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information for practice November 2009 archives

November 23, 2009

This document sets out the Government's response to the report and recommendations of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence's review of the General Social Care Council's conduct function. The review was commissioned following the discovery of a backlog of conduct cases at the GSCC.

Baltimore Sun | J Kirschbaum

U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski sponsored an amendment to the Senate health care bill that would guarantee access to mammograms for women starting at age 40.

The recession has increased joblessness among older Americans. These graphs and tables report unemployment rates and how they have varied by age, sex, race, and education since 2007.

Times

EYE ON THE BALL: Deliwe Mulirwa, 28, chases glory watched by her teammate Dadirai Mapara, 32

In 2007, 7 percent of outpatient treatment facilities also offered child care services for their clients’ children. Outpatient-only facilities that provided child care for clients’ children were more likely than facilities that did not to use a sliding fee scale (81 vs. 67 percent), to offer treatment at no charge to clients who cannot afford to pay (75 vs. 47 percent), or to accept Medicaid payments (75 vs. 58 percent).

J Whipple | Rapport

Anita Tedaldi with her children, left to right: Luisa (nine), Nina (16 months), Livia (three) Anna (seven) and Eva (six).

Gulf Times

A group of child beggars stand in the streets of Kano

Two national programs—the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP)—play key roles in supporting the nutrition and health of schoolchildren in the United States by providing nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches each school day. In 2008, the NSLP provided lunch to more than 30.5 million children, and the SBP provided breakfast to 10.5 million children.

K Stent

The grave of Lillybing, whose abuse was one of the country's worst.

This issue of The NSDUH Report presents information on trends in past month use and past year initiation of tobacco products among adolescents (i.e., youths aged 12 to 17) with special emphasis on use of cigarettes. NSDUH data from 2002 to 2008 are used.

Clinical Manual of Prevention in Mental Health urges clinicians everywhere to inquire about risk factors and protective factors in patients’ lives in addition to focusing on the presenting problem. It is the authors’ intent to provide mental health professionals with the knowledge and practical applications necessary to be prevention-minded in all of their interactions with patients, families, and the community.

Conclusions Children with severe heart disease may benefit from interventions specifically targeting perceptual organizational abilities, such as visual–spatial abilities. Moreover, older children and adolescents with CHD may benefit from psychological interventions reducing anxiety symptoms and depression.

November 22, 2009

TC Sothy | AFP

Cambodian children study in a classroom at one of the M’Lop Tapang organisation’s schools in Sihanoukville.

The Expanding the Family Circle training, designed to be delivered over two consecutive days, teaches a framework for the experienced caseworker to integrate a culturally competent family-centered approach to casework practice with all families engaged in child welfare services. The training offers skills and strategies for working with all members of a family system, including couples, resident and non-resident fathers, extended family members and community supports.

T Boyd | The Oregonian

St. Vincent de Paul's Portland council transformed a school bus into a rolling restaurant. they call it the Mobile Kitchen. Charles Ashcraft (center), who has worked for St. vincent's for 24 years is the driver. volunteer Dell Zimmerman (right) serves up meals to go.

This brief assesses emerging federal and state activities aimed at strengthening collection of data on race, ethnicity, and primary language. Our focus is on data collection related to health care services. We highlight the work of three states—Massachusetts, California, and New Jersey—that have implemented laws and regulations guiding data collection activities by hospitals, health plans, and government agencies.

In the 2001 recession—the only previous recession for which food security data are available—food insecurity increased not only during the downturn but also in the first 3 years of renewed economic growth.

Spend at least part of each visit with your teenaged patients without their parents in the room. Empathize with the stresses of growing up and identify positive outlets that can help relieve their stress, such as sports teams and youth groups.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Rubin/Meyer Communications

University Park resident Lynn Hardesty speaks Saturday after accepting an award at the 2009 Festival of Heroes benefit.

Children and adolescents with mental disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia spectrum disorder are often treated with antipsychotic medications, especially the newer, second-generation (sometimes called atypical) antipsychotics. However, research has shown that these medications have worrisome cardiovascular and metabolic effects on young people, and their long-term effects on growing bodies are unknown.

This bold new text transcends the traditional review of theoretical models and basic attending and communication skills other textbooks offer and highlights individual diversity and evidence-based practices as the conceptual framework. Husband and wife team, David and Diane M. Sue, provide students in the mental health professions with a solid foundation of theories and strategies for working effectively with clients while teaching them how to recognize and utilize an individual's unique strengths, values, belief systems, and environment to effect positive change.

A website hosting a range of dementia resources to support those with dementia, their carers and those working in dementia services. It features practical tips and tools, including two free e-learning resources and includes coverage of key topics such as symptoms, types of dementia, myths about dementia, activity and nutrition.

A novel idea for children has become a reality, now that the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration has set up an office in the maternity ward at Katutura State Hospital, the main public hospital in Windhoek. This UNICEF-supported effort is designed to ensure that every child born at the hospital receives a birth certificate.

A meta-analysis of 29 studies (n = 1844 families) shows statistically significant positive effects of video feedback interventions on the parenting behavior and attitude of parents and the development of the child. Parents become more skilled in interacting with their young child and experience fewer problems and gain more pleasure from their role as parent. Shorter programs appeared to be more effective in improving parenting skills.

November 21, 2009

Lt. Gov. Aiona (center) with Dean Jon K. Matsuoka to his left with faculty and delegates

In this review, Kids Are Waiting both examines the progress that states have made since the 2005 summit in strengthening their dependency courts and improving outcomes for children, youth, and families, and makes recommendations for continued improvements.

T Melville | Reuters

Counsel and Care said the government should introduce a new care duty on estates.

This paper reviews the research on the reciprocal economic stress—DV relationship, focusing in particular on employment issues; social support networks; physical and mental health problems; and social services, including Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).

B Bottomley Photo

Dal staffer Keri Irwin gets her H1N1 vaccinatio

Reducing poverty benefits the whole community. So says a study released today by the Community Quality Institute (CQI), commissioned by the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board that looked at the local impact of poverty on the community.

REUTERS | L Nicholson

A child lies in the bedroom of an apartment in Los Angeles, June 11, 2009.

The Medicaid Buy-In program is a key component of the federal effort to make it easier for people with disabilities to work without losing health benefits. Authorized by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) and the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (TWWIIA), the Buy-In program allows states to expand Medicaid coverage to workers with disabilities whose income and assets would ordinarily make them ineligible for Medicaid.

NY1

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday in Tompkinsville to celebrate the opening of a new home for foster children that bears the name and mission of a fallen FDNY hero.

Once all the hard work has been done and you have solid evidence of positive program results,
you may want to “take a breather.” However, you will also want to share the results of your
evaluation activities, which will help to build greater public understanding and support for your
family support/child abuse prevention services.

The author begins by exploring the types and design of behavioral studies. He also explains how models are used in the analysis of data. After describing graphical methods, such as scatterplot matrices, the text covers simple linear regression, locally weighted regression, multiple linear regression, regression diagnostics, the equivalence of regression and ANOVA, the generalized linear model, and logistic regression. The author then discusses aspects of survival analysis, linear mixed effects models for longitudinal data, and the analysis of multivariate data. He also shows how to carry out principal components, factor, and cluster analyses. The final chapter presents approaches to analyzing multivariate observations from several different populations.

A two-day meeting convened in May 2009 educated participants on essential components of care for women with perinatal mood disorders. The event brought together 100 mental health providers including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and nurses from the Greater Washington, DC metropolitan area and beyond. Peter Schmidt, M.D., of the NIMH Intramural Research Program presented the results of ongoing research, focusing on the role of sex steroids in the onset of perinatal mood disorders. He emphasized the need for developing new, effective therapies for these conditions.

Telegraph

A Kenyan farmer waters crops next to a sand dam

Pacific Research Institute CEO Sally Pipes draws from the story of her mother's illness to describe the pitfalls of the Canadian healthcare system. Pipes argues that the average wait time in Canada to see a medical professional is 17.3 weeks, and claims that 30,000 Canadians travel to the US annually to receive medical care.

Despite being a significant issue, there has been a lack of systematic reviews on gambling and problem gambling (PG) among the Chinese. Thus, this paper attempts to fill this theoretical gap. A literature search of social sciences databases (from 1840 to now) yielded 25 articles with a total sample of 12,848 Chinese community participants and 3397 clinical participants.

November 20, 2009

The aim of this report is to facilitate a dialogue about this very sensitive topic. The report describes findings from a small-scale study commissioned by SCIE and undertaken as part of the My Home Life programme, a national programme aimed at supporting quality of life for those living, dying, visiting and working in care homes. The study seeks to shed light on the complexity of the issues facing care homes and to explore how managers and staff have developed strategies for avoiding or minimising the use of restraint.

Bangkok Post

Pedestrians cross a busy road in Sydney. Braking the rise in Earth's population would be a major help in the fight against global warming, according to an unprecedented UN report that draws a link between demographic pressure and climate change.

PRESS-TV

Irene Khan meets members of the Alyawarr language group.

While a relatively young field of inquiry, research on violence against Disabled and Deaf women offers compelling evidence for their greater risk for experiencing physical, sexual, and emotional violence than women without disabilities. In addition to these traditional forms of violence, women with disabilities and Deaf women are at risk for disability-specific forms of violence including medication manipulation; destruction of adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs and communication devices; neglect by people who assist them with activities of daily living such as eating or bathing; and financial abuse.

This chartbook presents the major findings of the National Survey of Children's Health conducted in 2007. It addresses multiple aspects of children's health and well-being including physical and mental health, health care, social well-being, supportive and risk factors in the family environment, and aspects of the neighborhood that may support or threaten them. It includes analyses of key indicators at the National and State level. The chartbook includes figures, tables, and an appendix.

AP

Many lower income smokers in Massachusetts have abandoned their habit.

This At a glance briefing examines the implications of the personalisation agenda for user-led organisations. Personalisation means thinking about care and support services in an entirely different way. This means starting with the person as an individual with strengths, preferences and aspirations and putting them at the centre of the process of identifying their needs and making choices about how and when they are supported to live their lives. It requires a significant transformation of adult social care so that all systems, processes, staff and services are geared up to put people first.

Inside Ireland

Congress General Secretary David Begg said: “Here we have a graphic illustration of our clearly divided society, and strong evidential support for the view that Government cannot continue to impose the burden of this recession on low and middle income earners.

The governor's office says Hoppe has spent her career as a caseworker, manager and counselor on child and family issues such as custody evaluations, child abuse and neglect and family advocacy. Hoppe received a bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University and a master's degree from Butler University.

Conditions for return are what must happen for a child to return home. The judge and CPS must be clear on what these conditions are, and this information must be provided to parents. This is consistent with federal law requiring the court to hold annual permanency hearings (administrative reviews every six months).

Dr. Alicia Lieberman of UCSF explores effective therapies for the children of military families who are affected by the deployments and traumas of their parents.

Provides a balanced introduction to the social work profession and helps students to understand the role that the profession plays in the social-welfare system. The authors' supportive tone and experiential approach inspires interest in and enthusiasm towards future careers in social work. The book is designed to encourage both knowledge building and self-exploration—skills that are essential in developing good social work practice.

Results indicated that: categorical and dimensional approaches to measurement of early disruptiveness provide comparable data (effect size d = 2.29); both approaches yield comparable estimates of the stability of preschool disruptive behavior over time (categorical approach: d = 1.15; dimensional approach: d = 0.84); and both approaches discriminate between referred and non-referred preschoolers (d = 1.05 and d = .95).

This brief defines peer conflict, how it differs by age and gender, what factors are associated with youth who engage in aggressive behaviors, and ways to reduce peer conflict. It includes specific questions to assess the prevalence of aggressive behaviors and peer conflict among students.

The government's plan to offer the most vulnerable people free social care in their own homes in England has been met with a cool response.

November 19, 2009

This brief begins by reviewing statistics and data on child abuse and neglect before reviewing contributing factors to consider in the reoccurrence of child abuse, and proposing the implementation of an ecological approach to combat repeat maltreatment. It explains how an ecological perspective can inform child protective services and lists strategies to prevent reoccurrence of abuse.

BBC

Two children's homes in Swansea could close under plans to restructure the council's child and family services.

The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how estimates of sexual violence in the United States are produced, with particular emphasis on major sources of rape statistics at the national level. Rape statistics are generated from two sources: (1) cases reported to law enforcement and (2) victimization surveys. Several broad conclusions may be drawn from the estimates discussed.

L Hughes

Taking control: Tameside’s Granada Road playing fields have been redesigned in collaboration with the children who use them.

Poisoning is the second leading cause of injury death overall, and the leading cause of injury death for people aged 35–54 years, surpassing both firearm- related and motor vehicle-related deaths in this age group (1,2). During the Healthy People 2010 midcourse review, reduction of poisoning mortality was one of the injury objectives identified as moving away from its target. One of the challenges discussed during the review is a lack of recognition of the extent of the problem.

ST | NG SOR LUAN, DOMINIC WONG

Mrs Ann Wee (far left) and Madam Indranee Nadisen (left) were given the inaugural outstanding lifetime volunteers awards by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

BJ Morowczynski | RedEye

Adrianna King, 21, was born male and currently is transitioning into the woman she feels herself to be.

iStockphoto | A Rohde

A study by researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking.

This workbook is designed to be used by participants in an anger management group treatment curriculum for substance abuse and mental health clients. It provides individuals participating in the 12-week anger management group treatment with a summary of core concepts, worksheets to complete homework assignments, and space to take notes for each of the sessions. The concepts and skills presented in the anger management treatment are best learned by practice and review and by completing the homework assignments given in this workbook.

Learning from the results of on-going tracking and analysis of outcome indicators is part of the
process of “self-evaluation.” It allows for timely adjustments in the delivery of services to
improve outcomes for families. Changes could be made in the way the service is delivered, in
the type and approach of staff, or in the intended participants. It may even be that not all of the
intended outcomes were achieved. In fact, this should be expected, especially as the evaluation
process is being learned.

Dr Neil Sharma

Teenage girls must confront an increasing array of pressures in modern society. As a consequence, physical and mental problems such as eating disorders and depression are on an alarming rise in this population. This valuable and ground-breaking book, edited by one of the major figures in the field, compiles all of the latest research, programs, and approaches that can be used to respond to the needs of adolescent girls.

Parents on low incomes who care for disabled children are struggling more than was previously thought, two charities have claimed.

Using a meta-analytic approach, the link between alcohol use/abuse and male-to-female partner violence as well as female-to-male partner violence was examined herein. The results indicate that there is a small to moderate effect size for the association between alcohol use/abuse and male-to-female partner violence and a small effect size for the association between alcohol use/abuse and female-to-male partner violence. For men only, several moderators were also examined and the magnitude of the effect sizes varied significantly as a function of the type of sample and type of alcohol measure selected. Specifically, there was a larger association of alcohol and aggression in clinical versus non-clinical samples and when measures assessed more severe alcohol problems.

Journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich criticizes the "delusional" positivity that she believes has permeated American culture. She suggests that so-called "negative" realists are persecuted for their attitudes, particularly in business.

November 18, 2009

MC Barry

Aging is “a journey everyone is on,” says Sheri McLeod

Staff in care homes for older people can be confused as to what constitutes restraint, and unsure how to balance their responsibilities to residents with the rights of residents to make their own decisions. This report is based on a selection of literature that addresses these questions, as well as considering how, when and why restraint is used.

AP | T Hadebe

Kumi Naidoo, a South African who battled apartheid as a teen, then went on to lead global campaigns to end poverty and protect human rights took over Monday Nov. 16, 2009 as the new international head of the environmental group Greenpeace. Naidoo, Greenpeace International's new executive director, said climate change makes his new job a logical addition to his resume.

This paper develops statistical power formulas for such exploratory analyses under clustered school-based RCTs using ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variable (IV) estimators, and uses these formulas to conduct a simulated power analysis. The power analysis finds that for currently available mediators, the OLS approach will yield precise estimates of associations between teacher practice measures and student test score gains only if the sample contains about 150 to 200 study schools.

Meeting Survivors' Needs is a groundbreaking study that captures the voices and experiences of over 3,400 shelter residents in 215 programs across eight states, providing important insights into the role that shelters play in survivors' efforts to escape violence and abuse.

AP | C Osorio

Michigan state Department of Human Services caseworker Sandy Satchel, foreground, works at the Family Independence Agency in Detroit, Nov. 13, 2009. As Michigan struggles with the highest-in-the-nation jobless rate, state workers who deal with unemployment, welfare and other aid programs say they have never been so overwhelmed _ or so worried about their safety.

This paper reviews the literature to examine whether organizational affiliation and structure affect the quantity and quality of sexual assault services. This paper concludes with recommendations for future research evaluating the effectiveness of RCCs within multiple organizational affiliations and structures.

The union representing 2,700 social workers and staff for the state’s child-protection agency has voted by a nearly 10-1 ratio to declare no confidence in Commissioner Anthony “Angelo’’ McClain, an unprecedented move for the agency.

AW EDLUND | TIMES-DISPATCH

Lyndsey Benson has had more than her share of challenges going through Virginia’s foster-care system. But, she maintains hope for something better.

Infant mortality is an important indicator of the health of a nation, and the recent stagnation (since 2000) in the U.S. infant mortality rate has generated concern among researchers and policy makers. The percentage of preterm births in the United States has risen 36% since 1984 (1). In this report we compare infant mortality rates between the United States and Europe.

Data from 33 randomized treatment studies were subjected to a meta-analysis to address questions surrounding the efficacy of psychological approaches in the treatment of specific phobia. As expected, exposure-based treatment produced large effects sizes relative to no treatment. They also outperformed placebo conditions and alternative active psychotherapeutic approaches. Treatments involving in vivo contact with the phobic target also outperformed alternative modes of exposure

Ann Reid's mother, Peggy Belcher, was confused and frightened in hospital. Nurses left sign saying: 'You are not well, you need to stay in hospital. Just sit there, rest, relax and don't bang the table'. Ms Reid's mother did not have reading glasses with her nor could she remember anything for more than two seconds

Gives students who are contemplating a career in social work a solid introduction to the profession. Using clear, engaging prose, author Kirst-Ashman presents a balanced, introductory look within a unifying theme of critical thinking that trains students to be more evaluative of key concepts. The topics covered include practice concepts, social welfare policy concepts, history and current state of the profession, the contexts of practice and populations served, and student development.

• Editorial Comment: Sex, sex,sex, that's all you think about!
• Moral Philosophy and Social Work Policy
• Why Addressing the Over-Representation of First Nations Children in Care Requires New Theoretical Approaches Based on First Nations Ontology
• What is our ethical duty? Social work education and plagiarism
• A Conceptual Framework for Considering Informed Consent
• Following in Jane Addams' Footsteps
• The Ethics Docket: An Exercise in Ethical Decision Making

Governance and child rights are mutually reinforcing, said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson. Child rights principles as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, provide a set of values that are key guiding principles for the work of governments not only guiding principles, they are obligations.

This statistical release provides information about looked after children in England for the year ending 31 March 2009. It reports progress on seven national indicators.

November 17, 2009

For too long, media coverage of social work has been hostile, inaccurate, misleading - or completely absent. Social work is often treated as a second class profession in news reports and much of the press focuses disproportionately on child protection, leaving other aspects of children's and adults' services invisible.

This At a glance summary examines the use of restraint in care homes and approaches to minimise its use. For staff, residents and relatives it is often not clear what restraint means, whether it is acceptable and in what circumstances, and what is good practice. This summary presents some of the learning from two pieces of work on this topic:
* a review of what the literature tells us about the use of restraint in care homes for older people
* an exploration of practice in care homes, based on discussions with residents, relatives and staff.

M Magnier | Los Angeles Times

Roshan Bairwa, center, in red, refused to be married off at age 14. The 17-year-old is now in the 10th grade, and hopes to become a teacher. With the encouragement of Shiv Shiksha Samiti, a charity that promotes women's rights and social development, Roshan and 22 other girls meet and perform skits that encourage girls to safeguard their future.

Social network analysis (SNA) is a methodological approach to measuring and mapping relationships. It can be used to study whole networks, all of the ties within a defined group, or connections that individuals have in their personal communities. The resulting graph-based structures illustrate
the composition and effectiveness of networks on a variety of levels. Programs that can benefit from a social network perspective are common in evaluation research.

This paper offers an overview of trends and outcomes for victims in civil tort cases, which are sometimes referred to as personal injury cases. The paper also discusses benefits and drawbacks of tort litigation for sexual assault survivors. While some of the concerns in the tort process mirror challenges victims confront in criminal prosecution, others are exclusive to tort suits.

nsub1 | Digital Journal

Bentonville, Arkansas town square.

DW Smith | Daily News

Amy Fentress is a social worker at Hospice of Southern Kentucky.

Three decades of research has shown that parent training can improve developmental outcomes for children. Recent research suggests that parent training can also reduce child abuse and neglect, especially when the training is embedded in a broader community campaign. Parent training and community campaigns warrant further rigorous experimental evaluation to determine cost-effectiveness. This policy brief presents a strategy for testing community-developed parent training initiatives. Such a test will generate knowledge of the feasibility of different approaches to reducing child maltreatment and promoting child development.

www.wallmapuwen.cl

"We the Mapuche children do not want any more RAIDS."

This brief provides information on who is most likely to be a bully or victim, how to know when conflict has turned into bullying, and ways to reduce bullying. It includes specific questions to assess students' tendencies to bully others, to be victimized by bullying, and to be pro-social and help others.

A significant positive relation between peritraumatic dissociation and PTS was found. Differences in the methodological rigor between studies — time elapsed since peritraumatic dissociation, design, sample type, and study type — significantly and sufficiently explained the variability in effect sizes between studies. Theoretical variables did not explain such variability. Although results underline earlier findings, due to designs of the reviewed studies no conclusions could be drawn as to causal relations between peritraumatic dissociation and PTS.

Statistical power analysis has revolutionized the ways in which we conduct and evaluate research. Similar developments in the statistical analysis of incomplete (missing) data are gaining more widespread applications. This volume brings statistical power and incomplete data together under a common framework, in a way that is readily accessible to those with only an introductory familiarity with structural equation modeling.

Dr. Kristine Madsen explores the relationship between childrens activity and the development of obesity and how to improve the nutrition and physical activity environments for children.

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is a statewide children’s policy organization that works to improve and ensure the economic well-being, health, safety, education and development of Rhode Island children.

BBC

Sola Odunfa (left) and Peter Ajayi (right) were old drinking partners

The review analysed evidence about the nature, extent and variability of age discrimination in health and social care services. It also considered what reforms are already in train to tackle age discrimination and support greater age equality. It looked at evidence from a wide variety of sources, including academic research, stakeholder submissions, personal testimony and the conclusions of a number of workshops and engagement events.

November 16, 2009

This report sets out future challenges and opportunities and contains a number of recommendations and suggestions for the government, delivery partners and the next phase of the Commission on Carers.

H Getty

Walking in London wearing smog masks on a foggy day, 1953.

Professor Emerita Hilda Hidalgo, 81, is being mourned by the Rutgers University community, scores of former students, and numerous others, including many who never met her.

This brief discusses a study designed to identify potential parent education curricula or models that could meet the needs of county staff working to improve the skills of parents living in Michigan communities. It begins by explaining the criteria that was used to include curriculums in the review and describing Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Practices that have been identified by the National Extension Parent Education Model as necessary to allow parenting educators to work effectively with parents are then explained.

In September 2009, the NIMH convened a multidisciplinary workshop to discuss the role of electrophysiology in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying mental illness in children and adolescents. The meeting was organized around different domains of functioning, including: auditory processing/language; social information processing; emotion regulation; and, attention/inhibition. In addition, one session specifically examined the use of electrophysiology to examine treatment effects in children and adolescents with mental illness. Participants discussed major trends, methodological challenges, and opportunities.

MC Barry

David Woodsworth, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the McGill University School of Social Work

Provides an agenda for policy research on drug and alcohol addiction treatment, including integrating screening and short-term interventions into primary care and other settings, services in specialty treatment centers, and ongoing support services.

RE Drobis

Barbara and Tibby in their home in Frederick, Maryland

S Dutta

The victims of child labour, who work in the brick kilns, at a programme for child rights in Kolkata on Friday.

This report describes the Family Partnership Model (FPM) and explores its potential for family support services in the New Zealand context. The objective of the study was to assess interest in this model by the various agencies and organisations which have contact with families in the community and to seek their views on its appropriateness for their staff and service users. The FPM is an integrated approach which has the potential to address three key issues affecting the provision of family support: the identification of unmet mental health need in the community; barriers to interagency collaboration; and the need for skilled clinical supervision for front-line practitioners.

Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling, Second Edition, is designed to meet the training needs of students by presenting in a practical, user-friendly format basic and cutting-edge research on addiction counseling, as well as the latest trends in the self-help/grassroots movement. Featuring detailed case examples and engaging exercises designed to enhance knowledge and increase skills, this helpful text also includes important information on multicultural issues, the increasingly preferred biopsychosocial approach to treating additions, popular assessment instruments, group counseling techniques, dual disorders, family counseling, treatment planning and relapse prevention, working with adolescents, and preparing for licensure/certificication in addiction counseling.

Definitions of escape, attempted escape, abscond and failure to return in secure mental health services

This meta-analysis combines multiple well controlled studies to help clarify the overall impact of BCT in the treatment of substance use disorders. A comprehensive literature search produced 12 randomized controlled trials (n = 754) that were included in the final analyses. There was a clear overall advantage of including BCT compared to individual-based treatments (Cohen's d = 0.54). This was true across outcome domains (frequency of use d = 0.36, consequences of use d = 0.52, and relationship satisfaction d = 0.57). However the pattern of results varied as a function of time.

Lawrence Lessig argues that regardless of how money actually affects policy, the mere perception of impropriety is damaging to our political system. "More people supported the British Crown at the time of the Revolution than support our Congress today," he jokes.

CBC

Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock promises money will be found in the budget to cover the ambitious changes.

November 15, 2009

M Alexander

Dominican Sister Marie Sullivan has spent 50 years of her life serving individuals and families in crisis in Atlanta and Kansas City, Mo.

The number of nonelderly uninsured grew to 45.7 million as the recession hit in 2008 and job-based coverage continued to erode. As incomes dropped more qualified for Medicaid, buffering the loss of health insurance for millions.

The ICD is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, many health management purposes and clinical use. These include the analysis of the general health situation of population groups and monitoring of the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems in relation to other variables such as the characteristics and circumstances of the individuals affected, reimbursement, resource allocation, quality and guidelines.

AP | LV Burke

New syringes in supply boxes await distribution by the program Prevention Works in Washington.

For Our Children’s director Ivanka Shalapatova

A study by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at King's College London, examining the National Probation Service's work with alcohol misusing offenders.

B Phibbs | NZ Herald

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has started an examination into how so many vulnerable children fall through the gaps between state agencies.

Given the importance of linear models in statistical theory and experimental research, a good understanding of their fundamental principles and theory is essential. Supported by a large number of examples, Linear Model Methodology provides a strong foundation in the theory of linear models and explores the latest developments in data analysis.

The triangular association between the MTHFR genotype, tHcy, and depression implies that higher concentrations of tHcy increase the risk of depression and that lowering tHcy by 0.19 mg/L could reduce the odds of depression by about 20%. Confirmatory data from sufficiently powered randomized trials of homocysteine-lowering therapy are now required to test if the relationship between tHcy and depression is truly causal.

This report examines the progress made in a pathfinder for improving the mental health of children and young people.

A Gibson | NZ Herald

Enid Ratahi-Pryor's Whakatane organisation is the subject of a trial in which all Social Development Ministry contracts are bundled into one.

• Randomised trials relevant to mental health conducted in low and middle-income countries: a survey
• The importance of the concepts of disaster, catastrophe, violence, trauma and barbarism in defining posttraumatic stress disorder in clinical practice
• The incidence and prevalence of diabetes in patients with serious mental illness in North West Wales: Two cohorts, 1875–1924 & 1994–2006 compared
• Identifying patterns in treatment response profiles in acute bipolar mania: a cluster analysis approach
• An approach to measure compliance to clinical guidelines in psychiatric care
• Stress load during childhood affects psychopathology in psychiatric patients
• Development of mental health first aid guidelines for deliberate non-suicidal self-injury: A Delphi study
• Use of antipsychotics and benzodiazepines in patients with psychiatric emergencies: Results of an observational trial

Are you at increased risk for stroke? Dr. Steven Polevoi explains the risk factors associated with stroke and the diagnosis and treatment of this all too common problem.

November 14, 2009

N Bengiveno | NY Times

Reserve Sgt. Jeannette Juroff, a human resources assistant.

Presents findings from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, the most comprehensive survey to date of children’s exposure to violence in the United States. The survey was conducted between January and May 2008, and surveyed more than 4,500 children or their parents or adult caregivers regarding their past-year and lifetime exposure to violence. This Bulletin discusses the survey’s findings regard children’s direct and indirect exposure to specific categories of violence, how exposure to violence changes as children grow up, and the prevalence and incidence of multiple and cumulative exposures to violence. It also discusses the implications of the survey findings for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners who work with juvenile victims of violence.

AP | T Talbot

Officials say some psychiatric patients have had to wait in emergency rooms for hours or days until hospital beds became available.

With the support of WHO, the 194 States Parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR) have been implementing these global rules to enhance national, regional and global public health security.

OT Eldakar

The Aquarius remigis water strider on the right, identified by the blue-red-white dot sequence, is a highly aggressive male who is trying to break up a mating. The low-aggression water strider with the white-yellow-blue dots is mating with the female beneath him. The female, who has green dots near her head, is almost completely covered by the male on top of her.

Work sample exams are generally thought to have either low or comparatively low levels of ethnic group differences when used for personnel selection. Such exams are sometimes called "simulation exercises" and involve having applicants perform a set of tasks that are similar to those performed on the job. The nearly ubiquitous meta-analytic value of Black–White subgroup differences in the literature is d= .38. Unfortunately, this estimate is plagued by a variety of problems.

This report gives figures on drug seizures made by police forces and HM Revenue and Customs in England in Wales, including the number of seizures and quantities seized.

The provincial government is promising to get to the bottom of what is being called an "alarming increase" in the number of kids being placed in the custody of the province.

Reviews what interventions have been attempted to try to prevent excessive use of alcohol by young people, summarises the findings and suggests how a universal prevention programme might be delivered.

G Pender | Star Phoenix

Children's Advocate Marvin Bernstein

Becoming a full-time carer can be particularly difficult for men as it has traditionally been seen as a woman's role. Two men talk about their own experiences as carers.

This report explores some of the challenges associated with achieving the aims of raising educational attainment for deprived children living in New Deal for Communities areas, including their dispersal amongst local schools, the quality of these schools and the impact of local levels of residential mobility on attainment.

Courtesy photo

Claire Fischer plays with children at the foster home she helped found in Ghana-- the Mawuli Apeme.

J Sassi

The grant awarded to Virginia Strand, D.S.W., will address a major shortage of social workers trained in evidence-based childhood trauma treatment.

The authors are guided by a set of questions: who are social workers? What is it that social workers do? How is the social work profession changing? The authors effectively communicate their own passion and enthusiasm for social work while realistically portraying the pressures and obstacles that social workers face. Unique profiles of contemporary social workers provide insight into their lives and the profession. The relaxed tone also prompts student self-reflection about his or her role as a social worker. The 3rd edition has been redesigned around the 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards for social work education and Code of Ethics information, including topics ranging from traditional agency-based practice to less conventional settings such as political and international social work.

November 13, 2009

The recent Green Paper shows that the Government has moved on from previous statements on adult social care – but it still lacks important detail, particularly on funding options.

J Sassi

Manoj Pardasani says senior centers should be designed so that elders can give back to the community in meaningful ways.

AP

The Maoists are driven by the grievances of India's rural poor

This report analyses self-reported data on offending, drug use and anti-social behaviour amongst young people (initially aged 10 to 25) from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, which was carried out annually between 2003 and 2006. It describes levels of change in offending behaviour, anti-social behaviour and drug use within individuals and covers the timing of transitions into and out of offending, anti-social behaviour and drug use.

Compares the insurance status, usual healthcare provider, reasons for not having a usual provider, health status, and healthcare experiences of Latinos/Hispanics who are not citizens or legal permanent residents with those of Latinos/Hispanics who are.

guardian.co.uk home

Fundamental change in the treatment of dementia patients has been promised by the government

In our consultation paper we propose the repeal of 57 obsolete Acts relating to the poor law relief arrangements that existed before the advent of the modern welfare state. Indeed most of them are relics of the parish-based system that existed before 1834. The earliest of them date back to 1697 during the reign of William III and made provision for the poor in areas such as Colchester, Exeter, Hereford and Shaftesbury. Thes Acts were passed to provide the necessary powers to raise money from the inhabitants of a parish to build workhouses to contain the poor and elderly. Today these powers are obsolete and are proposed for repeal on that basis.

K Wentz-Graff

The system worked: Darryl Sanders (left) never knew his mother. His father gave him and his brothers up, and they bounced around in foster care, separated from each other at an early age. He was a troublemaker. At 11, he was put on a Greyhound bus to a new life with foster parents near Green Bay. They stuck with him. He thrived. He now advocates for troubled kids.

The system didn't work: Ryan Banks (right) never knew his mother, either. He went from his grandmother to the man everyone thought was his father to a strict uncle. An aunt took him in, but his $100 a month allowance wasn't enough. He began selling drugs for a friend's older brother. When he was 14, he shot and killed a 15-year-old boy. He's now in prison.

Looks in detail at the influences on children, including family processes and structures, peers, marketing and cultural representations, and other major forces such as religion, school and community.

Several experts representing various educational settings talk about different strategies to approach educating children on the autism spectrum.

Because of the importance of the interview in assessing behavioral disorders of childhood, practitioners need to refine the techniques they normally use with adults. This book offers a comprehensive and practical guide to the child and adolescent psychiatric interview, providing an outline of how first to elicit data from younger patients and their families, then how to organize and integrate this information to form a definitive program of care. Clinical Manual for the Psychiatric Interview of Children and Adolescents shows how to focus the exploration of common psychiatric syndromes while offering guidance in such matters as general principles of interviewing, use of the AMSIT in mental status examinations, and evaluation of both internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Additional tables on reasons for exclusion by local authority, number of pupils with one or more fixed period exclusions and number of days of fixed period exclusion at local authority level, and an update to the table on permanent exclusion by ethnicity and Government Office Region to show data at local authority level have been added.

• Psychotherapy mediated by remote communication technologies: a meta-analytic review
• Concordance between Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10) and Pakistan Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire (PADQ), in a rural self-motivated population in Pakistan
• Perceptions about the cause of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior in a Pakistani population – results of a cross-sectional survey
• Attitudes toward psychopharmacology among hospitalized patients from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds
• Understanding the explanatory model of the patient on their medically unexplained symptoms and its implication on treatment development research: a Sri Lanka Study
• The five-item Brief-Symptom Rating Scale as a suicide ideation screening instrument for psychiatric inpatients and community residents
• Helpful and hindering factors for remission in dysthymia and panic disorder at 9-year follow-up: A mixed methods study

• Provision of palliative care for chronic heart failure inpatients: how much do we need?
• Palliative care for older people – exploring the views of doctors and nurses from different fields in Germany
• Dying, death and bereavement: a qualitative study of the views of carers of people with heart failure in the UK
• Assessing the feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of Dignity Therapy for people with advanced cancer referred to a hospital-based palliative care team: Study protocol
• Dying from cancer or other chronic diseases in the Netherlands: ten-year trends derived from death certificate data
• Barriers to home care for terminally ill Turkish and Moroccan migrants, perceived by GPs and nurses: a survey
• Impact of a new palliative care consultation team on opioid prescription in a University Hospital
• Measuring the diffusion of palliative care in long-term care facilities – a death census

The literature on personality disorder in intellectual disability is notable for its paucity. The limited evidence available suggests that this population is at greater risk of personality disorder and that assessment and diagnosis is complex and often overshadowed by the intellectual disability. Few papers address treatment, there are no trial-based studies and it has not been established whether results can be extrapolated from research in the general population.

There is help for you when the person you've been caring for dies. Two former carers talk about how they coped with their grief and refound their purpose in life.

November 12, 2009

Giving older people more choice and control.

International travel is undertaken by large, and ever increasing, numbers of people for professional, social, recreational and humanitarian purposes. More people travel greater distances and at greater speed than ever before, and this upward trend looks set to continue. Travellers are thus exposed to a variety of health risks in unfamiliar environments. Most such risks, however, can be minimized by suitable precautions taken before, during and after travel. The purpose of this book to provide guidance on measures to prevent or reduce any adverse consequences for the health of travellers.

AFP

An Afghan wearing a protective mask in the streets of Kabul

This report emphasizes the need for enforceable policies to severely restrict smoking imagery in movies. It is backed by evidence indicating a causal link between exposure to movie smoking depictions and youth smoking initiation. The report summarizes current knowledge, as well as approaches to ensure that movies that are marketed to youth do not contain tobacco imagery.

REUTERS

August 13, 1961, the day the Berlin Wall was erected: A birds eye view of the former Allied Checkpoint Charlie.

The State of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, HIV Incidence in the United States provides partners with an interactive, visual method of explaining and presenting HIV incidence data. This project was conceived based on feedback from partners who expressed a desire to have CDC data in a more accessible, visual way.

Aspect Medical System | Psychiatric News

The Antidepressant Treatment Response biomarker is calculated based on quantitative electroencephalography measurements taken at two sessions: before the start of antidepressant treatment and one week into the treatment.

This book has been revised and will be given free to expectant mothers and parents in England. It is a trusted authority on all aspects of maternity, providing in-depth support, useful contact information and advice on rights and benefits.

S Lee

Children play in the fountains outside the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank, London.

Feminist research is informed by a history of breaking silences, of demanding that women’s voices be heard, recorded and included in wider intellectual genealogies and histories. This has led to an emphasis on voice and speaking out in the research endeavour. Moments of secrecy and silence are less often addressed. This gives rise to a number of questions. What are the silences, secrets, omissions and and political consequences of such moments? What particular dilemmas and constraints do they represent or entail? What are their implications for research praxis?

Cannabis use was consistently associated with increased relapse and non-adherence. Associations with other outcome measures were more disparate. Few studies adjusted for baseline illness severity, and most made no adjustment for alcohol, or other potentially important confounders. Adjusting for even a few confounders often resulted in substantial attenuation of results.

F Baron

Anna Wood, who has severe ME and is dependent on help from her home carer, was initially deemed ineligible for the new form of incapacity benefit.

This publication includes a wealth of new information on pupils with special education needs alongside further interpretation of existing findings.

As Head Prefect, Dashenee Huthamaputhiran, 17, is a friendly face around Convent Sentul High School, offering advice to students who break school rules or lending a helping hand to those in trouble. If she spots any students teasing, harassing or bullying each other, she steps in to help resolve the situation or bring the problem to the attention of her teachers.

November 11, 2009

JoongAng Daily

Six Korean adoptees filed an appeal with the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission last year to request a probe into irregularities in their adoption documents and possible illegal procedures at local adoption agencies.

JoongAng Daily

Six Korean adoptees filed an appeal with the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission last year to request a probe into irregularities in their adoption documents and possible illegal procedures at local adoption agencies.

SI Fatzinger | Fairfax County Times

Our Daily Bread food manager Christina Garris, at the food pantry's Vienna location, which is low on donations for this time of the year.

This study contrasts policy assumptions about work and worklessness with the personal experiences of residents living in deprived neighbourhoods.

A study of why cities decline, how they recover and how low-income communities within them fare under the impact of dramatic changes.

It can be difficult for carers and people with dementia to communicate.In recognition of this, JRF funded the development and delivery of a project in 2008/2009 that would train care home staff across the UK to use Talking Mats. This system, complete with a textured mat and visual symbols, helps people with communications difficulties to interact.

In an attempt to promote reconciliation, a truth commission established by Nunavut’s Qikiqtani Inuit Association in 2007 has heard testimony from more than 500 witnesses — people like Peter Irniq, one of the now ten-year-old territory’s first commissioners and Walter Rudnicki, a social worker with the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources in the ’60s.

Betsy Singer Cable, program director

Self-selection by more food-needy households into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program) makes it difficult to observe positive effects of the program in survey data. This study investigates self-selection and ameliorative program effects by examining households’ food security month by month for several months prior to initial receipt of SNAP benefits and for several months after joining the program.Two-year panels are constructed by matching the same households interviewed in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement in 2 consecutive years using data from 2001 to 2006. Food security is observed to deteriorate in the 6 months prior to beginning to receive SNAP benefits and to improve shortly after. The results clearly demonstrate the self-selection by households into SNAP at a time when they are more severely food insecure.

Independent.ie

Looking for answers: Eleven-year-old Amy Flinn was diagnosed with AS 18 months ago - "Then everything made sense," says her mum Jo.

This is Ofsted’s second report on serious case reviews. It covers the evaluations of 173 reviews carried out and completed between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. As in the first report, Learning lessons, taking action, this one brings together findings in relation to the practice issues arising from the reviews, the process of conducting them and the emerging lessons.

Journalist Max Blumenthal ties far-right ideology to authoritarian parenting styles, which he describes as methods intended "to break the will of children." He cites Republican leader James Dobson's book Dare to Discipline as a "manual for sado-masochism."

Navigating the adoption process is no easy feat. This is the only comprehensive adoption guide that includes information on health issues as well as state-specific legal procedures that influence domestic infant adoptions, intercountry adoptions, and the creation of foster families. Henry and Pollack combine a unique range of research with an accessible style as they reach out to parents, professionals, and students. The authors also address difficult topics, including openness throughout the adoption process and special considerations for cross-cultural families.

Having effective partnerships can help PDCS to reach more vulnerable groups who may be reticent about approaching a Government agency and third sector organisations can help the PDCS learn more about the customers it serves. Furthermore, by engaging effectively with third sector organisations it may be possible to determine how national policies will work at a local level, and ensure that the design of these policies and their application is as effective as possible.

Irish Times

Alan O'Brien heckles RTÉ presenter Pat Kenny on The Frontline programme

The number of countries in which the injection of drugs has been reported has increased over the last decade. The high prevalence of HIV among many populations of injecting drug users represents a substantial global health challenge. However, existing data are far from adequate, in both quality and quantity, particularly in view of the increasing importance of injecting drug use as a mode of HIV transmission in many regions.

November 10, 2009

R DOWNING | SUN NEWS

The furniture sold at Bloomin might be in need of some repair or refinishing, or might be good "as is." But, in either case, the price is right.

The aim of this multimedia learning resource is to provide a broad introduction to the issues affecting minority ethnic carers and service users with an emphasis on achieving cultural competence within individual practice.

Why a renewal of primary health care (PHC), and why now, more than ever? The immediate answer is the palpable demand for it from Member States – not just from health professionals, but from the political arena as well. Globalization is putting the social cohesion of many countries under stress, and health systems, as key constituents of the architecture of contemporary societies, are clearly not performing as well as they could and as they should.

N de la Torre | Chronicle

Marie Gonzalez, center, gets support from another inmate after a recent drug therapy session at the Harris County Jail.

Four very different communities - Gellideg in Merthyr Tydfil, Hedworth in Jarrow, South Tyneside, Broadgreen in Swindon and Barkerend in Bradford - reveal the recession's effect on real people's lives, from the social and economic impact of job losses to disaffected young people and stalled regeneration.

D Wilson | Jersey Journal

The Bayonne Jewish Community Center, at 1050 Kennedy Blvd., is one of the locations for the homeless prevention appointments.

Results: Thirteen studies were identified, ten assessing psychotherapy by telephone, two by internet and one by videoconference. Pooled effect sizes for remote therapy versus control conditions were 0.44 for depression (95%CI 0.29 to 0.59, 7 comparisons, n = 726) and 1.15 for anxiety-related disorders (95%CI 0.81 to 1.49, 3 comparisons, n = 168). There were few comparisons of remote versus face-to-face psychotherapy.

What impact is the current recession having on disadvantaged communities and what can we learn from evidence from previous recessions?

Sofia Photo Agency

Stanishev, speaking at a press conference in Sofia Monday, stated that the 2010 budget will lead to rising unemployment, bankrupt municipalities and a high level of poverty.

C Bailey | FLORIDA TODAY

Catherine Jones, 24, was 13 years old when she and her then-12-year-old brother, Curtis, left, fatally shot their father's girlfriend.

This qualitative work sought to explore the views of year 7s about their future career and educational choices, what is most likely to affect their thinking and the most effective ways to equip young people with the skills to make the optimal decisions.

Intended to help improve measurement and data collection methods in the behavioral, social, and medical sciences, this book demonstrates an expanded and accessible use of Generalizability Theory (G theory). G theory conceptually models the way in which the reliability of measurement is ascertained. Sources of score variation are identified as potential contributors to measurement error and taken into account accordingly. The authors demonstrate the powerful potential of G theory by showing how to improve the quality of any kind of measurement, regardless of the discipline.

Results: Eighteen studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified. There was strong evidence for a relationship between younger age, being diagnosed with more advanced disease, more physical symptoms and shorter time since diagnosis with increased levels of anxiety and/or depression. Additional factors (e.g. immune) tested in a few studies also emerged as correlates of distress.

For too many traumatized children and their families, chronic stressors such as poverty, substance abuse, and family or community violence—coupled with an overburdened care system—pose seemingly insurmountable barriers to treatment. This empowering book provides a user-friendly blueprint for making the most of limited resources to help those considered the "toughest cases." Evidence-based strategies are presented for effectively integrating individualized treatment with services at the home, school, and community levels. Written in an accessible, modular format with reproducible forms and step-by-step guidelines for assessment and intervention, the approach is grounded in the latest knowledge about child traumatic stress. It has been recognized as a treatment of choice by state mental health agencies nationwide.

These figures show the levels of processing and payment of student support in England for the 2009-10 academic year.

What shapes human behavior? Christopher Hudson approaches this question with an outstanding grasp of the theoretical underpinnings of the human services. In this penetrating new book, Hudson guides us through the common roots of social work and psychology with authority and lucidity to revisit the richness of human experience. Particularly notable for its integrative style, the book offers a comprehensive overview of the many theories that underlie contemporary social work practice, all carefully interpreted through the lens of complex systems theory. Hudson evaluates concepts like deep ecology, chaos theory, consciousness, diversity, and spirituality with clarity and enthusiasm, placing them in historical and theoretical contexts.

The UCLA Library presents a discussion on the details of the Google Books settlement, and its implications for libraries and the publishing world, with Jonathan Band, an attorney specializing in copyright and intellectual property. Band was joined in conversation by Sharon Farb, Associate University Librarian for Collection Management and Scholarly Communication

Kent News

Declan Henry

November 9, 2009

Bharatiya Janata Party

“Allegations and insinuations are not new to me,” Karandlaje, who holds a Masters in Social Work, had been maintaining in response to the dissidents’ charge. “I have come up the hard way. Let these people prove that I have been interfering in their work,” she had challenged.

This summary report provides a synthesis of key messages emerging from research on the strategies deployed by New Deal for Communities areas to tackle worklessness and the evidence of change and processes affecting change in relation to tackling worklessness across the 39 deprived neighbourhoods that make up the New Deal for Communities programme.

Some individuals are at increased risk of severe or complicated illness if they suffer from influenza. This guidance gives advice on protecting healthcare employees who are pregnant or in one of the other at risk groups identified for swine flu.

P Lay-Dorsey | NY Times

Patricia Lay-Dorsey

Recent policy debate has centred on a number of claims about why people do not have jobs and the benefits of employment for individual and family life. This report draws on detailed interviews with residents in deprived neighbourhoods across Britain to reflect on the validity of these assumptions at a time of recession and far-reaching welfare reform.

Prof. Hillel Schmid addresses a recent conference held by the Center for the Study of Philanthropy in Israel

GAO was asked to examine (1) what is known about the population of postsecondary students with disabilities; (2) how postsecondary schools are supporting students with disabilities; (3) what challenges, if any, schools face in supporting these students; and (4) how the Department of Education is assisting schools in supporting these students.

Party spokesperson for Social and Family Affairs, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD

“Every one of us has been affected by the child welfare system in Ontario,” says Adrienne Pelletier, Social Services Director with the Union Ontario Indians, about the native population in Ontario.

Using data from the final two rounds of the ECLS-B, a longitudinal study begun in 2001, this First Look provides a snapshot of the demographic characteristics, reading and mathematics knowledge, fine motor skills, school characteristics, and before- and after-school care arrangements of the cohort at the time they first began kindergarten

This book is different from most group work books in its emphasis on practical skill building and experiential learning. In this book, students and practitioners will find dozens of exercises that build practice-tested skills related to important aspects of group work practice. A benefit of this experiential, skill-based approach is that it meshes with the competency-based approach, which will likely become the standard for accreditation over the next several years.

Often, outcomes in clinical trials of antipsychotic medications are examined using last observation carried forward (LOCF). One limitation of LOCF and other common approaches is that they overlook the meaning underpinning trial completion and noncompletion. Noncompletion often relates to lack of drug tolerability. Because long-term treatment is often indicated, noncompletion is an important outcome. An alternative approach is to test the composite hypothesis of the difference between (a) completion rates and (b) efficacy of complete cases. Studies to date have not applied this relativelynew method. Objective: To illustrate the compo site approach, we applied it to a systematic review of studies and compared the results with the reported LOCF analysis.

• Expression of therapeutic misconception amongst Egyptians: a qualitative pilot study
• Knowledge, attitudes and practices survey on organ donation among a selected adult population of Pakistan
• Research understanding, attitude and awareness towards biobanking: a survey among Italian twin participants to a genetic epidemiological study
• Democracy: the forgotten challenge for bioethics in the developing countries
• Survey of doctors' opinions of the legalisation of physician assisted suicide
• How do parents experience being asked to enter a child in a randomised controlled trial?

G Robins | AFP Getty Images

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that a Crown prosecutor was not acting maliciously when he prosecuted 12 members of a Saskatchewan family in the early 1990s after three foster children accused them of sexual abuse and bizarre satanic ritual abuse.

The DSFA advised of the context within which they operate their anti-fraud measures – 1.2 million payments are made per week, with an additional 500,000 monthly payments across more than 50 schemes. Two million new claims are processed each year. Certain social welfare payments are more susceptible than others to fraud. Jobseeker payments and the One Parent Family Payment (OPFP) scheme are particularly high risk.

November 8, 2009

Times of Malta

Members of anti-poverty group Oxfam, wearing masks of world leaders, taking part in a demonstration outside the venue of the Barcelona Climate Change Talks.

This study suggests the idea of a 'narrative in common' – developed by local people and connecting them across different neighbourhoods and backgrounds – as a more natural and progressive idea of 'cohesion' than that promoted through current national policy.

Hai Qin, a 12-year-old girl of Hui ethnic group, feeds a cattle in Kaicheng Town of Guyuan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Young people in the United States are at persistent risk for HIV infection. This risk is especially notable for youth of minority races and ethnicities. Continual HIV prevention outreach and education efforts, including programs on abstinence and on delaying the initiation of sex, are required as new generations replace the generations that benefited from earlier prevention strategies. Unless otherwise noted, this fact sheet defines youth, or young people, as persons who are 13–24 years of age.

Farmer Geda Shenu, who lives in a drought-hit rural area near the town of Meki, Ethiopia, is struggling to feed his children and has petitioned for government assistance. The Ethiopian government has restricted coverage of the drought and is hampering the work of international aid groups.

Child poverty commands widespread national and international concern. The United Kingdom (UK) has established its ambitions to end child poverty, with interim targets for substantial reductions and an apparatus to monitor progress. However, the poverty of ethnic minority children has not been strongly emphasised within the child poverty agenda by means, for example, of specific targets for ethnic minority groups. This is despite the fact that children from minority ethnic groups are overrepresented among poor children.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), its components, and federations of labour have selected Nov. 6 to recognize the contributions made by Canadian Community Social Service (CSS) Workers.

Presents findings from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, the most comprehensive survey to date of children’s exposure to violence in the United States. The survey was conducted between January and May 2008, and surveyed more than 4,500 children or their parents or adult caregivers regarding their past-year and lifetime exposure to violence. This Bulletin discusses the survey’s findings regard children’s direct and indirect exposure to specific categories of violence, how exposure to violence changes as children grow up, and the prevalence and incidence of multiple and cumulative exposures to violence. It also discusses the implications of the survey findings for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners who work with juvenile victims of violence.

BBC

A social worker wrongly dismissed from her job following the murder of a baby in Swansea has accepted a pay-out from her former employers.

Addressing disproportionate minority contact (DMC) with the juvenile justice system is a core requirement of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act. More important, it is a fundamental matter of justice and fair play.

Part of the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Treatment of Traumatized Adults and Children provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence. Edited by renowned educators Allen Rubin and David W. Springer, this thoroughly useful reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide, and covers the following interventions that have the best empirical support for treating posttraumatic stress disorder

Results: The review reported here found a significantly increased risk of Alzheimer's disease with current smoking and a likely but not significantly increased risk of vascular dementia, dementia unspecified and cognitive decline. Neither review found clear relationships with former smoking. Conclusion: Current smoking increases risk of Alzheimer's disease and may increase risk of other dementias. This reinforces need for smoking cessation, particularly aged 65 and over. Nicotine alone needs further investigation.

“There are a lot of children domestically that need homes. Every year, there are 13,000 to 15,000 that are infants adopted … but really the majority of adoptions that occur in the U.S. are adoptions from the foster care system.” – Michael McDonald

November 7, 2009

London Evening Standard

Struck off: Craig McLoughlin offered to buy detox patients a double whisky

Director of Social Work Andrew Lowe has warned that 27% more social workers are needed across Scotland by 2017 if the department is to keep up with population increases.

The most challenging and troubled young people need concerted, persistent help to deal with their problems and improve their behaviour. Traditional approaches do not work for these young people whose needs are especially complex, whose issues are particularly ingrained, whose behaviour is exceptionally difficult. Intensive Intervention Projects (IIPs) have been established to make a difference to these young people.

This article describes the development and preliminary effectiveness of a campus suicide prevention program designed for American Indian (AI) students who are at higher risk for suicide compared with the general population. Using the medicine wheel as a guiding framework, the current prevention model integrates communication links between AI tribes and prevention program staff, educational and cultural programming, and spiritual ceremonies with the larger campus mental health resources available to students. A discussion of the barriers faced and solutions generated for implementing the program is offered, along with suggestions for disseminating this AI-specific prevention program to other universities.

BBC

A social work director has said meeting new guidance on free personal and nursing care is placing fresh demands on an "over stretched" budget.

Early in the epidemic, HIV infection and AIDS were diagnosed for relatively few women and female adolescents (although we know now that many women were infected with HIV through injection drug use but that their infections were not diagnosed). Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Women of color are especially affected by HIV infection and AIDS.

M Sears

After formally notifying Russell Seager’s family in Mount Pleasant that Seager had been killed in the shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, a military officer returns to the home to assist the family.

iStockphoto | J Metzger

New research shows that highly embellished graphs and charts may actually help people understand data more effectively than traditional graphs.

The tragedy of suicide is dreaded by everyone. Tribal child welfare workers are no exception. Fortunately, they are in a position to do something about it. The purpose of this toolkit is to help tribal child welfare workers and care providers play an effective role in the prevention of suicide among the children and youth they serve. The tribal child welfare worker needs to consider several questions to be effective:

Bill Clark has been suspended for a week

The increasing number of homeless students in the United States, particularly in the wake of the current economic downturn, is reaching crisis proportions. Research has begun to identify particular risks and negative outcomes homeless children face in their school, social, and family lives. In academic settings, there are more attempts at providing supports to homeless students, but the effectiveness of these interventions has only recently begun to be measured. One reason for measurement challenges is the difficulty in identifying homeless and highly mobile students, particularly as they move between school districts and are reluctant to self-identify to school staff.

iStockphoto

New research suggests that three-year-old children who are exposed to more TV appear to be at an increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior.

This review does not suggest that there are any particular volunteer tutoring models that should be recommended for immediate adoption for schools and districts across the country. Rather, we can conclude from the analysis that these programs can positively influence important reading and language sub-skills for young students. The results are substantial – approximately one-third standard deviation.

In 2008 Peter Townsend celebrated his 80th birthday, and also 60 years since his first published work. His career covered different disciplines within the social sciences - primarily sociology and social policy but to a lesser extent social anthropology, philosophy, international relations and political economy - and he has worked alongside academics, Cabinet Ministers and human rights campaigners. The range of his work was exceptional - from inner city deprivation, older people contemplating retirement, exclusion on the basis of class, race, gender, age and disability, individual versus state responsibility for health, the social purposes and viability of residential institutions and hospitals, child and extended family development, and persistent poverty.

BBC

Anthony May said the council was committed to improving services

This document sets out how DCSF intends to deliver the guarantee of good behaviour across schools in England, acting upon the recommendations of Sir Alan Steer’s behaviour review.

Twenty years ago, the Convention on the Rights of the Child became the first international convention to affirm human rights for all children. Author and human rights spokesperson Ishmael Beah speaks about the right children have to be protected from the violence and brutality of armed conflict.

November 6, 2009

REUTERS | R Ranoco

Residents wade through knee-deep floodwaters brought by Typhoon Ketsana in Taytay Rizal, east of Manila.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a serious threat to the Hispanic/Latino community. Hispanics/Latinos* comprise 15% of the U.S. population but accounted for 17% of all new HIV infections occurring in the United States in 2006. During the same year, the rate of new HIV infections among Hispanics/Latinos was 2.5 times that of whites. In 2006, HIV/AIDS was the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic/Latino men and women aged 35–44.

T Karumba | AFP, Getty Images

Irene Khan is retiring after eight years as the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in African American communities is a continuing public health crisis for the United States. At the end of 2006 there were an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV infection, of which almost half (46%) were black/African American. While blacks represent approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population, they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV/AIDS—from infection with HIV to death with AIDS—compared with members of other races and ethnicities.

This research was carried out by researchers on the British Social Attitudes team and in the Questionnaire Development and Testing Hub (QDT Hub) at NatCen to test questions on attitudes to child poverty for use on the British Social Attitudes survey (BSA). The objectives were to:
• explore the effectiveness of existing survey questions regarding poverty generally; and
• develop and test a new set of questions exploring public attitudes to child poverty.

The Globe and Mail

Sam Mellace with a few of his pot plants inside his medical marijuana growing operation at his home in Miracle Valley, B.C.

The report structure covers six specific themes. These themes formed the basis of the interview structure, although most are interlinked in some way. The themes are: partnerships and multi-agency working; choice of interventions and models of practice; engaging stakeholders (schools, children, young people and parents); evaluation; financial planning; and influencing system change in children’s mental health services.

File photo by The Republican

Picketers march in protest in front of a Springfield welfare office where arrests were made during a sit-in planned by Wade Rathke.

YLE

The number of children placed in foster care is growing in Finland. Meanwhile, basic services for kids have undergone drastic cuts in recent years.

There are many interrelated aspects of children’s well-being, and only selected facets can be included in this report. This report draws on various overarching frameworks to identify seven major domains that characterize the well-being of a child and that influence the likelihood that a child will grow to be a well-educated, economically secure, productive, and healthy adult. The seven domains are family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. These domains are interrelated and can have synergistic effects on well-being.

Journalist Max Blumenthal links prominent members of the Religious Right to a number of gay sex scandals. Blumenthal says, "the party of family values is revealed as the largest walk-in 'closet' in America."

Now fully revised and updated, Clinical Interviewing offers both the scientific basis and interpersonal aspects of mental health interviewing. Presenting a clear and engaging picture of how to interview clients in therapy, the new edition of this bestselling text reflects current research and includes important expansion of multicultural content throughout. Graduate students in social work, counseling, and psychology will gain insight into and practical examples of useful interviewing techniques for more effective therapy.

• Overstating the evidence – double counting in meta-analysis and related problems
• A semiparametric Bayesian proportional hazards model for interval censored data with frailty effects
• Investigating the impact of extraneous distractions on consultations in general practice: Lessons learned
• A multivariate hierarchical Bayesian approach to measuring agreement in repeated measurement method comparison studies
• Quality assessment of diagnostic before-after studies: development of methodology in the context of a systematic review
• Assessment of regression-based methods to adjust for publication bias through a comprehensive simulation study
• Spontaneous improvement in randomised clinical trials: meta-analysis of three-armed trials comparing no treatment, placebo and active intervention

We included 12 RCTs with 306 participants. Only four had adequate allocation concealment, that is a low risk of selection bias. A large number of outcome measures were reported. Only six studies measured disability and two investigated whether the effects persisted. The overall effect (standardised mean difference) on disability had a wide confidence interval that included zero and was not statistically significant. For discharge destination there were clinically significant effects but in both directions and the confidence interval of the odds ratio included one. In contrast, cognitive rehabilitation did improve performance on some, but not all, standardised neglect tests. The number of cancellation errors made was reduced and the ability to find the midpoint of a line improved immediately and persisted at follow up. These effects appeared likely to generalise from the samples studied to the target population, but were based on a small number of studies.

GM's Windsor transmission plant

This leaflet sets out the powers that schools have in relation to children’s behaviour, every parent’s responsibility for ensuring the good behaviour of their children, and what parents can expect from the school.

November 5, 2009

India has one of the world's most diverse and complex migration histories. Since the 19th century, ethnic Indians have established communities on every continent as well as on islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Shobha Karandlaje, the lone woman minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) and a post-graduate in social work, is not a push over.

D Fitzmaurice | NY Times

PARENTING Bryan Leahy and Melissa Calapini with their children in Olivehurst, Calif.

At the end of 2006, an estimated 1.1 million persons in the United States were living with diagnosed or undiagnosed HIV/AIDS. In 2007, 42,655 new cases of HIV/AIDS in adults, adolescents, and children were diagnosed in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting.

CNA

Don Mendell appearing in the TV ad in favor of Question 1

HIV continues to pose a significant threat to Americans’ health and well-being, with African Americans and men who have sex with men (MSM) of all races most severely affected. While African Americans account for 13 percent of the population, they account for nearly half of HIV diagnoses in 2005 (49% in 33 states with longstanding confidential name-based reporting) and nearly half of the people estimated to be living with HIV (47%). MSM also account for half of new HIV diagnoses in 2005 (49% in the 33 states with confidential name-based reporting) and nearly half of people estimated to be living with HIV (45%).

Dr. Joanna Mellor, assistant professor, serves as Wurzweiler’s liaison to the financial literacy curriculum project.

While youth are in care, their foster homes are paid monthly to house and care for them. However, once youth age out of care, they experience high rates of homelessness. Homelessness can be attributed to many factors, and chief among them is health: physical health, trauma, developmental delays, disabilities, addictions and mental health. Because current and former foster youth are more likely to experience mental health problems and have higher rates of other health needs, these youth are less likely to be able to retain stable housing. Services that provide therapeutic care, or employment and educational opportunities can help youth retain housing.

People wait to apply for food stamps in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The studies included in this systematic review indicate that CCTV has a modest but significant desirable effect on crime, is most effective in reducing crime in car parks, is most effective when targeted at vehicle crimes (largely a function of the successful car park schemes), and is more effective in reducing crime in the U.K. than in other countries.

C Robertson

The child development center on Williams St.

• Using television shows to teach communication skills in internal medicine residency
• A case study for teaching information literacy skills
• An analysis of lecture video utilization in undergraduate medical education: associations with performance in the courses
• Procedural confidence in hospital based practitioners: implications for the training and practice of doctors at all grades
• A tool for self-assessment of communication skills and professionalism in residents

More than two million Guatemalans live in extreme poverty, and nearly half of the children in Guatemala are malnourished. In some areas, nearly every child is affected. Most suffer from chronic malnutrition, which means that while they are getting enough calories, the food they eat is severely lacking in vitamins and protein.

Becoming a social worker: real students, real clients and real growth and Becoming a social worker with older adults are unique teaching resources for MSW and BSW social work classes. It is produced by a professor of social work and was filmed as part of a longitudinal study of foundation level students during their foundation level field experience. The two volume DVD set includes 14 short vignettes (approximately 10 minutes each), which can be used individually to trigger class discussions. Each vignette shows social work students working with clients, in supervision or being interviewed about their field experiences. All clients are older adults, thereby exposing students to a population that they may be unfamiliar with and will encounter in their professional careers. The DVD is accompanied by an on-line study guide for use in teaching foundation practice, field work education and practice with older adults. Sample vignettes and purchase information available on www.becomingasocialworker.org

This document sets out the committee’s strategic priorities for 2009-10.

November 4, 2009

RTE

ICTU plan: 'Borrowing can be increased'

The Government has high-profile child poverty targets which are assessed using a measure of income, as recorded in the Household Below Average Income series (HBAI). However, income is an imperfect measure of living standards. Previous analysis suggests that some children in households with low income do not have commensurately low living standards. This report aims to document the extent to which this is true, focusing on whether children in low-income households have different living standards depending on whether their parents are employed, self-employed, or workless.

Clinical research presents health care providers with information on the natural history and clinical presentations of disease as well as diagnostic and treatment options. In today's healthcare system, patients, physicians, clinicians and family caregivers often lack the sufficient scientific data and evidence they need to determine the best course of treatment for the patients' medical conditions. Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research(CER) is designed to fill this knowledge gap by assisting patients and healthcare providers across diverse settings in making more informed decisions.

AP | Lionsgate, AM Fox)

In this film publicity image released by Lionsgate films, Gabourey Sidibe is shown in a scene from "Precious."

These profiles review the major features of the countries’ health coverage, financing and service delivery policies and provide links to articles with more information.

Decades of racial progress have led some researchers and policymakers to doubt that discrimination remains an important cause of economic inequality. To study contemporary discrimination we conducted a field experiment in the low-wage labor market of New York City. The experiment recruited white, black, and Latino job applicants, called testers, who were matched on demographic characteristics and interpersonal skills. The testers were given equivalent resumes and sent to apply in tandem for hundreds of entry-level jobs. Our results show that black applicants were half as likely to receive a callback or job offer relative to equally qualified whites.

A Richardson

Senior project worker Linda Wood in the garden of the Dundee flats where the project has been bringing positive results.

This exploratory study, relying upon statewide administrative education and child welfare data, examined the special education use and child protection involvement of a cohort of children who received Part C services in Minnesota as infants and toddlers during the late 1990s. We explored this in two ways: by examining what proportion of Part C children did not need special education by elementary school, and; by selecting a series of comparison groups of children who did not receive Part C, but who may have had eligibility as infants and toddlers.

K Dundar | Student Life

A Washington University police officer turns on to Forsyth Boulevard in his patrol car Sunday afternoon. Following an alleged incident of racial profiling by a Washington University police officer, a fact-finding commission has been formed to investigate the accusation.

Because of its cost-effective nature, group work has become the treatment approach of choice in a broad range of human service agencies. This practical guide offers the skills and awareness needed to effectively navigate the many intricacies of working in groups within diverse agency settings. Its unique agency perspective includes coverage of agency structure, policies, history, staff, politics, and client demographics. Practitioners are equipped with strategic planning in ways that can positively maximize their use of available resources within themselves, their agencies, and the surrounding community.

This booklet offers guidance to learning disability partnership boards to help them ensure that carers of people with learning disabilities and carers with learning disabilities are supported in their own right and involved in local service developments that affect their lives and the lives of the people they care for.

Meet the students who have helped make UC Berkeleys "Global Poverty & Practice" program the fastest-growing minor on campus. Chosen by about 300 students from a wide range of disciplines, the program teaches students about the problem of poverty and sends them out into the field to carry out their own projects to alleviate poverty somewhere in the world.

Three small studies met the inclusion criteria. Two compared cognitive rehabilitation to a placebo intervention (total n=84), and the other to occupational therapy (n=33). Although cognitive rehabilitation was as acceptable as placebo and occupational therapy, with low attrition in both groups, no effects were demonstrated on measures of mental state, social behaviour, or cognitive functioning. An effect, in favour of cognitive rehabilitation, on a measure of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, MD 6.3 CI 1.07-11.53 ) is worthy of replication in any future trials.

November 3, 2009

C Thomond

A gallery of old photographs of ­residents ­brightens up a corridor at ­Peppermill Court in North Yorkshire.

This is a letter from Deputy Director of Cross Government Programmes, Stakeholder and Partner Relationships Claire Phillips. It seeks views from a wide range of stakeholders on the Department of Health’s Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls.

Eighty-five percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2008, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (14.6 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 5.7 percent with very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food.

Global health has emerged as a growing field, particularly over the past decade. Greater recognition of the global AIDS crisis, combined with the appearance and rapid international spread of epidemics such as SARS and H1N1 (swine flu) have reinforced that health threats transcend national borders. While much of the media attention has focused on epidemic infectious diseases, global health also encompasses a wider scope of health problems, determinants, and solutions, such as chronic illnesses and injuries, development, and foreign aid.

Taking her place ... Joan Pilone at Sydney Town Hall in 1966.

This is a fact sheet to assist social scientists in meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act when carrying out social science research that includes people who lack capacity.

E Parrinder

Peter, 44, and his partner adopted brothers.

This brief provides an overview of national postsecondary assessment efforts and notes the similarities and differences these approaches have taken in comparison to college rankings, presents several examples of the inclusion of college rankings in state government assessment efforts, highlights key findings, and makes recommendations for enhancing the policy relevance of college rankings. Key findings and recommendations are drawn from a review of the literature on college rankings and postsecondary government accountability systems, and from interviews with individuals from federal and state government agencies, trade associations, and other groups.

This brief provides an overview of national postsecondary assessment efforts and notes the similarities and differences these approaches have taken in comparison to college rankings, presents several examples of the inclusion of college rankings in state government assessment efforts, highlights key findings, and makes recommendations for enhancing the policy relevance of college rankings. Key findings and recommendations are drawn from a review of the literature on college rankings and postsecondary government accountability systems, and from interviews with individuals from federal and state government agencies, trade associations, and other groups.

E Freund (NFS)

Erika Freund, left, and Mama Hanz, one of the Mama Machumba women, collect banana leaves in the Tanzanian village of Meru this past summer.

In the aftermath of the death and subsequent public outrage over the case of Baby P - now identified as Peter Connolly - Panorama gained access to child protection workers in Coventry in a bid to understand the challenges of social work in Britain today.

7 Outcomes in the Areas of Safety, Permanency, and Child and Family Well-Being

The North American premiere of the feature film Irena Sendler's Children (orig. Dzieci Ireny Sendlerowej) will be held in Toronto on Nov. 8

Although a vast majority of the selected studies . . . show noncustodial sanctions to be more beneficial in terms of re-offending than custodial sanctions, no significant difference is found in the meta-analysis based on four controlled and one natural experiments.

This unique collection brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive range of key writing by international leaders in the field from a wide range of sources, which explain the concepts, actors and processes that constitute global social policy. It covers the emergence of global social policy as a dynamic and expanding field of study and practice, the transformation of welfare from a predominantly national to a global field of action, and the impact of globalisation on key welfare discourses and governance mechanisms.

CL JIN

There might not be much physical difference between the old days and now but there is a huge change in attitude in the treatment of mental patients.

Diarrhoea is the second leading killer of children. Nearly one in five children under the age of five dies as a result of dehydration, weakened immunity or malnutrition associated with diarrhoea. But it is a preventable and easily treatable disease. It is a tragedy that diarrhoea, which is little more than an inconvenience in the developed world, kills an estimated 1.5 million children each year, said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

November 2, 2009

Three-quarters of online economic users go online to relax and take their minds off of the recession. Fully 88% of 18-29 year old online economic users look to the internet to relax.

B Beawiharta | Reuter/Reuters

A mental patient named Totok reacts as he is given a shower at the Galuh foundation house in East Bekasi, outskirt of Jakarta.

In Arkansas and Oklahoma, men and women marry young -- half of first-time brides in these states were age 24 or younger on their wedding day. These states also have above-average shares of women who divorced in 2007-2008. It's the opposite state of affairs in Massachusetts and New York. Their residents marry late -- half of ever-married New York men were older than age 30 when they first wed. These states also have below-average shares of men and women who divorced in 2007-2008.

Women and children in north-western Pakistan are once again on the move because of conflict in the region. "Overall, the situation is quite precarious," said UNICEF Senior Emergency Specialist Marc Salvail. "Luckily, the UN had established bases so that we could act swiftly. The latest influx of internally displaced people comes not as a surprise, but we had not expected that such a large number would move in so few days."

Most poverty data come from studies conducted at one point in time, or from annual studies conducted on a different set of people every year. In the 1970s and 1980s, when researchers began analyzing information from longitudinal studies, a dynamic view of poverty began to emerge. The longitudinal data (collected from the same set of people for several years) show that a majority of poor individuals do not remain poor for very long periods of time and a relatively high proportion of people have experienced poverty at one point or another.

F Lum | The Globe and Mail

Don Blair, 85, used to go four times a week on the bus but now has it down to two, due to ill health. He goes to Quebec but also Gananoque, where he can get the bus for free from his Brockville home.

Refugee women are more affected by violence against women than any other women’s population in the world and all refugee women are at risk of
rape or other forms of sexual violence. Sexual violence is regarded the UN as one of the worst global protection challenges due to its scale, prevalence and profound impact. Up to half a million women were raped during the Rwandan genocide; more than 90% of women and girls over the age of three suffered sexual violence in parts of Liberia, while three out of four women have survived sexual violence in parts of Eastern Congo.

AFP

A man walks past appartment blocks at Slotervaart neighborhood in Amsterdam

The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 has the potential to transform children’s health care in the United States. The authors of this report analyze selected provisions of the legislation that involve outreach and enrollment, as well as child health quality and measurement.

M James

Star student Charles Frost and his mom, Janet Cummings, a social worker

An information pack has been produced by the Care Council for Wales to help communicate the campaign messages to as wide an audience as possible – be it those receiving social care services, those working in the sector or members of the general public.

"In the 40 years since Stonewall, the Congress of the United States has done almost nothing to further equality for LGBT Americans," says Democratic political strategist Steve Hildebrand. Referencing "don't ask, don't tell" and gay marriage, Hildebrand says Congress has actually reversed progress for the gay community.

Part of the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Substance Abuse Treatment for Youth and Adults provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence. Edited by renowned educators David W. Springer and Allen Rubin, this thorough yet practical reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide. Each chapter serves as a practitioner-focused how-to guide and covers interventions that have the best empirical support for treating substance abuse problems,

Two trials, involving 18 participants, were included. One study compared the effectiveness of a mnemonic strategy treatment group with a 'drill and practice' control, while the other compared the effectiveness of an imagery mnemonics programme with a 'pragmatic' memory rehabilitation control programme. Formal meta-analyses could not be performed due to a paucity of studies and lack of commonly-employed outcome measures. The results do not show any significant effect of memory rehabilitation on performance of objective memory tests, and no significant effects of treatment on subjective and observer-rated measures of memory.

92% of the older people surveyed said they knew little or nothing about the government's new scheme to introduce personal budgets for social care

November 1, 2009

B Chamberlin | LA Times

An abandoned truck in Hayfork, Calif. Pot farmers are filling an economic void left by the logging industry. The unemployment rate in the county was 15.9% in September.

The Commission has been working with the Government Equalities Office (GEO), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and a range of other stakeholders and subject experts to develop a measurement framework that can be used to assess equality and human rights across a range of domains relevant to 21st century life.

The Guardian

Mira Hamermesh with one of the cattle trucks used to transport Jews to the death camps, preserved as a memorial

All of us who work with families carry into our work a whole set of beliefs and values about family life and how children should be cared for. This learning object is designed to make you aware of these personal values and how they might impact on your practice.

Intersections in South Allison Hill, such as this one at 13th and Derry, have more retail potential, argues William Bellinger.

The failure of many banks, runs on banks, and a general climate of financial panic played an important role in the Great Depression. After taking office in early March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a radio address (a "Fireside Chat") outlining federal strategy to reopen the banking system. The system had been closed as part of a "bank holiday" declared by president to halt panics and runs. Although many other aspects of New Deal policy often receive more attention, backing up the banking system at least prevented the Depression from worsening. Prevention of financial panics remains an important economic policy in the contemporary world.

HA Barrios

The Californian Amber Sikola Rodrigues holds her father, fallen B.P.D. officer William Sikola's badge. Amber was a 1-year-old when he died.

Presents survey findings on bilingual clinicians, staff, interpreters, and volunteers providing language services; training and assessment; hospital policies; and their impact. Recommends explicit policies, robust assessments, and proactive approaches.

The survey confirms that most of our society’s children are exposed to violence in their daily lives. More than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly (i.e., as a witness to a violent act; by learning of a violent act against a family member, neighbor, or close friend; or from a threat against their home or school).

Happy family, Robynne and Ian Feavearyear with their three adopted children and their own child, Noah, 2, at their home at Buxton.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

Current major depression has been associated with worse clinical outcome among substance-dependent patients. The data are less clean on the prognostic implications of a past depression or elevated depressive symptoms without identification of a depressive disorder. These epidemiological data suggest that a co-occurring depressive disorder is important and warrants clinical attention.

In The Means to Grow Up, Robert Halpern describes the pedagogical importance of "apprenticeship"—a growing movement based in schools, youth-serving organizations, and arts, civic, and other cultural institutions. This movement aims to re-engage youth through in-depth learning and unique experiences under the guidance of skilled professionals. Employing a "pedagogy of apprenticeship," these experiences combine specific, visceral, and sometimes messy work with opportunity for self-expression, increasing responsibility, and exposure to the adult world.

MT 3.121