Most Seattle employers in a UW-led study said in 2015 they expected to raise prices on goods and services to compensate for the city’s new $15 per hour minimum wage law — but a year after implementation such increases are not in evidence.
Tag: School of Social Work
Health disparities are common in developed countries, including the U.S., but at what age those inequities take root and how they vary between countries is less clear. New research from the University of Washington compares the link between income, education and low birth weight in the United States with those in three comparable countries: the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Low birth weight is a primary risk factor for infant deaths and is considered a key predictor of health and…
Patty Yamashita was a vivacious, sweet, high-energy woman who balanced a career as an IT manager with a steadfast dedication to her family. She worked long hours but was always home to put dinner on the table and read a bedtime story for her children. “My mother was my hero,” said her son, David. “Usually a boy or man would say that their father showed them the way in terms of growing up and how to live and how to…
Suicide is a tough issue to broach. How could an adult know if a child in the community might be suicidal and when to intervene? Is it appropriate to ask a friends or colleagues if they’re considering suicide? If someone is in crisis, what’s the best way to respond? Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention hopes to give people in three Washington rural counties with some of the highest suicide rates in the state the skills and knowledge to address such…
The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) older adults in Seattle and King County is expected to double by 2030, and they face higher risks of disability, poor health, mental distress and isolation — along with a social service sector unequipped to deal with their needs. That’s the conclusion of a study released Oct. 6 and led by professor Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen and colleagues at the University of Washington School of Social Work. The study identifies widespread social…
The University of Washington will help more social work graduate students pay for their studies and start their careers without staggering debt loads, thanks to significant support from Connie and Steve Ballmer. The Ballmers’ contributions include a new gift of $20 million, bringing the couple’s support for the UW School of Social Work to $32 million over the past five years. The funding is part of the early stages of the university’s fundraising campaign, expected to be announced next fall….
The signs that an abused child might later commit crimes might not be obvious — that boisterous playground behavior from a third-grade boy, for example, or the 10-year-old girl who seems a little anxious or withdrawn. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that troubling behaviors exhibited by abused children can be predictors of later criminal activity, and that those indicators differ between boys and girls. The study, published Aug. 11 in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, found…
Abusive and controlling men are more likely to put their female partners at sexual risk, and the level of that risk escalates along with the abusive behavior, a UW study found. Published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, the study looked at patterns of risky sexual behavior among heterosexual men aged 18 to 25, including some who self-reported using abusive and/or controlling behaviors in their relationships and others who didn’t. The research found that men who were physically…
Washington state’s rural communities with the highest suicide rates soon will get more resources to help with prevention training and support. Washington Women’s Foundation is giving Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention $100,000 for suicide prevention in six underserved rural communities.
What will be the effects of the city of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance? Faculty from the UW’s schools of public affairs, public health and social work are teaming up for The Seattle Minimum Wage Study, a five-year research project to learn that and more.
More than two years after Washington legalized marijuana, parents and teens may be hazy on the specifics of the law, if the findings of a new study are any indication. University of Washington research, published recently in Substance Use & Misuse, found that only 57 percent of Washington parents surveyed knew the legal age for recreational marijuana use and just 63 percent knew that homegrown marijuana is illegal under the law. And while 71 percent of 10th-graders correctly identified the…
Research has found a significant link between childhood abuse and neglect and crime in adulthood. But a recent University of Washington study finds that link all but disappears when accounting for other life factors. “We find that children who were involved in child welfare services are at high risk of adult crimes, but once we accounted for childhood socioeconomic status and later marital status and education, many of those effects went away,” said co-author Todd Herrenkohl, an investigator at the…
The first time Alise Hegle saw her daughter again after her birth was 11 months later at a court-ordered, supervised visit. Newly out of jail and treatment for drug addiction, Hegle was riddled with anxiety. She had no idea how to parent her only child and worried about the visitation supervisor who sat silently observing, taking notes. “I was terrified,” she recalled. “I felt worthless. When the setting and the environment is intimidating and you don’t feel supported, it’s hard…
The number of Washingtonians living in poverty jumped by more than 50,000 from 2012 to 2013, and the state poverty rate rose as well, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
Researchers affiliated with the UW’s School of Social Work tailored a parenting program known to improve communication in non-foster families for use in foster families, who often say they don’t feel connected and have trouble communicating, but few resources exist that nurture their bonding.
Social work researchers from the University of Washington have found that among a group of active-duty Army personnel who use illicit drugs, the most abused substance is synthetic marijuana, nicknamed “Spice,” which is harder to detect than other drugs through standard drug tests.
More than a million people are treated for mild traumatic brain injuries in U.S. hospitals and emergency rooms each year. A University of Washington researcher has found that a 20-minute conversation with a social worker has the potential to significantly reduce the functional decline of those diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury.
The UW School of Social Work will host the series “Working Together for Labor Justice” during Labor History Month in May.
Roger Roffman, UW professor emeritus of social work who has studied marijuana dependence interventions for 30 years, talks about his new book, “Marijuana Nation: One Man’s Chronicle of America Getting High: From Vietnam to Legalization.”
Joining a gang in adolescence has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior, even after a person leaves the gang. Former gang members are more likely to be in poor health, receiving government assistance and struggling with drug abuse than someone who never joined a gang.
The University of Washington’s School of Social Work will launch a new center – called the Healthy Generations Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Social Work – with a public lecture and reception Thursday, Feb. 27.
Findings from UW longitudinal surveys of nearly 2,000 participants suggest that efforts to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases should begin years before most people start having sex.
One might think that after years on the job, mental health workers would harbor negative attitudes about mental illness, but a new UW study suggests the opposite.
UW researchers evaluated about 20 parenting programs and found five that are especially effective at helping parents and children at all risk levels avoid adolescent behavior problems that affect not only individuals, but entire communities.
Fewer high school students across the U.S. started drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, committing crimes and engaging in violence before graduation when their towns used a prevention system developed by UW’s Social Development Research Group.
Researchers have long suspected some kind of link between childhood abuse and smoking. But in an interesting twist, UW researchers found a connection not between whether or not an abused child will ever begin smoking, but to how much they smoke once they do start.
Every middle and high school has a policy against drinking alcohol on campus, but not all students follow the rules. New research suggests students are less likely to drink if they believe their school will strictly enforce its policy.
This week, student art and music, a School of Social Work art exhibit a lecture on art and more. It’s between quarters but there’s still plenty to see on campus.
The holidays can be a time of sadness and loneliness, and UW’s Wendy Lustbader has advice on how to deal with these issues.
Researchers investigating the long-term consequences of child abuse have identified some protective factors that can improve the health of victims during their adulthood.
Although the English are generally healthier than Americans, both countries grapple with large health inequalities. A new study suggests that in both countries, health and wealth are tightly linked. The study, published online Sept. 20 in the American Journal of Public Health, links income level with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and other health conditions. The results surprised author Melissa Martinson, an assistant professor at the UW’s School of Social Work, who expected income to have less of an effect…
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today show that, after increasing since 2008, the poverty rate for the U.S. remained stable at 15 percent between 2010 and 2011. In Washington state, the estimated poverty rate increased from 11.5 percent (774,000 residents) to 12.5 percent (854,000 residents) between 2010 and 2011.
Experts have thought that multiracial adolescents use drugs and engage in violence more than their single-race peers. But in a new study, researchers find that mixed-race adolescents are more similar to their white counterparts than previously believed.
UW researchers adapted a parenting program to help foster families address their greatest challenges, including overwhelmed foster parents and a lack of trust between caregivers and foster children.
The School of Social Work at the University of Washington will lead a newly formed partnership to provide professional development for the state’s social workers involved in child welfare.
Wendy Lustbader, with the UW School of Social Work, is a nationally known speaker on how to cope with aging, disability and end-of-life issues. She will speak June 4 at a caregivers conference in Tukwila, Wash.
As deaths from infectious diseases have declined worldwide, policymakers are shifting attention to preventing deaths from noncommunicable causes, such as drug and alcohol use, traffic crashes and unsafe sex practices.
A UW Tacoma researcher has discovered that sex-offender registries include people who are not actually living within the community,such as individuals who have died, been deported, are in jail or have moved out of state.
The School of Social Work will host a public reception Jan. 11 at 4-6 p.m. to kick off an art exhibit featuring about 20 paintings and drawings by homeless youths in the University District.
Aging and health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender baby boomers face higher rates of disability, physical and mental distress and a lack of access to services, according to a new study by researchers in the School of Social Work