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Parents of autistic children are routinely advised to raise them monolingually, despite potential negative effects of monolingualism and no evidence of harm from bilingualism. There is, however, limited research on this topic. This study explored experiences and perspectives of educational practitioners ('practitioners') and parents of Hebrew-English bilingual autistic children on bilingualism and monolingualism. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, we explored the experiences of 22 parents and 31 practitioners using both oral and written interviews. The analysis revealed that religious continuity is a crucial factor in bilingual decision-making. Unexpectedly, both practitioners and parents felt that having to adopt a monolingual approach was unjust, in line with conceptions of forced monolingualism. This article recommends awareness training on community languages and research in other communities.

The article addresses clinical, neurodevelopmental, and psychological experiences of pregnant parents to build the case for shifting therapeutic approaches to promote the earliest possible connections between parents and their infant. The article emphasizes the rationale for therapeutic interface with families in pregnancy as it relates to stress reduction, behavioral changes, and protective factors for the fetus. Using home visiting as a service model, we focus on the relationship-based nature of the work, challenges, successes, priorities, and strategies for engaging parents in behaviors and activities that promote infant/parent mental health during pregnancy and early infancy.

Infants who begin their lives in intensive care are impacted physically and socioemotionally for many months and years to come. Likewise, stressful experiences of caring for a baby hospitalized in intensive care have an impact on primary caregivers, typically the baby's parents. Infant mental health (IMH) is an expanding, evidence-based field that emphasizes the importance of supporting early relationship development and optimal social and emotional outcomes through enhancing early relationships. Multidisciplinary IMH providers are uniquely prepared to support early relationship development between parents and infants, parents and intensive care professionals, and community mental health resources. As well-prepared and experienced IMH providers become available in intensive care units, babies, parents, and staff will benefit. This article addresses preparation, resources, and interventions that can be provided by IMH providers through case studies and examples for appropriate referrals in an intensive care setting.

Native Hawaiians constitute 401,000 or 0.1 percent of the total U.S. population, with approximately 60 percent residing in the state of Hawai'i. In Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian elders ("na kupuna") face a number of social and health disparities when compared with their non-Native Hawaiian counterparts: higher rates of poverty, greater disability rates, higher rates of specific life-threatening diseases, shorter life expectancies, and lower utilization rates of some services. Integrating life course literature and resiliency theory, the authors propose a model that provides a context from which to analyze and understand social and health disparities found among older Native Hawaiians. The authors introduce a historical timeline that identifies key cultural and historical markers in the lives of "na kupuna" and then link this timeline to health and social-health delivery strategies. This model offers a rationale for the development and implementation of culturally based solutions for "na kupuna" and underscores the need for social workers to intervene at the micro, meso, and macro levels to affect the well-being for this and other ethnic populations.

The escalating demand for trained direct long-term care (DLTC) workers, those individuals with the most sustained direct contact with vulnerable older adults in homes and facilities, is a consequence of our rapidly aging population. Research documents the present and projected shortages of DLTC workers, and developed nations are increasingly turning to immigrant women to fulfill these workforce needs. The authors identify international trends that influence the availability of these workers. Following a broad overview of the DLTC workforce, they turn to a specific examination of immigrants working in long-term care settings in the United States. The authors raise a number of questions about this changing workforce profile. They outline four ways that institutes of higher education can help improve the DLTC workforce in the United States and suggest that colleges and universities work in partnership with policy makers and the long-term care industry to this end.

The increase in the nation's present and projected multicultural aged population is both dramatic and well documented. One result of this growth is a sharpened focus on racial and ethnic disparities in health, health care access, and utilization of services that impact aging adults. This paper presents work conducted by a university-community collaborative project in gerontology. The thrust of the project is that cultural competency is a key ingredient for preparing social work students for work with ethnic minority elders and for potentially improving services to older minority populations. A brief description of the project is presented with highlights of the standards of cultural competencies that were developed for three specific populations: Japanese, Filipino, and Native Hawaiians. In general, standards organized around knowledge, values and skills consistently reflect the importance of the family system in caring for older adults. (Contains 1 table.)

With the aging of the world's population comes the rising need for qualified direct long-term-care (DLTC) workers (i.e., those who provide personal care to frail and disabled older adults). Developed nations are increasingly turning to immigrant women to fill these needs. In this article, we examine the impact of three global trends--population aging, globalization, and women's migration--on the supply and demand for DLTC workers in the United States. Following an overview of these trends, we identify three areas with embedded social justice issues that are shaping the DLTC workforce in the United States, with a specific focus on immigrant workers in these settings. These include world poverty and economic inequalities, the feminization and colorization of labor (especially in long-term care), and empowerment and women's rights. We conclude with a discussion of the contradictory effects that both population aging and globalization have on immigrant women, source countries, and the long-term-care workforce in the United States. We raise a number of policy, practice, and research implications and questions. For policy makers and long-term-care administrators in receiver nations such as the United States, the meeting of DLTC worker needs with immigrants may result in greater access to needed employees but also in the continued devaluation of eldercare as a profession. Source (supply) nations must balance the real and potential economic benefits of remittances from women who migrate for labor with the negative consequences of disrupting family care traditions and draining the long-term-care workforce of those countries.

More than 485,000 low-birth-weight, premature babies are born in the U.S. each year. The increase in preterm births since 1990 may be due to assisted pregnancies and births to older mothers. Although their survival rates are improving, many premature infants experience long-lasting developmental and behavioral problems. The author describes recent findings on the impact of the physical environment of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on the behavioral and physiological development of preterm infants and the importance of establishing responsive caregiving relationships. Individualized, relationship-based developmental intervention in the NICU should focus not only on medical and nursing care, but also on safety, privacy, confidentiality, comfort, and togetherness for the whole family.

Describes a two-year, multisite, curriculum-development project aimed to increase the pool of professionals trained in geriatric and/or gerontological social work. Methods included providing advanced training in aging, cultural competence, and interdisciplinary practice; developing, implementing, and testing an innovative student curriculum based on standardized learning competencies; revising the university curriculum to support such competencies; and producing a practical handbook. (Contains 21 references and 2 tables.) (GCP)

This article describes BEGINNINGS, an interim Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for use in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It discusses the rationale that supports the process, the format, and recommendations for its implementation. The program's early intervention services help to identify supports and to facilitate transition to community programs. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Defines the emerging role of the newborn developmental specialist as one which provides interdisciplinary leadership, education, mentoring, and system change skills necessary for comprehensive developmental programs and describes the training and experience necessary for this advanced practice position. (Author/CR)

Describes a model for social work educators and social work school officials who are building academic-field linkages. Survey of social workers on the knowledge and skills they need to respond to new directions in these linkages identified a number of themes for staff development and research. (RJM)

Discusses and contrasts varying definitions of empowerment from social work and feminist literature. Describes what is problematic in the definitions of empowerment practice with older women and suggests reasons for broadening the definition and concept of empowerment so that social welfare professionals can meet the needs of this growing population. (RJM)

The article addresses clinical, neurodevelopmental, and psychological experiences of pregnant parents to build the case for shifting therapeutic approaches to promote the earliest possible connections between parents and their infant. The article emphasizes the rationale for therapeutic interface with families in pregnancy as it relates to stress reduction, behavioral changes, and protective factors for the fetus. Using home visiting as a service model, we focus on the relationship-based nature of the work, challenges, successes, priorities, and strategies for engaging parents in behaviors and activities that promote infant/parent mental health during pregnancy and early infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]