Melissa Latimer

Psychoactive medication, alcohol use, and falls among older adults

The purposes of this study were to determine: (1) the prevalence of psychoactive medication and alcohol use and (2) the relationship among psychoactive medications, alcohol use, and falls in a sample of 1028 independently living women and men, aged 55 and older. Twenty-six percent of the sample reported falling, 28% were taking one or more psychoactive drugs, and 38% drank alcohol during the past year. Analyses with logistic regression indicate that predictors of falls were psychoactive drug use, age, and number of illnesses. Living alone, frequency of alcohol use, and gender were not significant predictors.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place—The Socioeconomic Status of Former TANF Recipients in West Virginia

West Virginia is a rural Appalachian state with a long history of economic disadvantage and poverty. Consequently, state leaders chose to endorse aggressive case closure policies in response to the new demands placed on them by the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996. Clearing the rolls was way to contain state costs has serious short-term and long-term financial implications for low income adults and their children in the state. Using data from a 1999 state-wide survey of former West Virginia WORKS recipients, this research examines the socioeconomic well-being of needy parents approximately one year after leaving the system. It is clear from these analyses that former welfare recipients are not all equally likely to improve their financial status and move toward self-sufficiency.

A recipe for change: Creating a more inclusive academy

Using data, selecting leaders, and changing rules Although there has been a welcome increase in discussion about gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), broad participation of women from all backgrounds in academic STEM will not be achieved until institutions are transformed. A long-range view is needed to change the rules of the game, such that institutional culture and practices create workplaces where all scientists and engineers want to be. We lay out a six-point plan of what needs to change, who should participate, and how actors outside of the academy should have direct involvement in the process.

Organizational Change and Gender Equity in Academia: Using Dialogical Change to Promote Positive Departmental Climates

Abstract Purpose To implement and assess an intervention designed to promote gender equity and organizational change within STEM departments in two Colleges at a single Research High university. Department climate impacts the retention and success of women faculty. Methodology/approach A survey was administered both before and after the department intervention in order to capture departmental change on variables that measure a positive climate for female faculty. Findings Across all of the science and engineering departments, levels of Collective Efficacy toward Gender Equity significantly increased while levels of Conflict significantly decreased after the department facilitation. In the science departments, the level of Vicarious Experience of Gender Equity among faculty significantly increased while in the engineering departments levels of faculty Dependence significantly decreased. There was a statistically significant decrease in Optimism about Gender Equity among the science faculty. Practical implications Organizational change within universities has been documented as slow and labor intensive. Departmental climate, particularly interactions with colleagues, remains an area wherein women continue to feel excluded. The departmental intervention resulted in measurable improvements in key aspects of climate critical to women’s success (e.g., reductions in conflict and dependence; increases in collective efficacy) as well as more realistic view of the effort needed to attain gender equity (decrease in Optimism).

Demographic predictors of smoking at initiation of antenatal care.

&NA; The purpose of the retrospective epidemiologic study was to determine smoking prevalence and its correlates among pregnant women. Data for the study were collected from 477 randomly selected medical records of pregnant women attending a Kentucky obstetrical clinic. Logistic regression analysis, when controlling for age and education, showed that significant predictors of smoking prior to pregnancy were being married and being a woman of color. Significant demographic predictors of smoking at initiation of antenatal care were being married, being a woman of color, early age at onset of smoking, and number of cigarettes smoked per day.

Cumulative Disadvantage Effects of Early Career Childcare Issues on Faculty Research Travel

Female faculty may experience disproportionate caregiving-type responsibilities in the academy and at home. A web-based survey inquired about the impact of childcare responsibilities on research-related travel. A convenience sample of full-time faculty participated (n = 127). From the overwhelmingly female faculty respondents (81.3%), results show that childcare issues impact their ability to plan research travel, submit to professional conferences, and travel to give an invited talk. Faculty rank, discipline, and whether their partner was employed at the same university negatively impacted their ability to travel. Work/life travel policies may reduce barriers to travel, hence reducing a type of cumulative disadvantage.

A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF GENDER AND PLACE ON WORKERS INCOMES

This research uses the 1987 National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth to construct a national and Appalachian subsample of workers at the initial stages of their labor force participation and during a national economic recovery. This contextual research examines the impact of education, work effort, type of job, marital status, family size, Appalachian residence, urban or rural location, unemployment rate, and manufacturing concentration on the incomes of women and men. The results document the overall depressive effect that living in Appalachia has on the incomes of both male and female workers.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Unemployment Insurance Receipt: 1987–1991

Abstract Past research shows that certain individuals (i.e., women and people of color) in particular places (i.e., in the South or in rural areas) are more susceptible than others to economic hardship. Many researchers have also argued that this economic vulnerability translates into a disadvantaged position within the welfare system. Both labor market and welfare inequality have been intensified by economic transformations in the U.S. economy during the last 20 years. This research examines the connection between labor market vulnerability and welfare inequity in one particular social insurance program, the unemployment insurance program (i.e., whether or not unemployed workers receive unemployment insurance benefits). Using multivariate logistic regression, this research identifies differences in unemployment insurance receipt due to human capital, household and labor market variables and how these effects vary from year to year. The data for this study come from the National Longitudinal Surveys for Y...

Responding to Welfare Reform Competing Perspectives of Social Service Delivery in an Economically Disadvantaged Rural State

This study compares administrative and caseworker perspectives on service delivery processes in rural areas in an Appalachian state with high levels of poverty and unemployment and limited economic resources for investment and development. The focus of this study is on the implementation of West Virginia Works, West Virginia’s public assistance program that was adopted in response to new federal welfare law enacted in 1996. The data source used in this research comes from focus groups with approximately 80 caseworkers and 5 West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources administrators with key knowledge of welfare reform in West Virginia. Implications for service delivery and public policy are discussed.

Country Road Bureaucracy: The Challenges of Social Service Delivery in an Economically Disadvantaged Rural State

The devolution of state authority embedded in the 1996 federal welfare reform law (since reaffirmed in the 2006 reauthorization of this law) has enormous implications for economically disadvantaged adults and their families as well as those responsible for the local management and delivery of these welfare services. Although over a decade of welfare reform “impact” research currently exists, the majority of this literature focuses primarily on welfare clients in urban areas. This study identifies service delivery processes in rural areas in an Appalachian state with high levels of poverty and unemployment, limited economic resources for investment and development, and inadequate administrative capacity. Welfare reform affects urban and rural beneficiaries differently. This article highlights (1) the challenges faced by TANF caseworkers who implement welfare reform policies on a daily basis in West Virginia, (2) how these daily practices are heavily influenced by cultural and organization practices, and (3) the “chaining of social problems” found within welfare reform. The data used in this research come from focus groups with approximately eighty caseworkers in West Virginia. Implications for service delivery and public policy are discussed.