Growing health disparities for persons who are aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities: the social work linchpin

Similar to the general population, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are living into their 70s and beyond. Health care disparities have been well-documented for this vulnerable and underserved population. Social workers are often responsible for assessment, coordination of care, and negotiation of needed services for people with IDD. This article explores the challenges facing social workers in meeting the growing health and social needs of aging adults with IDD and their families. Trends in social work practice and gaps in education are discussed as they relate to addressing and reducing current health disparities.     

智障儿童家长服务需求调查

家长在残疾儿童的康复过程中扮演着重要角色。为了解智障儿童家长在家属资源方面的需求,以便社工在工作中更好地为他们提供相关服务。本文以问卷调查的方式对广东省残疾人康复中心智障部32位在训智障儿童的家长进行了研究。结果发现多数家长对于家属资源服务表示感兴趣。他们对家属支援服务的服务内容、形式以及时间安排也表现出不同的需求。该研究将启发社工对现阶段所提供的家属资源服务内容进行反思和调整,并在未来的工作中进一步提供满足服务对象需求的相关服务。     

Improving health care delivery to aging adults with disabilities: social work with dual eligibles in a climate of health care reform

Adults aging with disabilities comprise a diverse group. In this article, we identify the prevalence and characteristics of this target population, focusing on adults who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. We articulate challenges in the delivery of health, social, and support services to adults aging with disabilities, particularly how existing health care policy and financing contributes to fragmentation of care. Finally, we identify opportunities for social workers to advocate for and promote system improvements in the delivery of care for aging adults with disabilities in the current climate of health care reform.     

It's frustrating! Managing emotional dissonance in aged care work

Performing paid care work requires workers to simultaneously negotiate care and waged relationships. Mediating contradictions between the two often causes workers to experience frustration, a form of emotional dissonance. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 100 workers in Australian aged care organisations, this research identifies aspects of the work environment that enable care workers to successfully juggle or synthesise the emotional demands of their work. The research demonstrates that employers have an important role in alleviating frustration, and can do this by creating work environments which: give care workers relative autonomy; allow care workers to construct themselves as professional carers providing quality care; provide workers with support to manage their emotions and develop emotional resilience; and promote client recognition of workers' roles. Providing such work environments has the potential to not only alleviate workers' frustration, but also to increase job satisfaction and retain workers in aged care.     

An Interpersonal Dialogue Group for Students With and Without Disabilities

This narrative documents my experience cofacilitating a group of 17 undergraduate students. One half of the students and the cofacilitator of the group had disabilities. The purpose was to foster understanding between students with disabilities and students who were able bodied. The group members learned about people with diverse disabilities and the discrimination and difficulties they experienced. Students with disabilities learned about perceptions of the students who were able bodied and their differences and commonalities. Group members experienced mutual aid. The author learned important lessons about herself as a group worker and social work educator.     

Coming Together: Factors that Connect Social Workers to Group Work Practice

Group work is an effective method to intervene with various populations in multiple settings. However, research has demonstrated that social workers are often not prepared for the realities of group work practice. In this study, the lens is turned on professional social workers that identify as group workers about the motivations and factors that contributed to their practice of group work. The goal of this research is to provide data and related insights that will enhance the preparation of social workers for the realities of contemporary group work practice. The study also identified factors that would enhance group work education in both the classroom and field education settings.     

Compassion Satisfaction Among Social Work Practitioners: The Role of Work–Life Balance

Abstract

Previous research has established that social work practitioners are especially vulnerable to work-related psychological distress and burnout due to the high-stress nature of the profession, yet less research has focused on examining factors are associated with social worker retention. Emerging research on compassion satisfaction suggests that this factor could mitigate professional burnout, yet there is a gap in research focusing explicitly on examining compassion satisfaction among social workers. To address this gap in knowledge, this quantitative study collected survey data on practicing social workers who were alumni from a large southeastern university (n?=?120) to examine individual and organizational factors associated with compassion satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher levels of emotional intelligence, perceived work autonomy, and perceived work–life balance were associated with an increase in compassion satisfaction among experienced, licensed social work practitioners. Findings have implications for how social work employers can promote compassion satisfaction through cultivating emotional intelligence among practitioners, allowing social workers autonomy in decision making, and providing supportive work environments. Recommended directions for future research include longitudinal studies with large sample sizes that expound research on compassion satisfaction by examining the role of additional factors, such as client population, job role characteristics, and supervisor support.     

Social Group Work with Asian/Pacific-Americans

This paper discusses the Asian/Pacific clients and the group practice modality. Specific suggestion are offered to help group workers better understand Asian/Pacific-American clients, capitalize on their unique strengths, and minimize their limitations. Part I of this paper addresses practical group work considerations for the Pre-Group Phase; Part II addresses practical group work considerations for the Group Interaction phase.     

Social Group Work for Young Offenders with Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Despite the high incidence of learning disabilities among young offenders, research suggests that young offenders with learning disabilities do not receive interventions that address their learning disabilities. Group treatment approaches for young offenders typically utilize a cognitive-behavioral orientation. Cognitive behavioral techniques have been found to be effective with the young offender population by targeting their faulty thinking. However, cognitive behavioral treatment is less effective with youth who have academic delays. Individuals with learning disabilities may have difficulties with the cognitive tasks used in cognitive behavioral treatment. This paper describes a treatment group, with illustrations, adapted for young offenders with learning disabilities, combining cognitive-behavioral and mutual-aid principles.     

民族自治地区知识产权战略确立与促进区域创新

知识经济的信息时代,国家之间的竞争核心就是知识产权的竞争,自主知识产权是一个国家的核心竞争力。2008年6月国务院发布《国家知识产权战略纲要》,而各区域在国家知识产权战略制定的基础上将结合本地区的实际情况制定适合地区发展的知识产权战略。民族自治区域知识产权战略的确立将促进地区知识产权事业的发展,并最终促进区域创新。     

Ethical Decision Making in Social Work with Groups

This paper reports on a study of decision-making among group work practitioneers in group situations where ethical dilemmas exist and choices must be made between two or more contradictory alternatives. The study investigated the bases upon which social workers with groups make ethical decisions and the actions they select when confronted by contradictory choices. Results indicated that practice wisdom is the primary basis for ethical decision-making by social workers with groups.     

Enhancing Confidentiality within Small Groups: The Experiences of AIDS Service Organizations

Fear that others will not maintain confidentiality can prevent persons living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) from participating in small groups. This article reports on practices for enhancing confidentiality among group members. The research involved surveying group workers on practices used to promote confidentiality and providing PHAs opportunity to share their perspectives. Group workers most frequently reported discussing confidentiality with group members, modelling respect of confidentiality, and seeking member agreement to maintain confidentiality. They also shared suggestions and described challenges related to maintaining confidentiality. Overall, the PHAs agreed with the reported practices. However, differences did emerge around the use and emphasis of certain means, such as the use of signed agreements.     

THE GROPE FOR GROUP

There has been an apparent increase in the use of social work groups for clinical purposes. This trend has neglected the more traditional and important use of groups for community change goals. Even when working with clinical groups, community goals can be impacted. This article suggests a specific methodology for integrating group treatment goals with community action. It suggests that group workers view their role as instigators in broadening community support and action around clinical group work issues; that agencies need to make time to do this; that how group workers connect group work to community action needs to be empirically demonstrated with each service act.     

高校新生入学适应的小组工作介入模式

大学新生进校后,面对的是一个既新奇而又完全陌生的环境,他们要完成专业学习上的自觉、环境和自身角色上的认同、生活上的自理、思想上的自我教育、目标上的自我选择等一系列适应问题。在以往的入学新生教育中多采用思想政治教育的方法来解决,而笔者根据所学知识结合带组经验,从社会工作的角度出发,采用社会工作三大专业手法之一小组工作来介入高校新生入学适应问题,并为小组工作提出了一套小组工作介入高校新生入学适应问题的基本模式。     

Externalizing an ‘Asset Model’ of Activation: Creative Institutional Work by Frontline Workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service

The past two decades have brought significant shifts in Norwegian activation policy towards a joined‐up and employability‐enhancing approach to labour market inclusion in order to promote return‐to‐work despite health problems or disabilities. Utilizing a concept from health promotion, we term this approach an ‘asset model’ of activation. The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV) and its local offices are the main agents implementing the new policy. This article aims to investigate the strategies that the frontline workers of NAV engage in, in order to externalize an ‘asset model’ in the adjacent medical field and to the general practitioners (GPs) in particular. We analyze these strategies as forms of creative institutional work – the purposive actions undertaken to change existing presumptions and opinions among relevant actors. We argue that although the new activation policy is not theirs to develop, in order to bring about changes in practice, ‘creating’ institutional work by the frontline workers is required. Our findings show that the frontline workers develop strategies in order to externalize an asset model to the GPs, as part of operationalizing an ‘activation’ reform into practice. We identify four forms of ‘creating’ institutional work undertaken by the frontline workers: ‘defining’ – enacting legislation and regulation in relation to GPs; ‘constructing normative networks’ – creating a more collaborative relationship with the GPs; ‘educating’ – teaching the GPs about the rules and regulations, and the opportunities and assistive measures they can offer to the injured; and thereby also ‘changing normative associations’ of GPs towards the activation policy.     

Integrated group therapy for bipolar disorder and substance abuse by Weiss,R. D., & Connery,H. S.

This article begins with the discussion versus action dilemma in work with groups of adolescents and proposes an in-between solution, "interacting out." The author goes on to demonstrate how interacting out can help to accomplish major treatment goals like increased autonomy and impulse control through group development. Finally, the article provides some practical suggestions for developing and treating groups of adolescents with special emphasis on some affective and stylistic issues for workers with groups of adolescents.     

Consumer direction in long-term care policy: overcoming barriers to promoting older adults' opportunity for self-direction

There has been a growing trend in long-term care policy to offer individuals with disabilities the option of consumer direction (CD), where responsibility of managing care and support services is transferred from agencies to care recipients, thus supporting clients' self-determination. Although CD has been accepted as an option for non-elderly individuals with disabilities, barriers persist to promoting older adults' autonomy through CD. This article reviews the incorporation of CD in long-term care policy, addresses the current barriers to providing older adults the right to self-direct, and makes recommendations for overcoming these barriers through social work practice, policy, and research.     

Applications of Reward Structures in Social Group Work

Group reward structures have been found to provide social workers with effective procedures for sustaining changes made by group members. This paper provides a review of the literature on reward structures in an effort to determine which work best with clients in sustaining changes they make in a group context. The pros and cons of individual and group reward structures are discussed and six principles to increase success are identified: (1) appropriate behavior must be reinforced; (2) reinforcers must be available to all members, but not too easily available; (3) reinforcers should be delivered close in time to the occurrence of Lhe behavior they reinforce; (4) reinforcers must be consistent in their application; (5) reinforcers must be appropriate to the chosen behavioral change; and (6) there must be a pattern of consistent reinforcement by significant others in a person's environment.