admin – OVC Wellbeing

POFO Mentioned in Aljazeera Article

Written by admin on March 7, 2016. Posted in Blog: News, Events and Opinion. Leave a Comment

Radical decision to close down country’s 34 institutions has been fraught with difficulties.

“Kathryn Whetten, a professor at Duke University in the US, followed 1,357 children in institutions, and 1,480 in families in Ethiopia and Tanzania, to compare the effect of living in orphanages with family care.

Whetten published her conclusions in the scientific journal PLOS ONE in 2014, saying that without substantial improvements in care and support, placing children back with families will not significantly improve their welfare.”

Chris Gray and Team Publish Article on OSC/ Adolescent Trauma and Sexual Health

Written by admin on March 3, 2016. Posted in Publications. Leave a Comment

Chris Gray and the POFO team recently published an article titled, “Potentially traumatic experiences and sexual health among orphaned and separated adolescents in five low- and middle-income countries” in AIDS Care.

The study highlights the need for caregivers, program managers, and policymakers to promote condom use for sexually active OSC and identify interventions for trauma support services. Orphans living in family-based care may also be particularly vulnerable to early sexual debut and unprotected sexual activity.

Whole Child International

Written by admin on July 23, 2015. Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Whole Child International (WCI) is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization focused on improving the caregiving environments for vulnerable children by effecting changes within child care centers and orphanages. The “National Evaluation of Quality of Childcare in El Salvador” project is an intervention of educational trainings (for local government officials, directors, and caregivers) and technical assistance within centers.

UNICEF Report: 58 Million Children Out of School

Written by admin on June 17, 2015. Posted in Evidence-Based Research. Leave a Comment

UNICEF reports “around 63 million adolescents between the ages of 12 to 15 years old are denied their right to an education, in addition to 58 million children of primary education that are out of school.” A new initiative between UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics with support from the Global Partnership for Education will ensure that children in more than 50 countries will have access to a good education, are ready to enter the classroom at the right age and are equipped to complete primary school.

Read the article here.

Chris Gray and Team Publish New Paper in Global Mental Health Journal

Written by admin on May 22, 2015. Posted in Publications. Leave a Comment

Chris Gray, who is working with Brian Pence at CHPIR, just published “Gender (in) differences in prevalence and incidence of traumatic experiences among orphaned and separated children living in five low- and middle-income countries” in the Global Mental Health journal with her team.

MACH Symposium- Save the Date!

Written by admin on May 22, 2015. Posted in Events. Leave a Comment

The Maternal, Adolescent, and Child Health working group at Duke University will be hosting a symposium on Monday, September 28, 2015.

The event will take place at the Trent Semans Center in the Great Hall on the Duke campus.

It will be an all day event with lunch served.

Registration is free of charge and open to the public.

RSVP here!

CAFO 2014 Video

Written by admin on April 30, 2015. Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Kate Whetten and team are at the 2015 Christian Alliance for Orphans conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Please check out this Q&A video from Kate Whetten and Charles Nelson’s presentation at the 2014 CAFO conference.

Emotional Wellbeing

Written by admin on November 28, 2014. Posted in Evidence-Based Research. Leave a Comment

Muhamedrahimov, Rifkat J., Varvara V. Agarkova, Elena A. Vershnina, Oleg I. Palmov, Natalia V. Nikiforova, Robert B. McCall, and Christina J. Groark. 2014. “BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN TRANSFERRED FROM A SOCIOEMOTIONALLY DEPRIVING INSTITUTION TO ST. PETERSBURG (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) FAMILIES“. Infant Mental Health Journal. 35, no. 2: 111-122.
Divya Guru Rajan, Kristen Shirey, Jan Ostermann, Rachel Whetten, Karen Oâ€™Donnell, and Kathryn Whetten. 2014. “Child and Caregiver Concordance of Potentially Traumatic Events Experienced by Orphaned and Abandoned Children”. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 9, no. 3: 220-233.
McCall, Robert B., Christina J. Groark, Larry Fish, Rifkat J. Muhamedrahimov, Oleg I. Palmov, and Natalia V. Nikiforova. 2013. “Maintaining a Social-Emotional Intervention and Its Benefits for Institutionalized Children”. Child Development. 84, no. 5: 1734-1749.
Müller, Tanja R. 2013. “Beyond the Livelihood Framework: Aspirations and Well-Being in Encounters with Aids Orphans in Mozambique”.
Swahn MH, L Gressard, JB Palmier, R Kasirye, C Lynch, and H Yao. 2012. “Serious Violence Victimization and Perpetration Among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda”. The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 13, no. 3: 253-9.
Kuo C, D Operario, and L Cluver. 2012. “Depression Among Carers of AIDS-Orphaned and Other-Orphaned Children in Umlazi Township, South Africa”. Global Public Health.7, no. 3: 253-69.
Swahn M.H., Palmier J.B., Yao H., and Kasirye R. 2012. “Correlates of Suicide Ideation and Attempt Among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala“. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 9, no. 2: 596-609.
Smyke AT, CH Zeanah, NA Fox, CA Nelson, and D Guthrie. 2010. “Placement in Foster Care Enhances Quality of Attachment Among Young Institutionalized Children”. Child Development. 81, no. 1.
Zeanah, Charles H., Anna T. Smyke, Sebastian F. Koga, and Elizabeth Carlson. 2005. “Attachment in Institutionalized and Community Children in Romania”. Child Development. 76, no. 5: 1015-1028.

OVCs & Long-term Consequences

Written by admin on November 28, 2014. Posted in Evidence-Based Research. Leave a Comment

SS Drury, K Theall, MM Gleason, AT Smyke, I De Vivo, JYY Wong, NA Fox, CH Zeanah and CA Nelson. Telomere length and early severe social deprivation: linking early adversity and cellular aging. Molecular Psychiatry 17, 719-727 (July 2012) | doi:10.1038/mp.2011.53
Vanderwert, Ross E., Peter J. Marshall, Charles A. Nelson, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, and Pier Francesco Ferrari. 2010. “Timing of Intervention Affects Brain Electrical Activity in Children Exposed to Severe Psychosocial Neglect”. PLoS ONE. 5, no. 7: e11415.
Johnson DE, Miller LC, Iverson S, et al. The Health of Children Adopted From Romania. JAMA. 1992;268(24):3446-3451. doi:10.1001/jama.1992.03490240054036.
Moses, Lubaale Yovani A. 2013. “Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Uganda; Are Orphans More Malnourished Than Non-Orphans”. Social Sciences. 2, no. 2: 58.
Cheney K.E. 2013. “Killing Them Softly? Using Children’s Rights to Empower Africa’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children”. International Social Work. 56, no. 1: 92-102.
Juma M, J Alaii, LK Bartholomew, I Askew, and Van den Borne B. 2013. “Risky Sexual Behavior Among Orphan and Non-Orphan Adolescents in Nyanza Province, Western Kenya”. AIDS and Behavior. 17, no. 3: 951-60.
Kyte A, N Trocmé, and C Chamberland. 2013. “Evaluating Where We’re at with Differential Response”. Child Abuse & Neglect. 37, no. 2-3.
Sinha, V., N. Trocme, B. Fallon, and B. MacLaurin. 2013. “Understanding the Investigation-Stage Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in the Child Welfare System: An Analysis of the First Nations Component of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2008”. Child Abuse & Neglect. 37, no. 10: 821-831.
Temcheff, C.E., L.A. Serbin, A. Martin-Storey, D.M. Stack, P. Hastings, J. Ledingham, and A.E. Schwartzman. 2011. “Childhood Aggression, Withdrawal and Likeability, and the Use of Health Care Later: a Longitudinal Study”. CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL. 183, no. 18: 2095-2102.
McDermott JM, A Westerlund, CH Zeanah, CA Nelson, and NA Fox. 2012. “Early Adversity and Neural Correlates of Executive Function: Implications for Academic Adjustment”. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 2: 59-66.
Evren Güler, O., Camelia E. Hostinar, Kristin A. Frenn, Charles A. Nelson, Megan R. Gunnar, and Kathleen M. Thomas. 2012. “Electrophysiological Evidence of Altered Memory Processing in Children Experiencing Early Deprivation”. Developmental Science. 15, no. 3: 345-358.
Windsor, Jennifer, Ana Moraru, Charles A., III. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox, and Charles H. Zeanah. 2013. “Effect of Foster Care on Language Learning at Eight Years: Findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project”. Journal of Child Language. 40, no. 3: 605-627.
Thielman N, J Ostermann, K Whetten, R Whetten, and K O’Donnell. 2012. “Correlates of Poor Health Among Orphans and Abandoned Children in Less Wealthy Countries: the Importance of Caregiver Health”. PloS One. 7, no. 6.
Fagbemissi R.C., and Price L.L. 2011. “From Novice to Expert: Agroecological Competences of Children Orphaned by AIDS Compared to Non-Orphans in Benin”. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 7.
Littrell M, NW Boris, L Brown, M Hill, and K Macintyre. 2011. “The Influence of Orphan Care and Other Household Shocks on Health Status Over Time: a Longitudinal Study of Children’s Caregivers in Rural Malawi”. AIDS Care. 23, no. 12: 1551-61.
Ratana Panpanich, Bernard Brabin, Andrew Gonani, and Stephen Graham. 1999. “Are Orphans at Increased Risk of Malnutrition in Malawi?” Annals of Tropical Paediatrics: International Child Health. 19, no. 3: 279.
Whetten, Kathryn, Jan Ostermann, Rachel Whetten, Karen O’Donnell, and Nathan Thielman. 2011. “More Than the Loss of a Parent: Potentially Traumatic Events Among Orphaned and Abandoned Children”. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 24, no. 2: 174-182.
Messer, Lynne C, Brian W Pence, Kathryn Whetten, Rachel Whetten, Nathan Thielman, Karen O’Donnell, and Jan Ostermann. 2010. “Prevalence and Predictors of HIV-Related Stigma Among Institutional- and Community-Based Caregivers of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in Five Less-Wealthy Countries”. BMC Public Health. 10, no. 1: 1-7.
Whetten, Kathryn, Jan Ostermann, Rachel A. Whetten, Brian W. Pence, Karen O’Donnell, Lynne C. Messer, Nathan M. Thielman, and Jacqueline Ho. 2009. “A Comparison of the Wellbeing of Orphans and Abandoned Children Ages 6–12 in Institutional and Community-Based Care Settings in 5 Less Wealthy Nations”. PLoS ONE. 4, no. 12: e8169.
Operario D, A Pettifor, L Cluver, C MacPhail, and H Rees. 2007. “Prevalence of Parental Death Among Young People in South Africa and Risk for HIV Infection”. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999). 44, no. 1: 93-8.
Murray LK, A Haworth, K Semrau, M Singh, GM Aldrovandi, M Sinkala, DM Thea, and PA Bolton. 2006. “Violence and Abuse Among HIV-Infected Women and Their Children in Zambia: a Qualitative Study”. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 194, no. 8: 610-5.
Case, Anne, and Cally Ardington. 2006. “The Impact of Parental Death on School Outcomes: Longitudinal Evidence from South Africa“. Demography. 433: 401-420

Educational Impact

Written by admin on November 22, 2014. Posted in Evidence-Based Research. Leave a Comment

Mohamad Brooksa, Malcolm Bryantab, Mary Shannc, Paul Bukulukid, Denis Muhangid, Joe Lugallaef & Gideon Kwesigabofg. Gender analysis of educational support programs for OVC in Uganda and Tanzania: are they helping girls in secondary school? Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies: An International Interdisciplinary Journal for Research, Policy and Care. Volume 9, Issue 3, 2014
Shann, M. H., Bryant, M. H., Brooks, M. I., Bukuluki, P., Muhangi, D., Lugalla, J., & Kwesigabo, G. (2013). The Effectiveness of Educational Support to Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Tanzania and Uganda. ISRN Public Health, 2013, 9. doi: 10.1155/2013/518328
O’Donnell K, R Murphy, J Ostermann, M Masnick, RA Whetten, E Madden, NM Thielman, and K Whetten. 2012. “A Brief Assessment of Learning for Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Low and Middle Income Countries“. AIDS and Behavior. 16, no. 2: 480-90.
Bangirana P., Menk J., Hodges J.S., John C.C., and Boivin M.J. 2013. “The Association between Cognition and Academic Performance in Ugandan Children Surviving Malaria with Neurological Involvement”. PLoS ONE. 8, no. 2.
Whetten, Rachel, Messer, Lynne, Ostermann, Jan, Whetten, Kathryn, Pence, Brian, Buckner, Megan, Thielman, Nathan, O’Donnell, Karen, and The Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) Research Team. Child Work and Labour Among Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Five Low and Middle Income Countries. BioMed Central Ltd, 2011.
Operario, Don, Lucie Cluver, Helen Rees, Catherine MacPhail, and Audrey Pettifor. 2008. “Orphanhood and Completion of Compulsory School Education Among Young People in South Africa: Findings from a National Representative Survey”. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 18, no. 1: 173-186.
Zhao, Qun, Xiaoming Li, Xiaoyi Fang, Guoxiang Zhao, Junfeng Zhao, Xiuyun Lin, and Bonita Stanton. 2010. “Difference in Psychosocial Well-Being Between Paternal and Maternal AIDS Orphans in Rural China”. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. 21, no. 4: 335-344.
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Maartje P. C. M. Luijk, Femmie Juffer. IQ of Children Growing Up in Children’s Homes: A Meta-Analysis on IQ Delays in Orphanages. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. Volume 54, Number 3, July 2008. pp. 341-366 10.1353/mpq.0.0002
Evans, Larry D. 2004. “Academic Achievement of Students in Foster Care: Impeded or Improved?” Psychology in the Schools. 41, no. 5: 527-535.
Jepkemboi, Grace. The Educational and Psychological Experiences of Children Orphaned by AIDS in Western Kenya. Birmingham, Ala: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007.
Case, Anne, and Cally Ardington. 2006. “The Impact of Parental Death on School Outcomes: Longitudinal Evidence from South Africa”. Demography. 433: 401-420.
Larry D. Evans. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE: IMPEDED OR IMPROVED? Psychology in the Schools. Volume 41, Issue 5, pages 527–535.
Evans DK, and E Miguel. 2007. “Orphans and Schooling in Africa: a Longitudinal Analysis”. Demography. 44, no. 1: 35-57.
Bhargava, Alok. 2005. “AIDS Epidemic and the Psychological Well-Being and School Participation of Ethiopian Orphans”. Psychology, Health & Medicine. 10, no. 3: 263-275.
Bennell, Paul. 2005. “The Impact of the AIDS Epidemic on the Schooling of Orphans and Other Directly Affected Children in Sub-Saharan Africa”. The Journal of Development Studies. 41, no. 3: 467-488.
Martha Ainsworth, Kathleen Beegle & Godlike Koda. The Impact of Adult Mortality and Parental Deaths on Primary Schooling in North-Western Tanzania. The Journal of Development Studies, Volume 41, Issue 3, 2005.

Author: admin

POFO Mentioned in Aljazeera Article

Chris Gray and Team Publish Article on OSC/ Adolescent Trauma and Sexual Health

Whole Child International

UNICEF Report: 58 Million Children Out of School

Chris Gray and Team Publish New Paper in Global Mental Health Journal

MACH Symposium- Save the Date!

CAFO 2014 Video

Emotional Wellbeing

OVCs & Long-term Consequences

Educational Impact

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