Thalia MacMillan

The Benefits of Gardening for Older Adults: A Systematic Review of the Literature

This article systematically reviews evidence for gardening as a beneficial activity for older adults. The authors reviewed 22 articles that assessed the benefits of gardening for both community-dwelling and institutionalized older adults. Through various research designs (quantitative and qualitative) and measurements utilized, the results reveal that gardening can be an activity that promotes overall health and quality of life, physical strength, fitness and flexibility, cognitive ability, and socialization. The implementation of various aspects of gardening as health-promoting activities transcend contexts of practice and disciplines and can be used in urban and rural communities as both individual and group activities.

Group drumming and well-being: A promising self-care strategy for social workers

Background: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the influence of recreational drumming among social workers on measures of well-being, empowerment and connectedness. Methods: A pretest–posttest design was used to evaluate outcomes among a sample of 73 social workers who participated in the two-hour “I–We Rhythm” program for recreational drumming. Results: Results of paired t-tests analyses revealed significant differences in levels of stress, energy and feelings of empowerment and community between pre- and posttest measures. Medium effect sizes were seen for all results. As such, the results of this pilot study are promising but should be viewed with caution. Conclusions: Recreational drumming is a promising group-oriented self-care strategy among social workers, who often hold high-stress occupations.

Measuring Perceived Well-Being After Recreational Drumming: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Evidence suggests that recreational music-making has been shown to decrease stress and increase feelings of well-being and empowerment among diverse groups; however, evidence to document the effects has been mixed. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine a measure of well-being, empowerment, and connectedness after a group recreational drumming intervention with social workers. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the construct validity of a measure developed for gauging intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being using a sample of 73 participants who engaged in a 2-hour group recreational drumming program. Factor analysis suggested that intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being were present. Implications for use of the measure with recreational drumming are discussed.

Moving Stories: Evaluation of an MSW Experiential Learning Project on Aging and Diversity.

This study consists of an oral history project that partnered MSW students with community dwelling older adults from diverse backgrounds. It used a comparison group with a pretest and posttest design and a sample of 74 MSW students to evaluate changes in their confidence levels, future plans of working with older adults, and geriatric competencies. Results of MANOVAs revealed that participation in the oral history project was significantly related to future career plans, confidence about working with diverse older adults, and geriatric competencies related to diversity, particularly for the experimental group. Exposing social work students to a broad-based curriculum with aging content has important implications toward fostering students’ interests in pursuing social work practice with older adults and in preparing them for culturally competent social work.

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Spiritual Transcendence Index: assessing spirituality in a sample of Latino college students

ABSTRACT Research has documented that spirituality is an essential component of health and mental health. Therefore, it is important to carefully examine the psychometric properties of instruments used to operationalise this construct. This study examined the validity and reliability of the Spiritual Transcendence Index (STI) among Latino college students. The sample involved 593 Latino college students who filled out a battery of questionnaires. Results supported the validity and reliability of the two factors of spirituality: spiritual beliefs and believing in Gods presence. Additional research is needed to examine spirituality within Latino subgroups due to the heterogeneity of this population.

The relationship between spirituality and depressive symptom severity, psychosocial functioning impairment, and quality of life: examining the impact of age, gender, and ethnic differences

Research has documented the contribution of spirituality on overall health and mental health among college students. However, very few studies have explored the impact of cultural and ethnic differences on the effect of spirituality on mental health outcomes in this population. The aims of this study were to examine the relationships among spirituality, depressive symptom severity, psychosocial functioning impairment, and quality of life in a large multi-ethnic sample of college students and explore the impact of age, gender, and ethnicity on these relationships. The sample consisted of Latino, African-American, Caucasian, and Caribbean/West Indian college students. Findings indicated that spirituality, believing in Gods presence, age, gender, and ethnicity were significantly related to depressive symptoms. These factors were also associated with impairment in psychosocial functioning and quality of life related to depression.

Attitudes Toward Divorce and Their Relationship With Psychosocial Factors Among Social Work Students

This study aimed to explore attitudes toward divorce and their relationship with general satisfaction with life, spiritual beliefs, parental bonding, and depressive symptomatology among a sample of 210 social work students from two different universities in Florida. Results indicated that the majority of students had favorable attitudes toward divorce overall, perceiving divorce as a solution to unhappy marriage. Participants also reported strong feelings regarding marital obligation and the effect of divorce on children and society. Attitudes toward divorce were associated with spiritual beliefs and parental bonding.

Evolution of Addiction Terminology

Now more than ever, substance abuse has become an epidemic within the community. There is a need to understand the common definitions and terminology that are used within the field, as well as understand the evolution of such concepts. This chapter will provide an introductory explanation as to what defines a drug, psychoactive drugs, and drugs with addiction potential; a brief history of the concept of addiction; a contemporary definition of addiction, related terminology, co-occurrence, and recovery; and a discussion of the differences between professional treatment and mutual help/12-step fellowship groups.

Creating Programs for Professional Development and Academic Programs: Integrating Previous Knowledge and Experience into the Educational Program

More than ever before, college students are more likely to have years of life and professional experience and are often considered to be nontraditional. There is a need to better define “nontraditional student” and what unique needs they may have within an academic program. Nontraditional students may have foundational or applied knowledge due to life or work experience that could be applied to their college degree. Educational institutions may wish to include credits transferred from other institutions, through trainings by examination, standardized examination, or assessment. This chapter will discuss the various ways to include nontraditional or life experience credit in the academic program, what types of experiences the individual may have, and additional ways to recognize the experiences of students within the academic program, as they relate to comorbid substance use and mental health diagnoses.

Addiction in the Community: The Role of Emergency Services

Emergency services are provided within our communities through ambulance corps. There is a need to understand what steps providers take when dealing with a patient who may be abusing substances, as well as the symptoms that may be presenting. A variety of factors must be taken into account when working with patients, including cultural, linguistic, lifestyle, and medical.