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Survey data reveal that poverty simulations are an effective tool in changing student attitudes about poverty. What is not well documented in the literature is exactly how students learn through this type of experiential education. Using students as co-researchers in an action research model, this study sought to better understand how students learn about poverty through a poverty simulation, which is a pedagogical tool known to impact students' attitudes and understandings of poverty. Results map closely with transformational learning theory, including that personal background and previous learning experiences shaped students openness and willingness to engage in a new learning opportunity. Students reflected how the climate of the learning environment, in this case the poverty simulation, was as a significant factor that impacted the learning process. Finally, findings from this study indicate that students had both an increased interest in issues of social justice and felt less judgmental of people experiencing poverty following the simulation. Additionally, the student research team itself had a learning opportunity which resulted in an increased interest and appreciation for participatory research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative high rates of homelessness and housing insecurity among college students has become a public health concern within the U.S. This study explores the relationship between housing instability in relation to academic and mental health outcomes. College students attending a larger public university (N = 1,416 students; M age = 22.54; 47.2% Pell Eligible; 54.6% racially/ethnically minoritized students) were surveyed employing cluster-sampling in the Fall Semester of 2019. Participants completed validated measures of housing instability, mental health outcomes, and demographics. Additional measures were matched with survey responses through the Office of Institutional Research (i.e., GPA, Pell Grant eligibility). Students who experienced housing insecurity and homelessness were more likely to have a lower GPA as well as poorer mental health outcomes. Findings highlight implications surrounding the need for housing programs and additional financial support in an effort to bolster students' academic performance and mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the issue of income inequality has taken center stage in discussions of the economy and how workers' perceptions of their relative pay affect their overall life satisfaction. Using National Study of Changing Workforce data from 1997 to 2008, this study examined how income inequality affects workers' life satisfaction in the U.S. Income inequality was measured by calculating each state's Gini coefficient, a representative inequality index. Results from analysis of multilevel ordered logit models suggest a significant association between income inequality and workers' self-rated life satisfaction. As income inequality in the U.S. grew dramatically between 1997 and 2008, workers' self-reported life satisfaction decreased by 33.8 %. Interestingly, this negative impact of income inequality is significant for men, but not for women when analyzed separately. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty simulations are a promising approach to engaging college students in learning about poverty because they provide direct experience with this critical social issue. Much of the extant scholarship on simulations describe them as experiential learning; however, it appears that educators do not examine biases, assumptions, and traditions of power inherent in some traditional approaches. This is particularly problematic with poverty simulations because they are tools designed to specifically address systems of inequality and oppression. This case study describes an attempt to implement a poverty simulation and measure its longitudinal effectiveness and uses findings from this study to examine poverty simulations as contexts for experiential learning. It is argued that, when implemented without critical consideration, simulations might actually perpetuate inequality rather than empower students to address poverty through civic action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the issue of income inequality has taken center stage in discussions of the economy and how workers' perceptions of their relative pay affect their overall life satisfaction. Using National Study of Changing Workforce data from 1997 to 2008, this study examined how income inequality affects workers' life satisfaction in the U.S. Income inequality was measured by calculating each state's Gini coefficient, a representative inequality index. Results from analysis of multilevel ordered logit models suggest a significant association between income inequality and workers' self-rated life satisfaction. As income inequality in the U.S. grew dramatically between 1997 and 2008, workers' self-reported life satisfaction decreased by 33.8 %. Interestingly, this negative impact of income inequality is significant for men, but not for women when analyzed separately. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an empowerment approach for working with diverse women who experience poverty, trauma, and multiple structural oppressions. The approach is the result of 20 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating this practice in a metropolitan community, and is grounded in women's empowerment theory and relationalcultural theory. The interventions combine social work's clinical interventions with community organizing strategies to promote personal and collective empowerment, supporting the “personal is political” tenet of feminist practice. The interventions, including nonclinical interviews, story circles, and leadership and advocacy education and training, can guide practitioners in providing services and programs that create a space for women to make changes in their personal lives and in their community. Program outcomes report successful changes for women in improving symptoms, increasing self-efficacy, and engaging in community advocacy. Women who participated also reported an increased sense of power, balancing commonality and difference among women, and a sense of hope for their future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many families, child care is a necessity for economic self-sufficiency, as without it caretakers cannot enter and stay in the workforce. However, for many low-income families, child care expenses are so high that they often cannot afford it without government support. Also problematic is that government-supported child care benefits are incrementally lost as a family’s income increases, but often before sufficient income can be sustained to replace that support. This is known as the child care cliff. The focus of this study was to understand how families make decisions about child care and government support when facing this cliff. This article details a mixed-methods study that revealed that families use a combination of resources to make up their income package that they need to manage everyday survival, including government benefits, wages, and social supports. Also, though the cliff effect is a significant barrier to moving from government supports to self-sufficiency, there are multiple other barriers that add to the very real reasons that families have to carefully strategize to survive. The most helpful things for families in strategizing were a flexible job and solid social support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to overcome some of the greatest difficulties in generating a feminist-friendly approach to sacraments by proposing a new paradigm: sacraments as forms of energy. Several factors have hindered feminist theologians in revisioning sacramentality. For the most part sacraments were ‘done to’ women, never ‘done by’ women. A too-literal reading of the Christian scriptures blurs the fact that early Christians developed ritual patterns for Baptism and Eucharist first, and only later wrote them down. To speak of sacraments as mediations may re-inscribe dualism. The static model of reality which explained sacraments in Aristotelian categories of matter and form has given way to dynamic models of matter and energy.A sacramentality of energy can be articulated from three different angles: first, in terms of the action of the Holy Spirit; second, from scientific advances in quantum thinking, and the third from new spirituality. This paradigm applies to both Baptism and Eucharist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing, multidisciplinary body of evidence on the effects that neighborhoods have on family outcomes. This evidence is important for social workers as we work with clients and communities from a person-in-environment perspective. In this article the authors present findings from a systematic, integrative review of neighborhood effects specifically for crime and safety. Thirty-seven research studies using random samples from urban, U.S. areas between 2002 and 2008 are reviewed. Findings suggest socio-demographic characteristics of neighborhoods and neighborhood processes are both predictive of crime and safety. Further, some neighborhood conditions may affect crime and safety in unexpected ways. Implications for social work practice, neighborhood interventions, and evidence-based practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of social capital is being applied to community-based antipoverty programs across the country. Despite its increased presence in program theory, research on the process and effects of social capital are lacking. This study tests the direct and moderating relationships between race and ethnicity, informal neighborhood bonding social capital, and poverty on employment for households in low-income urban neighborhoods. Findings reveal a direct and inverse relationship between informal neighborhood bonding social capital and employment, suggesting that social capital is not, a cure-all for families living in low-income neighborhoods. Implications for social workers include carefully considering the types of social capital used in program theory and practice, and whether the specific types' of social capital are appropriate for intended program outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that financial and housing insecurity challenges are widespread on most college campuses throughout the U.S. However, there is wide variability in how campuses address these challenges. This study reports on a three-year implementation of the College-Focused Rapid Rehousing pilot; an initiative in California by which universities commissioned community providers to assist students in need via a modified Rapid Rehousing (RRH) intervention. RRH is a widely implemented intervention that combines move-in assistance, short-term rental subsidies, and ongoing case management, to help individuals quickly transition into stable housing. The mixed-methods evaluation included analyses of online surveys (n = 141), administrative records (n = 368), and focus groups conducted with staff across eight campuses (n = 35). Survey findings indicate that CFRR programs assisted a diverse group of students with similar histories of housing insecurity. Quantitative analyses also show that most participants experienced the intervention as designed, though with some inconsistencies in how quickly some were assisted. Qualitative findings highlight contextual factors that affected the consistency of the intervention, including tight rental markets and philosophical disagreements among administrators about the intervention's scope. Despite study limitations, findings provide insights into the applicability of the RRH model on campus settings and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Galectin 3 (G3) is a mediator of fibrosis and remodeling in heart failure. Methods: Patients diagnosed with and treated for Acute Heart Failure Syndromes were prospectively enrolled in the Decision Making in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure multicenter trial. Results: Patients with a higher G3 had a history of renal disease, a lower heart rate and acute kidney injury. They also tended to have a history of HF and 30-day adverse events compared with B-type natriuretic peptide. Conclusion: In Acute Heart Failure Syndromes, G3 levels do not provide prognostic value, but when used complementary to B-type natriuretic peptide, G3 is associated with renal dysfunction and may predict 30-day events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Reliable detectors of worsening renal function (WRF) in Emergency Department (ED) patients with acute heart failure (AHF) are limited. We hypothesized that initial urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin (NGAL) levels, and changes in urinary NGAL levels after initial ED AHF therapy, would be associated with WRF and adverse events. Methods and results Urinary NGAL upon ED presentation and 12–24 h after ED treatment was measured in a cohort of ED patients with AHF. NGAL was corrected for urinary creatinine (uCr). WRF was defined as RIFLE stages 1, 2, or 3, or a creatinine increase of ≥0.3 mg/dL. Patients were prospectively followed for 5- and 30-day adverse cardiovascular events. The 399 patients had a median age of 63 years, 50% were Caucasian, and 62% were male. Those with WRF at 72–96 h were more likely to have a higher initial NGAL value (71 vs. 32 ng NGAL/mg uCr) (P = 0.005), and a higher NGAL level at 12–24 h after ED therapy (107 vs. 25ng NGAL/mg uCr, P < 0.001). In a multivariable model, NGAL at 12–24 h remained a significant predictor of WRF (P = 0.012). Of all variables available 12–24 h after initial therapy, the only significant predictor of 30-day events was an elevated urinary NGAL level (P = 0.02). Conclusions Urinary NGAL levels determined 12–24 h after ED therapy are significantly associated with both WRF at 72–96 h and 30-day adverse events. This suggests that early management strategies may have an impact on subsequent WRF and outcomes. If confirmed, NGAL may have a role for guiding therapeutic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]