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CBCS COVID-19 Response

Department of Mental Health Law & Policy

Faculty and students have been collecting food and hygiene supplies and distributing them weekly to groups of homeless people in downtown Tampa. This initiative started back in November but has increased in the last few weeks as the needs of the population we are serving have increased. Buddy Brew coffee shop has been giving their leftover pastries for a few weeks now. With their lower than usual business traffic, they鈥檝e donated coffee, sandwiches, and other food too. We are working on connecting with other restaurant owners to do the same. We of course wash our hands before and after distribution and when putting together care packages, use gloves during distribution and provide hand sanitization to those we are serving on the streets. Our regular group of recipients have voiced fear and confusion over what is going on with COVID-19 and we鈥檝e been able to bring them more accurate news and public health information while trying to assuage rumors and show compassion. They鈥檝e reported a decline in their other meal/food availability since many shelters, kitchens, and food pantries are functioning at a much lower capacity. They generally seem very grateful that they haven鈥檛 been forgotten! It鈥檚 small, but it鈥檚 something we can do to bring some comfort to people who need it.

Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders

• The Forever Friends Student Organization (sponsored by Dr. Michelle Bourgeois) is having their members write cards and letters to the residents of the assisted living and nursing homes that they have been visiting. This is critical as these facilities are now locked down and social isolation is increasing. 
  Cheryl Paul is leading online conversations with people who have aphasia using a collaborative platform, Virtual Connections (VC) between Lingraphica and Aphasia Recovery Connections (ARC).
• Dr. Nathan Maxfield is hosting a monthly online virtual support group for people who stutter in the community. Additionally, he hosts a private Facebook group with about 40 past and present stuttering clients (teens/adults) which hosts daily interactions about coping with stuttering and maintaining stuttering management skills This is crucial especially in this challenging time. 
• As the American Academy of Audiology is recommending suspension of audiological services in the face of this pandemic, Dr. Devon Weist created online tutorials to help those who use hearing aids manage their devices from home. These videos, which were originally intended primarily for use by 黑料网吃瓜爆料Hearing Clinic patients, have now gone viral and are being used nationwide to help cope with this tragedy. ()
• Mrs. Michelle Hite and Dr. Carolyn Ford are collaborating with School Districts throughout Florida in developing and planning alternative ways to provide speech and language services to school-age children through various virtual formats. In cooperation with ASHA's staff, they are educating school district coordinators via TEAMS trainings. As part of this project, they are also volunteering to tele-supervise graduate students who are working full-time in the schools to provide remote therapy services.
• As of mid May, CSD began weekly individual telehealth speech-language intervention sessions for some patients in the Bolesta Center and the Speech-Language Clinic.
• CSD has expanded our telehealth group support programs in the Speech-Language Clinic to include as many as 10 different weekly group options.
• The Speech-Language Clinic and Bolesta Center have partnered to publish a blog to share resources with families while they are home.

School of Aging Studies

• Dr. Bill Haley is Chair of the Committee on Aging within the American Psychological Association. Under his leadership, the committee just completed and put out Key Points on COVID-19 that pertain specifically to older adults. We are sharing this information with our community partners. \We are collaborating with the School of Social Work on Telehealth and other materials to be released to increase student preparedness.
• We have developed a pamphlet with up-to-date information and web links regarding COVID-19 specific to older adults, including details on how the infection spreads, remote 鈥減sychological first aid鈥�, guidelines for older adults with disabilities, information for caregivers for older adults with conditions including mobility problems, cancer, dementia, etc., ways to stay active during stay-at-home orders, effective disinfectants/disinfecting one鈥檚 home, online shopping, and frequently asked questions. We have developed this information for two partners鈥擯inellas Community Foundation and LeadingAge. It was also distributed to other partners who are connected to community centers for older adults, long-term care facilities, retirement community centers, and older adults at large. Dr. Kathy Hyer is working directly with LeadingAge Florida, an association that oversees 250+ communities in Florida with over 80,000 older adults overall. President and CEO of LeadgingAge Florida, Steven Bahmer, is one of our most community partners.
• We have lots of subscribes to our eNewsletter, which has been posting COVID-19 information. We are also active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in terms of posting COVID-19 related info, with lots of older adults and those working with older adults subscribing.
• Kathy Hyer and Lindsay Peterson (along with Dr. David Dosa from Brown U) publish this article on infection control in nursing homes:
• We are working with Reliance Health Care group on improving digital connectedness and reducing social isolation. Gizem Hueluer, whose research revolves around technology and older adults, is leading the effort.
• Kathy Hyer is leading the Gerontological Society of America COVID-19 Task Force. This effort will reach older adults across the world.
• The Sigma Phi Omega chapter at The School of Aging Studies partnered with the General Federation of Women鈥檚 Club in Wesley Chapel, where Faculty Advisor Debra Dobbs, Associate Professor lives. The initiative began by Dr. Dobbs鈥� neighbor, Kerri Timothy, to donate to Atria Assisted Living in Lutz. The donations went to 50 residents and included stuffed animals, flowers, games, blankets, slippers, and magazines with large print. In addition, the group raised enough money to give each of the 42 nurses and direct care staff a $10.00 gift card to the local Dunkin' Donuts, which was happy to have the business during the pandemic when traffic has been slow. We are happy to report that 鈥淭he staff have been in tears all day... I think we did just as much for them!鈥�
• Debra Dobbs (1st author), Lindsay Peterson (2nd author), and Kathy Hyer (3rd author) have published an article in the Journal of Aging and Social Policy titled 鈥淯nique challenges facing assisted living to meet the COVID-19 federal guidelines.鈥�
• Drs. Andel and Hyer joined their colleagues at the College of Public Health (PI: Quast) on a proposal to the NIH for a R01 grant to study excess mortality due to COVID-19 across several US states including Florida, Texas, and Ohio overall and within counties and specific demographic subgroups. This work will lead to publicly available information on excess mortality during the pandemic relative to mortality data from the past decade.
• Our social media handles for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are @USFAgingStudies where you can see posts that highlight some of our efforts.

School of Social Work

• The School of Social Work is mobilizing faculty, staff, and students to 鈥渇ill the gaps鈥� during the time of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, based in field education, also aims to meet learning objectives for social work responses to an infectious disease pandemic.  Community organizations have both increased workloads and reduced staff during this time, while the School of Social Work has a deep commitment to community and the resources necessary to meet needs in certain areas. We work with students and organizations to respond to the COVID-19 emergency in public health responsible ways, including remote work on the part of the students.  For example, we provide a digital workspace and discussion room to the Florida Department of Children and Families and Child Welfare Agencies in the Central Region to identify and share common problems and issues they experience on a daily basis. Based on common themes in the discussion, faculty provide consultation, evidence-based support and information on interventions to child welfare agencies.  The School is also developing a project that entails offering assistance to agencies with low-intensity interventions, ideal for implementation during disasters and other disruptions in mental health service delivery.  Although on site internships were suspended, many social work students continue to work for their agencies from home by making case management calls, doing tele-therapy with vulnerable clients, doing much needed research under the direction of the agency and faculty, and creating and implementing surveys to check on client well-being. Other students, chose to sign a waiver and return to their functions at the agencies on site. As the COVID19 public health crisis emerged in the state of Florida, 黑料网吃瓜爆料School of Social Work students and alumni answered the call to serve and are working on the front lines as contact tracers. These social workers are deployed to county health departments across the state of Florida to support patients and notify those who have been exposed to the virus in order to stop the chain of transmission. School of Social Work faculty have volunteered their time as well to provide supervision to students allowing them to accumulate field placement hours as many students experienced a disruption to their field internship placements due to COVID19. Our Social Work students and alumni are uniquely qualified in assessment, interviewing and data collection, making us an essential piece of the effort to combat the virus.  Drs. Salloum, Fogel, Simmons provide supervision to some MSW students who as part of the 黑料网吃瓜爆料Health 鈥淐onfirmed COVID Clinic (鈥淐oCo鈥�)鈥� initiative will be volunteering to provide universal support and brief intervention to residents diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Chris Groeber is working with the Florida Department for Children and Families in the Central Region to develop a programming that will be focused on Employee Support, Assistance and Training that will take the practice lessons learned from COVID-19 and review practice changes that can be sustained with a focus on Work Life Balance. Additionally, he is working with Supervisory staff to review both 鈥渙ver-supervision and under-supervision鈥� during these times and reflect on what tactics can be employed to ensure there is supervisory practice balance that is tailored to investigator need. Professor Groeber, Dr. Pam Alvarez and Dr. Alison Salloum presented a self-care virtual Child Welfare Institute seminar. Drs. Iraida Carrion, Jerome Galea, Alison Salloum and Riaan van Zyl submitted COVID-19 related research proposals.

Dean鈥檚 Office

• Dr. Howard Goldstein and his Early Literacy research team is making 9 weeks of e-books with interactive teaching of vocabulary words available as a public service (not research). We are contacting the teachers in 31 preschool and childcare classrooms. We have tested our delivery system and have set up an email account to get feedback from parents, answer questions, and troubleshoot. The letters to teachers went out this week.

Child & Family Studies

1. One of the most important components of a successful classroom is the establishment of a behavioral support system. While teachers work hard to develop an effective and positive behavioral system throughout the year, the challenges presented by school closings and home instruction will require teachers to think differently about how to support their students' social and emotional growth at a distance. Likewise, parents want to know how they can better support the social and emotional growth of their children while they are social distancing and receiving remote instruction. In response to this need, the Florida Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Project is developing a series of web resources to support teachers and parents to apply evidence-based approaches to enhance the behavioral and academic learning of all students during this period of home education. Within the next few weeks we will be distributing online modules for parents and teachers that are aligned to the five areas that research has linked to positive student outcomes:
   • Maximize structure in the classroom with predictable routines and a safe, orderly environment,
   • Teach, monitor, and reinforce expectations and rules that are aligned to the school-wide expectations,
   • Actively engage students by providing culturally responsive instruction that includes high rates of opportunities to respond,
   • Use a continuum of culturally responsive strategies to acknowledge appropriate behavior, and
   • Use a continuum of culturally responsive strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior.
     Many other resources will be distributed to address areas such as social emotional learning, mental health, and trauma-informed practices. Contact Dr. Don Kincaid at kincaid@usf.edu
     
     
2. Students enrolled in Dr. Matthew Foster鈥檚 (Rightpath Research & Innovation Center) math pilot project at Seven Oaks Elementary (Pasco County School District) are likely not returning to school this year. Dr. Foster provided participating teachers with their students login credentials, so that our students can continue learning mathematics through the math software p