Essential components of curricula for preparing therapists to work effectively with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients: a Delphi study

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, experiences, and values that therapists should possess to provide quality therapy services to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons and their families. Using the Delphi method, consensus from a panel of experts on LGB topics was obtained on the components that training curricula should ideally include to prepare therapists adequately to work with this population. Panelists provide suggestions for important therapist values and qualities, key theoretical orientations, common issues of LGB clients and their support persons, key components of assessment and interventions, ethical and legal issues, and recommended materials. The panelists stress self-of-the-therapist work and development of a systemic perspective as critical aspects of training. The role of sexuality was deemphasized. Recommendations to training programs based on these findings are provided.     

Ebola Virus Dose Response Model for Aerosolized Exposures: Insights from Primate Data

This study develops dose–response models for Ebolavirus using previously published data sets from the open literature. Two such articles were identified in which three different species of nonhuman primates were challenged by aerosolized Ebolavirus in order to study pathology and clinical disease progression. Dose groups were combined and pooled across each study in order to facilitate modeling. The endpoint of each experiment was death. The exponential and exact beta-Poisson models were fit to the data using maximum likelihood estimation. The exact beta-Poisson was deemed the recommended model because it more closely approximated the probability of response at low doses though both models provided a good fit. Although transmission is generally considered to be dominated by person-to-person contact, aerosolization is a possible route of exposure. If possible, this route of exposure could be particularly concerning for persons in occupational roles managing contaminated liquid wastes from patients being treated for Ebola infection and the wastewater community responsible for disinfection. Therefore, this study produces a necessary mathematical relationship between exposure dose and risk of death for the inhalation route of exposure that can support quantitative microbial risk assessment aimed at informing risk mitigation strategies including personal protection policies against occupational exposures.     

Couple-Level Patterns of Disclosure Process Beliefs and Their Association with Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Grounded in symbolic interaction theory, we used latent class analysis (LCA) to investigate the preexisting patterns of belief surrounding the disclosure process in married relationships. With a sample of 131 heterosexual married dyads from the U.S., we found four classes: two classes represented similarity of spouses’ beliefs (Both High Beliefs and Neither High Beliefs), and two classes represented dissimilarity of spouses’ beliefs (where only the wife endorsed high beliefs, Wife High Beliefs, and where only the husband did, Husband High Beliefs). Husbands’ satisfaction was positively associated with membership in the Both High Beliefs class. An interaction between spouses’ satisfaction was found: the impact of wives’ satisfaction on class membership is dependent on husbands’ satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Navigating the gendered academy: women in social work academia

ABSTRACT

Women fare less well than men across all academic disciplines: they are less likely to be promoted, they earn less, and many more professors are men. There has, however, been little analysis to date of the experience of women in social work education, a discipline that has historically had higher representation of female staff and students. This study set out to explore women in the social work academy through a case-study of social work education in Scotland. A mixed-methods approach was used, including a review of relevant literature; an online survey of women and men academics in social work education; and semi-structured interviews with female social work leaders, past and present. The study found that women in the social work academy faced the same pressures as other women in higher education; some of these pressures were also shared by men. Most significant, however, was the extent to which women in social work academia experienced twin challenges, firstly, as female academics and secondly, as female social work academics in a discipline that struggles for recognition in the academy. We conclude that this makes for a contradictory and, at times, ambiguous experience for women as they navigate the gendered academy.     

What might Normalisation Process Theory bring to policy implementation studies? Learning lessons and uncovering questions through a case study of the profound implementation failure of a new policing policy

Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), used nationally and internationally to explore implementation within health services research, is used for the first time within policing to understand profound policy implementation failure and to generate broader discussion of policy implementation theory. The policy in question (Police to Primary Care [P2PC]) was an intervention designed to notify GPs when women are assessed by police as at high risk of future domestic abuse. Designed to improve interagency communication, it took place amidst radical organisational change. Using qualitative interviews with domestic abuse specialist and frontline officers, this paper addresses how NPT helps to explain the (non)implementation of P2PC, how such an analysis differs from other policy implementation approaches, and what this means for our understandings of policy implementation more broadly. NPT proved useful in understanding mechanisms leading to (non)implementation of the intervention: fuzzy alignment with existing practice, faulty communication of purpose, and inattention to discretionary implementation spaces. It helped us understand why the intervention came to be invisible. Dwarfed by its organisational context, made institutionally hard to read by a lack of formal protocols, and given restricted view to police officers, it was compromised by a failure to instigate systems of organisational learning. More broadly, NPT helped reveal practices intersecting top‐down and bottom‐up implementation theory. The paper concludes by asking how NPT and theories of street‐level bureaucracy might be better used in tandem and, particularly, how this might help explorations of policy implementation where human actors are joined by technological actors in interpreting and making policy in vivo.     

Using geotagged tweets to track population movements to and from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Population and Environment - After a disaster, there is an urgent need for information on population mobility. Our analysis examines the suitability of Twitter data for measuring post-disaster...     

The role of perceptions of partner's alcohol use in heavy alcohol use and alcohol reduction intervention preferences among LGBQ adults in primary,romantic relationships

Correlates of heavy episodic alcohol and alcohol reduction intervention preferences were examined among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) adults in romantic relationships. Anonymous data were collected online; analyses included logistic and multinomial regression models. One-fourth of participants reported recent heavy episodic alcohol use. Perceptions of partners' engaging in heavy alcohol use was associated with an increased odds of engaging in heavy alcohol use. Perceptions of partners' heavy alcohol use was associated with an increased odds of preferring a couples-based alcohol intervention compared to preferring no intervention. Findings highlight the need to consider partners in alcohol interventions for LGBQ couples.     

Sexual Harassment in Casinos: Effects on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors

This study focuses on sexual harassment and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee turnover among casino employees. It is the first study investigating sexual harassment in the gaming industry. Based on sex-role spillover theory it was expected that sexual harassment has less of an impact on casino employees than on employees in other industries. Six Reno, Nevada casinos participated in the study and 330 responses were generated from casino employees. The study results show that sexual harassment of and by casino employees is perceived to occur at about the same rate as in other industries. Sexually harassed employees were compared to employees who indicated that they had not been sexually harassed. Sexually harassed employees were less satisfied with their jobs and less committed to the organization. However, they were not more likely to quit their jobs. Sexually harassed employees tended to be younger, Caucasian, and in dealer positions. Hence, in addition to the well-publicized cost of sexual harassment lawsuits, the study shows that sexual harassment in casinos may well be the source of hidden costs important to human resources managers. A result of major interest was that employees who had been harassed held management responsible for not ensuring a work environment that is free of sexual harassment. Implications for casino management are discussed.