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⭐️Congratulations to the @uconnsocialwork @innovations_institute! Innovations recently hosted its inaugural Northeast Pyramid Model Conference in Mystic, Connecticut, focusing on the pyramid model—a framework for supporting the social and emotional development of young children. 👩‍🦱👶👧

About 450 participants from all over the northeast attended and were treated to 36 workshop options, 16 exhibitors, and two keynote lectures. Six workshops were provided in Spanish.

Additionally, Innovations presented the first Northeast Pyramid Champion Award to the Plainville Early Learning Center in Plainville, Connecticut.

#nepyramid2025 #uconnssw ...

🚗 🌍Spatial mobility is vital for older adults’ well-being — it enables access to healthcare, social connections, and essential services. However, when older adults can no longer drive, they often rely on others for rides. While this support is essential, it can also create challenges for those providing the rides.👴👵

In a new manuscript, Rupal Parekh, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, proposes a data-driven approach to assess the geospatial burden experienced by ride providers. By comparing a provider’s own activity space with the areas they travel to when giving rides, Parekh and her colleagues identify how much extra travel burden is involved. 🚗

📊 Using data from a pilot study of 18 ride providers, the co-authors found that the percentage of ride-provision travel occurring outside one’s regular activity space may serve as a valuable indicator of geospatial burden.

Understanding this burden can help researchers and policymakers design better solutions to meet older adults’ transportation needs — while supporting those who make that mobility possible. 💙

📖 Read the full manuscript here: https://www.preprints.org/frontend/manuscript/a5f3c4114b2fedccf267a4272c8ae891/download_pub

#UConnSSW #mobility ...

Two members of the UConn School of Social Work community recently shared their inspiring work at the International Society for Contemplative Research Conference (Nov. 3–6) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

✨ Caitlin Elsaesser, associate professor, presented “Co-Designing a Mindfulness-Based Intervention with Community Violence Intervention Workers and Youth: The Power of Participatory Research.”

✨ Vivien Roman-Hampton, Ph.D. student and research assistant (MSW, LICSW), presented “Mindfulness as a Tool for Street Outreach Workers: Supporting the Supporters in Communities Affected by Gun Violence.”

Together, they also led a collaborative talk titled “Nurturing the Mindful Researcher: Integrating Contemplative Practices to Promote Life-Giving Cultures in Mindfulness Research.”

👏 Elsaesser and Roman-Hampton also co-teach the SSW course Engaged Mindfulness, bringing their passion for contemplative practice—activities that help people develop greater awareness, presence, and connection—directly into the classroom.

#UConnSSW #socialwork ...