Role of Relational Case Management in Transitioning from Poverty

One-off financial assistance through emergency relief provides a short-term intervention to immediate material crisis. However, recurrent instances of clients accessing this type of assistance points to the ineffectiveness of managing financial hardship without addressing the causes of long-term poverty. This article presents findings from an external process evaluation of the Salvation Army relational case management model known as Doorways. A mixed-method design was implemented, consisting of semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis, as well as Client Satisfaction and Wellbeing Survey. Across the seven research sites semistructured interviews were conducted with 45 clients and nine case managers, and 30 client surveys were completed. Three themes will be discussed: the Doorways philosophy; the flexible service delivery approach; and client capacity building and continuity of care. Findings illustrated the effectiveness of a relational case management approach and reaffirm the central role of relationships in transforming the lives of people experiencing poverty.

IMPLICATIONS

• The quality of relationship between case managers and their clients plays an integral role in transforming the lives of people experiencing long-term or situational financial disadvantage.

• Service delivery requires a relational and flexible approach to adequately tailor support to the individual and contextual needs of clients.

     

Examining residence status as a risk factor for health risk behaviors among college students

Objective: The current study is aimed to evaluate college student residence as a unique risk factor for a range of negative health behaviors. Participants: We examined data from 63,555 students (66% females) from 157 campuses who completed the National College Health Assessment Survey in Spring 2011. Methods: Participants answered questions about the frequency of recent use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drugs, as well as sexual risk behavior in the last 30 days. Sexual risk behaviors were operationalized as having unprotected vaginal sex (yes/no) and the number of sexual partners. Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that living off-campus is a unique predictor of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drug use, as well as engaging in unprotected sex and a greater number of sexual partners (all ps <. 01). Conclusions: Students living off-campus exhibit more substance use and sexual risk behaviors than students living on-campus, independent of gender, age, or race.     

Quirky kids: fathers’ stories of embracing diversity and dismantling expectations for normative play with their children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Anchored in critical disability studies, we used a narrative methodology to study fathers’ stories of play interactions with their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three narratives convey how father–child interactions unfold and how patterns of interaction respond to, redefine and resist societal norms. Narratives of action demonstrate fathers’ responses to societal norms, while narratives of adjustment depict how fathers have redefined expectations of their children in the context of play. Narratives of acceptance demonstrate fathers’ attunement to, and acceptance of, their children’s preferred play interests and a resistance to play norms. We argue that fathers’ stories represent a step towards emancipating play for children with ASD in that fathers’ appreciation of their children’s quirky play accentuates the relational and social capabilities of children, thus countering deficit interpretations of the abilities of children with autism more broadly.     

A research method to explore midwives’ views of national maternity service reforms

Background

Priorities of the National Maternity Services Plan (NMSP) are a significant contrast to current standard hospital maternity service provision. This paper demonstrates the applicability of case study methods to explore the views of midwives during a period of midwifery reform.

Development of a Model of Holistic Reflection to facilitate transformative learning in student midwives

Background

Reflective practice is considered an essential aspect of personal and professional development, and critical reflection is considered the cornerstone of being an accountable and autonomous practitioner. Tertiary education should lay the foundations of lifelong learning by ensuring students develop into critically reflective and reflexive practitioners, who demonstrate self-awareness and an ability to reflect on personal values and beliefs and their impact on the wider healthcare system. This level of reflective practice is essential to effect change at both an individual and societal level. Reflection should therefore be embedded into education programs as a learning, teaching and assessment strategy.

Happily (n)ever after: the cruel optimism of Disney’s romantic ideal

Drawing on Ahmed’s articulation of the performativity of affect, we analyze how Disney love, as it is constructed in Disney Princess films, acts pedagogically as a “happy object” that orients the happiness of women toward the acquisition of love. We assert that the happiness we derive from loving Disney is a form of what Berlant calls “cruel optimism,” in which we become attached to fantasies of happiness and fulfillment that are unsustainable and detrimental. The cruel optimism we learn from Disney Princess films manifests as an incitement to pursue an impossible ideal of romantic love, or what Heise calls a bridal fiction, that reinforces the supremacy of a white heteropatriarchal family ideal and keeps us attached to “compromised conditions of possibility” that limit female agency and impede social progress.     

The predictive role of support in the birth experience: A longitudinal cohort study

Background

Several risk factors for negative birth experience have been identified, but little is known regarding the influence of social and midwifery support on the birth experience over time.

What works for you may not work for (Gen)Me: Limitations of present leadership theories for the new generation

Scholars and practitioners alike have recognized that younger workers, collectively known as Millennials or GenMe, are different from workers in prior generations. Employees of this generation hold different expectations regarding the centrality of work to their lives and bring different personalities and attitudes to the workforce. As the number of Millennials in the workforce grows each year, the divide between them and their older counterparts becomes more salient, posing unique challenges for organizational leaders. In this paper, we explore how these changes may force the need for reconsideration of five of the most frequently used leadership theories in an effort to understand important boundary conditions and how leadership research must evolve to keep pace with a changing workforce.