Robert M. Ortega

Open reduction and internal fixation of forearm fractures in children

We retrospectively reviewed 16 children younger than 13 years with 17 fractures of the shafts of the radius or ulna or both who had undergone an open reduction-internal fixation (ORIF). ORIF was performed when a closed reduction was deemed unacceptable in 14 radius fractures and for three unstable open fractures of the radius. The average age was 9.4 +/- 2.3 years (range, 5.0-12.5). Of the 14 fractures with an unacceptable closed reduction, soft-tissue interposition was encountered in seven. Fixation was secured by plates and screws, percutaneous Steinmann pins, or intramedullary Steinmann pins. There were no delayed unions or nonunions, no infections, and no neurovascular injuries. The average follow-up was 12.3 months; all 17 fractures had excellent results (forearm rotation loss of < 10 degrees). Our study indicates that excellent results can be expected with no increased risk of complications if the treating physician elects to proceed with an ORIF in a pediatric forearm fracture with proper indications.

Educating Students for Social Work with Latinos: Issues for the New Millennium

The growth of the Latino population in the United States and their internal migration to new regions will have a strong influence on social work practice. To be culturally competent when working with this population, social workers and social work students must have adequate knowledge, values, and skills necessary for work with Latinos. In this article the authors discuss social work literature on Latinos, current and emerging trends in this literature, and the implications of these trends for social work education.

Exit Interviews with Departed Child Welfare Workers: Preliminary Findings

A total of 69 departed public child welfare workers responded to a telephone interview asking why they left their positions and what might have made them stay. Their open-ended responses were then coded into domains and subcategories and also converted into quantitative data for descriptive analysis. The model developed describes the effect of child welfare work (mentioned by 26.1% of respondents) and working conditions (supervision, 28.9%, agency climate, 31.8%, agency behavior, 57.9%, workload, 47.8%) having an impact on the self (noted by 72.4% of respondents) which then resulted in departure. Factors that workers said would have made them stay included changes in the child welfare work, 17.4%, supervision, 24.6%, agency climate, 26.1%, agency behavior, 43.5%, manageable workload, 52.1%, and impact on the self, 24.6%.

Informing priorities for coaching education: Perspectives from youth sport leaders:

Central to the ability of successfully facilitating sport participation toward positive developmental outcomes is the youth sport leader. Youth sport leaders are responsible for addressing the many stressors and risk factors that youth encounter in both sport and life. However, a majority of youth sport leaders do not receive coaching education or training, especially in regard to youth development. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the various factors, which affect youth sport leaders, their team, and the community in which they coach. The four key areas of team building/teamwork, parental influence/involvement, sportsmanship, and teaching life skills emerged. By better understanding the issues within youth sport, researchers will be more aware of the most relevant issues to guide future research and to inform the development of coaching education. Moreover, youth sport leaders will be better equipped and prepared to maximize youth development through sport participation.

Promoting LatinX Generativity: Cultural Humility and Transformative Complicity Through Geriatric Teams:

This article highlights social work, critical thinking, and an ethic of care in geriatric teamwork to promote generativity and the well-being of LatinX elderly. We offer the tripartite paradigm of cultural humility, transformative complicity, and empowerment to reduce power imbalances between service providers, elderly persons, and their communities. A force field analysis considers the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPAC) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) to understand the restraining and driving forces affecting the institutionalization of inter/transdisciplinary teams. Effective evidence-based models that humanize geriatric services are offered to counter the current biomedical emphasis of Medicare/Medicaid policies and less-than-responsive geriatric institutional and educational systems. We highlight Bloom and Farragher’s Sanctuary Model of compassionate and democratic practices to address the negative effects of moral entrepreneurship and ageism. The case of Florence, an LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and questioning) grandparent with multiple health issues, is analyzed from biomedical, person in the environment, and a strength-based perspective.

“We Always Say: And Then Came The Water…”1 Flint’s Emergent Latinx Capacity Building Journey During the Government-Induced Lead Crisis

ABSTRACT This critically intersubjectively engaged ethnography focuses on incipient Latinx lead crisis rehabilitation efforts in Flint, MI and the role of education in the context of multicultural struggles for validation. We employ the paradigms of cultural humility, transformative complicity, and empowerment with a focus on organizing strategies that honor faith-based, union, and urban gardening histories. New Orleans and El Caño Martín Peña environmental crisis research inform our comparative analysis. Our popular pedagogical methods promote agency with detained youths from Kalamazoo who join Flint coauthors through protest music, testimonies, and commentaries to interweave, support, and disrupt authorial and community leader privilege.