Conducting Comprehensive Workforce Needs Assessments in Child Welfare

Staff recruitment, selection, and retention are persistent challenges for many child welfare agencies. Agency directors recognize these challenges but often lack the capacity or strong relationships with human resources (HR) to hire and keep the right child welfare staff. The lack of evidence-based practices to address child welfare workforce issues compounds the situation. The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) was created through a 5-year cooperative agreement with the Children\u27s Bureau to advance knowledge about evidence-informed workforce interventions, test a variety of interventions in real-world settings, and examine how workforce stability is related to outcomes for children. The QIC-WD partnered with eight child welfare agencies (including state, county, and tribal systems) to test the effectiveness of promising workforce interventions. Each site identified an implementation team made up of agency leadership, caseworkers, supervisors, HR professionals, quality assurance/continuous quality improvement staff, and training administrators. The QIC-WD provides workforce, implementation, and evaluation specialists, known as a WIE team, to work with each site. The QIC-WD created a continuous workforce development process (adapted from the implementation and evaluation approach developed by the Permanency Innovations Initiative) to guide its work selecting, implementing, and evaluating workforce interventions. The first phase of this process is exploration, which includes a comprehensive workforce needs assessment to identify a specific workforce problem, who it affects, why it exists, and barriers or facilitators to addressing the problem; a theory of change for how to improve it; and an intervention to address it. Exploration is followed by the installation, initial implementation, and full implementation phases. Each phase includes significant teaming and evaluation components. Many types of data are used to inform the assessment, such as HR recruitment, hiring, and retention metrics; agency records, such as exit surveys or past evaluation studies; organizational culture and climate survey results; and data on agency readiness for change. The WIE teams work with each site to provide context and additional qualitative information not available through existing data sources. The QIC-WD learned a variety of valuable lessons about this process: The assessment takes months to complete because it is a data-driven process where one question often leads to more questions. Agencies vary in the extent to which they track the necessary data to accurately calculate employee turnover. In some cases, HR and program staff have limited experience working together and are not fully aware of all the available data across the two departments. Very few public child welfare agencies have a unique identifier in place to link employee HR data to child welfare case outcomes. Conducting a comprehensive workforce needs assessment is new to most public child welfare agencies. The assessment is only the first step in a continuous workforce development process, yet it is crucial because it is the foundation for the implementation and evaluation activities that come next. For more information visit the QIC-WD website (https://www.qic-wd.org/) or attend the Children\u27s Bureau Evaluation Summit in August 2019.For more information, contact Michelle Graef, project director for the QIC-WD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Center on Children, Families and the Law at [email protected]

The prevalence of common mental health problems and associated psychosocial issues in elite swimmers

Introduction: The mental health of elite athletes has been recognised as of great importance. There have been relatively few studies examining the prevalence of mental health problems in swimmers. None have commented on the range of psychosocial problems associated with mental ill-health. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of common mental health problems and psychosocial problems in elite swimmers. Methods: The study was conducted on a national swimming squad competing at the international level. All athletes (n=55) were invited to participate. The response rate was 63.3% (n=36). The study was cross-sectional in design. Data was collected using a battery of psychometric tests yielding information on distress (The Distress Screener), anxiety and depression (PHQ-9, K10), sleep disturbance (PROMIS scale), alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C), smoking behaviour, adverse nutrition behaviour, career satisfaction (Career Satisfaction Scale) and mental toughness (Mental Toughness Index). Results: The prevalence of depression was 14% (n=5). Six percent (n=2) reported suicidal ideation in the last 2 weeks. Fourteen percent met criteria for distress. There were positive correlations between depression and sleep disturbance ( r=.343, p<.05), between anxiety/depression and distress ( r=.380, p<.05), and between depression and distress ( r=.531, p<.01). Career dissatisfaction was identified in 46% of participants and was inversely correlated with mental toughness ( r=.485, p<.01). Low mental toughness and adverse alcohol use were identified in 37% and 23% of participants, respectively. Conclusions: Elite swimmers experience common mental illnesses and associated psychosocial problems. There is a relationship between career dissatisfaction and low mental toughness. Sport governing bodies should assess their own athlete populations and implement programmes to support mental health

Addressing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, resilience and turnover in the child welfare workforce: Results from a 6-month, cluster-randomized control trial of Resilience Alliance

Introduction: US child welfare agencies have historically struggled with workforce retention and turnover. As part of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development in Child Welfare, we tested an adaptation of the Resilience Alliance (RA) model in a large, Midwestern state to address workplace stress, burnout and actual workforce turnover. RA is a 24-week, facilitated program designed to mitigate the impact of secondary traumatic stress among child welfare professionals, and to therefore increase job satisfaction, resilience and optimism and to decrease turnover, stress reactivity and burnout. Methods: Supervisory units of caseworkers and supervisors were randomized to the RA treatment condition (n = 192) or a control condition (no intervention; n = 183). Hypothesis: We hypothesized that participation in the RA adaptation would cause the workforce to experience lower levels of secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout and intent to search for work or leave their current position. We hypothesized that RA would lead to higher reported levels of resilience and intent to stay. Furthermore, if hypothesized changes were observed due to participation in RA, then such participation would also lead to decreased actual workforce turnover over a 2.5-year period. Results: There were no statistically significant effects of the intervention on changes in STS, burnout or resilience between treatment and control groups over a 6-month period. Participation in RA did cause significant differences in 6-month changes for four turnover intention measures. Finally, RA had no statistically significant effect on turnover. Limitations and implications are described

Effect of Calcium Supplementation on Gestation Length, Number Born Live, and Number of Stillborns

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1016/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Non-fluoride Factors on Risk of Dental Fluorosis: Evidence from Rural Populations of the Main Ethiopian Rift

Elevated level of fluoride (F−) in drinking water is a well-recognized risk factor of dental fluorosis (DF). While considering optimization of region-specific standards for F−, it is reasonable, however, to consider how local diet, water sourcing practices, and non-F− elements in water may be related to health outcomes. In this study, we hypothesized that non-F− elements in groundwater and lifestyle and demographic characteristics may be independent predictors or modifiers of the effects of F− on teeth. Dental examinations were conducted among 1094 inhabitants from 399 randomly selected households of 20 rural communities of the Ziway-Shala lake basin of the Main Ethiopian Rift. DF severity was evaluated using the Thylstrup-Fejerskov Index (TFI). Household surveys were performed and water samples were collected from community water sources. To consider interrelations between the teeth within individual (in terms of DF severity) and between F− and non-F− elements in groundwater, the statistical methods of regression analysis, mixed models, and principal component analysis were used. About 90% of study participants consumed water from wells with F− levels above the WHO recommended standard of 1.5 mg/l. More than 62% of the study population had DF. F− levels were a major factor associated with DF. Age, sex, and milk consumption (both cow’s and breastfed) were also statistically significantly (p \u3c 0.05) associated with DF severity; these associations appear both independently and as modifiers of those identified between F− concentration and DF severity. Among 35 examined elements in groundwater, Ca, Al, Cu, and Rb were found to be significantly correlated with dental health outcomes among the residents exposed to water with excessive F− concentrations. Quantitative estimates obtained in our study can be used to explore new water treatment strategies, water safety and quality regulations, and lifestyle recommendations which may be more appropriate for this highly populated region

Innovative treatment formats, technologies, and clinician trainings that improve access to behavioral pain treatment for youth and adults

Chronic pain is prevalent across the life span and associated with significant individual and societal costs. Behavioral interventions are recommended as the gold-standard, evidence-based interventions for chronic pain, but barriers, such as lack of pain-trained clinicians, poor insurance coverage, and high treatment burden, limit patients’ ability to access evidenced-based pain education and treatment resources. Recent advances in technology offer new opportunities to leverage innovative digital formats to overcome these barriers and dramatically increase access to high-quality, evidenced-based pain treatments for youth and adults. This scoping review highlights new advances. First, we describe system-level barriers to the broad dissemination of behavioral pain treatment. Next, we review several promising new pediatric and adult pain education and treatment technology innovations to improve access and scalability of evidence-based behavioral pain treatments. Current challenges and future research and clinical recommendations are offered

Lost Opportunities to Reduce Periconception HIV Transmission: Safer Conception Counseling By South African Providers Addresses Perinatal but not Sexual HIV Transmission

Introduction: Safer conception strategies create opportunities for HIV-serodiscordant couples to realize fertility goals and minimize periconception HIV transmission. Patient–provider communication about fertility goals is the first step in safer conception counseling. Methods: We explored provider practices of assessing fertility intentions among HIV-infected men and women, attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLWH) having children, and knowledge and provision of safer conception advice. We conducted in-depth interviews (9 counselors, 15 nurses, 5 doctors) and focus group discussions (6 counselors, 7 professional nurses) in eThekwini District, South Africa. Data were translated, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis with NVivo10 software. Results: Among 42 participants, median age was 41 (range, 28–60) years, 93% (39) were women, and median years worked in the clinic was 7 (range, 1–27). Some providers assessed women's, not men's, plans for having children at antiretroviral therapy initiation, to avoid fetal exposure to efavirenz. When conducted, reproductive counseling included CD4 cell count and HIV viral load assessment, advising mutual HIV status disclosure, and referral to another provider. Barriers to safer conception counseling included provider assumptions of HIV seroconcordance, low knowledge of safer conception strategies, personal feelings toward PLWH having children, and challenges to tailoring safer sex messages. Conclusions: Providers need information about HIV serodiscordance and safer conception strategies to move beyond discussing only perinatal transmission and maternal health for PLWH who choose to conceive. Safer conception counseling may be more feasible if the message is distilled to delaying conception attempts until the infected partner is on antiretroviral therapy. Designated and motivated nurse providers may be required to provide comprehensive safer conception counseling

A specific group of genes respond to cold dehydration stress in cut Alstroemeria flowers whereas ambient dehydration stress accelerates developmental senescence expression patterns

Petal development and senescence entails a normally irreversible process. It starts with petal expansion and pigment production, and ends with nutrient remobilization and ultimately cell death. In many species this is accompanied by petal abscission. Post-harvest stress is an important factor in limiting petal longevity in cut flowers and accelerates some of the processes of senescence such as petal wilting and abscission. However, some of the effects of moderate stress in young flowers are reversible with appropriate treatments. Transcriptomic studies have shown that distinct gene sets are expressed during petal development and senescence. Despite this, the overlap in gene expression between developmental and stress-induced senescence in petals has not been fully investigated in any species. Here a custom-made cDNA microarray from Alstroemeria petals was used to investigate the overlap in gene expression between developmental changes (bud to first sign of senescence) and typical post-harvest stress treatments. Young flowers were stressed by cold or ambient temperatures without water followed by a recovery and rehydration period. Stressed flowers were still at the bud stage after stress treatments. Microarray analysis showed that ambient dehydration stress accelerates many of the changes in gene expression patterns that would normally occur during developmental senescence. However, a higher proportion of gene expression changes in response to cold stress were specific to this stimulus and not senescence related. The expression of 21 transcription factors was characterized, showing that overlapping sets of regulatory genes are activated during developmental senescence and by different stresses

The Talking Texts: What Pop Culture Really Has to Say

This newsletter is built upon work done in a Fall 2017 honors writing course based around the rhetorical analysis of pop culture. Students wrote several initial analyses before choosing one to research and write about further. They then chose a short excerpt from their researched projects to include in the newsletter

The Global Network on sustainability in space (GNOSIS) : activities, initiatives, and future endeavours

The Global Network On Sustainability In Space (GNOSIS) is a community-driven network supported by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) through their 21st Century Challenges scheme. Founded in 2019, the Network has facilitated a variety of workshops, sandpit discussions, and multi-day conferences to bring academic researchers into contact with industry, government, and defence, with a shared aim of identifying, understanding, and solving problems pertaining to space sustainability. Despite operating in a predominantly virtual capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Network has amassed nearly four hundred members from the international space domain awareness (SDA) community. We present an overview of GNOSIS activities and discuss key findings from the sandpit discussions that have taken place, covering a wide range of subject matter, from novel observation techniques to space-based SDA solutions, space weather effects, and SDA data management, security, and ethics. A key output from these discussions has been the identification of a series of capability gaps in current SDA knowledge and technologies, which has inspired further discourse through a recent SDA study commissioned by the UK Space Agency, with support from CGI, GNOSIS and UKspace. The study aims to understand the developments needed to progress the UK's SDA capability, by soliciting the views of academic and industrial actors. In addition to supporting community engagement, GNOSIS also provides seed funding for short-term scoping and proof-of-concept studies, alongside part-funding for PhD studentships. Moreover, a series of "technical challenges" has been released, aimed at deriving key performance parameters, a system CONOPS, and initial implementation cost estimates for future SDA technologies; either pre-defined by the GNOSIS management team, or proposed by members of the Network. The primary aim of the GNOSIS funding stream is to foster collaboration between the academic and commercial SDA communities, by applying science, technology, and/or expertise from the STFC and other relevant UKRI-funded programmes to problems associated with orbital debris and space traffic management. We provide examples of ongoing projects supported by GNOSIS funding, including a PhD studentship developing space dust and debris detectors, making use of the University of Kent's hypervelocity impact facility, and a proof-of-concept study led by the University of Warwick, investigating multispectral signatures of geostationary satellites by repurposing the SuperWASP-North observatory on La Palma, Canary Islands. We conclude with a look ahead to upcoming events in the GNOSIS programme, and a discussion of the Network's key goals for the future