Identification of the Profile of Vulnerable Population to Elaborate Efficient Employment Strategy: Proposition of a Quantitative-creative Approach

Brazilian public managers have been structuring and updating policies to support workers’ employment and income strategies. However, when the vulnerable individual has social, emotional, or technical limitations, success in this operation becomes uncertain. This research aim was to propose a methodology to identify profiles in vulnerable populations, viewing to promote the efficient elaboration of employment and income strategies. The unit of analysis was vulnerable population of waste pickers, in a large city from South Brazil, in the scope of a municipal program named "All of us are Porto Alegre". A literature review allowed the identification of tools from marketing, economy and design adequate to profile analysis. A workshop with social educators responsible for giving support to the individuals. Insights from workshop and the literature allowed the proposition of a methodology including cluster analysis and the creative tool named personas. The methodological approach suggests it is adequate in confirming the differences in profiles. The theoretical contribution lies in the use of quantitative-creativity tools to support policymaking. The practical contribution is to provide consistent information for governmental decision-making at the labor access market.

Disparities in Pediatric Patient Portal Activation and Feature Use

Objective Disparities in adult patient portal adoption are well-documented; however, less is known about disparities in portal adoption in pediatrics. This study examines the prevalence and factors associated with patient portal activation and the use of specific portal features in general pediatrics. Materials and methods We analyzed electronic health record data from 2012 to 2020 in a large academic medical center that offers both parent and adolescent portals. We summarized portal activation and use of select portal features (messaging, records access and management, appointment management, visit/admissions summaries, and interactive feature use). We used logistic regression to model factors associated with patient portal activation among all patients along with feature use and frequent feature use among ever users (ie, ≥1 portal use). Results Among 52 713 unique patients, 39% had activated the patient portal, including 36% of patients aged 0–11, 41% of patients aged 12–17, and 62% of patients aged 18–21 years. Among activated accounts, ever use of specific features ranged from 28% for visit/admission summaries to 92% for records access and management. Adjusted analyses showed patients with activated accounts were more likely to be adolescents or young adults, white, female, privately insured, and less socioeconomically vulnerable. Individual feature use among ever users generally followed the same pattern. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that important disparities persist in portal adoption in pediatric populations, highlighting the need for strategies to promote equitable access to patient portals.

Social workers’ perceptions of their peers’ unprofessional behavior

Summary This article explores social workers’ perceptions of their colleagues’ professional mistakes, and the influences of those opinions. Vignettes in a factorial survey helped to determine whether certain variables related to the social worker or the situation influenced the perception of others’ professional errors and ethical violations. The changed variables included personal characteristics of the offending social worker such as perceived race, gender, and sexual orientation of the social worker, and characteristics of the situation, such as the length of time involved in unprofessional behavior. Findings Licensed social workers in six U.S. states ( n = 5596) read vignettes based on real cases brought before licensing boards ( n = 22,127) and assigned levels of seriousness and importance to discipline. The vignettes rated most highly involved perceived harm to a client or other vulnerable individual. Those on the lower end of seriousness and importance to discipline were those violations against the profession of social work. Analysis of changed variables indicated respondents’ ratings were influenced by several situational factors, but not by personal characteristics of the social worker involved in the vignette. Applications Our findings provide some insight into the decision-making factors important to social workers. The results may be helpful to licensing boards considering the contextual factors of unprofessional behavior and whether to discipline certain actions.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR DALAM GLOBALISASI DAN PEMBANGUNAN

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the need and need to maintain social distance in social interactions (social distancing), quarantine, and isolation so that every vulnerable individual will not be exposed to the virus. The use of technology with online meetings for students and educators is very important, especially in the development of civic education, in order to love the Republic of Indonesia. This paper will discuss the concept and direction of civic education and the urgency of strengthening the concept and direction of progressive citizenship education online in the midst of the covid-19 virus pandemic. The method used in this research is descriptive analytical with a qualitative approach. The results show, First, the concept of Citizenship Education supports the objectives of civic education, which can be interpreted as a subject that focuses on the formation of citizens who have intellectual skills, skills to participate in every civic activity and have a strong civic character so as to make citizens who are intelligent and have character. . Second, the urgency of strengthening the concept and direction of progressive citizenship education online in the midst of the covid-19 virus pandemic prepares students to become good citizens who master knowledge derived from multidisciplinary concepts and theories, practice values, and apply the skills they need to participate. in online education.

Understanding the Pathogenesis of Gestational Hypothyroidism

Pregnancy is a complex state with many endocrinological challenges to a woman’s physiology. Gestational Hypothyroidism (GHT) is an emerging condition where insufficiency of the thyroid gland has developed during pregnancy in a previously euthyroid woman. It is different to overt hypothyroidism, where marked elevation of thyroid-stimulating hormone with corresponding reduction in free thyroxine levels, is well known to cause detrimental effects to both the mother and the baby. During the past couple of decades, it has been shown that GHT is associated with multiple adverse maternal and fetal outcomes such as miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, fetal loss, premature delivery, neurocognitive and neurobehavioral development. However, three randomized controlled trials and a prospective cohort study performed within the last decade, show that there is no neurodevelopmental improvement in the offspring of mothers who received levothyroxine treatment for GHT. Thus, the benefit of initiating treatment for GHT is highly debated within the clinical community as there may also be risks associated with over-treatment. In addition, regulatory mechanisms that could possibly lead to GHT during pregnancy are not well elucidated. This review aims to unravel pregnancy induced physiological challenges that could provide basis for the development of GHT. During pregnancy, there is increased renal clearance of iodine leading to low iodine state. Also, an elevated estrogen level leading to an increase in circulating thyroglobulin level and a decrease in free thyroxine level. Moreover, placenta secretes compounds such as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), placental growth factor (PIGF) and soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (s-Flt1) that could affect the thyroid function. In turn, the passage of thyroid hormones and iodine to the fetus is highly regulated within the placental barrier. Together, these mechanisms are hypothesized to contribute to the development of intolerance of thyroid function leading to GHT in a vulnerable individual.

Emotions, Feelings, and Experiences of Social Workers While Attending to Vulnerable Groups: A Qualitative Approach

Social workers in the community setting are in constant contact with the suffering experienced by the most vulnerable individual. Social interventions are complex and affect social workers’ emotional well-being. The aim of this study was to identify the emotions, feelings, and experiences social workers have while attending to individuals in situations of vulnerability and hardship. A qualitative methodology based on hermeneutic phenomenology was used. Six interviews and two focus group sessions were conducted with social workers from the community social services and health services of the Andalusian Public Health System in the province of Almería (Spain). Atlas.ti 8.0 software was used for discourse analysis. The professionals highlighted the vulnerability of certain groups, such as the elderly and minors, people with serious mental problems, and people with scarce or no economic resources. Daily contact with situations of suffering generates a variety of feelings and emotions (anger, sadness, fear, concern). Therefore, more attention should be paid to working with the emotions of social workers who are exposed to tense and threatening situations. Peer support, talking, and discussions of experiences are pointed out as relevant by all social workers. Receiving training and support (in formal settings) in order to learn how to deal with vulnerable groups could be positive for their work and their professional and personal quality of life.

Pandemic Compassionate Release and the Case for Improving Judicial Discretion over Early Release Decisions

After decades of Bureau of Prisons’ maladministration of the sentence reduction authority authorized by 18 U.S.C. § 3582, Congress passed the First STEP Act of 2018 with the intention of expanding the use and transparency of compassionate release. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was not among the considerations when the First Step Act became law, it contains several important modifications that may protect thousands of federal prisoners from severe sickness and premature death while in custody. First, its procedural modification allowing federal prisoners to circumvent the often-artificial strictures of the Bureau of Prisons allows for a timely and proactive release decision from the sentencing court before a vulnerable individual is stricken with the deadly virus. Second, district courts are now permitted to grant release decisions to deserving individuals who were previously blocked from petitioning their sentencing court by the Bureau of Prisons. Importantly, courts are empowered to find grounds for release beyond those specifically enumerated in the now-outdated Sentencing Commission policy statement that formerly restricted compassionate release decisions. After observing the potential of the new compassionate release process as modified by the First Step Act, Congress should avoid concurrent systems of release and judicial discretion over early release should be expanded by statute or via an updated Sentencing Commission policy statement.

Secondary traumatic stress in social workersSosyal hizmet uzmanlarında ikincil travmatik stres

Social workers work with children, with disabilities, with the elderly, with families. In short, with all client systems in the individuals and groups with harmed capacities to cope with the life challenges, in hospitals, community mental health centers, prisons, justice palaces and various social service organizations.Such a study requires that the vulnerable individual, the family and the groups to listen to the life events that cause trauma, to observe the life of the application system, to ask for sadness witness and help, and all these are inevitably absorbed by social workers.As a result of the interaction with the client system and the issue emerge secondary traumatic stress, which represents a similar pattern to posttraumatic stress disorder.Secondary traumatic stress; is described as traumatization associated with emotions and behaviors that arise as a result of learn client’s trauma knowledge and want to help clients who have suffered trauma experience or life difficulties. The purpose of this study is to examine the secondary traumatic stresses and dimensions in the context of the interaction of the social worker client system with the social work perspective on the factors that are effective in the emergence of secondary traumatic stress.Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file.ÖzetSosyal hizmet uzmanlarıyaşamsal zorluklarla baş etme kapasiteleri zarar görmüş birey ve gruplar ile hastanelerde, toplum ruh sağlığı merkezlerinde, ceza evlerinde, adalet saraylarında ve çeşitli sosyal hizmet kuruluşlarında çocuklarla, engellilerle, yaşlılarla, ailelerle kısacası tüm müracaatçı sistemleri ile çalışmaktadırlar. Böyle bir çalışma savunmasız durumda bulunan birey, aile ve grupların karşılaştıkları travmaya neden olan yaşam olaylarının dinlenmesini, müracaatı sisteminin yaşamını gözlemlemeyi, üzüntüye tanıklığı ve yardım etme istencini gerektirir ve bütün bunlar sosyal hizmet uzmanları tarafından kaçınılmaz bir biçimde absorbe edilmektedir.Müracaatçı sistemi ve sorun ile etkileşim neticesinde travma sonrası stres bozukluğu’na benzer bir yapıyı temsil eden ikincil travmatik stres ortaya çıkmaktadır. İkincil travmatik stres; travma öyküsü bulunan ya da yaşadığı yaşam zorlukları sebebi ile acı çeken müracaatçıların bilgisine hakim olma ve onlara yardım etmeyi istemenin sonucunda ortaya çıkan duygularla ve davranışlarla ilişkili travmatizasyon olarak açıklanmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı sosyal hizmet uzmanı müracaatçı sisteminin etkileşimi bağlamında, ikincil travmatik stres ve boyutlarını, ikincil travmatik stresin ortaya çıkmasında etkili olan faktörleri sosyal hizmet perspektifi ile incelemektir.