Relationship Building, Collaboration and Flexible Service Delivery: The Path to Engagement of Refugee Families and Communities in Early Childhood Trauma Recovery Services

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 142-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Signorelli ◽  
N. S. Gluckman ◽  
N. Hassan ◽  
M. Coello ◽  
S. Momartin

Service utilisation by refugee families may be affected by the mismatch between Western individualistic service delivery approaches and the target communities’ more collectivist cultural patterns and practices. In addition to access barriers, utilisation of early childhood services by refugees can also be impacted upon by distrust of services, health and settlement issues, stigma, unfamiliarity with early childhood programmes, and fear of child protection and other legal systems. This low service utilisation sits in conflict with the need for early interventions for very young children, who are in the peak period of brain development. This article explores the implementation of a model to address these issues in early childhood work with refugee families and communities, with the intent to increase service uptake. Some strategies to address potential barriers will be described in the context of a community engagement model that includes consultation, relationship building, collaborative flexible service design and delivery, partnerships in community capacity building and cross-referral. Flexible, culturally appropriate interventions can enhance strengths based, non-pathologising and development-focused approach. A community engagement approach will, nevertheless, present challenges for service providers who must be willing to adapt their practices. Services and funding bodies need to recognise that this process is lengthy and resource intensive, but will ultimately lead to better service delivery and uptake, potentially leading to improvements in health, development and relational outcomes, for children and families from refugee backgrounds.

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 590-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Cameron ◽  
Karen Frensch ◽  
Trudy Smit Quosai ◽  
Ian DeGeer ◽  
Nancy Freymond

Author(s):  
Diane L. Kendall

Purpose The purpose of this article was to extend the concepts of systems of oppression in higher education to the clinical setting where communication and swallowing services are delivered to geriatric persons, and to begin a conversation as to how clinicians can disrupt oppression in their workplace. Conclusions As clinical service providers to geriatric persons, it is imperative to understand systems of oppression to affect meaningful change. As trained speech-language pathologists and audiologists, we hold power and privilege in the medical institutions in which we work and are therefore obligated to do the hard work. Suggestions offered in this article are only the start of this important work.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Wray-Lake ◽  
Susan Mangan ◽  
Allen W. Gottfried

Author(s):  
Jelena Gerke ◽  
Tatjana Dietz

AbstractChild sexual abuse has been discussed thoroughly; however, marginalized groups of victims such as victims of child sexual abuse in early childhood and victims of maternal sexual abuse have rarely been considered. This essay combines these two relevant perspectives in child protection and aims to pin out future directions in the field of child abuse and specifically maternal sexual abuse and its early prevention. In the course of the 7th Haruv International PhD Workshop on Child Maltreatment at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, in 2019 the topics of maternal sexual abuse and early prevention of child maltreatment in Germany were discussed and intertwined. Problems concerning the specific research of maternal sexual abuse in early childhood and prevention were identified. Both, maternal sexual abuse as well as sexual abuse in early childhood, i.e. before the age of three, are underreported topics. Society still follows a “friendly mother illusion” while recent cases in German media as well as research findings indicate that the mother can be a perpetrator of child sexual abuse. Similarly, sexual abuse in early childhood, namely abuse before the age of three, is existent; although the recognition of it is difficult and young children are, in regards to their age and development especially vulnerable. They need protective adults in their environment, who are aware of sexual abuse in the first years of life. Raising awareness on marginalized or tabooed topics can be a form of prevention. An open dialog in research and practice about the so far marginalized topics of maternal sexual abuse and sexual abuse in early childhood is crucial.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 910-911
Author(s):  
Matthew Yau ◽  
Christine Sheppard ◽  
Jocelyn Charles ◽  
Andrea Austen ◽  
Sander Hitzig

Abstract Community support services are an integral component of aging in place. In social housing, older adult tenants struggle to access these services due to the siloed nature of housing and health services. This study aims to describe the relationship between community support services and social housing for older adults and examine ways to optimize delivery. Data on government-funded community support services delivered to 74 seniors’ social housing buildings in Toronto, Ontario was analyzed. Neighbourhood profile data for each building was also collected, and correlational analyses were used to examine the link between neighbourhood characteristics and service delivery. Fifty-six community agencies provided 5,976 units of services across 17 service categories, most commonly mental health supports, case management and congregate dining. On average, each building was supported by nine agencies that provided 80 units of service across 10 service categories. Buildings in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of low-income older adults had more agencies providing on-site services (r = .275, p < .05), while those in neighbourhoods with more immigrants (r = -.417, p < .01), non-English speakers (r = -.325, p < .01), and visible minorities (r = -.381, p < .01) received fewer services. Findings point to a lack of coordination between service providers, with multiple agencies offering duplicative services within the same building. Vulnerable seniors from equity-seeking groups, including those who do not speak English and recent immigrants, may be excluded from many services, and future service delivery for seniors should strive to address disparities in availability and access.


Author(s):  
Stephane Shepherd ◽  
Aisling Bailey ◽  
Godwin Masuka

African-Australian young people are over-represented in custody in the state of Victoria. It has been recognized in recent government and stakeholder strategic plans that African-Australian community service providers are well placed to help address the increasing complex needs of at-risk African-Australian youth. However little is known about the capacities of such providers to effectively contend with this growing social concern. In response, this study aimed to explore the perspectives and operational (service delivery and governance) experiences of African-Australian community organizations which provide services to at-risk young people in Victoria. Through a series of in-depth interviews with the leadership of eight key African-Australian service providers, we aimed to identify their perceived strengths, obstacles faced and proposed strategies to realize key objectives. Perspectives on key risk factors for young African-Australian justice system contact were also gathered. Several themes were extracted from the interviews, specifically (i) Risk factors for African-Australian youth justice-involvement (school disengagement, peer delinquency, family breakdown, intergenerational discord, perceived social rejection), (ii) The limitations of mainstream institutions to reduce African-Australian youth justice-involvement (too compliance focused, inflexible, business rather than human-centered, disconnected from communities and families), (iii) The advantages of African-Australian community service providers when working with African-Australian youth (community credibility, client trust, flexibility, culturally responsive), (iv) The challenges faced by African-Australian service providers (lack of funding/resources, professional staff shortages, infrastructural/governance limitations), and (v) “What works” in service provision for at-risk African-Australians (client involvement in program design, African staff representation, extensive structured programming matched with client aspirations, prioritizing relationship building, persistent outreach, mental health and legal literacy for clients and families). Implications for service delivery and social policy are discussed within.


2021 ◽  
pp. 245513332110340
Author(s):  
Habib Zafarullah ◽  
Jannatul Ferdous

Bangladesh has experimented with e-governance since the early 2000s and currently ranks among the top 10 least developed countries. The deployment of e-governance at the local level has provided benefits to the rural people, with local councils increasingly using information and communications technology (ICT) to expand community-based delivery systems and augment rural service delivery. One-stop cyber centres provide a range of services that are user-friendly, cost-effective and less time-consuming. This study focuses on five sub-districts to inquire about the range of services provided by the e-service centres there. It has recorded citizen perceptions and the level of their satisfaction and the observations of service providers about the e-service mechanism. It also identifies key challenges in service delivery. Citizen satisfaction was measured using 12 indicators, while the service provider observations focused on social issues, governance, resource and technical issues. The study found several issues requiring attention to consolidate the e-governance system in the country.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1892-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Kaushik ◽  
Zillur Rahman

Purpose This paper aims to offer and examine a conceptual model of tourist innovativeness toward self-service technologies (SSTs) to confirm whether tourists prefer service delivery by SSTs over employees in an offline hospitality environment. Design/methodology/approach Tourists’ perceived usefulness (PU) of SSTs and need for interaction (NI) with service employees have been taken as crucial mediating variables to examine the effects of perceived ease of use and technology readiness index personality dimensions toward SST and employee-based service adoption. Findings Findings reveal that both “NI” and “PU” play significant roles in Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM) when tourists select one of two service delivery options – SSTs and service employees. Research limitations/implications The foremost limitation of the study is its dependence on domestic tourist samples. However, such samples were chosen because tourists comprising these samples tend to use similar service delivery options more, in turn increasing their use of SSTs available in sample hotels. Practical implications The study gives a deeper understanding of TRAM with an extremely crucial mediating variable (NI) in an offline service context. It also provides useful insights to service providers and policy makers for developing new strategies and policies to enhance user experience. Social implications This study recommends the usage of numerous SSTs by tourists. Originality/value During extensive literature review carried out in this research, no study was found that proposed such an effective framework in an offline service context.


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