Life's a Gas? The Training Needs of Practitioners and Carers Working with Young People Misusing Volatile Substances

Volatile substance abuse (the deliberate inhalation of substances such as gas fuels, glues, aerosols or other solvent‐based products) by young people does not attract high level attention within the broader arena of drugs education and prevention programmes. Given the prevalence of volatile substances in the lives of vulnerable groups of young people, however, and the risks associated with their misuse, social work education and training might justifiably give a higher profile to the associated needs of young people in need and/or in public care. This paper reports on the findings from a study in England of the training needs of social workers, residential and foster carers in relation to volatile substance abuse by young people, and identifies the implications for further development of training materials and resources.     

The Impact of Emotions on Practicum Learning

Nine mature aged, experienced practitioners enrolled to gain a BSW qualification in social work were interviewed regarding a course requirement to complete the first placement. At the time of interview no recognition of prior learning for previous experience in the field was made possible for these students. As educators we had experienced considerable hostility from students who believed they should be exempt from completing this course requirement. This paper reports on interviews with the nine students, where we consider how student sentiment about completing the practice learning component might impact upon their learning experience. As anticipated, some students expressed strong negative views about being on placement. However, others were much more positive about the experience. These mixed views prompted us to explore further the relationship between emotion and practice learning. The article begins with a review of the literature concerning mature student engagement with tertiary education, followed by an overview of theory and research related to the ways feelings and emotion influence learning. Using passages from the interviews, expressions of participant anxiety, anger and excitement about the practicum are discussed with the view to extending discourse about practicum learning to include consideration of emotional intelligence and investment.     

Building research capacity for social work practitioners: a regional perspective

This article explores the research experiences, interests and capacity of social work professionals working as frontline workers and managers in human service organizations in regional South Australia. It also draws attention to social work practice issues requiring further investigation as identified by these professionals. The research data for this paper were collected using quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data provided evidence to show the extent of research interests among social work practitioners in the region. Qualitative data added depth to the findings by identifying social work practice issues as described by research participants. The study revealed that few participants had any research experience; however, the majority felt the need to undertake research, expressed interest in research training and a desire to be involved in research projects. These findings have implications for higher education providers in the social work discipline. They draw attention to the importance of better preparing students for research in practice, and also for schools of social work to actively engage in building research capacity and output in regional Australia.

Abbreviations: Frontline social work professionals (FLSWP); The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)     

Interactions of Behavior and Environment as Contributing Factors in the Discharge of Residents with Dementia from Assisted Living Facilities

While retirement communities have existed for over fifty years, they have received relatively little analysis. A clear consensus on definition does not even exist. Based on a literature review, we offer a definition that includes several criteria related to the housing units, boundaries, services and/or leisure amenities, age restrictions, voluntary relocation, and shared space. We delineate the variety of types of retirement communities and address the current and future challenges facing retirement communities. Such a discussion is urgent, given the lack of current housing policy, when both the potential demand and pertinent financial challenges are greater than ever.     

Child Protection Workers’ Perceptions of Foster Carers and the Foster Care System: A Study in Queensland

Abstract

Child protection workers are key players in the statutory system for the protection of children and young people. For this reason, their perceptions of the operation of the system are important. This study, conducted in Queensland, Australia, explored the views of child protection workers regarding foster carers and the foster care system. The present study revealed the difficulties the child protection workers encountered in engaging with foster carers. These difficulties were due to the structure of the child protection system and the conflicts experienced by workers in balancing the needs of children and young people, their primary clients and the carers of those children and young people. Several recommendations for policy and practice are made.     

Thinking about difference in student supervision

Abstract

Over the past decade, educators have given greater recognition to the influence of race and culture on practice and policy. Whilst educators are now including specific courses that take account of diversity, scant attention has been paid to how these issues may be addressed in student supervision. This article reports on a qualitative study examining how three experienced supervisors addressed difference in student supervision. Supervisory approaches were compared examining the supervisors' goals, focus, supervisory strategies, theoretical orientation, contribution made to student learning and the limitation of their particular approach. These findings emphasise the complexity of addressing difference in supervision, and suggest that some additional issues to address in supervision.     

The Effects of Breastfeeding and Nutrition on Fecundability in Rural Bangladesh: A Hazards-Model Analysis

Data taken from the ‘Determinants of Natural Fertility’ study, Bangladesh, are used with multivariate hazard models to study variations in fecundability between women, especially the relationship between nutritional status, breastfeeding practices, and the monthly probability of conceiving. It is found that fecundability varies both between women of a given age and, for a particular woman, by age. The variation is related to four variables: separation, which affects coital frequency; age, which represents biological changes; lactation practices; and the duration of amenorrhoea. Nutrition above famine or starvation levels is not a significant determinant of fecundability. The most surprising finding is the effect of the pattern of breastfeeding on fecundability: as a menstruating woman begins to wean her child, her probability of conceiving increases as her serum prolactin, which inhibits ovulation, decreases. Thus, those menstruating women who are most likely to conceive are those who have completely weaned their infants in the very recent past.