4 research outputs found
Influences on Interdisciplinary Collaboration among Social Work and Health Sciences Students
Interdisciplinary collaboration is an effective and satisfying way to provide health care services and learning across professions. This study aimed to explore interdisciplinary collaboration experiences amongst social work and allied health sciences graduate students and examined factors that contributed to their interdisciplinary collaboration. An interdisciplinary survey was conducted in a Mid-Atlantic public university. Analysis was conducted using hierarchical regressions from 112 health sciences and social work students. Students with positive attitudes toward interdisciplinary health care teams and part-time students compared to full-time students presented higher flexibility of interdisciplinary collaboration. Students with positive experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration demonstrated higher levels of interdependence, compared to those with no and negative experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration. Students in medicine were less likely to show interdependence, compared to those in social work. Professional disciplines and educators should put efforts in offering opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration practice and building curricula to promote positive attitudes toward interdisciplinary teamwork
When Families, Organizational Culture, and Policy Collide: A Mixed Method Study of Alternative Response
Objective Alternative response (AR) is a family-centered, preventative approach for child protection systems. This study first examined what family and case factors predicted re-investigation and then explored which organizational factors influence caseworker and agency implementation of AR. Method Using administrative data from child protection reports, AR families (N = 9,959) and traditional response (TR) families (N = 13,974) were followed for 18 months to determine re-investigation rates using multilevel modeling where families were nested in county of residence. Four focus groups with 14 participants were conducted to discuss the quantitative findings, organizational culture, and implementation of AR. Results AR families had lower odds of re-investigation; males and younger children also had lower odds. Families with multiple children, prior investigations, receipt of Medicaid, and medium/high risk had higher odds of re-investigation. AR caseworkers provided insights regarding the intersection of family factors, organizational culture and support, and agency implementation of AR. Although participants supported AR, their ability to implement it was influenced by agency support and availability of resources to carry out the basic requirements of the policy. A clear distinction in responses emerged between those who held dual cases versus those holding only AR cases. Conclusion Although AR reduces the odds of re-investigation for low-risk families and was endorsed by caseworkers, AR policy in practice is complex and requires further evaluation, particularly from the perspective of AR caseworkers who faced implementation hurdles
Upstream Predictors of the Need for Developmental Education among First-year Community College Students
Objective/Research Question. How do student- and school-level factors measured in the final year of high school contribute to the odds of a student being assessed to need remediation in Math during the students’ first community college enrollment? Methods. The present study draws on five years of linked secondary and post-secondary administrative records and includes the academic records for 18,814 students attending 228 high schools across 24 jurisdictions in Maryland. We used a series of multilevel models (MLM) to address the research question. Results. Using MLM, we identified both student and school-level factors, drawn from the final year of high school, which relate to the odds of needing math remediation in their first year of community college. Of note, student-level academic performance in high school had a larger influence on the odds that a student would need remedial education than socio-demographic factors. In addition, receiving English language learner services and graduating from high school in the fifth-year functioned as protective factors linked to a reduced likelihood of needing math remediation. Conclusions/Contributions. Community colleges are functionally dependent upon secondary schools to prepare the student body for college level coursework. As such, preventing the need for remediation among community college students will not be resolved within institutional siloes and will most probably require some degree of inter-system collaboration. The findings from the current study presents opportunities for early identification and suggest possible targets for intervention intended to reduce the likelihood that high-risk students will need remedial coursework when they arrive at community college