Mental health stigma operates in society, is internalized by individuals, and is attributed by health professionals. This ethics-laden issue acts as a barrier to individuals who may seek or engage in treatment services. The dimensions, theory, and epistemology of mental health stigma have several implications for the social work profession.

Mental Health Stigma: Society, Individuals, and the Profession

Due to increasing national diversity, programs addressing cultural competence have multiplied in U.S. medical training institutions. Although these programs share common goals for improving clinical care for patients and reducing health disparities, there is little standardization across programs. Furthermore, little progress has been made to translate cultural competency training from the clinical setting into the public health setting where the focus is on population-based health, preventative programming, and epidemiological and behavioral research. The need for culturally relevant public health programming and culturally sensitive public health research is more critical than ever. Awareness of differing cultures needs to be included in all processes of planning, implementation and evaluation. By focusing on community-based health program planning and research, cultural competence implies that it is possible for public health professionals to completely know another culture, whereas intercultural competence implies it is a dual-sided process. Public health professionals need a commitment toward intercultural competence and skills that demonstrate flexibility, openness, and self-reflection so that cultural learning is possible. In this article, the authors recommend a number of elements to develop, adapt, and strengthen intercultural competence education in public health educational institutions.

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Intercultural Competency in Public Health: A Call for Action to Incorporate Training into Public Health Education

Social workers are needed to implement science-based treatments for alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems. Changes in insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act will increase the demand for licensed Master of Social Work (MSW) clinicians. This national study of MSW programs (N = 210) examines prevalence of addiction courses and specializations. Web-based analyses showed that only 14.3% of accredited schools offered specialization; only 4.7% of accredited schools had one or more required courses. Social work education has not met addiction workforce development needs; there is no evidence this pattern will change.

Addiction Training in Social Work Schools: A Nationwide Analysis

This article offers a new definition of military cultural competence based on a review of the literature. As a starting point, the defining characteristics of military culture is discussed and includes the chain of command, military norms, and military identity. Having laid this groundwork, the multidimensionality of military cultural competence—attitudinal, cognitive, behavior—is discussed. Clinical applications of these various competencies are provided.

Military Cultural Competence

Background: Counseling and social work programs educate future practitioners who are likely to be engaged in direct practice with individuals impacted by substance use disorders. Recent changes to policy and practice, including the Affordable Health Care Act and DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition), contribute to the ongoing need to develop substance abuse competencies among mental health professionals at all educational levels and across multiple disciplines. Methods: The authors reviewed programs of study and course catalogs identified and accessed online for counselor education, Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Social Work programs to identify offered and required courses focused on substance abuse, as determined by course title and description. Results: Of the 97 master's-level counseling programs reviewed, 67 required at least 1 course in substance abuse and 12 offered at least 1 elective in substance abuse. Of the 89 Bachelor of Social Work program...

An exploration of substance abuse course offerings for students in counseling and social work programs.

As frontline mental health care providers, social workers need to be prepared to confront and properly manage substance abuse issues in practice. This study examined predictors of recent master of social work (MSW) graduates' perceptions of preparedness to practice in the area of substance abuse. A cross-sectional design was used, and 232 recent MSW graduates completed a mail-in survey (65.7% response rate). Respondents were more likely to perceive themselves as prepared to work with substance abuse issues if they received more formal academic training in substance abuse and had higher knowledge of substance abuse concepts and models. The findings support the need to include substance abuse education in social work curricula.

Substance abuse training and perceived knowledge: predictors of perceived preparedness to work in substance abuse

본 연구의 목적은 웰에이징 교육전문가가 노인일자리 사업 및 관련 교육 활동에 대해 어떻게 인식하고 있는지 조사하여 향후 교육 프로그램 설계에 관한 시사점을 찾고자 하는 데 있다. 조사 기간은 2022년 10월 31일~2023년 1월 16일까지 진행되었고, 웰에이징 교육전문가 중 노인일자리 사업에 관심이 있는 사람 45명이 설문에 참여하였다. 본 연구에서는 연구대상자의 인구학적 특성과 노인일자리 사업과 관련한 교육 인식을 파악하기 위해 SPSS Statistics 25를 이용, 기술통계분석, 교차분석, 만-위드니 U검정을 실시하였다. 연구대상자가 생각하는 노인일자리 사업의 교육분야별 중요도와 실행도를 살펴보기 위해 IPA(Importance-Performance Analysis)를 수행하였다. 연구대상자의 평균 나이는 49.7세였고, 현재 종사하는 분야에 재직한 평균 기간은 10.3년이었다. 이들은 교육 프로그램 내용이 교수학습활동에 가장 중요한 요소라고 응답하였다. 연구대상자의 68.9%는 노인일자리 사업에 대한 교육을 제공하는 것이 실제 노인일자리 사업 참여로 이어진다고 응답하여 정책의 효과성을 높이 평가하였다. IPA 분석 결과 이들은 노인일자리 사업 관련 교육 실행도 중에서 행정기관과 협력 체계 구축하기에서 고충을 겪는 것으로 나타났다. 한편 사회복지계열 전공자는 비사회복지계열 전공자보다 행정기관과 협력 체계 구축하기에서 실행도 점수가 높았다. 이 같은 연구 결과를 토대로 노인일자리 사업 참여자 대상 필수 교육에 웰에이징 교육을 융합하는 방안과 사회복지계열 전공자를 중심으로 타분야 전문가와 협업하여 교육 프로그램을 구성할 것을 제안하였다. This study examines policy awareness among well-aging educators who are interested in senior employment and social activity support programs for the elderly. Data collection was done from October 31, 2022, through January 16, 2023, with a total of 45 well-aging educators included in the study. Using SPSS Statistics 25, descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and Mann-Whitney U-tests were conducted. Two importance-performance analysis (IPA) models were performed to study levels of perception on such policy awareness. On average, subjects were 49.7 years old, and the average length of service in their current field was 10.3 years. The majority of the subjects (68.9%) evaluated policy effectiveness highly, recognizing that education leads to participation in senior job placement programs. Results show that well-aging educators had difficulties in working with administrative agencies to conduct education. In addition, social-work professionals had higher performance scores than non-social work professionals when establishing a cooperative system. This study suggests well-aging education can be integrated into senior employment and social activity support programs for the elderly, and social-work professionals can be an integral part of it. 

Joohee Yum

Papers

Substance abuse training and perceived knowledge: predictors of perceived preparedness to work in substance abuse

A Study on Perceptions of Senior Employment and Social Activity Support Programs for the Elderly: Well-Aging Educators’ Perspectives