Using RDS with marginalised youth may require generous resourcing to allow large incentives to increase willingness, and a lengthy recruitment period. Moreover, the small networks suggest that researchers should start the sampling with a large number of seeds.     

Reluctant participation – the experiences of adolescents with disabilities of meetings with social workers regarding their right to receive personal assistance

The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the experiences of adolescents with disabilities concerning meetings that affect their possibility to receive personal assistance in Sweden. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to describe their experiences. Overall adolescents were found to be reluctant to participate in meetings. Two main approaches could be discerned – taking part and taking part by proxy. The adolescents who took part in meetings tried to adapt their self-presentation to fit with the social workers’ requirements by presenting their worst self, giving requested information, using support and raising their voices. The adolescents who choose to participate by proxy were either being involved or not being involved. Being involved implied involvement before and/or after the meeting. The meaning of participants’ strategies was examined through a social constructivist lens. The results indicate that ‘performing disability’ during the meetings is a prerequisite for obtaining personal assistance. In its current form adolescents’ participation is reduced to tokenism and this raises questions about how to implement a child perspective.     

What “likes” have got to do with it: Exposure to peers' alcohol-related posts and perceptions of injunctive drinking norms

Objective: Examine 1) whether observed social reinforcements (i.e., “likes”) received by peers' alcohol-related social media posts are related to first-year college students' perceptions of peer approval for risky drinking behaviors; and 2) whether associations are moderated by students' alcohol use status. Participants: First-year university students (N = 296) completed an online survey in September, 2014. Method: Participants reported their own alcohol use, friends' alcohol use, perceptions of the typical student's approval for risky drinking, and ranked 10 types of social media posts in terms of the relative numbers of “likes” received when posted by peers. Results: Observed social reinforcement (i.e., “likes”) for peers' alcohol-related posts predicted perceptions of peer approval for risky drinking behaviors among non-drinking students, but not drinking students. Conclusions: For first-year college students who have not yet initiated drinking, observing peers' alcohol-related posts to receive abundant “likes” may increase perceptions of peer approval for risky drinking.     

Living with Contradictions: Complementing Activity Theory with the Notion of “Installed Base” to Address the Historical Dimension of Transformation

This article addresses the historical dimension of the relation between information systems innovation and organizational transformation. We analyse findings from a study of ongoing transformations in the healthcare sector in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The process is described with a particular focus on instances where some contradictions in the old activity system were not resolved but inherited by the new activity system. To address this we complement the activity theory framework with the notion of “installed base” from studies of information infrastructures. This helps to illuminate the theme of unresolved and continuing contradictions, and thus contribute to the concept of historicity in CHAT-informed studies.     

What does self-esteem have to do with behavioral health among low-income youth in Chicago?

Many studies have examined risk factors associated with poorer behavioral health among low-income African American youth, such as low school engagement, delinquency, mental health problems, drug use, and risky sex. However, fewer studies have examined protective factors for such behavioral health risk behaviors. This study sought to address this gap by examining whether high levels of self-esteem were associated with better behavioral health factors for this population. A survey was administered to a sample of 638 low-income African American adolescents in Chicago to examine the degree to which high self-esteem was associated with less delinquency, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors, and more school engagement, and whether such associations varied by gender. Stepwise linear and logistic regression models were estimated to assess the influence of self-esteem. Higher self-esteem for this sample of low-income African American adolescents was associated with lower rates of delinquency, drug use, and risky sexual behaviors and increased rates of school engagement. Gender moderated only a few of these relationships. These findings suggest that programs that promote high self–esteem alone or in combination with other resilience factors may promote better behavioral health factors for African American adolescents.     

What's parenthood got to do with it?: men's hours of paid work1

It is commonly reported that fathers in Britain work longer hours than non-fathers. This statistic is frequently used as supporting evidence for the argument that the role of fathers within families remains primarily concerned with financial provisioning. In this paper it is shown, through regression models, that once other factors are taken into account the significance of fatherhood in relation to hours of paid work disappears. This highlights fatherhood as a period in the life course which often coincides with longer working hours but challenges the assumption of a causal relationship.     

Family concepts—a social pedagogic approach to understanding family development and working with families

Drawing upon insights from family research, this article argues that in modern Western societies the reflection of individual notions of family as well as the development of concepts of a fulfilling everyday family life has turned into a recurrent challenge throughout the life course, a challenge particularly relevant during family transitions. Professionals in the field of social work with families are increasingly faced with the task of supporting such processes of reflection and development. At the same time, there is little knowledge about how these processes look like. Building upon results of a pilot study and merging recent theoretical developments in family research with the (German) tradition of social pedagogy, a conceptual framework to study family concepts theoretically and empirically is developed. The potential as well as the limitations of this research approach are discussed drawing upon a case example taken from an ongoing longitudinal study. This study aims at revealing family concept-related processes of informal learning and thus provides an understanding of family development from a social pedagogic point of view. Finally, an outline will be given of how this research could contribute to develop an intervention method standing in the tradition of social pedagogy.     

Working with Homeless Populations to Increase Access to Services: A Social Service Providers’ Perspective Through the Lens of Stereotyping and Stigma

Through the lens of stereotyping and stigma, this article examines discrimination and prejudice toward homeless families from the perspective of social service providers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with practitioners. A critical social work practice perspective is used to provide a framework for understanding how social worker knowledge about discrimination and prejudice informs the ways in which the workers engage with clients, build capacities, and advocate for clients in an anti-oppressive manner. The themes found in this study include: a) providers’ awareness of bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; b) providers’ use of a range of strategies to work with people experiencing homelessness; c) providers’ ideas about strategies that organizations can implement for service provision; and) providers’ belief that additional advocacy and policy are needed in relationship to people experiencing homelessness.     

Self-harm among adolescents with developmental disabilities. What are they trying to tell us?

Self-harm behavior exhibited by adolescents with developmental disabilities can be the most challenging behavior for caregivers and health care professionals to address. Past interventions have taken a behavioral approach and focused on functional analysis to guide assessment and treatment. However, self-harm behavior is becoming more recognized as a means of communication. Therefore, it is important for health care professionals and caregivers to listen to adolescents' attempts to communicate and try to understand the meaning of the behavior. Early assessment is crucial to understanding the meaning of the behavior, and early intervention is necessary to prevent escalation or chronicity. Thorough assessment guides interventions and must be implemented in the context of clients' families and social world, and the broader community. Establishment of trusting relationships among adolescents, their families, and health care professionals is imperative. This article discusses self-harm behavior from a psychosocial perspective related to prevalence, onset, purpose, maintenance, and escalation. It also introduces a comprehensive framework to guide assessment and intervention.     

Is counseling ‘required’ with medications to treat opioid use disorder?

In “No Strings Attached: More Opioid Addicts Get Meds Without Talk Therapy,” an article by Beth Schwartzapfel of the Marshall Project published in USA Today May 9 ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/05/09/opioid‐crisis‐drugs‐no‐therapy/1131110001/ ), both sides were excellently reported. Kenneth B. Stoller, M.D., longtime methadone researcher from Johns Hopkins, was quoted as saying that medications without any talking is “selling patients short.” Some Twitter participants immediately charged that Stoller was kicking patients off medication if they weren't participating in counseling (which he doesn't do and the article doesn't say he does), and a protracted debate on Mother's Day led us to ask Stoller himself — who does not tweet — to respond. We copied and pasted the comments so he could see them. His response is below. (To see the Twitter thread, go to https://twitter.com/ADAWnews/status/1127175604959436800 .)