Elders' Decisions To Enter Assisted Living Facilities: A Grounded Theory Study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a substantive theory of elders' decision-making process to relocate to an assisted living facility. The researchers interviewed a purposive sample of 28 elders who resided in assisted living facilities. The theory of elders' decisions to relocate to an assisted living facility is a story about elders weighing and balancing gains and losses to go to where the help is. Decision makers weigh and balance gains and losses before, during, and after relocating to an assisted living facility. Elders stay at their current residence if gains outweigh losses and they relocate if losses outweigh gains. Understanding the process of decision-making in this segment of the population may lead to the development of interventions that can promote positive relocation experiences among elders and increase the effectiveness of their decision-making behaviors.     

Improving the Archiving of Records in the Out-of-home Care Sector

Abstract

Senate Inquiries into the lives of people who grew up in care, highly critical Ombudsman reports, and advocacy groups for recent and past “care leavers” draw attention to the significance of the records for children growing up in out-of-home care. This article reports on a project in which an interdisciplinary team of social workers, archivists, and historians worked together with 12 community-sector (nongovernment) organisations to look at the question of how to improve the management of the records for people with experience of out-of-home care. A Self Assessment Tool was developed and deployed at two points in time to provide feedback to organisations about the quality of their record-keeping practices. Clear improvements could be documented over a 2-year period in all 12 of the organisations involved.     

Exploring chlamydia positivity among females on college campuses, 2008–2010

ABSTRACT

Objective: Describe chlamydia positivity among young women tested at college health centers by student characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, and institution type. Participants: During 2008–2010, colleges participating in a national infertility prevention program provided chlamydia testing data from females aged 18–24. Methods: Chlamydia positivity (number of positive tests divided by the number tested) among females stratified by college type (4-year versus 2-year and minority serving institutes [MSIs]) was determined. Results: Chlamydia testing data were provided by 148 colleges: 37 (26%) MSIs and 21 (15%) 2-year colleges. Of the 118,946 chlamydia tests, 6.5% were positive. Chlamydia positivity in females at 4-year colleges was 6.6% versus 5.3% at 2-year colleges (p = .0001). Positivity at MSIs was almost double of that at non-MSIs, 10.0% versus 5.4% (p = .0001). Conclusions: Chlamydia positivity may be higher among college females than previously thought. Higher positivity at MSIs suggests that targeted sexually transmitted infection prevention efforts may be useful for high-risk college populations.     

Sleep Quality and Body Mass Index in College Students: The Role of Sleep Disturbances

Abstract

Objective: Obesity and its comorbidities have emerged as a leading public health concern. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sleep patterns, including duration and disturbances. Methods: A convenience sample of 515 college students completed an online survey consisting of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and self-reported height and weight to calculate BMI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using components of the PSQI as predictors of overweight (BMI ≥ 25). Results: One-third of the participants had BMI ≥ 25, and 51% were poor-quality sleepers (PSQI > 5). Controlling for age and sex, only sleep disturbances were associated with overweight (odds ratio = 1.66, 95% confidence interval [1.08, 2.57]). Conclusions: Sleep disturbances, rather than sleep duration, predicted overweight among young adults; this is consistent with the most recent evidence in the literature. These findings support expanding the scope of wellness programs to promote healthy sleep among students.     

Examining the influence of gender and sexual motivation in college hookups

ABSTRACT

Objective: Hooking up is common in college, and has been linked to heavy drinking. Hookups have positive as well as negative consequences, and thus the motivations for hooking up are complex. Yet, little research has focused on these motivations. The present study examined the role that gender and drinking patterns play in the relationship between sexual motivation and penetrative hookups. Participants: Heavy drinking college students (N = 396) completed online surveys between September/October 2009. Method: Sexual motivation, alcohol, and hooking up were assessed. Results: Enhancement motives and drinking frequency predicted more frequent oral and vaginal sex when hooking up, while peer and partner motives predicted anal sex. Men endorsed greater enhancement motives, peer motives, and hookup oral and vaginal sex. For men, coping motives predicted oral and vaginal sex and peer motives predicted anal sex. Conclusions: Results provide greater insight into the reasons why college students engage in penetrative hookups.     

“You Are a Racist”: An Early Childhood Educator's Racialized Awakening

This article details my racialized awakenings as a White kindergarten teacher after being called a racist by a parent of one of my students. I chronicle critical reflections of myself and my school in terms of latent institutional racism and actions. I share the actions that I have begun in my efforts to counter racism and move toward teaching for social justice. Changes in my teaching included interrupting deficit perspectives, talking explicitly about race, critiquing literature that I use in my classroom, and exploring ways to provide ongoing counternarratives that honor culturally and linguistically diverse students. I conclude with implications for other Early Childhood teachers who are teaching across racial boundaries. While I do not position my findings as the solution to countering institutional racism in the classroom, I hope that my journey can be enlightening to educators facing similar conflicts.     

Integrative Behavioral Health Clinic: A Model for Social Work Practice,Community Engagement,and In Vivo Learning

ABSTRACT

Missouri did not expand Medicaid, leaving about 500,000 Missourians without health insurance. To address community needs and provide additional social work training opportunities, a free integrated behavioral health clinic was established. This article discusses the need, describes the clinic, and presents 1-year evaluation results. Sixty-nine clients received services, and 30 students received intensive training during the first year. Almost half of the clients were diagnosed with depressive disorders, and more than half had comorbid medical conditions. Psychiatric symptoms were lower following treatment. Quality of life increased in physical and psychological domains. Collaborative clinics with social work and medical students are a viable option for experiential learning and providing quality care for uninsured or underinsured people with comorbid medical conditions.     

Depression and Parenting by Nonoffending Mothers of Children Who Experienced Sexual Abuse

Parenting may be one mechanism by which depression in nonoffending mothers impacts child emotional and behavioral adjustment after sexual abuse. This study examined the relationship between self-reported maternal depression and parenting behaviors by nonoffending mothers of children who experienced sexual abuse. The participants were 204 nonoffending biological mother–child pairs recruited from a clinic providing services for children who experienced sexual abuse. The mothers completed pretreatment self-report measures of demographic information, depression, and parenting behaviors. Children (7 to 17 years) completed a measure of mothers’ parenting behaviors. Mothers with clinically high levels of self-reported depression employed more inconsistent parenting behavior and provided poorer monitoring/supervision of their children than mothers without clinically high levels of self-reported depression. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

"We All Have Identity at the Table": Negotiating Difference in a Southern African American Environmental Justice Network

This article focuses on conflicts and resolutions among members of a south-wide environmental justice network as they negotiated their collective goals, identities, and strategies. I find that the process of building and advancing this network raised a host of questions about what it means to be a Black activist in the post-civil rights-era, as well as how to resolve multiple and divergent ideas about contemporary African American identity and the implications of claiming race as a primary basis of identification in social movement organizing. As activists' debates grew heated, they tended to frame their disagreements in class terms; however, I argue that class discourses were flexible and contingent, and reflected important organizing values. In part, due to the flexibility of these categories, I find that, ultimately, activists were able to reframe their differences as a larger problem of racism and move forward as a collectivity.