Survival and Abuse: What We Can Learn From It

This article is about a journey involving survival, abuse and learning. It is written by two people who have considerable experience of being involved with mental health services; both are currently making an active contribution to social work education. It describes the way in which, in situations of survival and abuse, service users can use their experience and knowledge to learn how to support and advocate for each other. It suggests that the relationships that are built between service users as a result of these experiences can be used to address some of the gaps in service provision. At the same time these relationships can provide mutual learning which can be used to improve the education and training of social workers and other professionals.     

Changes in Self-Rated Health During the Transition to Retiring Living Among Medicare Managed-Care Recipients

ABSTRACT

Moving into a retirement community may be precipitated by or bring about changes in health status. We hypothesized that moving into a retirement community would be associated with a decline in self-rated health (SRH), but that health-related factors would mitigate this association. We analyzed data from 58,272 participants in Cohort 3 of the Medicare Health Outcome Survey. Individuals answered questions regarding living status in 2000 and 2002. Those who moved into a retirement community were compared with those who did not. The primary outcome was change in SRH. We created adjusted and unadjusted models. A total of 2,520 participants (4.4%) moved into retirement communities between 2000 and 2002. There were no substantial differences in the mean change in SRH between those who moved and those who did not. In adjusted and unadjusted models, moving was not significantly associated with changes in SRH. In an analysis stratified by SRH, only those with the best SRH had a significant decline in SRH during the move. SRH mainly remained stable for most people regardless of moving into a retirement community. These findings argue against environmental context being a main determinant of self-perceived health status among older adults.     

Narrative Therapy,Eating Disorders and Groups: Enhancing Outcomes in Rural NSW

Abstract

The present paper reports on a study conducted with seven women who identified themselves as experiencing depression as well as an eating disorder and who live in a rural region of northern New South Wales. Self-referred, the women participated in a weekly group for 10 weeks, with a mixture of topics, conducted within a narrative therapy framework. A comparison of pre- and post-group tests demonstrated a reduction in depression scores and eating disorder risk. All women reported a change in daily practices, together with less self-criticism. These findings were supported by a post-group evaluation survey that revealed that externalisation of, and disengagement from, the eating disorder strongly assisted the women to make changes in their daily practices. Although preliminary and short term, the outcomes of the present study indicate that group work conducted within a narrative therapy framework may result in positive changes for women entangled with depression and an eating disorder.     

A Systematic Review of Strengths and Resilience Outcome Literature Relevant to Children and Adolescents

The concepts of strengths and resilience are essential for understanding and promoting positive development in children and adolescents. These concepts have been studied in the research literature for many years and more recently have been applied to child and adolescent assessment and intervention research. However, strength and resilience based intervention programs have not been evaluated rigorously for their use of empirical methodology. In this article, we systematically identified and reviewed all of the outcome studies over the last decade for strength and resilience based intervention programs to assess the extent to which these studies utilized controlled empirical methodology. The results of the review yielded 11 outcome studies that examined strength and resilience based practices. Using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project, we found three studies to be high quality, exhibiting high levels of experimentally controlled research. The remaining 8 studies we considered to be moderate to weak quality research. We concluded that these 11 studies provide preliminary support for the efficacy of strength and resilience based interventions. Our systematic review also highlights areas where methodology in future studies can be strengthened to provide more conclusive evidence of these approaches.     

Transition from Home Care to Nursing Home: Unmet Needs in a Home- and Community-Based Program for Older Adults

A major effort is under way nationally to shift long-term care services from institutional to home- and community-based settings. This article employs quantitative and qualitative methods to identify unmet needs of consumers who transition from a statewide home- and community-based service program for older adults to long-term nursing home residence. Administrative data, care manager notes, and focus group discussions identified program service gaps that inadequately accommodated acute health problems, mental health issues, and stressed family caregivers; additional unmet needs highlighted an inadequate workforce, transportation barriers, and limited supportive housing options. National and state-level policy implications are considered.     

Helping Low-Conflict Divorced Parents Establish Appropriate Boundaries Using a Variation of the Miracle Question: An Integration of Solution-Focused Therapy and Structural Family Therapy

The authors discuss the implications of divorce and the effect that divorce has on the relationships between family members. Parents are encouraged to develop appropriate co-parental boundaries that direct and influence subsequent interactions between family members. Using an integration of solution-focused therapy and structural family therapy, a variation of the miracle question is suggested as a means to help parents gain confidence in making changes in behavior. The miracle question also is intended to help parents set new goals for themselves and increase the ability to cooperate and communicate as co-parents. A case study provides an example of this idea.     

Understanding media constructions of volunteering: an Australian perspective

This paper explores the Australian public's understanding of volunteering from a media perspective. A content analysis of 137 news articles published in The Australian newspaper revealed that volunteering in Australia is framed in terms of eight perspectives by nine claim makers. Since media-led images of volunteering tend to influence peoples' decision to volunteer, the findings have several implications for organizers of social development projects involving volunteers.     

Working With Urban,African American Fathers: The Importance of Service Provision,Joining, Accountability,the Father–Child Relationship,and Couples Work

Urban, African American fathers have been a difficult population for social workers and other helping professionals to effectively serve. This article, based on interviews with front-line African American service professionals at a father-focused program, who also participated in writing this article, provides information about and suggestions for working with young fathers. Providing father-friendly service, joining with fathers, holding them accountable for their behavior, and addressing their relationship with their child and the mother of their child through couples work are suggested, along with other interventions.     

Experiences of Latino Men in Stepfamily Education

Relationship education evaluations have historically overlooked the experiences of ethnically diverse populations and stepfamilies. Using qualitative methods, this study examines the experiences of 16 Latino men in a stepfamily relationship education program. The four emergent themes dealt with recruitment and participation, improved family relationships, the value and importance of the family, and normalization of the participants' stepfamily situation. Subthemes of findings are presented, as well as implications for future programming.     

Bullying victimization in non-heterosexual university students

In this study the prevalence, impact on mental health, and coping of bullying victimization in university students identifying as non-heterosexual was compared with their heterosexual peers. University students were surveyed on bullying experiences within the past 12 months, their mental health, and use of coping strategies. Demographic information identified gender, age, and sexual orientation. Results indicated that 14.3% of students reported victimization, and that students ages 24 to 35, and those who identified as non-heterosexual, reported higher rates of victimization. No gender differences were found. Bullied students scored significantly higher on depression, anxiety, and stress scores than non-bullied students. Comparisons of mental health scores and coping strategies of non-heterosexual and heterosexual bullied students found no significant differences, indicating both groups are equally impacted, and equally utilize adaptive and maladaptive strategies to manage the victimization. Implications for tertiary institutions include identification of effective coping resources for diverse university student populations. Limitations and recommendations for future research are considered.