Ester R. Shapiro

Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice in Bereavement: Report from the Center for the Advancement of Health.

ABSTRACT This article discusses issues in bridging the gap between research and practice in the field of bereavement. A conceptual framework is developed that emphasizes that the gulf reflects the lack of exchange and mutual influence between researchers and practitioners. Studies are presented using qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a better understanding of the nature of the gap between research and practice in bereavement. Finally recommendations are made for practitioners, researchers, and organizations to take steps toward more thoroughly integrating bereavement research and practice for the advancement of both.

Developing Diverse, Collaborative Leaders: An Empirical Program Evaluation

Recent work in leadership studies emphasizes the importance of developing leaders who can foster collaboration within diverse workgroups. However, leadership development programs are rarely evaluated using measures that link (a) the program’s theoretical framework, (b) its pedagogical practice, and (c) participants’ changes in specific relevant domains, in comparison to those of a peer group. This study used a quasi-experimental design to empirically evaluate the University of Massachusetts at Boston’s Emerging Leaders Program for its impact on diverse participants coming from corporate and nonprofit sectors in Greater Boston.The program promoted collaborative and inclusive leadership practices among diverse leaders, conceptualized and operationalized using Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Practices Inventory with instructional methods based in an action learning model. In comparison to a control group, program participants reported greater changes in the frequency of their collaborative leadership behaviors. A critical incident in the program is described using participant observation to illustrate how the program’s reflection-in-action pedagogy promoted collaborative learning in addressing diversity. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Latina Re-Visionings of Participatory Health Promotion Practice: Cultural and Ecosystemic Perspectives Linking Personal and Social Change

This article presents Latina re-visionings of ecosystemic and participatory health promotion practice linking personal and social change in gender, culture, and politics of shared development. The authors, a Cuban-American clinical psychologist and a Chicana/Italian-American PhD student, apply transnational and multiracial frameworks informing strengths-based, collaborative practice connecting womens lived experiences of struggle and striving with resources promoting wellness and equity. We describe how massive workplace raids in New Bedford, MA required re-examining sociopolitical implications of our practice, expanding collaborations with Community-Based Organizations while making connections between politics of every day life, culturally meaningful gender justice, and practice of social change.

Special Considerations for Working with Cubans in Integrated Care: Intergenerational Perspectives on Life-Course Health Promotion

This chapter reviews the existing literature on Cuban Americans in the U.S., their circumstances of migration, demographic status, health and mental health status, and interventions in health and mental health. Recognizing the limited literature focusing specifically on Cuban Americans, the chapter also brings in useful frameworks from broader Latino health/mental health and cultural competence perspectives, highlighting historically and contextually informed intergenerational life-course perspectives that place family at the center. This chapter argues for, and models, cultivation of clinician reflexivity, defined as systematic assessment of personal and professional experiences and assumptions as these impact knowledge. Reflexivity is required for both assessing personal assumptions as they inform patient care specifically with Cuban American patients and their families, and in assessing literatures which may contain biases regarding approaches to health care and what constitutes quality health care in U.S. and global perspectives. The Cuban health care system, considered exemplary in global health and mental health (Cloninger et al. Int J Pers Cent Med, 4(2), 69–89, 2014; Shapiro and Louro Bernal. Global mental health, 2014), has influenced this chapter’s perspective on family-centered integrative care for Cuban American families. Further, the Cuban health care system informs the knowledge of health systems and personal choices of many Cuban families who are increasingly transnational as the ability to visit Cuba and maintain family ties has grown with increased political engagement between the two countries.