Search

In Europe, the widespread transition from the Traditional Staircase (TS) model to the Housing First (HF) model is transforming the way social service providers work with people experiencing homelessness. This study examined social service providers’ perspectives in both models regarding factors that facilitate or hinder their work. Data were collected through 17 photovoice projects involving 81 social service providers from eight European countries. The results show factors affecting social service providers’ work at three levels: systemic, organizational, and individual. Professionals in TS and HF identified similar topics; however, TS providers discussed more obstacles to work. Implications for practice are discussed. Comissão Européia info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This study proposes an innovative use of a modified version of photovoice for cross‐national qualitative research that allows participants to express their ideas, experiences, and emotions about a topic through photographic language. We examine factors affecting social service providers' work on people experiencing homelessness in Europe. We highlight five advantages of using photovoice in cross‐national research: visual language, methodological flexibility, participatory data analysis, the bottom‐up process, and the promotion of social change. Moreover, we identify key stages of the process: writing a detailed protocol for the implementation and fidelity of the projects, using two levels of data analysis, and disseminating the results. This study provides lessons learned for others who may want to use photovoice in cross‐national research. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

A Padova, per l'emergenza COVID-19, è stato attivato il progetto di gestione del volonta-riato "Per Padova noi ci siamo". La presente ricerca ha l'obiettivo di conoscere le caratteristi-che dei volontari e capire quali fattori sono legati alla disponibilità a continuare il volontariato post-emergenza. In aprile-maggio 2020, 299 volontari hanno completato un questionario onli-ne che indagava l'esperienza di volontariato e alcune dimensioni psicosociali. Dalle analisi emerge la relazione tra l'intenzione a continuare il volontariato e la crescita post-traumatica, il senso di appartenenza e la partecipazione a riunioni di quartiere. Alla luce dei risultati, sono elaborate delle proposte per aiutare le organizzazioni a stimolare e fidelizzare le persone che hanno intenzione di continuare a svolgere volontariato.

The aim of the present study was to test an explanatory model for individual and social wellbeing which incorporates the advantages of using digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was carried out in Italy, one of the countries that has been most severely affected by the pandemic worldwide. The study was designed to include variables that might be specifically pertinent to the uniqueness of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Adults living in Italy (n = 1412) completed an online survey during the lockdown period in March 2020. Results showed two distinct digital interaction processes highlighted by the facilitating use of online emotions (“e-motions”) and online social support (“e-support”). In short, e-motions were positively related to posttraumatic growth, which in turn was positively associated with positive mental health and higher engagement in prosocial behaviors. Moreover, individuals who perceived themselves as having greater e-support were characterized by higher levels of positive mental health, which it turn was positively associated with prosocial behaviors. Collectively, these two digital interaction processes suggest that digital technologies appear to be critical resources in helping individuals cope with difficulties raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

espanolRESUMEN La investigacion en EE.UU. ha demostrado que la mentoria juvenil es una estrategia prometedora para aumentar la autoestima y la conexion escolar en jovenes en situacion de riesgo. Sin embargo, ha habido escasa confirmacion de estos hallazgos a nivel internacional. El estudio actual evalua el impacto de la mentoria por parte de estudiantes universitarios capacitados en autoestima y conexion escolar de los ninos en comparacion con los companeros de escuela que no participaron en el programa. Mentor-UP es un programa de mentoria semanal llevado a cabo en la escuela y la comunidad que se implemento en el norte de Italia durante un periodo de siete meses. Los participantes (209 estudiantes, 34 en el grupo experimental y 175 en el grupo de comparacion de edades comprendidas entre 11 y 13 anos, 56% hombres, 27% inmigrantes) informaron de su nivel de autoestima y conexion escolar al principio y al final del programa. Los resultados mostraron un aumento significativo en la autoestima de los ninos mentorizados en comparacion con el grupo de control, mientras que la diferencia en la conexion escolar no fue significativa. Los hallazgos respaldan la efectividad de Mentor-UP para fomentar la autoestima de los jovenes. EnglishABSTRACT Research in the United States has shown that youth mentoring is a promising strategy for increasing self-esteem and school connectedness in at-risk youth. There has been little confirmation of those findings internationally. The current study evaluates the impact of mentoring by trained university students on children’s self-esteem and school connectedness compared to schoolmates not involved in the program. Mentor-UP is a school- and community-based weekly mentoring program implemented in northern Italy over a period of seven months. Participants (209 students – 34 in the experimental group and 175 in the comparison group – aged between 11 and 13, 56% male, 27% immigrants) reported their levels of self-esteem and school connectedness at the beginning and at the end of the program. Results showed a significant increase in mentees’ self-esteem compared to the control group, while the difference in school-connectedness was nonsignificant. The findings support the effectiveness of Mentor-UP in nurturing youth’s self-esteem.

Contains fulltext : 232434.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The complexity of homeless service users' characteristics and the contextual challenges faced by services can make the experience of working with people in homelessness stressful and can put providers' well-being at risk. In the current study, we investigated the association between service characteristics (i.e., the availability of training and supervision and the capability-fostering approach) and social service providers' work engagement and burnout. The study involved 497 social service providers working in homeless services in eight different European countries (62% women; mean age = 40.73, SD = 10.45) and was part of the Horizon 2020 European study "Homelessness as Unfairness (HOME_EU)." Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), findings showed that the availability of training and supervision were positively associated with providers' work engagement and negatively associated with burnout. However, results varied based on the perceived usefulness of the training and supervision provided within the service and the specific outcome considered. The most consistent finding was the association between the degree to which a service promotes users' capabilities and all the aspects of providers' well-being analyzed. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for how configuration of homeless services can promote social service providers' well-being and high-quality care.

Integration is one of the main goals of homeless services. Despite the growing research on integration and homelessness, few studies start with the perspective of people experiencing homelessness. Integration is often measured as participation in a list of standard behaviours. This process assesses behaviour in accordance with social norms but ignores people's own feelings and understanding of integration. The main aim of this study is to explore the meaning of integration from the perspective of people experiencing homelessness. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews involving 26 people in homeless service programmes. Five main themes regarding the meanings of integration were generated: work, housing, respectful relationships, family and personal dignity. Moreover, two themes of obstacles and facilitators affecting integration were identified. A new conceptualisation of integration is generated that captures the participants' sense of personal dignity, respect and recognition from others and a sense of utility within their living environments (work, house and family). Implications of the results are discussed with respect to homeless services and research on homelessness.

Burnout has recently been identified as a disorder by the World Health Organization. Although helping professions are the most exposed to burnout, there is a lack of research on work-related stress in social service workers, such as frontline workers in homeless services. The aim of this study is to evaluate burnout in a sample of Italian providers working in homelessness services, exploring the differences between traditional services and Housing First. Burnout was measured through the Link Burnout Questionnaire, consisting of four dimensions investigating Psychophysical exhaustion, Depersonalization, Professional inefficacy and Disillusion. A total of 69 participants (40 social providers and 29 educators of both types of service) responded to the survey. The results show similar levels of burnout in providers and educators working in the two types of services.La sindrome del burnout è stata recentemente riconosciuta dall’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità come un disturbo medico. Le professioni d’aiuto sono quelle più esposte al rischio di burnout, ma sono pochi gli studi dedicati allo stress lavoro-correlato negli operatori dei servizi sociali, come educatori ed operatori di servizi per persone senza dimora. L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è indagare la presenza di burnout nei professionisti dei servizi per persone senza dimora, esplorando le differenze tra i servizi tradizionali e quelli che usano il modello di Housing First. Lo strumento utilizzato è il Link Burnout Questionnaire costituito da quattro dimensioni che indagano l’Esaurimento psicofisico, il Deterioramento relazionale, l’Inefficacia professionale e la Disillusione. Le analisi sono state svolte su un campione di 69 partecipanti (40 operatori e 29 educatori di entrambe le tipologie di servizio). I risultati non evidenziano differenze significative per le quattro dimensioni del burnout tra le diverse tipologie di servizi.

The experiences documented in the literature of using photovoice to analyze work situa-tions appear to be quite limited, including the literature on services for homeless people. Few studies have analyzed the organizational characteristics that actually facilitate working with the homeless and determined the elements that help social workers to work in contexts that are often difficult and put them at risk of stress. The aim of the present research is to explore, through the photovoice methodology, which factors are perceived as hindering or facilitating the work effectiveness in teams working with homeless people. In this paper the results related to the point of view of social workers working in services for homeless people in Italy will be presented. In total, three photovoice projects were carried out, involving 18 social workers who took 195 photographs. The results suggest the importance of the relationship with other local services and of providing tools to support the professional team. Indeed, the themes emerged from the discussion of the photos are related with the feeling of impotence experienced by social workers.

In recent years a peculiar homelessness’ policy that goes under the name of ‘Housing First’ has become increasingly popular all over the world. Epitomising a quintessential case of policy-mobility, Housing First can today be considered an heterogeneous assemblage of experiences and approaches that sometimes have little in common with each other. Introducing and commenting upon this heterogeneity, the paper critically analyses why and how Housing First has become a planetary success and what are the issues at stake with its widespread implementation. If recent scholarship published in this journal has granted us a fine understanding of Housing First’s functioning in the US, this paper offers something currently absent from the debate: a nuanced and critical understanding of the ambiguities related to the international success of this policy, with specific references to the challenges associated to its translation in the Italian case.

In Italy, many organizations are experimenting with the Housing First (HF) model to promote a change in how they work with homeless people. This change creates some difficulties, especially in promoting freedom of choice in people involved in the HF programs. This study explored the definition of “home” in homeless people’s points of view. The study participants were 5 homeless men involved in a HF program called “The Road Home” implemented in the city of Padua. Data were collected using Photovoice, a photographic method based on participatory action research. During the project, the participants took photographs to illustrate their definitions of “home” and then engaged in a critical dialogue about the images represented in the photographs. The results of the study showed that occupants identified the home as being related to family, friendship, cohabitation, and hope for the future. The Photovoice project provided an opportunity to promote discussions that revealed the true needs of the people i...

L’articolo si pone l’obiettivo di evidenziare la difficolta di definire in modo univoco la poverta. Dopo una sintetica introduzione sulla diffusione del fenomeno in Europa e in Italia, vengono analizzate le diverse conseguenze che comporta sul benessere degli adulti e dei minori. Inoltre, viene introdotto il tema della marginalita estrema e in particolare di chi vive la condizione definita come senza dimora. Infine sono discusse le principali strategie, coerenti con un’ottica di psicologia di comunita, volte a favorire un percorso di reinserimento sociale.

The aim of this research was to explore Italian students’ lockdown experience during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand their emotions and the coping strategies they played out during their daily lives at home through photo diaries. The research was carried out in six Italian universities involving 109 participants. The task required each student to take one photo per day for one week in T1 and one in T2, representing their mood during their daily life at home and to give it a title and a brief description. Overall, 1,526 photographs with texts were collected. The main subjects of the photographs were objects, the most frequent coping strategy was self-distraction, and most participants expressed emotions of joy and anticipation but also sadness and fear. Then, the associations between the characteristics of their photos and the emotions and coping strategies from their diary entries were analyzed. For example, emotional support and joy were positively associated with family, pets, and food, while fear and sadness were represented with objects. Implications of the results are discussed, including considerations about using photo diaries during collective disasters.