Holly Nelson-Becker
Biographic Data
| ID | 157249 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Holly Nelson-Becker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Holly |
| FAMILY NAME | Nelson-Becker |
| SIGNATURE | NELSON-BECKER H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kansas |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9614-9974 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
“It's a Complicated Web”: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Cameroonian and Nigerian Clergy Understanding of Intimate Partner Violence
Clergy's understanding of intimate partner violence (IPV) underpins the support they provide to Christian women affected by IPV. However, the understanding of intimate partner violence by Cameroonian and Nigerian clergy living in England is unknown. This article explores their understanding of intimate partner violence through remote nine semi-structured interviews. The results showed that clergy understood that the intersection of individual, Ch…
Being that hopeful person’: The contribution of social workers to older people’s well-being
Drawing on the findings of research in adult teams in two local authorities in England, this article examines what social workers with older people do, how this contributes to older people’s well-being, and the impact of the social and organizational context of practice. Researchers observed social workers in their practice, interviewed social workers, older people, family carers, and other workers, analysed older people’s records, and examined s…
Casting Light on the Distinctive Contribution of Social Work in Multidisciplinary Teams for Older People
The current policy emphasis in adult social care in England is on promoting independence, preventing or delaying the need for more intensive support and the provision of personalised services. However, there is little evidence available on how social workers (SWs) identify and meet the complex needs of older service users in practice. In this article, we present findings from a study of innovative social work practice with older adults in England…
The covid-19 pandemic and care homes for older people in Europe - deaths, damage and violations of human rights
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Throughout Europe the most damaging consequences of the coronavirus have fallen disproportionately on older people who live in care homes. This study involves the analysis of secondary data sources relating to deaths, and related harms, in European care homes from seven countries between March and December 2020. The findings are reviewed using the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights to identify exa…
Dying alone and lonely dying: Media discourse and pandemic conditions
Contemporary dying involves conditions for which we are unprepared as a society. We seldom address our civic obligations to each other. Few people have discussed their wishes about their preferences in dying and whether and how they want to be accompanied at their death, if possible. This is an invisible constraint of modern healthcare. Because of limited discussions and preparation, these deaths may lead to disenfranchised grief for the mourners…
Spiritual Diversity, Spiritual Assessment, and Māori End-of-Life Perspectives: Attaining Ka Ea
The contemporary world is endowed with increasingly diverse spiritual and cultural perspectives, yet little is known about the spiritual concerns and spiritual resilience of Māori from Aotearoa New Zealand at the end of life. A context is provided for the value of spiritual assessment and identification of spiritual needs or concerns. Spiritual concerns and the desire to attain a state of ka ea (fulfillment, gratitude, or peace) may point to inte…
Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Spiritual Resilience in Marginalised Older Adults
Spiritual and religious struggles emerge in times where life meaning is unclear, has changed or is challenged. Resilience has been addressed in terms of psychological, social, emotional and physical capacity or competence related to struggle. However, there is a relatively sparse literature defining and addressing spiritual resilience, both what it is and how it is demonstrated. This is especially true of the oppressive and marginalised experienc…
Recapturing the power of ritual to enhance community in aging
Ritual returns us to the center of who we are. In times of transition, loss, disconnection, and loneliness, ritual offers transformative power. It can provide a language for expression, stability, serve an integrating force in community, mediate tradition, and offer emotional support. This article explores the need for ritual in coping with late life changes, the relationship of ritual to suffering, value of ritual in storytelling and mourning, a…
Exploring the loss and disenfranchised grief of animal care workers
This article explores the psychological distress of Animal Care Workers (ACWs), and the disenfranchisement of this distress through mixed methods study conducted as an online survey. In all, 139 participants responded about their experiences as an ACW, related psychological distress, and the systemic disenfranchisement of distress. Findings indicate that nearly half of ACWs experienced symptoms of depression in the previous month. Over 66% indica…
What Constitutes a Good and Bad Death: Perspectives of Homeless Older Adults
This qualitative study explored perspectives toward a good or bad death among 21 older homeless adults residing in transitional housing. Using grounded theory approach, the themes for a good death were (a) dying peacefully; (b) not suffering; (c) experiencing spiritual connection; and (d) making amends with significant others. Themes for a bad death were (a) experiencing death by accident or violence; (b) prolonging life with life supports; (c) b…
Spirituality and Religion in End-of-Life Care Ethics: The Challenge of Interfaith and Cross-Generational Matters
The complexity of illness and care needs at the end of life often include religious and spiritual issues. Religion and spirituality can be important coping mechanisms for meeting these challenges. However, although many people may want spirituality incorporated as a component of their care, spiritual needs are not always recognised or supported by the existing social care and medical systems. To address the need for more information on these issu…
Preferences and Expectations for Delivering Bad News Among Korean Older Adults
The purpose of this study was to explore Korean older adults’ perspectives toward physicians’ disclosure of serious illness to patients. Seventy Korean older adults residing in the community were interviewed in person using a semistructured interview guide. Major themes included conflicting desires among participants to: 1) inform the patient directly, 2) inform the patient indirectly, and 3) inform only the family. Subthemes under the first them…
Ethical and Spiritual Concerns Near the End of Life
Case studies provide interesting windows into issues confronting patients in today's health care system. We present two cases from our clinical experiences involving spiritual and ethical issues arising in the care of patients facing life-threatening illnesses. We also present two methods that introduce ways of talking about spiritual and ethical issues, the HOPE mnemonic and a clinical ethics paradigm for organizing and analyzing ethical issues …
Attachment and Spiritual Coping: Theory and Practice With Older Adults
Many older adults may reference God as both a source of helpful and harmful interactions in their lives. Attachment theory may be a useful lens for (a) assessment of older adults' relational style to a Transcendent Other with implications for formulating future interactions; (b) understanding how attachment to God facilitates coping; and (c) viewing attachment to God as a mechanism for regulating emotional overload. This article provides a practi…
Advancing an Aging-Prepared Community: Models and Lessons From Training Initiatives in Gerontological Social Work
For ten years the Geriatric Social Work Initiative has advanced progressively evolving projects to increase gerontological curricular content and aging expertise in faculty. These efforts include the Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work Education (GeroRich) initiative, Curriculum Development Institutes, and the Partnership Program for Aging Education in field placements among others. All of these projects have benefited from Hartford Foundation fu…
The Repeated Appeal to Return Home in Older Adults with Dementia: Developing a Model for Practice
Spiritual Well-Being of People with Psychiatric Disabilities: The Role of Religious Attendance, Social Network Size and Sense of Control
Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Social Work: An Empirically Based Approach to Assessment and Treatment , by Mo Yee Lee, Siu-man Ng, Pamela Pui Yu Leung, & Cecilia Lai Wan Chan
There has long been a need in therapeutic social work intervention to incorporate Eastern approaches to care. With increasing globalization and immigration to the United States and other Western na
Spiritual distress to spiritual transformation: Stroke survivor narratives from Hong Kong
Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a Dimension of Palliative Care: The Report of the Consensus Conference
A Consensus Conference sponsored by the Archstone Foundation of Long Beach, California, was held February 17-18, 2009, in Pasadena, California. The Conference was based on the belief that spiritual care is a fundamental component of quality palliative care. This document and the conference recommendations it includes builds upon prior literature, the National Consensus Project Guidelines, and the National Quality Forum Preferred Practices and Con…
Exploring We Will Go: The Investigation of Religion and Spirituality in Older Populations (Reflections on Glicksman's “The Contemporary Study of Religion and Spirituality Among the Elderly”)
The field of research in religion and spirituality within aging is expanding and there is need for much more knowledge integration. At the same time, it is valuable to acknowledge some unique aspects to inquiry in this area. Researcher considerations include awareness of cultural biases, limitations in all methods of research, the influence of religious traditions and external environments that favor or marginalize this research, and the danger o…
Korean Older Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in North America: Cultural Considerations and Practice Recommendations
While literature on elder abuse has expanded, elder abuse by intimate partners has been less investigated. Even less is known about intimate partner violence among older Koreans living in North America. This article identifies important cultural considerations for individuals helping the Korean older adult community, beginning with the definition of intimate partner violence in this community and barriers to leaving that include traditional views…
Spirituality, Religion, and Aging Research in Social Work: State of the Art and Future Possibilities
This article identifies the unique contributions social work has made to the study of spirituality and religion in relation to aging, based on respect for their diverse expressions. Definitions of religion and spirituality that particularly relate to late life are provided. The study of spirituality and aging is situated in four historical phases ranging from sectarian origins (1890s to 1920), to professionalization and secularization (1920s–1970…
Does a Dual Degree Make a Difference in Social Work: An Empirical Study
The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine the professional integration of religion and spirituality by two groups of MSW level graduates from a large midwestern private research university with a joint degree program. The Dual Degree group consisted of all graduates with a second master's degree in religion/divinity. The second MSW-only group was a random sample matched by gender and year of graduation with the Dual Degree group. Surv…
Development of a Spiritual Support Scale for Use with Older Adults
This study reports the development and empirical test of a measure of spiritual supports used by older adults in managing life challenge. The Spiritual Strategies Scale (SSS) consists of 18 items. Cronbach's coefficient alpha reliability for the measure was .86. The sample, gathered from interviews at four sites, consisted of 79 older adults who were predominantly Jewish European American and African American. Concurrent validity analyses suggest…
What Constitutes a Good and Bad Death: Perspectives of Homeless Older Adults
This qualitative study explored perspectives toward a good or bad death among 21 older homeless adults residing in transitional housing. Using grounded theory approach, the themes for a good death were (a) dying peacefully; (b) not suffering; (c) experiencing spiritual connection; and (d) making amends with significant others. Themes for a bad death were (a) experiencing death by accident or violence; (b) prolonging life with life supports; (c) b…
Dying alone and lonely dying: Media discourse and pandemic conditions
Contemporary dying involves conditions for which we are unprepared as a society. We seldom address our civic obligations to each other. Few people have discussed their wishes about their preferences in dying and whether and how they want to be accompanied at their death, if possible. This is an invisible constraint of modern healthcare. Because of limited discussions and preparation, these deaths may lead to disenfranchised grief for the mourners…
Exploring the loss and disenfranchised grief of animal care workers
This article explores the psychological distress of Animal Care Workers (ACWs), and the disenfranchisement of this distress through mixed methods study conducted as an online survey. In all, 139 participants responded about their experiences as an ACW, related psychological distress, and the systemic disenfranchisement of distress. Findings indicate that nearly half of ACWs experienced symptoms of depression in the previous month. Over 66% indica…
Spiritual Well-Being of People with Psychiatric Disabilities: The Role of Religious Attendance, Social Network Size and Sense of Control
Spirituality and Religion in End-of-Life Care Ethics: The Challenge of Interfaith and Cross-Generational Matters
The complexity of illness and care needs at the end of life often include religious and spiritual issues. Religion and spirituality can be important coping mechanisms for meeting these challenges. However, although many people may want spirituality incorporated as a component of their care, spiritual needs are not always recognised or supported by the existing social care and medical systems. To address the need for more information on these issu…
Spiritual distress to spiritual transformation: Stroke survivor narratives from Hong Kong
Casting Light on the Distinctive Contribution of Social Work in Multidisciplinary Teams for Older People
The current policy emphasis in adult social care in England is on promoting independence, preventing or delaying the need for more intensive support and the provision of personalised services. However, there is little evidence available on how social workers (SWs) identify and meet the complex needs of older service users in practice. In this article, we present findings from a study of innovative social work practice with older adults in England…
The covid-19 pandemic and care homes for older people in Europe - deaths, damage and violations of human rights
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Throughout Europe the most damaging consequences of the coronavirus have fallen disproportionately on older people who live in care homes. This study involves the analysis of secondary data sources relating to deaths, and related harms, in European care homes from seven countries between March and December 2020. The findings are reviewed using the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights to identify exa…
Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Spiritual Resilience in Marginalised Older Adults
Spiritual and religious struggles emerge in times where life meaning is unclear, has changed or is challenged. Resilience has been addressed in terms of psychological, social, emotional and physical capacity or competence related to struggle. However, there is a relatively sparse literature defining and addressing spiritual resilience, both what it is and how it is demonstrated. This is especially true of the oppressive and marginalised experienc…
Spiritual Diversity, Spiritual Assessment, and Māori End-of-Life Perspectives: Attaining Ka Ea
The contemporary world is endowed with increasingly diverse spiritual and cultural perspectives, yet little is known about the spiritual concerns and spiritual resilience of Māori from Aotearoa New Zealand at the end of life. A context is provided for the value of spiritual assessment and identification of spiritual needs or concerns. Spiritual concerns and the desire to attain a state of ka ea (fulfillment, gratitude, or peace) may point to inte…
The Repeated Appeal to Return Home in Older Adults with Dementia: Developing a Model for Practice
Meeting Life Challenges: A Hierarchy of Coping Styles in African American and Jewish American Older Adults
Mental health and social service providers need to understand the contextual experience of diverse aging populations and the types of life challenges they have encountered. This research examined the life challenges specified by a purposive sample of 75 urban community-dwelling low-income older adults from four high-rise housing facilities. Thirty-four study participants were Jewish American and 41 were African American. Results indicate that man…
Spiritual, Religious, Nonspiritual, and Nonreligious Narratives in Marginalized Older Adults: A Typology of Coping Styles
Narrative therapy is an important tool in the phenomenological framing of life events with older clients. Seventy-nine older adults who lived independently in four subsidized high-rise housing facilities in Chicago were interviewed in a research project about managing life challenges. Cases represent four types in a spiritual-religious typology: religious and spiritual, religious only, spiritual only, and neither religious nor spiritual (Zinnbaue…
Meeting Life Challenges: A Hierarchy of Coping Styles in African American and Jewish American Older Adults
Mental health and social service providers need to understand the contextual experience of diverse aging populations and the types of life challenges they have encountered. This research examined the life challenges specified by a purposive sample of 75 urban community-dwelling low-income older adults from four high-rise housing facilities. Thirty-four study participants were Jewish American and 41 were African American. Results indicate that man…
Does a Dual Degree Make a Difference in Social Work: An Empirical Study
The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine the professional integration of religion and spirituality by two groups of MSW level graduates from a large midwestern private research university with a joint degree program. The Dual Degree group consisted of all graduates with a second master's degree in religion/divinity. The second MSW-only group was a random sample matched by gender and year of graduation with the Dual Degree group. Surv…
Development of a Spiritual Support Scale for Use with Older Adults
This study reports the development and empirical test of a measure of spiritual supports used by older adults in managing life challenge. The Spiritual Strategies Scale (SSS) consists of 18 items. Cronbach's coefficient alpha reliability for the measure was .86. The sample, gathered from interviews at four sites, consisted of 79 older adults who were predominantly Jewish European American and African American. Concurrent validity analyses suggest…
Spirituality, Religion, and Aging Research in Social Work: State of the Art and Future Possibilities
This article identifies the unique contributions social work has made to the study of spirituality and religion in relation to aging, based on respect for their diverse expressions. Definitions of religion and spirituality that particularly relate to late life are provided. The study of spirituality and aging is situated in four historical phases ranging from sectarian origins (1890s to 1920), to professionalization and secularization (1920s–1970…
Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a Dimension of Palliative Care: The Report of the Consensus Conference
A Consensus Conference sponsored by the Archstone Foundation of Long Beach, California, was held February 17-18, 2009, in Pasadena, California. The Conference was based on the belief that spiritual care is a fundamental component of quality palliative care. This document and the conference recommendations it includes builds upon prior literature, the National Consensus Project Guidelines, and the National Quality Forum Preferred Practices and Con…
Exploring We Will Go: The Investigation of Religion and Spirituality in Older Populations (Reflections on Glicksman's “The Contemporary Study of Religion and Spirituality Among the Elderly”)
The field of research in religion and spirituality within aging is expanding and there is need for much more knowledge integration. At the same time, it is valuable to acknowledge some unique aspects to inquiry in this area. Researcher considerations include awareness of cultural biases, limitations in all methods of research, the influence of religious traditions and external environments that favor or marginalize this research, and the danger o…
Korean Older Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in North America: Cultural Considerations and Practice Recommendations
While literature on elder abuse has expanded, elder abuse by intimate partners has been less investigated. Even less is known about intimate partner violence among older Koreans living in North America. This article identifies important cultural considerations for individuals helping the Korean older adult community, beginning with the definition of intimate partner violence in this community and barriers to leaving that include traditional views…
Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Social Work: An Empirically Based Approach to Assessment and Treatment , by Mo Yee Lee, Siu-man Ng, Pamela Pui Yu Leung, & Cecilia Lai Wan Chan
There has long been a need in therapeutic social work intervention to incorporate Eastern approaches to care. With increasing globalization and immigration to the United States and other Western na
Spiritual distress to spiritual transformation: Stroke survivor narratives from Hong Kong
Attachment and Spiritual Coping: Theory and Practice With Older Adults
Many older adults may reference God as both a source of helpful and harmful interactions in their lives. Attachment theory may be a useful lens for (a) assessment of older adults' relational style to a Transcendent Other with implications for formulating future interactions; (b) understanding how attachment to God facilitates coping; and (c) viewing attachment to God as a mechanism for regulating emotional overload. This article provides a practi…
Advancing an Aging-Prepared Community: Models and Lessons From Training Initiatives in Gerontological Social Work
For ten years the Geriatric Social Work Initiative has advanced progressively evolving projects to increase gerontological curricular content and aging expertise in faculty. These efforts include the Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work Education (GeroRich) initiative, Curriculum Development Institutes, and the Partnership Program for Aging Education in field placements among others. All of these projects have benefited from Hartford Foundation fu…
The Repeated Appeal to Return Home in Older Adults with Dementia: Developing a Model for Practice
Spiritual Well-Being of People with Psychiatric Disabilities: The Role of Religious Attendance, Social Network Size and Sense of Control
Ethical and Spiritual Concerns Near the End of Life
Case studies provide interesting windows into issues confronting patients in today's health care system. We present two cases from our clinical experiences involving spiritual and ethical issues arising in the care of patients facing life-threatening illnesses. We also present two methods that introduce ways of talking about spiritual and ethical issues, the HOPE mnemonic and a clinical ethics paradigm for organizing and analyzing ethical issues …
Preferences and Expectations for Delivering Bad News Among Korean Older Adults
The purpose of this study was to explore Korean older adults’ perspectives toward physicians’ disclosure of serious illness to patients. Seventy Korean older adults residing in the community were interviewed in person using a semistructured interview guide. Major themes included conflicting desires among participants to: 1) inform the patient directly, 2) inform the patient indirectly, and 3) inform only the family. Subthemes under the first them…
What Constitutes a Good and Bad Death: Perspectives of Homeless Older Adults
This qualitative study explored perspectives toward a good or bad death among 21 older homeless adults residing in transitional housing. Using grounded theory approach, the themes for a good death were (a) dying peacefully; (b) not suffering; (c) experiencing spiritual connection; and (d) making amends with significant others. Themes for a bad death were (a) experiencing death by accident or violence; (b) prolonging life with life supports; (c) b…
Spirituality and Religion in End-of-Life Care Ethics: The Challenge of Interfaith and Cross-Generational Matters
The complexity of illness and care needs at the end of life often include religious and spiritual issues. Religion and spirituality can be important coping mechanisms for meeting these challenges. However, although many people may want spirituality incorporated as a component of their care, spiritual needs are not always recognised or supported by the existing social care and medical systems. To address the need for more information on these issu…
Recapturing the power of ritual to enhance community in aging
Ritual returns us to the center of who we are. In times of transition, loss, disconnection, and loneliness, ritual offers transformative power. It can provide a language for expression, stability, serve an integrating force in community, mediate tradition, and offer emotional support. This article explores the need for ritual in coping with late life changes, the relationship of ritual to suffering, value of ritual in storytelling and mourning, a…
Exploring the loss and disenfranchised grief of animal care workers
This article explores the psychological distress of Animal Care Workers (ACWs), and the disenfranchisement of this distress through mixed methods study conducted as an online survey. In all, 139 participants responded about their experiences as an ACW, related psychological distress, and the systemic disenfranchisement of distress. Findings indicate that nearly half of ACWs experienced symptoms of depression in the previous month. Over 66% indica…
Dying alone and lonely dying: Media discourse and pandemic conditions
Contemporary dying involves conditions for which we are unprepared as a society. We seldom address our civic obligations to each other. Few people have discussed their wishes about their preferences in dying and whether and how they want to be accompanied at their death, if possible. This is an invisible constraint of modern healthcare. Because of limited discussions and preparation, these deaths may lead to disenfranchised grief for the mourners…
Spiritual Diversity, Spiritual Assessment, and Māori End-of-Life Perspectives: Attaining Ka Ea
The contemporary world is endowed with increasingly diverse spiritual and cultural perspectives, yet little is known about the spiritual concerns and spiritual resilience of Māori from Aotearoa New Zealand at the end of life. A context is provided for the value of spiritual assessment and identification of spiritual needs or concerns. Spiritual concerns and the desire to attain a state of ka ea (fulfillment, gratitude, or peace) may point to inte…
Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Spiritual Resilience in Marginalised Older Adults
Spiritual and religious struggles emerge in times where life meaning is unclear, has changed or is challenged. Resilience has been addressed in terms of psychological, social, emotional and physical capacity or competence related to struggle. However, there is a relatively sparse literature defining and addressing spiritual resilience, both what it is and how it is demonstrated. This is especially true of the oppressive and marginalised experienc…
The covid-19 pandemic and care homes for older people in Europe - deaths, damage and violations of human rights
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Throughout Europe the most damaging consequences of the coronavirus have fallen disproportionately on older people who live in care homes. This study involves the analysis of secondary data sources relating to deaths, and related harms, in European care homes from seven countries between March and December 2020. The findings are reviewed using the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights to identify exa…
Casting Light on the Distinctive Contribution of Social Work in Multidisciplinary Teams for Older People
The current policy emphasis in adult social care in England is on promoting independence, preventing or delaying the need for more intensive support and the provision of personalised services. However, there is little evidence available on how social workers (SWs) identify and meet the complex needs of older service users in practice. In this article, we present findings from a study of innovative social work practice with older adults in England…
Medicine (24 works) · Psychology (22 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (14 works) · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Spirituality (10 works) · Social Work (8 works) · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues (7 works)