NASW’s Supervisory Leaders in Aging: An Acceptable and Feasible Model for Training and Supporting Social Work Supervisors

Social services are instrumental in addressing challenges associated with aging. Yet, practitioners report needing expanded gerontological knowledge and better supervision. The Supervisory Leaders in Aging (SLA) program of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) was designed to improve gerontological services by strengthening supervision of the social service workforce. With support from the John A. Hartford Foundation, the program was adopted between 2015 and 2017 in four regions, where NASW trained 134 MSW supervisors who support 1200 social service staff, potentially enhancing the well-being of 264,000 clients annually. The SLA curriculum and in-person educational approach constitute a model for supervisor professional development. Quality improvement evaluations suggested feasibility of program adoption and acceptability. Participants rated each of 10 workshops and 97% agreed that instructors were effective, that knowledge was expanded, and that content was relevant, appropriate, and likely to be used. Implications of this model for enhancing supervisory practice are discussed.     

Detection of elder abuse: Exploring the potential use of the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index© by law enforcement in the field

There are no known instruments to aid law enforcement officers in the assessment of elder abuse (EA), despite officers’ contact with older adults. This study aimed to identify: 1) officers’ perceptions and knowledge of EA, 2) barriers in detecting EA in the field, 3) characteristics officers value in a detection tool, and to explore 4) the potential for officers to use the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI)©. Data was collected from 69 Connecticut officers who confirmed that barriers to effectively detecting EA included a lack of EA detection instruments, as well as a lack of training on warning signs and risk factors. Officers indicated that the important elements of a desirable tool for helping to detect EA included ease of use, clear instructions, and information on follow-up resources. Approximately 80% of respondents could see themselves using the EASI© in the field, and a modified version has been developed for this purpose.     

The Interrater Reliability of the Survivors of Torture Psychosocial Wellbeing Index: An Assessment Matrix Instrument

The United States continues to resettle refugees fleeing conflict, persecution, and torture, enabling many of the world’s most vulnerable individuals to start over and become productive citizens. The rehabilitation of survivors of torture is a complex process that requires service providers to assess a number of factors connected to the multidimensional construct of human wellbeing. The recently developed assessment instrument matrix, Survivors of Torture – Psychosocial Wellbeing Index (SOT-PWI), offers professional providers a way to capture quality of life metrics within the torture treatment settings. The current study sought to establish the reliability of SOT-PWI with a diverse sample of U.S.-based torture treatment professionals. Using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), results suggest that the SOT-PWI achieves a solid interrater reliability, although education level and years of work experience can influence assessment consistency. Error analysis revealed very good accuracy. Study limitations, implication for practice, and future research are considered as well.     

A Structural Equation Model Estimation of the Role of Social Vulnerability as a Predictor of People’s Feelings of Unsafety

Social Indicators Research - People’s perception of insecurity is linked to a wide range of factors and up-to-date sources stress the impact of socially constructed concerns on feelings of...     

Learning by exporting: A system-based review and research agenda

Over the past four decades, flourishing empirical research has attempted to establish the mechanisms and conditions underpinning improvements in exporters’ innovation and productivity via the learning-by-exporting (LBE) effect, and the domain has gained legitimacy and empirical credibility. However, the literature's findings are largely fragmented and require systematic review and analysis to draw definitive conclusions on the factors that influence the subsequent realization of learning from exporting. To fill this void, we critically examine the extant LBE research for the period 1984–2021. We systematically review 167 articles to develop a system-based taxonomy and conceptual model of LBE, which comprises five major components: system outputs (productivity and innovation), inputs (e.g., institutional factors and resources), firm-level capabilities (e.g., absorptive capacity and innovation persistence), managerial characteristics (e.g., entrepreneurship skills) and internationalization strategies. In doing so, we uncover paradoxical tensions within the system brought about by the conflicting roles of some components of the LBE system, such as firm-, industry- and country-level technological capabilities. Our review also reveals research gaps that open relevant opportunities for further research and conclusions that hold novel implications for managers and policymakers.     

The mixture of left–right truncated normal distributions

This paper introduces the mixture of left–right truncated normal distributions, from the spreads between bid and ask prices, as a statistical model for handle non-normality of asset price returns. It has been proved that there is only one maximum for the likelihood function of the new model.     

Commentary on Treatment of Infertile Couples Using Reproductive Technologies: A Complex Matrix

The impact of the reproductive technologies upon infertile couples who require them is both ubiquitous and profound. There is a confluence of issues that co-exist for women and men who use reproductive technologies which creates a complex matrix for both the analytically informed social work clinician and those seeking infertility treatment. The unique merger of life stage issues, identity issues, cultural pressures, and responses to the physical and emotional demands of the necessary technologies, serves to amplify the intensity of encounters in this analytic triad. Consideration of attachment theory while utilizing intersubjective systems theory provides a system of treatment which offers comfort and a place to mourn the multiple losses of repetitive failures of attempts to conceive.