Termination: Extending the Concept For Macro Social Work Practice

This article identifies the ways in which macro practitioners manage and respond to termination issues in organization and community arenas. To conceptualize and partialize problems related to termination, the authors developed a typology in which the purposes, roles, and tasks related to macro termination situations are identified and grouped by three levels of practice: The Technical; The Managerial; and The Institutional. Within each part of the typology the needs are articulated, objectives of the macro practitioner identified, and the role of the practitioner explicated. Several exemplars and an integrating vignette illustrate termination concerns, dilemmas, and the complexity of macro practice with the intent of recognizing the opportunities and constraints presented by issues of termination within macro practice

Capacity Building Legacies: Boards of the Richmond Male Orphan Asylum for Destitute Boys & the Protestant Episcopal Church Home for Infirm Ladies 1870-1900

What strategies did early boards of managers of charitable human service agencies pursue to build capacity in a way that sustained their efforts for more than a hundred years? Using primary and secondary documents to focus on two organizations- The Male Orphan Asylum (1846) and the Protestant Episcopal Church Home (1875)-three norms emerged: run it like a business, keep it like a house, and base it in the community, along with a host of associated activities. Based on these norms and activities, three strategies were identified: diversification of resources, working boards, and leadership continuity, all of which have implications for building capacity for sustainability in contemporary community-based human service agencies

Attachment, Social Support, and Perceived Mental Health of Adult Dog Walkers: What Does Age Have to Do With It?

In part of a larger pilot study of dog walking as a physical activity intervention we assessed levels of attachment, social supports, and perceived mental health of 75 dog owners, identified through a tertiary- care veterinary hospital. Owners completed the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey, mental health component of the Short-Form-12 (SF-12) Health Survey, and the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS). Of particular interest was that younger owners had stronger attachments to their dogs (r = -.488;p \u3c.001) and less social support (r = .269;p =.021). Our study suggests the importance of companion animals for social support, particularly for those without close friends/relatives. For younger owners, our study reveals vulnerabilities in support networks that may warrant referrals to human helping professionals. We suggest the use of Carstensen\u27s Socioemotional Selectivity Theory as an interpretive framework to underscore the importance of including companion animals as part of the human social convoy, especially in terms of providing affectionate and interactional social support

Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training

Educational Objectives 1. To demonstrate the importance of training health care professionals in inter-disciplinary teamwork and geriatric health issues. 2. To increase one’s knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of the various disciplines involved in interdisciplinary teamwork

Future of Macro Social Work

Macro social work is social work. History tells us that the profession was birthed from diverse traditions were grounded in different assumptions, spurring different ways of knowing and doing. This versatility is a hallmark of the field and it will serve macro social work well into the future. A profession that seeks to sustain, advocate and change, with the intent of increasing quality of life, will always need practitioners who can recognize diverse world views, understand multilayered contexts, deal with limitless inter-connections, and be invigorated by conflict

Comparative approaches to program planning

this is the book i've been waiting for. it provides not only a linear approach to program desigh, but gives language to the tacit knowledge many planners have of the circular nature of their work. Both linear and circular thinking are important to planning processes and now we have a resource for teaching

The Intersectionality of Religion and Social Welfare: Historical Development of Richmond’s Nonprofit Health and Human Services

Studying the intersectionality of religion and social welfare in Richmond, Virginia requires going back to the beginning of the Virginia colony. In the crucible of the colony, the religious and social welfare functions of a parish community were one and the same. However, after the Revolutionary War it was just a matter of time before the entire system was disassembled. The process of disentanglement of church and state created an identity crisis in Virginia. In the late 1700s, the emergence of charitable efforts began with leading men of Richmond who tried to address the temporary needs of travelers, followed by groups of women who discovered new roles they could play through charitable works. The new “system” became a potpourri of societies, congregations, associations, and county units attempting to provide for the social welfare of the populous. The intersectionality of religion and social welfare continued as a diverse landscape of small and large organizations and congregations performing the social welfare functions in Richmond and throughout the Commonwealth emerged. Today, to attempt to separate the church from the state in this conglomerate of agencies is neither possible nor desirable. However, understanding its’ historical complexity is essential if one is to engage in contemporary practice within Richmond’s health and human service system

Death In The Family: Normalizing The Relationship Between Pet Owner And Pet

A bi-national, exploratory, pilot content analysis of companion animal (CA)-related content in published newspaper obituaries is reported. Of 11,818 obituaries in three newspapers over a three month period, 252 (2.13%) listed a pet or pet survivors and/or pet charities. Five themes emerged within obituaries containing CA data. First, the word “pet” was rarely used. CAs were typically listed as survivors along with human family members. Second, terms of endearment were consistently used to describe animal companions left behind. Third, some family members, who likely crafted these last statements about their loved ones, engaged in a personification of (and projections onto) the animals left behind. Fourth, there was variation in the roles played by each person with their animal companion. And fifth, donations were made to a wide variety of animal charities. The possibility of CAs as fictive kin is explored as a means of normalizing the relationship between pets and their owners. We suggested that the fictive kin concept can be extended to describe those adoptive relationships in which a human being becomes the owner of an animal and in which their relationship holds great affection and significance in that person’s life. The ties that occur become very real and meaningful, making the relationship one of kinship, of seeing that animal as part of one’s family. Many ways of publicly manifesting that relationship can occur – including a pet’s name on a greeting card, taking a pet companion on family outings, even including that pet in the list of familial survivors when one dies. These animals have most likely been elevated to family status and may not be referred to as “pets” much of the time. To be listed in an obituary, is typically reserved for conventional kin, extends the concept of fictive kin to these animals that appear in the last tribute to their human companions. The familial theme is evident in the obituaries. On a macro level, examining obituaries raises the question of what might be changing in terms of societal norms that make this phenomenon more prevalent, even more acceptable. On a familial level, given the changing definitions of family and the multiple constellations of relationships, does this reflect a new or renewed role of the pet within the familial context? And on an individual level, does the public declaration of an animal companion as a survivor reflect the importance of attachment between humans and animals in a less conventional manner. Finally, we explore the opportunity for veterinarians and veterinary social workers to assist clients in dealing with pet loss within the normal grieving process and “next steps” to be taken to extend these pilot data