Medical foster care for seriously medically ill children: A growing need

This article identifies and lists the problems of children with complex medical conditions and/or complex home health case needs. Five categories of seriously chronically ill children are identified and programs to meet their needs discussed. The authors believe many of these children could benefit from foster home placements; they discuss one project in which there is collaboration between a pediatric medical center and a social service agency.     

Urban congregations as incubators of service organizations

A growing body of research has begun to describe the variety and pervasiveness of community services offered by religious congregations across the United States. This study investigated the process whereby a congregation forms a new community service entity by tracing patterns in its development from formation through emancipation. Based on a sample of twenty‐three spin‐off organizations engaged in housing services in three cities (Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis), this exploratory study found that religious congregations provided very limited forms of incubation for new entities. Although the congregations exhibited considerable involvement in governance, their inability to undertake management of daily spin‐off operations notably contributed to the eventual separation between parent and organizational offspring.     

Effective child welfare practice with immigrant and refugee children and their families

This article presents a multistage migration framework to broaden the lens through which child welfare personnel can view immigrant and refugee families and their children. By better understanding the family's experiences in both emigration and immigration, including reasons for leaving their home country, experiences in transit, and reception and resettlement experiences in the United States, child welfare personnel are better equipped to assess their needs and provide effective prevention, protection, permanency, and family preservation services. Case examples illustrating the application of the framework and guidelines for program and practice are included.     

Casino gambling in private school and adjudicated youngsters: A survey of practices and related variables

This study provides additional information about casino gambling practices in two adolescent samples. Specifically, 109 adolescents from a religious high school and 84 adolescents from a juvenile detention facility in Las Vegas, Nevada were surveyed. Of these, 71 (36.8%) were found to gamble regularly (58 males, 13 females, mean age 15.9 years). Results indicated many similarities among the two groups. The overall sample appeared to have a strong affinity for casino gambling, were diverse in their practices and reasons for gambling, reported a variety of emotional and physiological behaviors when gambling, occasionally experienced problems from casino gambling, and had parents who generally approved and were aware of their children's gambling behavior. The accessibility and family-oriented nature of many new casinos may be responsible for these effects.The authors thank Nicole Giangregorio and Ned C. Silver for their assistance. Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Boulder, CO.     

Prevalence and Diagnostic Correlates of DSM-IV Pathological Gambling in Psychiatric Outpatients

Studies of the prevalence of pathological gambling (PG) in psychiatric and substance abusing patients suggest that the disorder is not rare. Most studies have been of substance abusers in treatment, and the rate of PG has been found to be several times higher than the rate found in community based epidemiological surveys. However, only one study has examined the prevalence of PG in a heterogeneous sample of patients, and this was a study of psychiatric inpatients. We are not aware of any prior study of the prevalence of PG in a psychiatric outpatient sample. In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnosis and Services (MIDAS) project we examined the current and lifetime prevalence of PG in 1,709 psychiatric outpatients interviewed with a semi-structured diagnostic interview that included a module to diagnose DSM-IV PG. Forty (2.3%) patients had a lifetime history of DSM-IV PG, all of whom had at least one other DSM-IV axis I disorder. Patients with PG had significantly more axis I disorders than patients without PG, and had significantly higher rates of bipolar disorder, social phobia, panic disorder with agoraphobia, alcohol use disorder, and other impulse control disorders. Possible reasons for the low prevalence of PG in our sample are discussed.     

Developing geriatric social work competencies for field education

Preparing social workers to effectively practice with the growing older population requires the identification of geriatric competencies for the profession. The John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative provided the impetus and direction for a national strategy to improve the quality of preparation of geriatric social workers. The Geriatric Social Work Practicum Partnership Program (PPP) is the project with the Hartford Initiative that emphasizes field education. The Geriatric Social Work Education Consortium (GSWEC), one of the PPP programs, initiated the development of competencies for work with older adults. GSWEC utilized Geriatric Social Work White Papers and the pioneering work of the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Strengthening Aging and Gerontology Education for Social Work's (SAGE-SW) comprehensive competency list as well as conducted focus groups locally to delineate key competencies for field education. The Coordinating Center for the PPP, located at the New York Academy of Medicine, led in collaboratively developing knowledge based skill competencies for geriatric social work across all 6 demonstration sites (11 universities). The competencies adopted across sites include skills in the following five major domains: values and ethics; assessment (individuals and families, aging services, programs and policies); practice and interventions (theory and knowledge in practice, individual and family, aging services, programs and practice) interdisciplinary collaboration; and evaluation and research. The identified competencies have proven effective in evaluating students (n = 190) pre- and post PPP field education. The implications for further development of competency driven education for geriatric social work are discussed.     

Are college students health literate?

Abstract

Objective: To examine the health literacy of college students. Participants: A convenience sample of 245 graduate and undergraduate college students. Methods: During February–April of 2018 participants completed the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy which assessed literacy on two passages describing a thyroid scan, and basic healthcare insurance information. Results: Most college students displayed adequate health literacy (99.2%). The ANOVA analyses revealed college classification was the most significant predictor, followed by ethnicity, sex, and primary language. Age was significantly related to health literacy, when holding college classification constant. Interestingly, college major, healthcare work experience, or having health care credentials were not predictors of health literacy. Conclusion: This group of college students had adequate health literacy skills. However, the results of this study revealed demographic disparities that suggest further study.