Muammer Cetingok

Empowerment: A Social Work Approach for Asian Immigrants

Asian immigrants and refugees are often powerless in American society. Thus client empowerment should be a major goal in working with this population group. Workers should help these clients adapt to their environment without abandoning their ethnic heritage, values, and beliefs.

Medication Adherence in Older Renal Transplant Recipients

This project examined patterns, predictors, and outcomes of medication adherence in a convenience sample of 37 renal transplant recipients aged 55 years or older in a Mid-Southern U.S. facility using an exploratory, descriptive, longitudinal design. Electronic monitoring was conducted for 12 months using the Medication Event Monitoring System. An alarming 86% of the participants were nonadherent with medications. Four clusters of medication taking and timing patterns were identified with evening doses presenting particular challenges. Depression, self-efficacy, social support, and medication side effects did not predict medication adherence. There was no significant difference in medication adherence scores between those with and without infections. Medication adherence pattern data from electronic monitoring provides an opportunity for health care professionals to move away from blaming the patient by attempting to identify predictors for medication nonadherence. Medication dose taking and timing patterns could be explored with patients so that medication adherence interventions could target specific patient patterns.

Contribution of Post-Transplant Social Support to the Quality of Life of Transplant Recipients

Abstract With advances in medicine and pharmacology, post-transplant quality of life (QoL) has become a major concern of researchers. In social work transplant practice, provision of social support towards QoL warrants attention. The purposes of this study were (1) to describe the social support networks of kidney, liver, and pancreas transplant recipients during the post-transplant phase of their recovery, and (2) to examine the correlations between the types and nature of social support networks and the QoL of these transplant recipients. We conducted an exploratory-descriptive study in a US universitys transplant clinic. Instruments were the Social Network Map, Adult Self-image Scale, Sickness Impact Profile, and Quality of Life Index. Descriptive statistics, and correlation analyses were used with a significance level of .05. We observed correlations between concrete and emotional support, and direction, closeness and duration of support, and QoL. Based on our findings, we discussed implications for research and practice.

Mental health promotion for South East Asian Refugees in the USA

The migration of refugees is generally divided into three stages: antecedents of flight, the period of flight and the resettlement process. Each stage presents unique problems of its own, and any programme for refugees should be developed in accordance with specific features, conditions and problems inherent in each stage of migration. This article presents the development of a mental health prevention/promotion programme for South East Asian refugees in the resettlement period in the USA, using two public health prevention models as its conceptual framework. Since 1975, over 860,000 South East Asian refugees have resettled in the USA. Voluminous studies on physical and mental health among South East Asian refugees have consistently indicated a considerable rate of psychiatric and psychosomatic problems. Flaskerund and Anh (1988) report that, in early studies, the prevalence of psychiatric problems among South East Asian refugees was at 10 percent, with depression and anxiety the most common diagnoses. By 1985, the prevalence of depression among Vietnamese refugees in two primary care clinics was found to be 40 to 50 percent (Flaskerund and Anh, 1988: 453). Westermeyer (1988), who studied mental illnesses among South East Asian refugees, reports the rate of serious depression at 20 percent. Since most of the studies were done with clinic patients, a built-in bias with the sample population should be recognized and interpretation of findings requires a little caution. However, it can fairly safely be concluded that the various studies on South East Asian refugees over the years have

Foreign students in social work schools: their characteristics, and assessment of programmes in the US

Within the framework of political interdependence and technology transfer, the world community of nations has utilized the educational exchange approach throughout recorded history. In every academic and professional field in every country, education of foreign students has been an accepted modus operandi of schools and universities in spreading their knowledge and technology bases to the people beyond their national boundaries. The heightened degree of interdependence in the modern era for coexistence and survival among nations has accentuated the importance and necessity of knowledge and technology transfer throughout the world. From the early years of social work education, schools of social work in the United States have also participated in these academic and professional exchange efforts through the sharing of faculty and students. Consequently, providing appropriate education for foreign students has always been

Simulation Group Exercises and Development of Interpersonal Skills Social Work Administration Students' Assessment in a Simple Time-Series Design Framework

The need to know about the contributions of educational tools to the process of teaching and learning is obvious. Unless desired outcomes are produced, the word education may be a misnomer or euphemism for wasting time, not to mention other resources. Consequently, any educator needs to be aware of his or her tools’ suitability to the teaching task at hand and try to find out if the tools serve their intended purposes. Examining the instructional utility of a teaching or learning tool is an integral part of an educator’s job. Recently, Corcoran (1984) reported on the &dquo;minimal focus in Social Work on teaching techniques or educational tools, and a paucity of research on the effects of various teaching methods.&dquo; His concern was with the master’s thesis. This practice and research study focuses on the use of simulation group exercise as an