Francis K. O. Yuen

Intimate Partner Violence and Women with Disabilities: Toward Bringing Visibility to an Unrecognized Population

ABSTRACT Although women with disabilities experience abuse at alarming rates, research exploring the unique experiences and the dimensions of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the lives of women with disabilities is in its infancy. This article attempts to highlight multidimensional factors for consideration in addressing the needs of women with disabilities who are victims of abuse and violence. Risk factors related to the vulnerability that disabilities pose for IPV victimization are explored in relation to consequent limitations of the traditional models of domestic violence. Feminist disability theory as a viable theory for framing meaningful research and informing effective and accessible prevention and intervention for women with disabilities who are victims of IPV is introduced.

Social Work, Strengths Perspective, and Disaster Management: Roles of Social Workers and Models for Intervention

In recent times, there have been more reports of earthquakes and other calamities such as hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, tsunamis, heat waves, and bushfi res, as well as wars and other man-made disasters in various places in the world: Japan, Chile, Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, India, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, and the United States (Coppola, 2011). Whether homogenic or natural disasters, they both present great challenges to society and every community tries to deal with them, ameliorating their impact or, even better, preventing them from reoccurring (Coppola, 2011). This special issue of the Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation seeks to learn from the collective experiences of responding to disasters and to develop principles and strategies for social recovery useful for social workers practicing in different cross-national contexts. In this special issue, the authors have outlined the nature and context of the disasters, as well as the theoretical frame utilized in disaster recovery. The focus of this issue is specifically on applying the strengths and community, as well as capacity building, theories for disaster intervention. There is a summary of new insights and learning, including a reflection of what more could be done, such as preventive strategies, risk reduction, policy and planning.

Effective Substance Abuse Treatment for Asian American Adolescents

This paper examines therapeutic and cultural factors related to effective substance abuse treatment for Asian American adolescents. The authors discuss recommendations for developing effective and culturally competent treatment service for minority populations. They present three effective and culturally appropriate treatment models: Psychosocial Model, Community Treatment Model, and Cognitive Behavioral Model.

From Cambodians to Bosnians: Interventions for Refugee Families Suffering from War Trauma

This article is an impressionistic reflection of how human service agencies in San Jose, California, U.S.A., have helped refugee families from war‐torn Cambodia and Bosnia. It is also a synopsis of some of the lessons learned from working with these refugee families. These experiences have influenced the capacity‐building, empowering, and mentoring aspects of a new collaborative project that aims to assist Bosnian refugees as they adjust to American life.

Effective Strategies for Preventing Substance Abuse Among Children and Adolescents

This paper provides an overview of substance abuse prevention strategies targeting children and adolescents in the United States. The effectiveness of several major prevention approaches and programs and their implications for service providers are also discussed.

The Impact of Hospice Patient Disease Type and Length of Stay on Caregiver Utilization of Grief Counseling: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.

This investigation explored the relationship between hospice patient disease type, length of stay (LOS) in hospice, and caregiver utilization of grief counseling in bereavement. A 10-year retrospective study was conducted utilizing data from caregivers associated with hospice patients who died between 2004 and 2014. A threshold of inclusion for disease type (≥1.00% of hospice admissions) resulted in a sample size of 3704 patients, comprising 19 different disease types and 348 associated caregivers who received counseling. Replicating a previous study, brain cancer, lung cancer, and renal failure were among the top 4 disease types associated with higher-than-average utilization of bereavement services among caregivers, regardless of the patient’s LOS. This finding may be related to factors such as the duration of the disease, the deterioration of the patient, the absence of symptom control, and secondary losses. LOS as a predictor of whether counseling will be utilized by hospice caregivers was unsupported by this study, as the percentage of caregivers receiving counseling closely paralleled the patient’s LOS across 4 cohorts (1-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, and 91+ days). However, among the caregivers who utilized counseling, the LOS was a statistically significant predictor of the number of counseling sessions utilized. For caregivers who utilized only 1 counseling session, the associated patient median LOS was 21.5 days. For caregivers who utilized 5 or more counseling sessions, the associated patient median LOS dropped to 12 days, suggesting an inverted relationship between hospice patient LOS and the duration of counseling in bereavement.

Contemporary Perspectives on Social Work in Acquired Brain Injury: An Introduction

ABSTRACT This special issue of the Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, “Contemporary Perspectives on Social Work in Acquired Brain Injury,” has been initiated and coordinated by the International Network of Social Workers in Acquired Brain Injury (INSWABI). In introducing the issue, some space is allocated for providing definitions of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and acquired brain injury (ABI), outlining the epidemiology and global costs, and detailing the impairments and psychosocial impacts for both the person sustaining the injury and his or her family. Finally, an outline of the articles contributing to this special issue are detailed, followed by a brief discussion about the role of the INSWABI network in promoting best practice in social work within this specialty area.

The Affordable Care Act: A Comprehensive and Integrated Approach to Health Care

This special issue tries to capture the essence of a monumental piece of public health history and its implications for health and behavioral health care in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is in the process of being implemented as this introduction is being written. Although the legislation is not considered perfect by many advocates, the enrollment process for ACA has begun across America. An estimated 32 million people will become eligible for health insurance. With the help of ACA, health will become a right for all Americans and the United States will finally have health reform, comprehensive health insurance, holistic integrated health and behavioral health care, along with a measure of cost control. When our team of authors started writing, we felt the enthusiasm of President Barack Obama’s promise to make ACA his top domestic initiative and a hallmark of his administration and legacy. We remained undaunted, even when several states filed suit, and the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the legality of most of the major provisions of ACA. Already, 3 million young adults have benefited from the provision that allows individuals to remain covered by their parents’ health insurance until age 26. However, at this writing, there is opposition in Congress to the ACA legislation and some states indicate they will not fully participate in the ACA implementation. Perhaps we will have to wait to see how many eligible Americans will enroll in the Medicaid expansion provisions, the next major step in the ACA implementation. For those who enroll in the Medicaid expansion, most of whom are expected to be people of color, how satisfied will they be with the services they receive and how well will the service providers respond to the increase in demand for culturally competent, integrated, health and behavioral health services? Meanwhile, health and behavioral health care professionals, service institutions, consumers, and other stakeholders should prepare for the full implementation of ACA. Being alert to changing federal policies and being flexible and adaptive will be helpful in the coming months. We hope this special issue will assist anyone interested in seeing that ACA fulfills its promise. This issue is organized into two sections. The first section encompasses articles that address ACA as federal policy and legislation in terms of its Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, 13:1–3, 2014 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1536-710X print=1536-7118 online DOI: 10.1080/1536710X.2013.870519

Psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery: a journey in reframing disability.

The articles contained in this special issue are authored by individuals who share not only their professional knowledge and content expertise (i.e., as educators, social workers, nurses, psychologists, physicians, and psychiatrists), but often also their lived experience as family members, consumers, or longtime advocates in the disabilities arena. Each of the articles represents rich writing partnerships that provide depth of knowledge in the subject area and detail best practices in various aspects of psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery. The articles highlight most recent practices in clinical, cultural, spiritual, programmatic, and policy development, especially as these practices have been affected by important legislation of the past decade. Many articles in this edition nuance their discussion to the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). This legislation was enacted in California in 2004 and funded through a voter initiative (Proposition 63) placing a 1% sales tax on millionaires. The MHSA legislation is significant because of the size of the system it targets for transformation. If successful, it will be a model for similar change efforts nationally and internationally. The impetus for the California legislation is part of larger national and international movements that have, over the past decade, called for a review of the cultural overlays inherent in treatment options and practices for those with psychiatric disabilities; championed the need for rehabilitation and recovery-oriented, client-centered practice; and encouraged the legal development and enforcement necessary for

The Consequences of Drug Use among Youth and Adolescents

ABSTRACT Many academic and professional studies have reported the prevalence of drug abuse among young people and its costly consequences. Sample responses and scenarios from a group of American teens reflect that their perceptions of the consequences are frequently self-oriented and male-centered. Their concerns are often related to health, mental health, sexual performance, and social relations. Implications for interventions are also discussed.