7 research outputs found
Depression and Quality of Life Among Adults with Asthma Presence in Nevada
Asthma is a lung disease that causes coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and breathlessness. It is often controlled by medication use and avoidance of environmental triggers. It is a leading chronic, non-communicable disease affecting over 19 million adults in the United States (CDC, 2020a). Asthma and severe asthma have been shown to negatively affect mental health and quality of life among adults including limiting physical activity, lowering sleep quality, exacerbating economic challenges, missing work, and increasing healthcare use (Stanescu, et al., 2019). Approximately 8% of adult Nevadans reported current asthma symptoms and 12.6% reported having a diagnosis during their lifetime (CDC, 2018c). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between self-reported asthma and depression among adult Nevadans; as well as to explore quality of life factors affecting adult Nevadans with asthma. Using 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, this study evaluated the association between asthma and depression in Nevada with respect to other associated factors that may also play a role. Upon adjustment of relevant covariates, adult Nevadans with current asthma were 3.22 times as likely (95% CI: 2.26-4.58) to be depressed compared to those without asthma. Adult Nevadans with lifetime asthma were 2.6 times as likely (95% CI: 1.88-3.61) to be depressed compared to those without a lifetime asthma diagnosis. Data from the BRFSS Asthma Call-Back Survey (ACBS) were used to determine quality of life factors affecting a sub-sample of survey respondents self-reporting with asthma in Nevada for the same year. Respondents on the ACBS indicated the prevalence of quality of life indicators and quality of life risk factors including depression (38%), activity limitations (40%), sleep disturbance (26%), missing work or other activities (31%), cost-related challenges (20%), healthcare usage (33%), exposure to environmental triggers (96%), and severe asthma as indicated by use of oral corticosteroids (5%). Asthma presence is associated with depression and negatively affects quality of life among adult Nevadans. A public health approach including asthma education and clinical outreach is critical in order to reduce the impact of asthma on mental health and quality of life
Readiness for practice: social work students' perspectives in England, Italy, and Sweden
The aim of this article is to present the views of social work students from three different welfare regimes-Italy, Sweden, and England-and to analyze in what way at the end of their training they feel ready to practice. Primarily, it considers the findings of a comparative pilot study conducted in the three countries. Specifically, the paper initially offers general comments on the European context of standards of social work competence and how these impact on the countries involved here. It then briefly discusses the three different welfare regimes that these countries reflect. Social work education is then given some consideration, including reflection on similarities and differences in each curriculum. We then review examples of previous research on students' readiness to practice, also referencing models of competence previously developed. After this we look in detail at the research study itself, with a short discussion of its methodological-primarily phenomenological-approach and modest scope, before we consider tentative findings in relation to the themes of theory, practice, and personal growth. The paper concludes with reflections on levels of competence attained and how the research might best be extended. © 2013 Taylor & Francis
REPRESENTATIVE IDEOLOGY AND THE VOTE FOR WELFARE REFORM
This article examines the congressional vote for HR3734, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The primary concern is to identify the factors that had a significant influence over the voting decision, paying special attention to representative ideology measured by Americans for Democratic Action and American Conservative Union voting scores. An empirical model is developed and estimated using logistic regression. The model incorporates proxies for representative ideology, constituent ideology, constituent economic interests, and the potential for legislative shirking. The results indicate that representative ideology was an important factor in the vote, but that constituent ideology and interests were also influential. Knowledge of the pattern of voting on the original legislation should prove useful to policymakers as the need for further refinement of the welfare system becomes evident, as it almost surely will. Copyright 2001 by The Policy Studies Organization.