MSW-5000 v5

Tyler, P. M., Mason, W. A., Vollmer, B., & Trout, A. L. (2021). Practice to research and back in a social service agency: Trying to DO BETTER. Child & Youth Care Forum, 50(1), 149–165.

There is a growing emphasis on evidence-based program requirements being integrated into social welfare policies for youth care services in the U.S. This trend highlights the need for increased practitioner understanding and involvement in the research process to develop and implement evidence-based programs for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders who receive residential services (Tyler, Mason, Vollmer, & Trout, 2021). Objective: The purpose of this review was to provide residential care practitioners and researchers with an understanding of a transdisciplinary translational research approach for social service agencies and the research activities that can be included (Tyler, Mason, Vollmer, & Trout, 2021). . The framework is provided to help researchers plan for collaborative research with social service agencies, and to help non-researchers in agencies become more familiar with research activities to increase their involvement in program design, testing, implementation and sustainability (Tyler, Mason, Vollmer, & Trout, 2021).

Placzek, H., Cruz, S., Chapdelaine, M., Carl, M., Levin, S., & Hsu, C. (2021). Intersecting systemic and personal barriers to accessing social services: Qualitative interviews in northern California. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11981-5

Addressing social risks in the clinical setting can increase patient confidence in the availability of community resources and may contribute to the development of a therapeutic alliance which has been correlated with treatment adherence and improved quality of life in mental health contexts (Placzek, Cruz, Chapdelaine, Carl, Levin, & Hsu, 2021). It is not well understood what barriers patients face when trying to connect to community resources that help address social risks (Placzek, Cruz, Chapdelaine, Carl, Levin, & Hsu, 2021). This paper aims to describe patient-reported barriers to accessing and using social needs-related resources to which they are referred by a program embedded in a safety net primary care clinic (Placzek, Cruz, Chapdelaine, Carl, Levin, & Hsu, 2021).

Valentín, C. M., Benavides, Q., Bryce, R., Rabinowitz, E., Rion, R., Lopez, W. D., & Fleming, P. J. (2020). Application of the minority stress theory: Understanding the mental health of undocumented Latinx immigrants. American Journal of Community Psychology, 66(3/4), 325–336. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12455

This paper applies the Minority Stress framework to data collected from an ongoing community-based participatory research project with health and social service agencies in Southeast Michigan (Valentín, Benavides, Bryce, Rabinowitz, Rion, Lopez, & Fleming, 2020). We examine the stressors and coping strategies employed by undocumented Latinx immigrants and their families to manage immigration-related stress (Valentín, Benavides, Bryce, Rabinowitz, Rion, Lopez, & Fleming, 2020). Findings suggest that immigrants face heightened anxiety and adverse mental health outcomes because of unique minority identity-related stressors created by a growing anti-immigrant social environment (Valentín, Benavides, Bryce, Rabinowitz, Rion, Lopez, & Fleming, 2020).

Gass, E., & Bezold, M. (2013). Generation Y, shifting funding structures, and health care reform: Reconceiving the public health paradigm through social work. Social Work in Public Health, 28(7), 685–693. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2011.619460

Public health agencies are facing a convergence of forces that require a reexamination of the existing paradigm. The need to replace an aging workforce with a new generation that possesses a different worldview, in the context of budget austerity, will be challenging. In addition, the uncertainty of health care reform poses a challenge for public health leadership. This “perfect storm” provides the opportunity for the social work paradigm to come in and fill the void (Gass & Bezold, 2013).

Capous-Desyllas, M., Bogumil, E., Lara, P., & Reshetnikov, A. (2021). Minding the maps: Using visual mapping methodology and installation art to understand differences in client service accessibility among nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(7), 2590–2608. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22580