Just Research: Advancing Antiracist and Antioppressive Social Work Research.

The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) created its Research Capacity and Development Committee in 2017 to build research capacity across the careers of social work scholars. The committee has initiated multiple conferences and webinar sessions that have increasingly focused on antiracist and antioppressive (ARAO) research, including "Mentorship for Antiracist and Inclusive Research" and "Strategies for Supporting Antiracist Pedagogy & Scholarship: Reimagining Institutional Systems & Structures." This commentary integrates themes from these sessions and other discussions among committee members about strategies to advance ARAO research. Although SSWR board members reviewed and approved this submission, it is not an official statement of SSWR or its board of directors.

Substance Use, Service Provision, Access & Utilization among Foreign-Born Communities in the United States: A Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of substance use among the foreign-born has gained increasing attention. Cumulative migration stressors - including historical trauma, violence, family separation, and poverty - present challenges to human service systems wherein services may not adequately meet the needs of these groups. Objectives: This study explores the challenges and realities of substance use, substance use service provision, and delivery of services among the increasingly diverse immigrant population using multiple perspectives. This study is based on data from a larger mixed methods study that assessed the human service landscape pertaining to the immigrant population in a mid-western region of the United States. Methods: This transformative mixed methods study used a community based participatory research approach. Data were collected from human service providers (HSPs), informal service providers, and local community leaders through surveys (n = 64), in-depth interviews (n = 23), and six focus group discussions (n = 48). A weaving approach was used to integrate findings from quantitative and qualitative data. Results: Participants recognize substance use as an issue that needs immediate attention among increasingly diverse immigrant communities. Community members and human service organizations identified several emergent themes including patterns and occurrence of substance use, barriers to care, and proposed system changes. Conclusions: Given that only 28% of responding organizations list substance use as part of their core services, the need for organizational collaborations with a focus on culturally responsive evidence-based services is proposed.

Women, war, and reproductive health in developing countries.

Globally, millions of people are affected by war and conflicts every year. However, women have increasingly suffered the greatest harm by war in more different ways than men. We conceptualize a reproductive rights approach toward examining the effects of war on women's reproductive health in developing countries. Given the rising concerns of exclusion to adequately address women's rights, sexual and gender-based violence, and post-conflict accountability, we specifically focus on the limitations of the Minimum Initial Service Package, a UN-sponsored reproductive health service program in conflict zones while offering a broad reproductive rights-based conceptual lens for examining reproductive health care services in war-torn areas. In addition, we discuss the roles social workers may play at both micro and macro levels in war-torn areas to bring about both short term and long term gains in women's reproductive health.

Antenatal Care in Nepal: A Socioecological Perspective.

Globally, millions of women die during pregnancy and childbirth due to preventable causes. In Nepal, although significant improvements have been made in the availability of routine antenatal care (ANC), the need for effective initiatives still persists. Using the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey data, we examine the relationship between ecological and socioeconomic variations on the effect of ANC services between three distinct ecological zones in Nepal. We make a case for the consideration of socioecological niches in designing effective policies and programs to achieve positive maternal health outcomes. Most importantly, we demonstrate how sociocultural perspective can be one alternative for examining the cultural and contextual effects on women's health, contributing to the methodological literature on women's health. Since geography and culture are components of human ecology and form the larger socioecological system, we highlight the importance of these contextual effects on women's health in general, and the conditions under which women from diverse backgrounds may experience similar health issues.

Culturally competent health care from the immigrant lens: a qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS).

Immigrant groups comprise a large segment of ethnic minorities in the United States. Although the literature is rich with strategies to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate services to eliminate health inequities, studies addressing cultural competence from the immigrant's perspective are limited. Further research is needed to build knowledge of the predictors and needs of this population, and to influence health care policy and practice. Using qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis, this study describes the lived experience of immigrants accessing health care to understand the essence of cultural competence in health care through their lens. Findings provide insight on expanding the definition of culturally competent health care beyond language, behaviors, attitudes, and policies.