Social Service Organizations Research Articles

The COEQUAL Registry: Creating Opportunities to Increase Health Equity & Equality for Persons at Risk for AD/ADRD

AbstractBackgroundCommunities with the highest disease burden from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) often experience considerable health disparities. These disparities are due to systematic and structural racism, classism, ageism, and social determinants of health, leading to distrust of and lower engagement with biomedical research. These injustices exacerbate disparities, ultimately leading to less generalizability of research findings. Therefore, we hypothesized that creating a culturally appropriate ADRD research registry called COEQUAL would increase underrepresented communities' engagement in ADRD research.MethodsOur NIH‐funded community and patient‐engaged study aims to identify and enhance current practices to promote high‐yield engagement and retention of diverse participants in ADRD research in St. Louis, Missouri. Based at the Washington University Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, our partners include Saint Louis University, Wesley House (a social service organization), the Greater Missouri Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and Health Literacy Media. We have a 20‐member Governance Board to create a culturally appropriate research registry. Before creating the COEQUAL registry, we plan to conduct a community needs assessment with listening sessions and a pre/posttest survey of n = 160 community members, patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers aged 45+. We will use direct/indirect recruitment methods like posts in the health system patient portal, social media, and emails/mailers to recruit participants. Our facilitator’s guide and a pre/posttest survey will contain validated and culturally appropriate items to gauge perceptions, practices, and knowledge related to ADRD, willingness to participate in an ADRD research registry, and ways to engage and retain diverse participants. We will oversample participants who self‐identify as Black (African American, African, African Caribbean, or African Ancestry). Findings from the community needs assessment will be used to inform recruitment, ongoing engagement with, and retention of, individuals in ADRD research.ResultWe anticipate gaining knowledge of the perceptions and practices of engaging community members, patients, and providers in creating a culturally appropriate ADRD research registry.ConclusionThe feasibility of creating a culturally appropriate ADRD research registry in St. Louis is critical to ensure justice and generalizability in research. Moreover, using a community and patient‐engaged research approach increases the cultural appropriateness of ADRD research.

Territorial communities in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine: administrative and legal support and peculiarities of functioning

The article examines theoretical and legal approaches to defining the concept and features of territorial communities in Ukraine, as a set of residents united by permanent residence within a certain village, town or city, which are independent administrative and territorial units or a voluntary association of residents of several villages. which have a single administrative center. It is noted that there is an urgent need for decentralization in Ukraine, which involves the transfer of a wide range of powers, as well as finances, from the state power to united territorial communities and local self-government bodies created by them. The first stage of the reform (2018-2019), which provided for the voluntary unification of settlements into one UTG (united territorial community), showed that residents formed about 40% of UTGs across the entire territory of the state on their own initiative. Therefore, in 2020, the organization of new OTG took place centrally. The introduction of martial law in Ukraine changed the functioning and development of the OTG, a large part of which ended up in the war zone. It is noted that according to the current legislation, during the period of martial law, military administrations exercise the powers of local self-government bodies in united territorial communities.
 Despite the steps taken in the direction of reforming the territorial organization of the authorities, the system of the OTG and the functioning of the newly elected representative bodies in them require both legal and institutional support. However, in the conditions of martial law, the implementation of the tasks of the decentralization reform is quite limited. At the same time, the created OTG and their representative bodies must ensure the provision of a basic package of social and administrative services to the residents of communities. Taking into account that military actions are being conducted in Ukraine and in order to ensure the provision of necessary assistance to the citizens of Ukraine, it is proposed to provide emergency (crisis) social services (if it is impossible to apply the general order of organization and provision of social services). Existing problems in the field of administrative and legal regulation of OTG in Ukraine require further scientific analysis, research, generalization and solution.

Picture book reading on the development of preschoolers in rural areas of China: Effects on language, inhibition, and theory of mind.

Studies have shown that book reading intervention may scaffold children's language development. However, whether book reading interventions are equally effective for children's cognitive development in a Chinese rural school setting remains to be explored. We conducted a four-month book reading intervention to address these issues in rural Chinese areas. A total of three hundred twenty-one children aged between 2.56 and 6.47 years (M = 4.66 ages, SD = 0.80) were assigned to three groups as follows: (a) control group without donated picture books; (b) active reading control group with donated picture books; and (c) intervention group with a 4-month instructed picture book reading intervention. The findings indicate that the available books could produce significant positive changes in the development of receptive language (F (1,191) = 14.46, p < 0.01) and inhibitory control (F (1,190) = 7.64, p = 0.01) of rural children. However, a 4-month intervention was noneffective at boosting participants' performance on these tasks (F (1,203) = 0.07~2.73, p > 0.10). The results discussed the possible explanations, implications for behavioral intervention researchers, and suggestions for social service organizations or public institutions.

The Spaces of Social Services as Social Infrastructure: Insights From a Policy-Innovation Project in Milan

The spatial organisation of social services has long been residual for both urban planning and social welfare policies in Italian cities. This often results in randomly chosen locations and poor design arrangements, which ignore the role that space might play in fostering social life and inclusion. The scarce relevance given to the topic both in research and implementation is connected to the historical evolution of social services in the country and the scant resources devoted to their provision. Basing itself on the debate on welfare spaces and social infrastructures and drawing on a collaborative-research experience within an experimental policy-innovation project developed in Milan, this article tackles the role of space in social services provision following three directions. Firstly, it analyses how, at the urban level, welfare innovations and the interplay between urban planning and welfare policies might contribute to reshaping the traditional physical structures of social services and their map to favour more inclusive patterns of access to local welfare. Secondly, it investigates the role of social services as social infrastructures in increasing accessibility, reducing stigmatisation, and interpreting in a more inclusive way the complex public-private partnerships that allow welfare implementation nowadays. Finally, it discusses how, in the face of contemporary trends in the activation of welfare spaces, traditional urban planning tools are challenged in monitoring their increasingly dynamic distribution in the city. This highlights the need to develop innovative urban planning strategies and tools to effectively support decision-making and design.

Seeking the Peace: Anti-Gun Violence Cadres, Concepts, and Connections in Pittsburgh.

In 2015, Pittsburgh had the 21st highest murder rate in the USA at 18.6 murders per 100,000 population. By 2022, its murder rate had declined to 12.32 per 100,000, ranking it number 58 among American cities with greater than 100,000 residents. The article's principal concern is with identifying factors that may have contributed to mitigations of gun violence in metro-Pittsburgh, and especially with how local anti-violence mobilizations within and between key sectors may have contributed to these violence reductions. Activist cadres of youth, social service organizations, governmental decision-makers, foundation leaders, and faith leaders are examined, with attention to how their respective sectors may have been pushed beyond established scopes of concern to take up the fight against gun violence. Drawing upon original interview data from 30 local leaders and from published formal statements and policy issuances from relevant institutional sectors, the article investigates Pittsburgh gun violence and responses, emphasizing the importance of strategically positioned leaders who possessed commitments and capabilities to leverage Pittsburgh's ample institutional resources on behalf of anti-gun violence objectives.

THE SITUATION OF DISABLED CHILDREN IN FAMILIES AT RISK: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

The article is devoted to the study of the possibilities of a sociological research of the situation of child disability and family at risk. The author analyzes the growing indicators of child disability in Russia: the number of children with disabilities, distribution by sex and age, nosology, the level of disability in the regions of the Russian Federation, as well as indicators of inclusion (visiting educational organizations, leisure activities). The assessment of the indicators representing satiation of families at risk is carried out on the basis of the deprivation methodology of the Institute of Socio-Economic Problems of the Population of the Russian Academy of Sciences (income level, living conditions, pedagogical and social competence of parents, consumption of educational, medical, social services, psychological climate in the family). The author comes to the conclusion that a theoretical study of the position of a disabled child in a family at risk can be carried out within the framework of the structural-functional theory, structuralism theories, theory of social conflicts, symbolic interactionism, social constructivism, phenomenology and ethnomethodology, behaviorism, neo-Freudianism, etc., which provides wide opportunities for building a theoretical model of the mutual influence of family dysfunction and child disability. The article also presents the results of a secondary analysis of data from a public opinion survey on child disability obtained by questionnaire survey (N = 1618) and in-depth interviews (N = 16). The author presents the results of his own empirical research: a questionnaire survey of specialists working with families of disabled children (N = 101, respondents are employees of educational, medical, social organizations) and interviews of social workers (N = 9, respondents are employees of social service organizations). Based on the analysis of the collected data on the situation within the family, the author derives the modal characteristics of a family at risk and the position of a disabled child in it. As important factor of social exclusion, the author calls the isolation of the family, its closeness and obstruction of interventions by social protection institutions.

The Development of Sustainable Social Farming in Italy: A Case Studies Analysis

Social Farming (SF) is a rising practice that offers various typologies of initiatives involving different actors. Peculiarities consist of the types of networks organized at the territorial level and in the innovation processes they implement. In this study, through a cross-case analysis, we take into account six Italian social farms as case studies, interviewing them to understand the activities provided and their organization with the aim of highlighting both the strengths and the criticalities that may limit possible further development of Social Farming in Italy. The results of the analysis pointed out the specificities of the services offered by the social farms and the points of view of the farmers in the sector. Reflecting on these cases in light of the innovation system theory, it was possible to understand both the innovation system in which they developed and the enabling and the limiting aspects for Social Farming initiatives, as well as to codify useful lessons regarding the future organization of sustainable Social Farming services.

Impact of a longitudinal student-initiated home visit programme on interprofessional education

Introduction: Tri-Generational HomeCare (TriGen) is a student-initiated home visit programme for patients with a key focus on undergraduate interprofessional education (IPE). We sought to validate the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and evaluate TriGen’s efficacy by investigating healthcare undergraduates’ attitude towards IPE. Methods: Teams of healthcare undergraduates performed home visits for patients fortnightly over six months, trained by professionals from a regional hospital and a social service organisation. The RIPLS was validated using exploratory factor analysis. Evaluation of TriGen’s efficacy was performed via the administration of the RIPLS pre- and post-intervention, analysis of qualitative survey results and thematic analysis of written feedback. Results: 79.6% of 226 undergraduate participants from 2015-2018 were enrolled. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors accounting for 64.9% of total variance. One item loaded poorly and was removed. There was no difference in pre- and post-intervention RIPLS total and subscale scores. 91.6% of respondents agreed they better appreciated the importance of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in patient care, and 72.8% said MDMs were important for their learning. Thematic analysis revealed takeaways including learning from and teaching one another, understanding one’s own and other healthcare professionals’ role, teamwork, and meeting undergraduates from different faculties. Conclusion: We validated the RIPLS in Singapore and demonstrated the feasibility of an interprofessional, student-initiated home visit programme. While there was no change in RIPLS scores, the qualitative feedback suggests that there are participant-perceived benefits for IPE after undergoing this programme, even with the perceived barriers to IPE. Future programmes can work on addressing these barriers to IPE.

Commentary: An Equitable Approach to Serving Structurally Marginalized Communities.

As the United States grapples with social injustices, greater attention is being placed on the historical lack of equity practices among health and social service organizations that serve marginalized and predominantly racially minoritized communities. We describe strategies health and social service organizations that partner with community-led organizations must take to ensure actionable equitable changes. The opportunity and promise are upon us to resolve health inequities and promote equity-oriented practices, policies, systems, and social-environmental changes.

A social network analysis of interorganisational collaboration: Efforts to improve social connectedness.

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged public health practitioners and clinicians at multiple levels to intentionally consider the impact of social isolation on health outcomes. Many community-based programmes design interventions to address tangible challenges within the social determinants of health, such as asset insecurity or food insecurity, to address health inequities. The growing need to address social isolation within marginalised communities also requires organisations to collaborate and create community partnerships that strengthen their own social integration within the community. The present research reports on the results of a Social Network Analysis (SNA) of community programmes within three southern U.S. cities and their local collaborations to address social isolation. After interviewing representatives of 46 community organisations, it was found that social service organisations that also offer public health services play a central role in community efforts to improve social isolation. The participating organisations primarily collaborate through referrals and information sharing, and report inadequate resources. With a growing recognition that social services and supports play a considerable role in addressing health inequities, this study provides evidence of opportunities for interorganisational collaboration to promote individual and community health.

Exploring the spatial distribution of community resources focusing on municipalities: A multilevel analysis of the greater Los Angeles area

ABSTRACT Community resources that meet the basic daily needs of residents have been primarily examined at the neighborhood level while the municipal-level contexts have been overlooked. Therefore, focusing on 180 municipalities in the Los Angeles–Long Beach Combined Statistical Area (CSA), this study explores whether municipal boundaries are influential in the spatial distribution of community resources—related to food, education, healthcare, recreation, and social service and civic organizations—and investigates the multilevel determinants of this distribution. Using the K-means clustering method, this study classifies municipalities into three groups by their socioeconomic, fiscal, and physical features. Then, by employing the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multilevel logistic regression, this study finds an unequal distribution of community resources related to the municipal-level socioeconomic status (SES) when the community resources of adjacent municipalities are considered. The results of this study suggest that more contextualized policies based on municipal SES may address the spatial inequality of community resources.

Survivors “Surviving Well” and “Surviving Poorly”: Reflections on the Limitations and Possibilities of Transformative Justice

Survivors “Surviving Well” and “Surviving Poorly”: Reflections on the Limitations and Possibilities of Transformative Justice

Promising practices and pockets of excellence: Community pharmacists supporting wellness for reproductive-age women.

Promising practices and pockets of excellence: Community pharmacists supporting wellness for reproductive-age women.

"Through the Things That Have Happened to Me, They've Made Me Stronger": Individual and Interpersonal Sources of Violence and Resilience Among a Diverse Sample of Transgender Women in Los Angeles.

Within the United States, transgender women face a disproportionate burden of violence, experiencing increased rates of multiple forms of violence compared with cisgender women and other sexual/gender minority groups. Among transgender women, further racial/ethnic disparities in experiences of violence exist. Resilience has been shown to be protective against the adverse impacts of violence on mental and physical health outcomes, yet little is known about unique sources of resilience, coping, and strength among transgender women. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with a racially diverse sample of transgender women between May and July, 2020 in Los Angeles. Participants were between the ages of 23 and 67 years. Four participants identified as African American/Black, four as Latina, four as White, two as Asian, and two as Native American. Participants were recruited from a local social service organization. Interview questions assessed social network characteristics, experiences of violence, coping mechanisms, and sources of resilience in response to violence. Deductive and inductive coding schemes were used to identify common themes, and data analysis focused upon experiences of violence and sources of resilience/coping. Violence was common among members of the sample, with every participant reporting a history of multiple forms of violence. Violence perpetration came from many sources, including cisgender male strangers, family members, intimate partners, and other transgender women. Women also reported multiple sources of strength and coping, including engaging in self-care and leisure activities, behavioral adaptations, mentorship/support from other transgender women, and striving to "pass" as cisgender. Despite having faced extensive violence, the participants in this sample were resilient, demonstrating many internal and external coping mechanisms and sources of strength. These findings can inform programs and services that target transgender women, providing participants with opportunities to build resilience and other coping mechanisms to buffer the harmful mental and physical health impacts of exposure to violence.

From the State to the Street: The Segregated Loss of Childcare and the Institutional Origins of Organizational Deprivation

The inequitable distribution of social service organizations contributes to embedded systems of racial and economic inequality. But while the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and organizational deprivation is well established, explanations for how these patterns originate are less so. Departing from the community and organization as analytical focal points, this article draws on a series of recent childcare center closures within Boston’s nonwealthy, majority-Black communities to elucidate the role of the state in processes of organizational deprivation. Informed by a multiyear, multimethods study, the author documents the disruption of one vital organizational cross-subsidization strategy brought on by the unanticipated intersection of two discrete public institutions. Findings reveal that, especially under conditions of limited welfare state expansion, understanding community-level patterns of deprivation requires elevating attention to institutional field-level dynamics.

Enabling local political committees to support the implementation of evidence-based practice — a feasibility study

BackgroundLocal politicians can serve as enablers or barriers for health and social organizations to implement evidence, impacting the context of health and social service organizations. Increasing local politicians’ knowledge about, and support for, evidence-based practice (EBP) could be a way to strengthen the conditions in social service organizations for EBP. The aim of the study was to describe the development and assess the perceived feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of an intervention to enable local political committees to support the implementation of EBP. Furthermore, the achievement of the learning outcomes was examined.MethodsWorkshops and interviews were used to co-create the intervention with social service representatives (n = 8) and local politicians (n = 6). A single-arm, non-blinded feasibility study was conducted in a social welfare committee with local politicians (n = 14) and representatives from social services (n = 4). Interviews and pre-post questionnaires were used to assess the intervention’s feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and learning outcomes. Progression criteria was set to > 80% of respondents judging the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and appropriate. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used for analysis.ResultsThe quantitative and qualitative results indicate that the intervention was perceived as acceptable and appropriate. However, the progression criteria for feasibility were not fully met. Qualitative findings show that the intervention was perceived as interesting, fun, and created curiosity to learn more about EBP. The discussions between the committee and the representatives from the social services department were much valued.ConclusionsCareful anchoring of the intervention and comprehensive local adaptation regarding delivery format will be central to the delivery of this intervention if offered elsewhere. Furthermore, we recommend that skills training during the intervention should be included. The collaboration between local politicians and representatives from the social services department was a vital aspect of the intervention and should not be excluded. Collaboration between these actors will be of significance in further developing support for EBP implementation, as expressed by the interview participants.

Different Types, Different Reactions? How Civil Society Organizations Respond to Right-Wing Extremism

Extreme right-wing violence has resulted in an intense academic debate on how democratic actors can respond to movement on the extreme right. This article explores how various types of CSOs perceive their role, interest, and willingness when it comes to counteracting right-wing extremism. Building on a theoretical framework that makes visible a variety of CSO responses and differences between types of CSOs, the results show that CSOs view themselves as having a watchdog role in relation to right-wing extremism. However, CSOs place the principal responsibility of response to right-wing extremism outside organized civil society in the hands of politicians, citizens, and the media. In addition, not all CSOs are willing to respond in the same way or to the same extent. Humanitarian and social service organizations are more inclined to engage in dialogue and protest compared with sports and recreation organizations and culture organizations. The article concludes by discussing the notion that bridging organizations may be more willing to respond to right-wing extremism and to use dialogue and deliberation compared to bonding organizations.

Social Support in Older Transgender and Gender Diverse Communities in the United Kingdom and Australia: A Comparative Study During COVID-19

ABSTRACT While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older people has been recognized, there is limited understanding of its impact on older trans and gender diverse people who often have different experiences of care and support than the general population. This article examines older trans and gender diverse people’s experience of social support during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a comparative mixed method survey administered in Australia and the United Kingdom. Using a non-probability sample of 84 participants who were connected to social media and service organizations in the United Kingdom and Australia, we found some commonalities and differences between experiences in these countries. Some participants were isolated, including almost 1 in 5 participants who said that they did not have someone they could call upon in an emergency. However, participants had rich networks of friends, partners, and family members. Religious organizations and the community also played an important role. Friends were reported as the main emergency contacts and as the main people to whom support is provided. This research supports previous findings that friends of trans and gender diverse people play an important role in well-being.

Roles of Nonprofits in Disaster Response and Recovery: Adaptations to Shifting Disaster Patterns in the Context of Climate Change

Nonprofit social service organizations play key roles in disaster response and recovery efforts targeting socially vulnerable populations, particularly in the United States. Increasingly frequent and intense disasters associated with climate change may raise new challenges for nonprofits. Yet little research has explored how changing disaster patterns may impact the roles of nonprofits. With this in mind, we examine the case of Tallahassee, Florida, which experienced a 3-year surge in tropical storm activity from 2016 to 2018. Based on interviews with nonprofit staff, supplemented by document analysis and participant observation, we explore how nonprofits experienced and adapted to this intensification of storm activity. We find that nonprofits that had formerly been peripheral to disaster work—such as homeless shelters and case management agencies—took on new responsibilities during this period but struggled to gain recognition as key actors. The authors develop a four-part scheme for classifying the roles of nonprofits and apply this scheme in interpreting the diverse experiences and adaptation strategies of nonprofit social service organizations. There is a need to more fully integrate some classes of nonprofits that have not traditionally been seen as key actors in disaster systems.

“It Is Our Problem!”: Strategies for Responding to Homelessness on Transit

Buses, bus stops, trains, and train platforms represent sites of shelter for many of the over 500,000 Americans who are unhoused every night. This study seeks to understand how transit agencies are responding to them. Based on interviews with staff members and partners at 10 different transit agencies and on program performance data, where available, we provide detailed case studies of four sets of strategies taken in response to homelessness on transit systems: hub of services, mobile outreach, discounted fares, and transportation to shelters. We analyze each strategy’s scope, implementation, impact, challenges, and lessons learned. Reviewing these strategies, we note that they may differ depending on the context, need, and available resources. We find value in transit agencies fostering external partnerships with social service organizations and other municipal departments and keeping law enforcement distinct from routine homeless outreach. We also underline the key need for funding from other levels of government to allow transit operators to adopt, expand, and refine homelessness response programs.