Kevin Borders

Volunteer and Paid Staff Relationships

Summary In this article, we examine theoretical perspectives and studies on volunteer and paid staff relationships to determine what administrators in social work can glean from theory and research. We also draw from the conceptual literature in the area of volunteerism, as well as our experience with one nationally mandated program that utilizes 90% volunteers and 10% paid employees. Implications for social work administration include recognizing the culture of ones program or organization and the norms associated with volunteerism, as well as understanding the nature of psychological contracting for both paid employees and volunteers. Guidelines for assessing volunteer/paid staff culture are provided.

Interpreting the Meaning of Ombudsman Data Across States: The Critical Analyst-Practitioner Link

In this article, the authors report data from four states that have computerized their long-term care ombudsman databases and are using the same software. The authors explore the apparent differences among these four states to encourage critical thinking in interpreting the meaning of these data. Just as a national ombudsman database draws closer, so does the need for practitioners, researchers, educators, and policy makers to be vigilant in understanding that data must be contextualized. Otherwise, premature and inaccurate conclusions may be drawn. Critically important is the link between those persons who analyze and interpret and the ombudsman practitioners who collect and report these data.

Volunteer and Paid Ombudsmen Investigating Complaints in Six States: A Natural Triaging

The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program provides an opportunity to explore how a public mandate is implemented through the use of paid and volunteer ombudsmen who investigate complaints in long-term care facilities. In this article, the authors report partial findings from a growing database across six states, focusing on what is known about the use of volunteers and paid staff complaint investigation. Findings reveal differences in the types of complaints received, the sources of complaints, and the percentage of complex (difficult) complaints investigated by volunteers and paid staff. These differences result in a natural triaging that occurs among volunteers and paid staff, so that complaints viewed as difficult to verify and resolve are automatically given to paid staff.

Impact of geriatric assessment and self-management support on community-dwelling older adults with chronic illnesses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of interdisciplinary geriatric home-based assessment and self-management support services to community-dwelling older adults. Design: A quasi-experimental, pre-post test design tested two types of service delivery models. The first protocol included geriatric assessment services, with a brief self-management care plan intervention. The second protocol added a telephone support intervention. Results: All participants showed significant progress in improved self–efficacy, self-rated health, functional status and physical mobility (specifically lower extremity muscle strength), mental health (specifically reduced depression) and in reduced fall hazards in their physical home environment. The telephone support intervention protocol did not provide additional value to the first protocol. Implications: This study demonstrates the value of non-medical intervention strategies for community dwelling older adults with chronic illnesses.

Innovative interdisciplinary training in and delivery of evidence-based geriatric services: creating a bridge with social work and physical therapy.

With focus on interdisciplinary education models, social work and physical therapy faculty from two proximate universities partnered to create an evidence-based geriatric assessment and brief intervention research, training, and service project for community-dwelling older adults. Assessment tools and interventions were selected from the literature to develop the service protocols. These selected protocol skills were taught to interdisciplinary teams of students and professionals in social work and physical therapy, and learning outcomes were evaluated. This article describes the process of implementing this innovative multipartner project, the obstacles faced, and lessons learned. Adult learning theory and social cognitive theory served to underpin the project. The objectives were achieved, and evaluation noted many positive experiences in training and service delivery. This multipartner, interdisciplinary project concept can be replicated to improve educational outcomes for students and professionals as they prepare and learn to serve community-dwelling older adults.

Factors Effecting Volunteer Ombudsman Effort and Service Duration: Comparing Active and Resigned Volunteers

Volunteers are key to successful ombudsmen programs. Motivating them and keeping them is difficult. The principal goal of this article is to compare active and resigned volunteer ombudsman perceptions (along with select demographic influences) of factors that either encouraged or discouraged their work. The authors find that former ombudsmen felt more role ambiguity, greater nursing facility resistance, higher boredom, and desired better supervision than active volunteer ombudsmen. They also served less time in significantly smaller facilities. Both active and resigned volunteers perceived relatively high role conflict. Implications regarding strategies to improve volunteer ombudsman work effort and retention are discussed.

Enhancement of Reducing the Risk for the 21st Century: Improvement to a Curriculum Developed to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and STI Transmission

To ensure that Reducing the Risk, a successful teen pregnancy prevention education curriculum, remains relevant for todays youth, covers all information youth need to know in order to make better choices, and is delivered in a standardized way, adaptations were made and enhancements were added. This article describes results of a pilot execution of initial adaptations to Reducing the Risk with 13 youth from impoverished neighborhoods between the ages of 14 and 18. After each pilot day, a focus group was held with these 13 youth and further adaptations and enhancements were added to the curriculum. The full adapted and enhanced version of Reducing the Risk was then tested as part of a larger efficacy study utilizing a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial comparing the enhanced Reducing the Risk curriculum version with another curriculum that embeds sex education in the context of healthy relationship skill building, Love Notes, and a control condition curriculum. In order for other sites to replicate the work, this article details the findings from focus groups with youth participants in the pilot training that led to changes and additions in the curriculum. All changes and additions are described at length in this article.

Seeking Safety and the 12-Step Social Model of Recovery: An Integrated Treatment Approach

ABSTRACT A comparison study examined the effects on coping styles that occur when an evidence-based treatment, Seeking Safety (SS), is added to an established 12-step social model of recovery. While involved in a 12-step program, 52 participants volunteered to engage in 8 sessions of SS group therapy to determine how participation impacted self-reported use of adaptive and maladaptive coping styles. Overall, findings support the hypothesized enhancements with significant improvement noted in 15 of the 17 coping styles assessed. The current study provides foundational data on the benefits of incorporating evidence-based treatment with the 12-step model.

State Long-Term Care Ombudsmen's Perceptions of Their Program's Disaster Preparedness Roles and Readiness

A telephone survey of 43 state long-term care ombudsmen (LTCO) assessed their familiarity with relevant long-term care disaster resources, their provision of disaster aids and training to staff, and their perceived preparedness to lead their programs during public crises. Thirty-four directors (78%) reported being fairly well to fully prepared to support their local programs during public emergencies. However, ANOVAs showed that the 27 disaster experienced ombudsmen felt no better prepared to help their local paid and volunteer staff deal with public emergencies than disaster inexperienced ombudsmen. Those directly involved with emergency planners felt better prepared to help their substate staff to know where to start helping residents during a public crisis than ombudsmen who had no involvement with disaster planners. Familiarity with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Emergency Planning Checklist for LTC Ombudsmen (2007) was strongly associated with the ombudsmen’s familiarity with emergency resources and regulations.

Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Social Work Licensure: An Exploratory Study

Professional regulation, namely licensing, has been a dynamic source of debate for the social work profession. Amid this debate, schools of social work are increasingly considering licensing factor...