Models of midwifery care for Indigenous women and babies: A meta-synthesis

Issue

Indigenous women in many countries experience a lack of access to culturally appropriate midwifery services. A number of models of care have been established to provide services to women. Research has examined some services, but there has not been a synthesis of qualitative studies of the models of care to help guide practice development and innovations.

Family Structure and Children's Behavioral and Cognitive Outcomes

We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the effect of various family structures on behavioral and cognitive outcomes for children aged 7 to 10. We extended previous research by using a longitudinal definition of family structure and by exploring multiple mechanisms through which family structure may affect children in 2 outcome domains. We found that family income, mother's psychological functioning, and the quality of the home environment are particularly important for children's behavior, whereas family income and mother's aptitude have notable effects on children's cognitive test scores.     

Modelling locational access to markets for pluriactivity: a study in the Grampian region of Scotland

This paper investigates the role of location in determining the presence of on- and off-farm pluriactivity. Gravity models are developed to define degrees of access to markets from farm locations, and farm household survey data from the Grampian Region of Scotland are used to test the ability of the models to explain the observed location of pluriactivity. Proximity to markets is shown to be an important factor for both tourist and non-tourist on-farm diversification, and is reflected in the location of farms with on-farm non-agricultural activities. However, there is no evidence of a relationship between access to labour market opportunities and the presence of off-farm employment at the sub-regional scale. Personal preferences concerning work location and household responsibilities may be more important in determining the presence of off-farm work than proximity to labour market opportunities. Possible refinements to the technique and policy implications are discussed.     

Parents of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Synthesis,Part I

In 2011 6.4 million children in the United States ages four to 17 years had a diagnosis of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Quantitative studies have indicated that parenting stress for parents of children diagnosed with ADHD is high. This meta-synthesis compiled and analyzed a systematic review of the qualitative studies of parents’ lived experience of having a child with ADHD. Searches in online scholarly databases yielded an initial 1217 hits, which were narrowed down to seventy-three studies that met the criteria. A “meta-ethnography” framework was used for the synthesis. One major finding involved the emotional burden of caring for a child with ADHD. Parents struggled with a variety of intense and painful emotions as they attempted to manage family routines. Disciplining children only worked in a limited way and took constant effort throughout the day. The challenges of parenting spilled into other areas of the parents’ lives, such as their health, psychological, marital, and occupational functioning. Implications for practitioners are discussed, including the need to validate parental stress and the difficulty of applying behavioral management strategies with their children, the need for increased support of partner relationships, and the need to connect parents with support to prevent poorer outcomes for the child.     

We're All Number One: Academic Productivity among Schools of Social Work

Abstract

This paper updates, extends and refines a study published in this Journal a decade ago on the academic affiliation of social work authors. The study reported in this article looked at different types of journals and examined how a school's productivity rank varied by type of journal, faculty size and over time.     

Risk and Resilience Ecological Framework for Assessment and Goal Formulation

This paper describes the use of the risk and resilience ecological framework as an assessment and goal setting tool for social workers. A rationale for the framework is provided, along with identification of risk and protective factors across the micro, meso, and macro level systems. Goal formulation from identification of factors follow, with implications for social work interventions.     

Perceptions of Structural Injustice and Efficacy: Participation in Low/Moderate/High‐Cost Forms of Collective Action

Prior studies on perceptions of structural disadvantage and injustice, efficacy, and collective action have suffered from two major limitations: (1) they have used single‐country samples, usually of economically advanced countries, and (2) generally theorized and investigated perceptions of structural injustice and efficacy separately. Drawing on value‐expectancy theory, we provide an integrated theory to predict direct and conditional effects of efficacy and perceptions of structural disadvantage and injustice on collective action within countries. To address the limitations of previous research, we use cross‐national data of 29 countries, including economically advanced and less advanced nations, to test how well these hypotheses explain within‐country variation in collective action. We find that internal efficacy is significantly and positively associated with low‐ and moderate‐cost collective action, whereas organizational embeddedness, a proxy for political efficacy, is significantly and positively associated with low‐, moderate‐, and high‐cost collective action. Perceptions of legitimate and unjust structural disadvantage are also positively associated with all types of collective action. Importantly, the positive effects of both types of efficacy on high‐cost collective action are conditional on perceptions of structural injustice. That is, participation in high‐cost collective action is more likely for those who are both efficacious and perceive structural disadvantage as unjust.