It was a busy month for the School of Social Work team. The May roundup includes eight publications.
Publications
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development Sheryl Zimmerman, Robyn Stone (LeadingAge), Paula Carder (Portland State University) and Kali Thomas (Johns Hopkins University) co-authored “Does Assisted Living Provide Assistance And Promote Living?” for Health Affairs. The authors provided recommendations in four areas (workforce, regulations and government, consumer needs and roles, and financing and accessibility) and policy suggestions to help assisted living meet its promise, given the litany of factors, including worsening staffing shortages and the needs of the residents becoming more challenging, that have led to negative consequences for well-being and aging in place. The authors concluded that “Attention to these and other recommendations may help assisted living live up to its name.”
Associate Professor Lisa de Saxe Zerden and Meg Zomorodi (UNC School of Nursing) co-authored “Fostering Psychological Safety: Building Team-Based Care Communication Skills” for North Carolina Medical Journal. The authors’ abstract was stated, “As health systems continue to advance integrated models of care, communication remains a central facet of how interprofessional team members can concurrently address physical health, behavioral health, and social needs.”
Research Associate Professor Tonya Van Deinse and Nicholas K. Powell (Georgia Department of Community Supervision) co-authored the chapter “Georgia Department of Community Supervision (US)” in The Routledge Handbook on Global Community Corrections.
“The Relationship Between Receipt of Childcare Subsidies and Child Protective Services Involvement in Douglas County, Colorado: A Brief Research Report” was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. The authors are Claire R. McNellan, ‘24 (Ph.D.), John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need Emily Putnam-Hornstein and community-agency partners from Douglas County (Ruby Richards, Erin Johnson, Melissa Ingalls, and Shelley Tailer).
Assistant Professor Orrin Ware, Alison G. Holt (UNC School of Medicine), Andrea Hussong (UNC Department of Psychology and Neuroscience), M. Gabriela Castro (UNC School of Medicine), Kelly Bossenbroek Fedoriw (UNC School of Medicine), Allison M. Schmidt (Innovation Research & Training) and Amy Prentice (UNC School of Medicine) co-authored “Smoking Policies of Outpatient and Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities in the United States” for Tobacco Use Insights. The authors conducted a multinomial logistic regression model for substance use treatment facilities regarding facility smoking policies, since “many individuals” with substance use disorders other than tobacco use disorder in treatment facilities also smoke cigarettes. The authors found that facilities “located in a state with laws requiring tobacco free grounds at SUD facilities, those with tobacco screening/education/counseling services, and those with nicotine pharmacotherapy were less likely to have an unrestrictive tobacco smoking policy. Among facilities with residential treatment (n = 3449), those with tobacco screening/education/counseling services were less likely to have an unrestrictive tobacco smoking policy. There is variability in smoking policies and tobacco use treatment options in SUD treatment facilities across the United States. Since tobacco use is associated with negative biomedical outcomes, more should be done to ensure that SUD treatment also focuses on reducing the harms of tobacco use.”
Clinical Assistant Professor Michele Patak-Pietrafesa had a book chapter accepted for the SSWAA Workshop Series. The title of the chapter is “Emerging models for improving practitioners’ research and practice skills.” The co-authors include Jody Kristoff, Lori Lazzari and Natasha K. Bowen.
Research Associate Professor Kanisha Brevard, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Elizabeth Weigensberg, ‘09 (Ph.D.), and their research team developed two research briefs that summarize data practices that may help child welfare agencies identify and address inequities in child welfare. This work was conducted for the Child Welfare Study to Enhance Equity with Data project (CW-SEED), which is led by Mathematica and its partners—the Center for the Study of Social Policy and the School of Social Work — under a contract with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families.
- Using Data to Enhance Equity in Child Welfare: Findings from an Environmental Scan
- The What, Why, and How of Collecting and Analyzing Demographic Data to Improve Equity in Child Welfare
Presentations & Trainings
Professor of the Practice Allison Metz was an expert featured at the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences’ ‘Using Implementation Science and Practice to Advance Health Equity’ symposium on Monday, May 13. She and other speakers illustrated how implementation science can advance health equity and shared processes that drove their own work.
Smith P. Theimann Jr. Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Professional Practice Kimberly Strom conducted the presentations “The Ethics of Practice with Minors” and “Moral Courage” at the South East AHEC in Wilmington, N.C., on Friday, April 26.
Clinical Associate Professor Melissa L. Godwin presented “Women and Medication for Opioid Use Disorders” focusing on recent research on the intersection of medication for opioid use disorders and gender, at the 38th Annual Women in Recovery Conference on May 2.
Research Associate Professor Tonya Van Deinse presented “Serious Mental Illness – International Challenges for Criminal Justice” on Tuesday, May 7, for the International Network for Criminal Justice.
The Substance Use and Addiction Specialist (SUAS) program held its 2024 graduation celebration on May 6. The event featured SSW alumni LeeAnna Gill as the keynote speaker, special guests Flo Stein (former Deputy Director of the Division of MHDDSUS) and DeDe Severino (Section Chief, Addictions and Management Operations for the Division), a host of faculty members, and most importantly the SUAS students and their VIP guests. Congratulations SUAS Class of 2024!
Awards, News & Recognition
Associate Professor Will Hall was the 2024 recipient of The Graduate School’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring. Hall was presented with the award during the doctoral hooding ceremony on Saturday, May 11.
Doctoral student Spenser R. Radtke was selected as a recipient of the 2024 Belfer-Aptman Scholars Award for Dissertation Research, through the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment.
John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need Emily Putnam-Hornstein launched a new project and database focused on documenting and counting children who died due to abuse and neglect.
