This paper explores the development of Civic Wellness programs at the Art Institute of Chicago, with an emphasis on how Civic Wellness teaching, partnerships, and strategy are informed by social justice-oriented values. These include equity practice, antiracism, strength in community, and democratic justice-oriented andragogy. The paper lays out…

Purpose: There is limited research examining community-based youth empowerment that addresses smoking prevention in the rural Indonesian context. This paper describes participatory action research (PAR) applied to develop a framework for empowering youth aged 17-25 years toward smoking prevention. This research conducted in the Indonesian rural…

Alumni mentoring in social work allows students to connect with experienced practitioners in a nonevaluative context and for alumni to strengthen university connections. This study describes and evaluates one established student-alumni mentoring program. Pretest (n=277) and posttest (n=153) data were collected from participants across 3 years.…

The importance of enhancing social and emotional skills in educational settings has gained prominence, with many countries and organizations embracing the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) framework to equip individuals with the tools needed for shaping a self-identity, emotional regulation, goal achievement, empathy, nurturing relationships,…

The Preschool Life Skills program is an intervention package designed to teach functional skills to prevent problem behavior in typically developing children. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the instructional package (renamed "Life Skills") with children with developmental disabilities. The program…

A team from the University of Dayton, consisting of undergraduate students, a faculty facilitator, and practitioner partners, conducted an innovative oral history project documenting the experiences of ordinary people who lived through the unrest following Michael Brown's death in 2014. The Moral Courage Project sought to investigate the spectrum…

Within a private university in the United States, BUILD is a two-year program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. BUILD provides inclusive opportunities in coursework, employment, residential, and social activities with traditional students, as well as life skills and career training in courses specific to BUILD students. This…

Parental involvement in intervention can support intervention efficacy, improve generalization, and increase accessibility. The Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program is designed to teach 13 preschool life skills and prevent problem behavior. The current study explores the utility of the PLS program as delivered by parents. In Experiment 1, 6 parents…

A picture is worth a thousand words! Extension professionals are often looking for the picture that best captures an event and tells its story. Look beneath the surface, though, and a picture is worth much more. Developing a 4-H press corps results in a collection of useful photos but has the added benefit of providing 4-H members with an…

Life skills have become the foci of many girls' education initiatives because they are assumed to empower girls to negotiate oppressive gender norms constraining their lives. Often these programmes give a singular attention to gender norms, despite other interlocking oppressive structures and norms. Although postcolonial feminist perspectives in…

Mind in the Making and Vroom are partner initiatives that exemplify a unique "civic science" approach to "bringing developmental science into the world." Mind in the Making offers families and professionals working with children 0-8 access to developmental research, by engaging them in an active process of professional…

The authors present the impact of the Métis Settlements Life Skills Journey facilitator training program. Community members, aged 16 to 32, were hired and trained to lead youth summer camps. It was hypothesized that participation in the program and employment as facilitators would have a positive impact on their individual resilience. The program…

Objective: Perceived self-efficacy (PSE) is considered a foundation for effective self-care in the context of chronic disease and illness. In order to improve patient and caregiver knowledge about self-care in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), we designed and delivered an online, patient-focused education activity. Educational impact on PSE was…

Purpose: Based on a need to utilize strategies and develop social-emotional competency skills of school administrators, the purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE), a mindfulness-based professional development program, on the leadership and well-being of 13 school…

In this article we discuss teacher resilience and the critical role it plays in preventing attrition and burnout in schools. Using a bioecological model, we examine protective and risk factors that promote or inhibit teacher resilience at the levels of the "person," "microsystem," "mesosystem," and…