RSS 1.0School of Social Work
Browse by
Established in 1961, the University of Maryland School of Social Work is one of the largest and most respected schools of social work in the nation. The University of Maryland School of Social Work is committed to excellence in education, research, community service, and innovation.
Sub-communities within this community
Collections in this community
Recent Submissions
-
EASNA Standards and Accreditation History: SUMMARYThe purpose of this brief article is to document a significant series of events in the field of Employee Assistance. The intent is to recount, from collective memory, just how the EASNA accreditation process and standards, evolved.
-
THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA EAP PROGRAM STANDARDS, rev 1998 - PART 1Founded in 1989 at a meeting of employee assistance professionals in Chicago, EASNA serves as an accrediting agent for employee assistance programs in North America. To do this, it provides an independent judgment which confirms whether or not a program is achieving its objectives and meeting the high professional standards set by the field. Launched in 1990 and updated in 1993, these Standards were again updated in January 1998 to reflect state-of-the-art refinements and additions to the original accreditation document.
-
EAPA Code of EthicsThis Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) Code of Ethics provides guidance regarding ethical conduct for employee assistance professionals (hereafter, EA professionals), and it defines the standards of ethical behavior for the benefit of their clients, both individual employees and employer organizations. This code will apply to the EA professional’s activities and relationships with employees, employers, unions, employee assistance colleagues, professionals from other disciplines, the local community and society as a whole.
-
EAPA CEAP Code of ConductThis document outlines the standards of practice for Certified Employee Assistance Professionals (CEAP®s) which include: 1) the Client Bill of Rights, and 2) the CEAP® Code of Conduct.
-
Employee Assistance Programs are Poised to ‘Level Up’ in the Wake of the PandemicIt’s time for more employee assistance, not less. I have been a professional working in the behavioral health field for over 22 years. I think I speak for many of my colleagues when I say these are unprecedented times. It is a substantially different world than when I cut my teeth in the industry. Go back 20 years and compare any given organization’s typical needs to their needs today. It’s almost inconceivable to grasp conditions on the ground in 2022 through a 2002 lens. In 2022, it’s clear that prevailing models of care, pathways for helping and the workplace experience have changed. Three factors have come together to form a perfect behavioral health storm. This storm will challenge the landscape of behavioral health as we currently know it and push our care system(s) to the limit.
-
Disrupting Violence: The Role of EAPs in Workplace SafetyEmployee Assistance Programs (EAPs) change over time, not unlike the people and organizations they serve. The risk of workplace violence (WPV) is a real danger that employees and organizations are challenged to manage on a regular basis. According to the US Department of Labor and OSHA, workplace violence is defined as “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” This may take the form of verbal or written threats, verbal abuse, physical assault, or homicide. Unfortunately, the daily threat of experiencing some form of workplace violence is all too real for many employees. WPV services offer EAPs an opportunity to expand their operational tool kits and provide added value to the organizations they serve.
-
Learn the Eight Dimensions of WellnessSAMHSA, 2016-04Each dimension of wellness can affect overall quality of life. Through its Wellness Initiative, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) encourages individuals, organizations, and communities to work toward longer, healthier, and happier lives, particularly among people living with behavioral health conditions. The Eight Dimensions of Wellness take into account not only an individual’s physical health, but all the factors that contribute to a person’s overall wellness.
-
Wyoming SPF-PFS Annual Report: Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success Fiscal Year 2022This report summarizes the state-level accomplishments of the Wyoming Department of Health - Public Health Division (WDH-PHD) through Wyoming’s Strategic Prevention Framework- Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) grant for the grant year of 2021-2022, which spanned from August 31, 2021 through August 30, 2022. This is the second year of the five-year SPF-PFS grant awarded for 2020-2025, which is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and supports and advances community-driven efforts in substance use prevention. The substances specifically targeted by Wyoming’s SPF-PFS grant are underage alcohol use and youth and young adult marijuana use. WDH-PHD has distributed SPF- PFS funding to 22 Wyoming counties (subrecipients) through WDH-PHD’s CPG system. In addition, WDH- PHD has partnered with OMNI Institute (OMNI) to evaluate the SPF-PFS grant efforts and provide evaluation training and technical assistance to the 22 funded counties.
-
From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic GrowthWith the pandemic no longer at crisis level where do we stand with respect to the struggles and the needs of physicians? Physician and peer coach Susan Wilson believes we are in recovery mode. In an illuminating article, she details statistics on the attitudes of nurses and physicians toward their jobs that are unexpectedly upbeat. Telehealth, which was massively mobilized during COVID, has proven itself a major aid to practitioners. At the same time, PTSD among them is a reality and so is short staffing and the resultant overwork. Other stressors that preceded the pandemic and made burnout a concern are with us as well. So is it a Great Recovery? Wilson isn’t certain, but she’s clear it’s looking positive. What is certain is there’s a “new normal” for workers in the healthcare industry and Wilson explores it, noting its upsides along with continuing problems. She puts this new normal in an illuminating new context: Post-Traumatic Growth, or PTG. This concept was born in the “positive psychology” movement which studies normalcy and happiness rather than mental and emotional dysfunction. PTG has been described as “a psychological transformation that follows a stressful encounter. It is a way of finding the purpose of pain and looking beyond the struggle.” Wilson provides a succinct introduction to the concept and how it might show healthcare leaders and physicians a way to turn the traumas of the past few years into growth and healing.
-
2022 Well-Being in Healthcare: Trends & Insights2022 saw a continuation of impacts from COVID-19. However, a shift occurred at organizational and systemic levels where awareness of mental health challenges and a desire to "do something" for those in need gained importance. Key Takeaways: 1. Balancing the Budget. Organizations continue to struggle with how to support and budget for resources to promote mental and behavioral health. 2. Tipping the Burnout Scale. Licensure concerns create barriers when seeking help for mental health and well-being support. 3. Legislative and National Spotlights. New state and national laws, such as the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, aim to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout and mental and behavioral health conditions among health care professionals.
-
Mental Health Coaching from Employee Assistance Program Improves Depression and Employee Work Outcomes: Longitudinal Results from CuraLinc Healthcare 2020-2022This was an applied naturalistic study examining changes in work and clinical outcomes after using individual mental health coaching services from an employee assistance program in the United States. The data was from 872 employee users at CuraLinc Healthcare during the years 2020 to 2022. The coaching intervention included individual sessions that focused on helping the employee with personal goal setting, problem-solving and skill-building. Over two-thirds of clients engaged in coaching for support with mental health issues (anxiety 47%, depression 12% or other 9%) while others had issues of stress (19%), personal relationships (marital 8%, family 4%) or work (2%). The coaching was delivered online and usually lasted about five weeks. The study features a Pre to Post single-group research design with self-report data collected at the start of use and again at follow-up after the last session. Repeated measures ANOVA tests found significant improvement with each result being a large size statistical effect for the outcomes: work absenteeism hours were reduced by 88% (d=0.42); work productivity level was increased by 32% (d=0.79); severity of depression symptoms was reduced by 66% (d=0.67). Exploratory analyses indicated that improvement on outcomes was experienced consistently across different sub-groups of clients based on age, gender, employer and service use factors. Having an absence problem was reduced from 42% of all clients at Pre to 7% at Post. Specific hours of missed work in the past month (measured by the Workplace Outcome Suite) changed from 6.7 hours at Pre to less than 1 hour at Post. Employees with a problem with their work productivity (i.e., low performance and lack of focus, measured by Stanford Presenteeism Scale) was reduced from 27% of clients at Pre to 1% at Post. Among the subsample of clients initially with a work productivity problem, 94% achieved “reliable recovery” with a larger than chance level increase in their productivity score. The average total hours of absence and lost work productivity combined in the past month was reduced from 52.8 hours at Pre to 14.5 hours at Post. The percentage of all employees at-risk for clinical depression (measured by the PHQ-9) was reduced from 20% of coaching clients at Pre to zero at Post. Within this at-risk subgroup, 85% achieved “reliable recovery” such that the differences in their scores was greater than at chance level. Coaching services thus appear to be a viable alternative to counseling for employees interested in more goal-oriented, solution-focused type of support.
-
5 Actions to Alleviate Anxiety QuicklyThis blog post offers five de-stressing strategies to alleviate one's anxiety quickly. The strategies discussed are: 1) Control your breathing 2) Try progressive muscle relaxation 3) Practice mindfulness meditation 4) Move your body and 5) Challenge your thoughts.
-
How Can Organizations Improve Workplace Equity?This article recaps a recent report by the SHRM Research Institute and Work Equity, an initiative of the Center for Social Innovation at the Boston College School of Social Work. The report revealed the importance of equity in the workplace, the root causes of inequity and other DE&I-related findings that could help organizations create more-equitable workplaces.
-
2023 Trends: Legalization of Recreational Marijuana and Therapeutic PsychedelicsThree more states legalized adult recreational marijuana use in 2022, and it may only be a matter of time before such use is legal across the country. Also growing in acceptance is the use of therapeutic psychedelics, such as psilocybin. Two states have legalized their use, some cities have decriminalized their use and more states may adopt laws legalizing them in the future. But while use of these drugs may be legal, employers still do not have to permit employees under their influence to work. This article discusses how these laws are causing change in the workplace.
-
How to Train Young Managers to Supervise Older EmployeesPerhaps no one knows better than HR professionals that the workplace is aging, and teaching younger managers how to work effectively with older employees who report to them is becoming a critical workplace exercise. There are several drivers of this phenomenon. The pandemic that ripped many older workers from the workplace is easing—and with it, older workers are starting to return. At the same time, inflation and an impending recession have nudged many retired workers who are in need of extra income back into the workforce. In many cases, their managers are one or more decades younger than them. In fact, 4 in 10 employees say they have worked for a younger boss, according to a Harris Interactive survey conducted for CareerBuilder. Even more compelling: The fastest growing workplace demographic is employees age 65 and older, which leaves HR professionals with no option but to properly train these younger managers on how to uplift the older workers they supervise. To help with that effort, this article offers 10 tips for younger managers who work with older employees.
-
Moving from Moral Distress to Moral Emotion: A Socioecological ModelAmong social workers, morally relevant distress has been associated with negative emotional and physical outcomes for the practitioner as well as increased intent-to-leave and burnout. Moral distress, a term that arose in the nursing literature, has traditionally been understood as the discomfort that arises when one knows the right thing to do, but is unable to act on that knowledge. However, social workers’ perspectives and experiences of moral distress have not been fully explored, including whether certainty and constraint are central features. A diverse sample of 20 master’s prepared social workers participated in individual semi-structured interviews exploring experiences they identified as morally or ethically troubling or distressing. Grounded theory was used to guide analysis of respondent interviews and revealed that constraint was a common, but not essential feature of morally distressing scenarios. Additionally, uncertainty was often described as an aspect of the experience. The Model of Moral Emotion emerged during the analytic process, demonstrating the layered and contextual nature of a range of morally challenging emotions (e.g., anxiety, depression, anger, traumatic stress). Within this model, moral emotion is shaped by the features of the moral scenario (i.e., constraint, conflicts, complexity, complicity, and trespass) and the individual’s capacity, via internal and external resources, to work through practice challenges. This micro level experience is nested within the mezzo level of practice (e.g., agency context, resources, and culture), the macro level of practice (e.g., sociopolitical, economic, and historical context), and the practitioner’s development as an individual and professional (chronosystem). The Model of Moral Emotion is best suited for use as an assessment tool with students and practitioners to explore how and in what contexts moral emotion develops, how it is experienced or impacts the practitioner, and what actions or responses are needed. Future research will benefit from exploration of the positive end of the moral emotion spectrum (e.g., moral courage), the nuances of diverse cultural understandings of moral emotion, and possible adaptation of the model for quantitative analysis.
-
Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, Emotion Regulation, and Parenting Stress in Mothers of PreschoolersParenting stress is known to have adverse effects on both parents and children and is particularly salient during the early childhood years. Parenting stress can lead to harsh parenting behaviors which in turn have negative consequences for children, including internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parental emotional dysregulation and low levels of compassion toward oneself are factors associated with elevated parenting stress. Mindfulness has been identified as a state of being negatively associated with symptoms of high stress, anxiety, and depression, and has been shown to be beneficial for parents of children with autism and those with chronic illnesses. The purpose of this dissertation study is to analyze the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress, looking specifically at self-compassion and difficulties with emotion regulation as possible mediators. Using an electronic survey administered by Qualtrics Panels, I gathered data from mothers of 2- to 5-year-old children and analyzed the data using mediation models. I hypothesized that self-compassion and/or difficulties with emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress. Results were that self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress. Difficulties in emotion regulation did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress. This research has implications for the field of social work, and for parenting interventions in particular, as it has the potential to expand our understanding of how mindfulness works to reduce parenting stress.
-
Financial Return on EAPs 2023: Managing the Rise of Complexity and Employees at RiskIn the post-pandemic workplace, even more employees are making use of their EAP: the average usage figure has now topped 12%, compared with 11.4% last year (and the typical average from previous years of 10.4%). As a consequence, organizations are reporting more savings in terms of reduced staff absence and gains in productivity. Figures from the period between October 2021 and October 2022 show that for every £1.00 spent on an EAP in the UK, employers have seen an average ROI of £10.85. This com- pares with a previous average of £8.00 in the previous year, and £7.27 in 2019. Our evidence comes from HR professionals making use of the EAPA UK ROI calculator: the biggest data set on EAP usage, impact and financial re- turns in the UK: more than 4,100 calculations made via the EAPA UK ROI calculator since the beginning of 2019, representing anonymized information from 11 million employees.
-
Online Presenation SkillsThis is a two-part presentation on the art of presenting via Zoom or another online platform. In part one, Dr. Page speaks on the following topics: 1. What’s different when we speak via our laptops? 2. What are the best preparations steps and in which order? 3. Getting the best of your screen presence. In part two, Dr. Page speaks on the following topics: 1. Nonverbal communication and leadership presence 2. Storytelling and ‘Show, don’t tell!’ 3. Practice with feedback.
-
National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis CareThe National Suicide Prevention Lifeline transitioned to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in July 2022. This free, confidential system provides 24/7/365 behavioral health crisis response through text, chat, and voice calls. Congress increased its appropriation for the crisis center service to address rising rates of behavioral health crises across America. This transition represents an unparalleled opportunity to improve the delivery of crisis care in every community in the country. It also elevates our responsibility to ensure that crisis response services meet the needs of children, youth, and young adults, and their families and caregivers. The need for developmentally appropriate crisis response services for youth is acute. Yet, while many crisis response systems have robust services in place for adults, there are often considerable gaps in capacity to serve youth and families. Too often, youth experiencing behavioral health crisis face hospitalization or justice system involvement, instead of the home- and community-based services they need to de-escalate and stabilize. This is especially true for youth populations that have experienced high unmet behavioral health needs, including LGBTQ+, Black, and American Indian and Alaska Native youth. The National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care provides guidance on how states and communities can address these gaps. It offers best practices, implementation strategies, and practical guidance for the design and development of services that meet the needs of American children and their families experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
