Evacuation and sheltering behaviors were modeled for a hypothetical release of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) from Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) in Erwin, Tennessee. NFS down-blends weapons grade Cold War-era nuclear fuel material and processes highly-enriched uranium occasionally using UF6 onsite. Risk associated with a chemical release to the surrounding residential population was assessed by running 2 scenarios involving an airborne release of UF6 to compare evacuation and sheltering in place actions as effective survival strategies. Risk is minimal and evacuation is recommended for people within a 2-mile radius of the release point. Shelter in place actions are recommended for all critical facilities that have the potential to be affected by a chemical release plume. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis and Capacity-Aware Shortest Path Evacuation Routing in conjunction with a geographic information system proved to be valuable technological tools in determining evacuation routing and exposure zones.

The Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is a benefit available to Medicare beneficiaries. This benefit has the potential to address many areas of prevention in one focused visit to the primary care clinic, yet it is currently being provided to only 19% of Medicare beneficiaries. This research attempted to examine the extent to which certified health education specialists (CHES) have provided and perceive themselves to be prepared to provide the preventive health services (PHS) within the AWV, along with seven additional preventive counseling services (PCS). A web-based survey assessed the perceived preparedness of health educators, specifically CHES (N=998), to deliver these PHS. The results of these surveys include the development of a single factor internally consistent scale to measure perceived preparedness for the PHS within the AWV. They reveal health educators were least prepared to assist with end-of-life-planning and conduct a basic hearing test. No association was found for education level and perceived preparedness; however, prior experience did account for a significant amount of the variance in perceived preparedness to provide AWV services. Lastly, when compared to historical data regarding physician’s perceived preparedness to provide PCS, health educators were more prepared to counsel on diet and exercise and less prepared to counsel on six other PCS. These results may aid in the understanding of whether CHES perceive they are prepared to provide (PHS) and demonstrate the experience CHES have with each of these PHS.

Self-disclosure is used by feminist, humanistic, client-centered, and a variety of other counselors to build therapeutic alliances with clients. However, little research has been conducted on counselors' perceptions of their preparedness to use self-disclosure. This exploratory multiple-case study used attachment theory as a framework to explore the perceptions of novice licensed professional counselors' preparedness to use self-disclosure. The 12 participants who participated in face-to-face interviews practiced as licensed professional counselors in Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. The participants described how they learned, practiced, and used self-disclosure. After analyzing interview data through cycle coding and peer review, themes emerged showing participants' life experiences, clinical practices, education, and supervision as having prepared them to use self-disclosure. Participants perceived they were prepared to use self-disclosure through their educational experience but primarily learned to self-disclose through trial-and-error. Participants reported learning to self-disclose by taking a chance and practicing the self-disclosure skill with clients after receiving their license. Professional counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators who are the gatekeepers for future counselors may use the study's findings to improve understanding of and training in self-disclosure. The findings can be used to enhance the training of how to prepare counselors to use self-disclosure, therefore, minimizing harm to the clients. Learning more about training counselors to use a skill that is of use with or without intent is of significance to the field of mental health counseling.

This study utilizes a cross-sectional quantitative study design that explores the perceptions of preparedness of advanced year Master of Social Work (MSW) students, regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) clients. Currently, there may be gaps in regards to adequately preparing students for serving intimate partner violence clients. This is an exploratory study and data is collected using self-report surveys, which include questions on: demographics, perceptions of preparedness, and education/training received on IPV. This study seeks to identify a correlation between the education/training that MSW students receive on IPV, and their levels of preparedness for serving IPV clients. This study hopes to gain a better understanding on which factors affect MSW students’ feelings of preparedness for serving IPV clients. The results indicated that perceptions of preparedness are associated with field training, field placement, age and gender. There was a positive relationship between field training and feelings that field placement prepared students for serving IPV clients, and a positive relationship between field training and feelings of having sufficient knowledge in IPV. There was a positive relationship between age and feelings of having sufficient knowledge of IPV, and a negative relationship between age and feelings of needing more knowledge. Finally, there was a negative relationship between being a woman and feelings of preparedness for making appropriate IPV referrals. Findings will be used as a way to recommend future education/training implementation on graduate-level coursework, in order to better prepare students for serving this client population.

The purpose of this study is to assess Master of Social Work (MSW) students’ perspectives on their preparedness to identify mental health needs of caregivers that are working toward reunification. Research has established that caregivers with mental illness have children removed by the child welfare system at higher rates. In order to reunify successfully, it is critical that any mental health needs are identified to provide appropriate linkage to services. This quantitative study used a self-administered survey questionnaire with a case study vignette. MSW students have some exposure to diagnosing during their MSW program, however, the findings suggest that key factors such as area of specialization, length of experience in a mental health setting, and mental health diagnosing experience, impact how comfortable they are with diagnosing and recognizing the severity of mental health symptoms.

ABSTRACT This research study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an Active Shooter Incident (ASI) training implemented at Southern California University (SCU). The purpose of this study was to assess students’ level of preparedness, anxiety, and knowledge about ASIs. Prior to collecting the data, an officer from the University Police Department (UPD) provided an ASI training for students where they were able to learn about safety procedures. Data was collected from a sample of Bachelor and Master level students within the SCU School of Social Work Department. Participants were given a questionnaire that consisted of questions regarding students’ level of anxiety toward the idea of an ASI occurring at their campus and internship placements. The questions also evaluated students’ knowledge and preparedness resulting from the ASI training. Data collection further determined whether certain aspects of the population such as ethnicity and gender contributed to their levels of anxiety.

Since 2001, increased policy attention and federal funding mechanisms have required more effective disaster response by government actors and private sector organizations, including the health care system. However, there is limited scholarly evidence documenting which structural elements have been associated with efficacious regional coalitions. This study addressed the gap by examining whether the number of different participating disciplines (a proxy for coalition roles), community setting, and prior weather-related disaster declaration influenced the number of activities (a proxy for coalition responsibilities) conducted by the health care coalition. Social network theory was the theoretical lens with which the study results were used to examine the relational structures within coalitions. The quantitative study was based on archival data from a survey in 2011 of 375 acute care hospitals in the United States. A general linear model analysis was conducted, and results suggest a statistically significant relationship between the number of disciplines and the number of conducted activities. As the number of different disciplines increases in a coalition, so do the different types of conducted activities. Based on the analysis, community setting--urban versus nonurban--and the occurrence of a federally declared, weather-related disaster did not influence the number of coalition activities. This study provides evidence that establishing network structures for health care coalitions will advance the field of health care emergency preparedness and disaster response. The findings from this research may promote social change by guiding future policy development and research necessary to develop resilient and efficacious disaster response systems, resulting in reduced loss of life and injury.

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing population in California schools, with a high percentage of students not meeting the standard of the English language arts performance on the California Standardized Test (CST). This project study investigated the problem in a California school district where it was unknown whether the intervention strategies provided to teachers gave them the curricular skills needed to address the instructional needs of ELLs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether teachers' self-reported instructional preparedness to teach ELLs was related to ELLs language arts performance. The study was grounded in Marzano's model of teaching effectiveness, which guided the anonymous survey given by the district to assess teacher instructional needs for ELL and helped define the independent variables. Archival data from the teacher survey and the CST were analyzed by using a simple linear regression and factor analysis in response to the research questions, which explored whether a relationship existed between self-reported teacher preparedness and the standardized test scores of ELLs students. Findings indicated no relationships between teacher preparedness to instruct ELLs and language arts performance on the CST. A significant finding on the teacher self-reported survey was that English language arts is a topic of concern to teachers and warrants additional training. To address this, a professional development project was created and influenced by Marzano's model of teaching effectiveness to address the best instructional practices for ELLs. Better preparation of teachers to instruct ELLs may promote positive social change by increasing student performance in English language arts and providing better opportunities for college and career that ultimately benefit the community.

Continuity of operations planning for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is critical for institution sustainability. The absence of such planning can result in an HBCU closing for an extended period of time after a disaster resulting in loss of revenue, research projects, students, faculty, and staff. There is a void of information on the extent of continuity of operations planning at HBCUs and how these institutions would continue functioning after a disaster. Using resilience theory as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the extent of continuity of operations planning at HBCUs in Alabama in the event of a disaster and explore opportunities to strengthen continuity planning for the future. Four HBCUs were chosen in the State of Alabama for this research. Data were collected through interviews with 5 individuals with information on continuity of operations planning at the universities selected. These data were inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. The results of this study indicate comprehensive continuity of operations planning is not taking place, and planners at these institutions perceive they do not have the guidance needed for effective planning and the time to conduct planning activities. It is recommended the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) develop a guideline for continuity of operations planning applicable to higher education. It is further recommended that HBCU leadership insure planners have adequate time and resources to devote to continuity of operations planning. This study fosters positive social change by bringing an awareness to FEMA and HBCU leadership of the need and importance of continuity of operations planning for institutional sustainability.

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 made many New Zealanders more aware of the devastating affects that a tsunami can have on coastal communities, and highlighted the need for people living in the coastal zone to be prepared for natural hazard events. The east coast of New Zealand is at high risk from both local and distantly generated tsunami, and Poverty Bay and Hawke Bay have been identified among the most at risk areas from tsunamis in the country. Three surveys were conducted between January and November 2006 to assess community understanding of, and preparedness for tsunami risk in the eastern North Island, New Zealand. These surveys were a camping ground visitor survey; a tourism sector preparedness survey; and the 2006 National Coastal Survey. Findings of all three surveys show that the general public does not appear to have sufficient knowledge of tsunami risk in their area. Also, there does not appear to be adequate information on tsunamis available to the public. Understanding of official tsunami warnings was high amongst residents surveyed in the 2006 National Coastal Survey. However, it was low amongst visitors surveyed in the camping grounds, with the majority of camping ground survey respondents indicating that they do not know what makes up the New Zealand public notification system. It is encouraging to find that overall the public are aware of the correct actions to take in the event of a tsunami warning being issued. Staff in hotels/motels in the Napier area were not well prepared for managing natural hazard events, with the majority of respondents having no training for dealing with emergencies, and none of those who had received training had received training for tsunami hazards. It is recommended that steps be taken to better educate and prepare the public and tourism managers in eastern North Island communities. This will require not only public education but a range of activities that engage, empower and motivate at-risk communities to respond effectively and appropriately to tsunami warnings.