It is well established that successful transitions into adulthood vary greatly by numerous factors (e.g., race, gender); yet, understanding of ways that disability-related factors shape transitions ...into adulthood are less clear. While individuals with disabilities, generally, often fall short of their non-disabled peers in achieving many early adult milestones, fuller conceptualisations that recognise the diversity among individuals with disabilities are warranted. Informed by recent findings suggesting the variability of experiences of young adults with disabilities by disability type and severity, as well as disability frameworks that focus on 'normative' population outcomes as proxies of activities and participation among individuals with and without disabilities, this study uses data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to describe and compare the success of young people by disability status, type, and severity as they transition from high school, enrol in college, or gain employment. Findings derived from logistic regression models suggest consistent disadvantages for individuals with cognitive disabilities relative to peers with physical disabilities as well as peers without disabilities across important early adult transitions. Policy and practice implications to address these inequalities are discussed.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Youth with disabilities are overrepresented among youth transitioning out of the foster care system (Slayter, 2016), yet few studies specifically examine the needs of former foster youth with ...disabilities as they transition into adulthood. Addressing this gap, the current study provides a more nuanced account of foster youth with disabilities’ transitions into adulthood. Using two national databases (NYTD and AFCARS), this study: (1) describes the prevalence of disability among older youth in foster care (age 17) and (2) investigates differences in educational and employment outcomes at age 21 among youth with and without disability diagnoses, with attention toward distinguishing emotional from non-emotional diagnoses. These lines of inquiry provide information about the experiences and needs of older foster youth with disabilities so that practices and policies aimed toward improving educational and employment outcomes can be appropriately tailored to this substantial population of youth exiting care.
•Cancer history did not predict accelerated rates of cognitive decline among older adults.•Among adults age 75–84, slower rates of cognitive decline were noted for those with a cancer history ...compared to those without a cancer history.•Exposure to chemotherapy did not accelerate older cancer patients’/survivors’ rates of cognitive decline.
This study aimed to examine (1) whether cancer history accelerates older adults’ rates of cognitive decline over time and (2) whether chemotherapy increases older cancer patients’/ survivors’ rates of cognitive decline over time.
This longitudinal study drew a subsample of 8811 adults aged 65 or older from Wave 6 of the Health and Retirement Study in 2002 and followed biennually until Wave 13 in 2016. Linear mixed-effects models were performed to test whether cancer history and chemotherapy were associated with accelerated rates of cognitive decline over time among older adults in different age groups.
Middle-old adults (aged 75–84) with a cancer history had significantly reduced rates of cognitive decline over time, including the global measure of cognitive functioning (B = 0.16, p< .01), mental status (B = 0.08, p< .01), and episodic memory (B = 0.09, p< .05) compared to their counterparts without a cancer history. This effect was not significant for the youngest-old (aged 65–74) or oldest-old adults (aged 85 or older). Also, chemotherapy was not significantly associated with older cancer patients’/survivors’ cognitive functioning at baseline or over time in different age groups.
This study finds that cancer history and chemotherapy do not further exacerbate older adults’ cognitive functioning over time. On the contrary, cancer history shows a “protective” effect on middle-old adults’ cognitive functioning. This encouraging finding indicates that older adults can be more actively engaged in the decision-making of treatments and following care plans. Future mediation studies are needed to further investigate underlying mechanisms.
•Evaluation of support program for youth experiencing foster care or homelessness.•Programmatic strengths included financial assistance and social-emotional supports.•Programmatic challenges included ...stigma associated with on-campus service access.•Volunteers and staff suggest a need to prioritize safety and stability for students.
Foster care alumni and youth experiencing homelessness face similar challenges within higher education, including housing instability, food insecurity, as well as low levels of social, emotional and financial support — all of which contribute to poor rates of persistence and graduation. Given the intersecting challenges and needs of foster care alumni and youth experiencing homelessness, many college campuses have established formal support programs to meet the needs of these student populations. This study explores the implementation and administration of Alabama REACH, a campus-based support program for foster care alumni and youth experiencing homelessness who attend the University of Alabama. Through analysis of narratives elicited through three focus groups with program volunteers and staff, this study presents insights into program strengths and challenges, including the importance of social support, challenges of stigma and shame in program recruitment and service provision, and the need to prioritize stability and sustainability throughout program planning efforts.
This article describes the integration of human rights content and a national arts-activism initiative-One Million Bones-into a bachelor's-level macro practice class as a human rights teaching ...strategy. Two previously validated scales, the Human Rights Exposure (HRX) in Social Work and the Human Rights Engagement (HRE) in Social Work (McPherson & Abell, 2012) were used to evaluate student increases in HRX and HRE. Students in the intervention class increased their HRX by 36% by semester's end and showed significantly higher levels of HRE and HRX than students in a comparison classroom. This project is the first to evaluate a human rights teaching intervention in social work, and it intends to contribute to the literature on human rights in social work education.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Disability scholars have recently highlighted social work professional organizations' lagging pace in adopting disability advocacy within diversity agendas and have questioned the adequacy of ...disability content within accredited social work curricula. Amid growing concerns, measures to assess attitudes of social workers toward disability and disability-related issues are needed. Using a sample of 237 social work students, the current study details the development and validation of the Social Worker's Attitudes Toward Disability Scale, a multidimensional measure of social workers' attitudes toward disability as related to professional roles. Initial findings indicate that the final 27-item instrument is a reliable and valid tool that may be useful in facilitating analyses of whether and how social workers are prepared to serve these vulnerable populations.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
This study aims to advance understanding of social workers' perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions. This ...retrospective study involved thematic analyses of one focus group (n = 7) and semi-structured individual interviews (n = 12). Participants included social work professionals with experience providing welfare services for CwDs and their families. In effort to prevent separation of CwDs from their families, results suggest a need for continued monitoring of deinstitutionalization of CwDs alongside increased availability, accessibility, and quality of childcare, alternative child welfare and family support services.
Although the rate of alcohol use among adolescents has declined, it remains their drug of choice. Parent and peer alcohol use are powerful risk factors for youth alcohol use. However, questions ...remain about how these factors influence underage drinking. The present study investigates the relationship between exposure to parent or peer alcohol use and two stages of adolescent drinking—onset and escalation—overall and at five age points during adolescence. Participants were 9348 adolescents in Waves I (WI) and II (WII) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, whose parents completed interviews at WI, and who identified themselves as either non-drinkers or experimental drinkers at WI. Reports of WII alcohol use were used to measure onset among WI non-drinkers and escalation among WI experimenters. Risk ratios were calculated to assess the overall impact of exposure to parent or peer alcohol use on onset and escalation, and at five age points (i.e., ≤ 13, 14, 15, 16, and ≥ 17). Findings show that exposure to either parent or friend alcohol use increased the risk of onset and escalation. Age-based analyses reveal a more nuanced relationship, showing variability in the nature and strength of influence by stage of drinking and by age. This study highlights the relevance of both parent and peer modeling on youth drinking throughout adolescence. Implications in advancing prevention and treatment include parental education about the impact of their own behaviors and the importance of monitoring teens’ friendships.
Child welfare workers (CWWs) face challenges to engaging families, including initial parental resistance, service plan noncompliance and other barriers. Adopting a motivational interviewing (MI) ...framework may improve engagement and collaboration between CWWs and parents, thereby leading to better child welfare (CW) outcomes. This comprehensive narrative review identifies the use of MI in CW, the outcomes of MI use and the gaps in the literature. Of the 16 articles that met inclusion criteria for our search, 12 suggested MI’s value in parenting skills, parent/child mental health, retention in services, substance use, and CW recidivism. Four of these studies specifically focused on CWW. Future studies should examine specific CW outcomes such as reunification, parent/child relationships, recidivism and parent/child mental health.
Purpose: The current review provides a summarized synthesis and evaluation of studies addressing the effects of Internet use on well-being among adults (19-64 years old) with physical disabilities. ...Methods: Potential studies were identified through search of electronic bibliographic databases. Outcome studies were chosen for initial review if the study (1) involved a randomized controlled trial, a quasi-experimental, or a pre-experimental design, (2) appeared in the English language, (3) was published in a scholarly journal, and (4) was published before April, 2011. Applying these criteria, the search yielded 6762 studies, six of which were retained for review. Results: Current evidence with which to evaluate the effects of Internet use on well-being of adults with physical disabilities is sparse. Three of the studies found positive associations between Internet use and measures of well-being, while the remaining three studies found no statistically significant differences in well-being related to Internet use. Conclusions: Based upon the studies reviewed, conclusive statements regarding the presence or absence of these relationships are unfounded and premature. Positive relationships detected between Internet and well-being within samples of individuals with physical disabilities, however, do warrant further attention of researchers and indicate a need for studies employing heightened methodological rigor.
Implications for Rehabilitation
The Internet presents a myriad of opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities to increase quality of life and well-being, including access to vital health information, social networking, education, and accessible employment.
Inconclusive findings within this review indicate that, while Internet use is associated with increased well-being within three of the six identified studies, further research is needed in effort to evaluate the clinical and social significance of Internet use as a means to improve well-being among persons with physical disabilities.
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