Steven ApplewhiteUniversity of Houston | U of H, UH · Graduate College of Social Work
Steven Applewhite
Doctor of Education
About
27
Publications
14,783
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325
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Steven Applewhite is Professor Emeritus at the Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston. His area of expertise is Qualitative Social Research and ethnic elders. He teaches social gerontology, macro practice community development, social work administration, and community practice with Latino populations. His publications include mental health and Latino aged, social work education, homeless veterans and drug addiction and older Mexican Americans.
Additional affiliations
January 1995 - December 2014
January 1991 - December 1992
Publications
Publications (27)
The study explores motivations for mental health service use by older Mexican-American women experiencing psychological distress. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with older Mexican-American women receiving mental health services were conducted to examine treatment experiences and sociocultural and provider dynamics. Relevant themes emphasize...
To effectively prepare students for practice, macro social work educators need to keep pace with employers’ demands. This article reports findings from a survey of social work educators (n = 52) and macro practitioners (n = 184) in Texas to assess congruence in competencies perceived as necessary for macro practice. Findings reveal that both groups...
The influence of the family is not well understood as it relates to drug use behaviors of Hispanic male adults. We examined the family's influence on drug use behavior, as perceived by Hispanic men who use heroin. One-time qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 current and former heroin users who participated in a larger study on long-term h...
This study qualitatively examined the experiences of Mexican-origin women caring for elderly family members in order to identify aspects of familism in their caregiving situations. Data were collected from one-time interviews with 44 caregivers living in the greater East Los Angeles area. Kinscripts guided the framing of familism in this study. Dat...
Background and Purpose: Despite increased attention on racial/ethnic health disparities, older minorities still face significant barriers and difficulties in accessing the health system. With the majority of individuals wanting to “age-in-place,” communities and neighborhoods—and thus, community-based health services—can play a critical role in enh...
Important benefits accrue to the profession and to its vulnerable clientele when social workers hold positions with substantial community or policy influence. However, fewer social workers are holding these positions than in the past, and student preferences to pursue macro-specific training have declined. To improve the social work profession's ab...
Abstract
Cultural and structural barriers have resulted in lower mental health service use by Latinos. In the interest of greater access to mental health care for older Mexican Americans, this qualitative study explored the factors that led 20 older Mexican Americans to access mental health services. Factors included family and helping professional...
Important benefits accrue to the profession and to its vulnerable clientele when social workers hold positions with substantial
community or policy influence. However, fewer social workers are holding these positions than in the past, and student preferences
to pursue macro-specific training have declined. To improve the social work profession’s ab...
Background and Purpose. Latino older adults currently account for 7% of the older adult U.S. population. By 2050, approximately 20% of older adults will be Latinos, constituting the largest minority older adult group. In 2009, a nationally representative study found drug abuse among individuals aged 50 and 59 increased to 6.2 from 2.7 percent a dec...
Background and Purpose. Latino older adults currently account for 7% of the older adult population in the US. By 2050, approximately 20% of older adults will be Latinos, constituting the largest minority older adult group. Of concern, individuals aged 35 and older have been identified as the fastest growing group of heroin users. In 2009, a nationa...
Familism refers to the strong extended family orientation of Latino families and individual members' commitment to serving the needs of the family. This study examined whether familism was an actual feature of Mexican-origin women's experiences caring for elderly loved ones. One-time qualitative interviews were conducted with 37 female caregivers o...
This chapter presents information on mental health issues in Latino American older adults, focusing on communication difficulties,
acculturative stress, and service utilization as major challenges to the maintenance of mental health in this group; family,
cultural values, and religion as strengths contributing to resilience in this group; and sever...
The study seeks to determine (1) whether the crime seriousness ranking hierarchy identified by Rossi et al. in 1974 persists and (2) whether intra-group agreement on the relative ordering of crimes exists within a Mexican American sample stratified by age and sex. A self-administered survey questionnaire surveyed a sample of 525 college students an...
This chapter presents relevant theories, demographic data and introduces guidelines for culturally relevant practice with rural Latino elders. Demographic characteristics of rural Latinos focus on age distribution, economic conditions, living arrangements, and language and service utilization issues. Cultural competence is discussed as a viable app...
This exploratory study examines the perceptions of homeless veterans regarding coping styles and behaviors essential for street survival. Through the use of focus group interviews data are reported in three areas: social support networks, practical knowledge, and personal strengths. Findings indicate that social support networks operate as a loose-...
This study analyzes the nature and scope of homelessness and issues related to social services use. Using focus group interviews,
this exploratory study examined the expressed needs of homeless veterans and the obstacles encountered in obtaining health
and human services. Types of problems and social services barriers were developed with exemplars...
In recent years ethnogerontology has emerged as a critical new field of study in gerontology. This area (also known as minority gerontology or minority aging) focuses on the racial, ethnic, and cultural processes of aging and the aged and the problems of social inequality in an aging society. A major concern is this field is the absence of a core k...
In Mexican American communities traditional folk healing historically has played an important role in meeting critical health care needs of residents. Despite this fact, researchers who study health care rarely consider the role of folk healing among elderly Mexican Americans, and thus little knowledge is available about its use by this group. In t...
This paper reports the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of Mexican-American social service agencies, their treatment approaches and service barriers. Using the grounded theory approach, the perceptions of chief executive officers and clinical directors were compared in order to find common themes about cross-cultural practice with Hispa...
Introduction: Addressing the Issues Part I: Cultural, Historical and Sociodemographic Overview Cross-Cultural Understanding for Social Work Practice with the Hispanic Elderly by Steven R. Applewhite and John M. Daley Elderly Puerto Ricans in the United States by Melba Sanchez-Ayendez Part II: Health Status and Health Service Utilization The Health...
The elderly Chicano comprise a population that is distinct in historical background, socialization patterns, coping mechanisms, and patterns of participation in community affairs. These distinctive characteristics have often been overlooked by community planners who know little about elderly Chicanos and assume that all their needs can be met by th...
Questions
Question (1)
My ongoing research on elderly Latinos/Hispanics reveals a dearth of empirical studies and publications across all disciplines. Omission if not commission partially explain these gaps in the literature. Has ethnogerontology been fully embraced to provide us with a substantive body of empirical and philosophical literature to lay the foundation for theory and knowledge building ?
