PURPOSE:Evidence suggests that Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs) may support positive outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and staff; however, limited research has examined PIE implementation. This study investigated staff perspectives of contextual factors influencing implementation of a PIE framework embedded for approximately ten years within a youth refuge. METHODS:Twenty-six staff from an Australian youth refuge participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and organized around six PRISM-informed intervention characteristics: acceptability, adaptability, complexity, usability, usefulness, and observability. RESULTS:A PIE was highly acceptable, with alignment between its principles and staff values supporting integration into practice. Implementation involved interconnected processes, with shared formulation providing common psychological understanding, reflection supporting its application and maintenance, and trauma-informed environmental design enabling psychologically informed practice. Training, experience, and informal learning supported increasingly intuitive practice, while flexibility enabled individualized responses. Staff perceived benefits for young people, staff, and the service, while organizational conditions influenced consistent enactment. CONCLUSIONS:Findings suggest that a PIE becomes embedded when mutually reinforcing core components are integrated within a shared psychological approach that provides consistency while enabling individualized practice. Formulation, reflection, and trauma-informed environmental design supported enactment, while organizational and service-system conditions could enable or constrain implementation. Future research should examine these barriers and enablers across contexts and implementation stages.
PURPOSE:The primary objective of this literature review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the extant literature on the impact of media use on young children's wellbeing in low-income families. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Major academic databases (including Web of Science and Scopus) were searched starting Year 2000. Using PRISMA systematic literature review guideline, thirty articles were selected for final review. RESULTS:Findings from this review identified three critical areas of children's well-being that are impacted by media viewing during early childhood - socio-emotional well-being, cognitive well-being, and physical well-being. Additionally, findings strongly suggest that exposure to prosocial media content helps children learn values such as kindness, cooperation, and empathy while exposure to violent media leads to behavioral problems in children. Preschoolers from low-income families benefit more from educational media as compared to preschoolers from high-income families, and viewing general audience programs negatively impacts a child's school readiness and academic performance. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:Findings suggest that the consequences of media use on children, especially those who are from low-income and vulnerable families, are multifaceted. With the growth of technology and easy access to newer devices, additional research is needed to examine this relationship and develop a unified framework to understand the impact of media viewing on children. The review identifies co-viewing as a significant strategy to optimize young children's media experience.
PURPOSE:African immigrants remain underrepresented in research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and substance misuse. This study examined the relationship between ACEs and non-medical prescription drug use (NMPDU) among young adult African immigrants in the United States and explored whether mental health distress, perceived discrimination, and self-esteem mediated this relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey of 599 African immigrants in the United States; analyses focused on a subsample of 297 young adults ages 18-25. Ordinary least squares regression analyses examined the association between ACEs and NMPDU while controlling for age, sex, race, education, income, and immigrant generation. Separate mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Macro for SPSS. RESULTS:Approximately 76% of participants reported at least one ACE, and 55% reported NMPDU within the past year. ACEs were significantly associated with greater NMPDU (β = .22, p < .01) after adjusting for covariates. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects through mental health distress, self-esteem, and perceived discrimination, with all indirect effects remaining significant after controlling for covariates. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:Findings suggest that childhood adversity may increase vulnerability to NMPDU through multiple psychosocial pathways, including psychological distress, diminished self-esteem, and experiences of discrimination. Results highlight the importance of culturally responsive, trauma-informed interventions that address these psychosocial risk factors to reduce substance misuse and promote behavioral health among young adult African immigrants.
PURPOSE:Public health advisories for peatland-fire haze identify exposure yet leave unclear which families need service support. This study developed and pilot-tested the Brief Haze-to-Care Program, an evidence-informed public health social work pathway linking education, family risk screening, safety planning, referral navigation, and follow-up in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Referral completion was the primary outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS:From October 2025 to March 2026, a participatory intervention-development and pilot-feasibility design was used in three haze-affected communities with 60 families, 12 community welfare actors, and 6 social service practitioners or social work-informed experts. Data came from program records, interviews, focus groups, and field notes. RESULTS:Program reach was high. Of 60 families, 95.0% attended the education session, 91.7% completed screening, and mean implementation fidelity was 91.0%. Among families receiving referral navigation, 75.9% completed at least one documented referral contact within 3 months. Qualitative findings showed that the pathway made family vulnerability visible, clarified referral decisions, and supported bounded service-navigation roles for community welfare actors. CONCLUSION:High reach, fidelity, and referral completion support further testing. Referral gaps identify service coordination and follow-up as priorities for refinement. The Brief Haze-to-Care Program offers a feasible, evidence-informed referral pathway for public health social work in ecological-disaster contexts.
PURPOSE:This study explored parents' experiences of supporting neurodivergent young people to develop a relational framework for neuro-affirming family supports. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Drawing on a newly created Relational Ecosystemic Belonging through Equity and Liberation (REBEL) framework, the paper contributes to theory building about the experiences of parents and caregivers of neurodivergent young people, focusing on what they need to support their young people. The study analyzed 54 survey responses using demographic data and qualitative content analysis. RESULTS:While parents faced judgment and lack of acceptance of neurodiversity, impacting their ability to create supportive environments, they were creative agents in resisting neuro-normativity and building relational spaces of belonging in the face of systemic ableism and stigma. Nevertheless, they expressed overwhelm from the need to advocate extensively for their neurodivergent young person across health and education systems. DISCUSSION:Caregivers' need for more financial and social support for their own wellbeing was viewed within an anti-oppressive social work approach which makes visible the structural power dynamics including impacts of capitalism and individualism, neuro-normativity, and funding approaches which stigmatize and disadvantage neurodivergent young people and their families. CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that to further enhance equity, generate a genuine sense of belonging for neurodivergent young people and their families and resist oppressive power relations created by ableism and stigma, there is a need for a parent program guided by the REBEL framework. This framework is underpinned by an anti-oppressive, anti-ableist social work approach, the neurodiversity paradigm, and acknowledgment of the double empathy problem.
