February 27, 2017

Spring 2017 Blog Series 4 of 10: School of Social Work – Masters of Social Work Student Assists Syrian Refugees

When Masters of Social Work student, Shabnam Sharifi, was reading and hearing about the Syrian refugee crisis in Fall, 2015, she immediately wanted to help. “I happened to search the Internet to see what I could do and I came upon sktwusa.org, a United Kingdom organization that was planning a trip to supply families with winter gear and clothing,” says Ms. Sharifi.

Ms. Sharifi learned that many children of refugees had not survived the past winter because it was very cold and they did not have the proper clothing and winter gear. “I decided to sign up. However, in order to go on this excursion, I not only had to pay my own airfare but raise $4500 to contribute to purchasing winter gear and clothing.”

Setting up a Go Fund Me account allowed Ms. Sharifi to raise the needed funds. “I remember expressing my concern to my sister about raising this amount of money in a short amount of time.” Within four days, Ms. Sharifi raised $4500 and in just a few short weeks, raised $20,000 for the cause.

With the power of social media, Ms. Sharifi utilized her Facebook page to spread her story. “I asked all of my friends to share my post,” recalls Ms. Sharifi. “People are amazing, I couldn’t have done this without everyone sharing my story and I was amazed at how giving people were.”

In preparation for her journey, Ms. Sharifi even visited an Islamic School in Milpitas and presented a power point presentation to the students to educate them about the Syrian refugees.

Ms. Sharifi, as the last child in her family and the only one born in the United States, grew up listening to the stories of her parents and siblings. “My parents are refugees who fled Afghanistan when they were at war with Russia in 1990,” recalls Ms. Sharifi. “As I grew up I was fascinated with my parent’s stories. When my family left Afghanistan, my mom was pregnant with my older sister, plus had three other children in tow. They first settled in Pakistan and then decided they could not stay there. They had family in the Bay Area and here we are.”

In October, 2015, Ms. Sharifi flew to Istanbul where she spent the night and met about 19 others at the Ataturk Airport, Istanbul. “My travel mates included people from the Middle East, Chicago and the Bay Area, the rest were from the United Kingdom,” recalls Ms. Sharifi.

Spending a week in Reyhanli, which is on the border of Turkey and Syria, Ms. Sharifi had the opportunity of visiting an orphanage for children and widows. “This experience changed my life and has put my life in perspective,” says Ms. Sharifi. “I have more appreciation for my parents and what they have gone through. The children were so happy, even with scars on their bodies from being near bombs going off.”

Shabnam Sharifi is graduating in May, 2017 with a Masters in Social Work. Currently, she is working with foster children in Alameda County. She feels growing up in a family of refugees drew her to a career in social work.

October 6, 2016

SJSU’s Center For Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP) Offers San Jose’s Seniors Health Screenings and Information

On Thursday, September 29, the 24th Annual Senior Resource & Wellness Fair, presented by the County of Santa Clara Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS), in partnership with the City of San Jose Parks & Recreation Department, and SJSU’s Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations (CHAMP), took place at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose.

Approximately 400 people in the community came out to the Wellness Fair to receive information from 85 different programs that provide information and services to the senior population. There were about 70 vendors from community agencies. Participants were able to receive a multitude of health screenings – flu shots, blood pressure, glucose, dental, spine alignment, skin, mood, cognitive function, falls prevention, fitness, biofeedback, and hearing tests which were provided by Walgreens, SJSU students and other agencies. Several workshops and fitness demonstrations were also held throughout the day, including Laughter Yoga, Fair Housing Rights, Cal Medi-Connect, and Nutrition.

More than 40 students, led by faculty from six San Jose State departments, participated in offering screenings or healthy living advice to older adults at the event. Students from the following departments offered information/screenings on the following topics:

Social work – Mood and wellness screening
Nursing – Blood pressure screening
Kinesiology – Information on evidence-based exercise
Occupational Therapy – Falls and balance
Recreation Therapy – Biofeedback to improve breathing and managing stress
Communicative Disorders – Ear inspections; and Cognitive wellness screening

“The Wellness fair offers SJSU students a wonderful opportunity to practice their communications skills, learn how to engage seniors in screenings and health education, and learn about the role of multiple disciplines and the array of community services available to promote wellness and healthy aging,” says Sadhna Diwan, Ph.D.,Professor, School of Social Work, Director, Center for Healthy Aging in Multicultural Populations.

Photos by Lauren Chun, Megan Dejan and Mickie Lau, students from Dwight Bentel & Hall Student Advertising and Public Relations Agency, School of Journalism and Mass Communications:

September 14, 2016

Karly Comfort, SJSU MSW Student Receives MSW Research Award

Karly Comfort, SJSU master’s student in social work was one of two students who received the MSW Research Award from the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) for her research entitled, “Thinking Positive, Being Connected, and Staying Active: The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Caregiving, Well-Being, and Self-Care’s Role as a Buffer.”

CalSWEC’s Research & Development Committee, in conjunction with the California Association of Deans and Directors, established the Research Award for MSW Students to encourage and support student research that will contribute to the evidence base for policy and practice for public human services. The research competition is open to all MSW students attending universities in CalSWEC’s consortium.

When Karly was asked why she decided to pursue this particular topic, she stated, “When you think of someone with schizophrenia living at home, what are the first five things that come to mind? Most likely you’d think about the factors that contribute to their safety and how to keep them safe. These factors probably include food, clothing, transportation, medical appointments, and activities of daily living.

In the background, beyond what you think of first, is the support person providing such items, the caregiver who is most likely a family member. That person gives so much of their time, energy, and heart to supporting, caring for, and providing for their loved one. Family caregivers are rarely thought about in the realm of mental health, which is a significant missed opportunity.

In the months leading up to my having to complete a final research project for the MSW program at SJSU, I met a few family caregivers of people with mental illness that provided me with a window into the unique demands and stressors that caregivers face. Therefore, I used my culminating research paper to examine what caregivers need in order to support their well-being.

My project showed that people with mental illness do better when their caregivers do better and have substantial support structures. I examined the well-being of family caregivers of people with severe mental illness and looked at how mental illness stigma and self-care impact their well-being. With the new knowledge and understanding I gained from my research, I am much more able to empathize with their efforts in caring for their loved ones, as well as for themselves.”

Awardees received $250 for the initial proposal and $500 as a winner. Congratulations Karly Comfort.

For more information: MSW Research Award-Winning Projects Delve into Aspects of Mental Health.

August 18, 2016

Dr. Cohen Completes Fulbright Scholar Activities

Dr. Ed Cohen, School of Social Work, spent the Spring 2016 semester in Vietnam on a Fulbright Scholar grant. Dr. Cohen developed and taught a course on mental health for undergraduate students majoring in social work at Dalat University, located in the country’s Central Highlands.

The course is the first of its kind in Vietnam for the new profession of social work. Since Vietnam does not have a recent textbook about mental illness, Dr. Cohen developed a course textbook on the prevalence, etiology, assessment, and treatment of mental illnesses specifically geared towards Vietnam and translated into Vietnamese. The course was an elective for a class of 36 final-year students from many surrounding provinces.

“In Vietnam, there is a very powerful stigma about mental illness which is similar to other regions in Asia – made even worse by the intense shame of having a mental illness or being in the family.”

Due to the stigma regarding mental illness, Dr. Cohen said that there is a lack of general knowledge about common problems such as depression and anxiety. However, people want to talk about these problems since the majority of people are suffering from these problems, has a family member, or knows someone with emotional problems. Enter social workers and it provides the people with someone to start the conversation.

During a reception by the U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission in Vietnam, Dr. Cohen received recognition of his contributions to the curriculum, which will be used by the faculty at Dalat University starting Fall 2016, as well as disseminated to other universities offering social work degrees in Vietnam. During his stay in Vietnam, Dr. Cohen also provided conference presentations, workshops on social work in healthcare settings, and faculty seminars on research methods in the social sciences.

Dr. Cohen said that the Vietnamese students show more outward affection to their professors because educators are held in very high esteem. However, the Vietnamese students are much more similar than different to SJSU students. Even though most students told Dr. Cohen that their parents would rather have them study engineering or business, they were proud to major in social work.

“Even though there aren’t enough social work jobs for graduates, they have a lot of class spirit and identify strongly as social work majors.”

The Fulbright Scholar grant gave Dr. Cohen the opportunity to live abroad for the first time, but it wasn’t hard to make friends. He said people are very warm and his university colleagues invited him to many family gatherings. He enjoyed the food while eating at small family-run kitchens and adjusted well even though the communication was difficult at times as the general public did not speak much English.

“I feel like I have just scratched the surface learning about the culture!”

Click here to see a photo journal of Dr. Cohen’s experience in Vietnam.