Library Patrons' Psychosocial Needs: Perceptions of Need and Reasons for Accessing Social Work Services.

Public libraries in the United States have begun to partner with social work to address the psychosocial needs observed in patrons that are beyond the training and education of most library staff. This is a new area of inquiry with limited research available. Of the few published studies, the majority focus on staff perceptions of patrons' needs and surveys of patrons experiencing homelessness about their use of public libraries. The present study is the first to examine and compare staff perception of patrons' needs, patrons' self-expressed needs, and the actual use of social work services by patrons within one library system. Comparisons are explored between actual service usage alongside the perception of patrons' needs as originally reported by both staff and patron groups. Implications for library-based social work practice are discussed.

The Impact of Sociosexualization and Sexual Identity Development on the Sexual Well-Being of Youth Formerly in the Foster Care System.

PURPOSE: Youth in the child welfare system experience disproportionate rates of negative sexual health outcomes as well as increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors. This study explored the impact of sociosexualization and sexual identity development on the sexual well-being of youth formerly in the foster care system. METHODS: Two hundred and nineteen youth formerly in the foster care system completed an Internet-based survey, including measures of the level of sexuality-related topics discussion, relationship quality with the individual with whom the topics were discussed, adverse childhood experiences, severity of sexual abuse history, sexual identity development, and sexual well-being. Hierarchical regressions examined the impact of youths' sociosexualization experiences and four domains of sexual identity development on their sexual well-being. RESULTS: Sexual Identity Commitment was the strongest positive predictor of youths' sexual well-being (ß = .428) followed by Sexual Identity Synthesis/Integration (ß = .350) and Sexual Identity Exploration (ß = .169). Sexual Orientation Identity Uncertainty negatively impacted sexual well-being (ß = -.235), as did adverse childhood experiences (ß range = -.150 to -.178) and sexual abuse severity (ß range = -.208 to -.322). Sexuality-related discussions with foster parents negatively impacted youths' sexual well-being, whereas discussions with peers were a positive predictor. CONCLUSION: Enhancing youths' sexual identity development and reducing the impact of traumatic experience are critical to improving sexual well-being. The influence of sexuality-related discussions on sexual well-being requires further analysis as impacts varied widely. Public policies should provide guidance to professionals on what services should be provided to enhance youths' sexual development.

The Affordable Care Act, Substance Use Disorders, and Low-Income Clients: Implications for Social Work.

Social workers are leaders in the substance abuse services field and may often work in substance use disorder (SUD) education, prevention, assessment, treatment, or resource coordination and case management roles. As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (2010) drives changes in the fields of health and behavioral health, social workers have an opportunity to lead structural changes at the micro and macro levels that will have a positive impact on low-income clients with SUDs. In this article, authors examine the current state of SUDs and health care access, the impact of the ACA on the field, and implications for social work practice and education. Social workers should seek specialized education and credentialing in SUD services, know how to help clients apply for health care coverage, and advocate for integrated substance abuse treatment and health care programs and an expansion of Medicaid in their local communities. Social workers are well positioned to be a voice for clients to ensure that the current structural changes result in a better, integrated system of care that is able to respond to the needs of low-income clients with SUDs.

Social stress, economic hardship, and psychological distress as predictors of sustained abstinence from substance use after treatment.

Social characteristics associated with disadvantage, such as racial/ethnic minority status, female gender, and low socioeconomic status (SES), are often associated with increased psychological distress and substance use disorders. This project tests a conceptual model derived from Pearlin's social stress theory for predicting abstinence from substance use between baseline and 1-year follow-up in secondary data from a large statewide sample of Kentucky substance abuse treatment participants (N = 1,123). Racial minority status, employment, and higher education level were predictive of substance use at follow-up, while female gender was predictive of abstinence. Limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Telemedicine-based alcohol services for rural offenders.

Research has consistently shown that alcohol use is a problem in rural communities and access to substance abuse treatment, particularly evidence-based treatment is limited. Because telemedicine has been shown to be effective in delivering services, this article presents a novel and innovative way of using telemedicine technology in the form of videoconferencing to deliver an evidence-based alcohol intervention (motivational enhancement therapy) with at-risk alcohol users in real-world settings (rural probation and parole offices). This article focuses on: (a) creating a profile of an at-risk group of rural alcohol users; (b) describing the evidence-based intervention; and (c) describing the innovative telemedicine-based service delivery approach.