WorldWideScience

Sample records for culturally sensitive community-based

  1. Cultural and Rhetorical Bases for communicating knowledge in web based communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kampf, Constance; Kommers, Piet

    2008-01-01

    Cultural and Rhetorical Bases for communicating knowledge in web based communities How can we extend learner-centred theories for educational technology to include, for instance, the cultural and rhetorical backgrounds which influence participants in online communities as they engage in knowledge...... via web-based communities the intersection of culture and rhetoric in web-based communication rhetoric and discourse in the process of communicating knowledge via technology heuristics for knowledge communication from teaching in online forums connections between identity and knowledge communication...... This call for papers invites papers focused on theoretical frameworks or empirical research which highlights the cultural and/or rhetorical aspects of communicating knowledge in web based communities. We are looking for work that brings together methods and perspectives across disciplines...

  2. Building a community-based culture of evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janzen, Rich; Ochocka, Joanna; Turner, Leanne; Cook, Tabitha; Franklin, Michelle; Deichert, Debbie

    2017-12-01

    In this article we argue for a community-based approach as a means of promoting a culture of evaluation. We do this by linking two bodies of knowledge - the 70-year theoretical tradition of community-based research and the trans-discipline of program evaluation - that are seldom intersected within the evaluation capacity building literature. We use the three hallmarks of a community-based research approach (community-determined; equitable participation; action and change) as a conceptual lens to reflect on a case example of an evaluation capacity building program led by the Ontario Brian Institute. This program involved two community-based groups (Epilepsy Southwestern Ontarioand the South West Alzheimer Society Alliance) who were supported by evaluators from the Centre for Community Based Research to conduct their own internal evaluation. The article provides an overview of a community-based research approach and its link to evaluation. It then describes the featured evaluation capacity building initiative, including reflections by the participating organizations themselves. We end by discussing lessons learned and their implications for future evaluation capacity building. Our main argument is that organizations that strive towards a community-based approach to evaluation are well placed to build and sustain a culture of evaluation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnyder, Ulrich; Bryant, Richard A.; Ehlers, Anke; Foa, Edna B.; Hasan, Aram; Mwiti, Gladys; Kristensen, Christian H.; Neuner, Frank; Oe, Misari; Yule, William

    2016-01-01

    Background Although there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) construct's cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient's particular situation, to the nature of the patient's psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on. In addition, culture-sensitive psychotherapists try to understand how culture enhances the meaning of their patient's life history, the cultural components of their illness and help-seeking behaviors, as well as their expectations with regard to treatment. We cannot take for granted that all treatment-seeking trauma survivors speak our language or share our cultural values. Therefore, we need to increase our cultural competencies. Methods The authors of this article are clinicians and/or researchers from across the globe, working with trauma survivors in various settings. Each author focused on one or more specific cultural aspects of working with trauma survivors and highlighted the following aspects. Results As a result of culture-specific individual and collective meanings linked to trauma and trauma-related disorders survivors may be exposed to (self-)stigma in the aftermath of trauma. Patients who are reluctant to talk about their traumatic experiences may instead be willing to write or use other ways of accessing the painful memories such as drawing. In other cultures, community and family cohesion are crucial elements of recovery. While awareness of culture-specific aspects is important, we also need to beware of premature cultural stereotyping. When disseminating empirically supported psychotherapies for PTSD across cultures, a number of additional challenges need to be taken into account: many low and middle income countries have very limited resources available and suffer from a poor health infrastructure. Conclusions In summary, culture-sensitive

  4. Local natural and cultural heritage assets and community based ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Community based tourism (CBT) is seen as an opportunity which mass tourism does not offer for, especially, rural communities to develop their natural and cultural assets into tourism activities for the benefit of the community. The point of CBT is that the community, collectively and individually, gains a livelihood from ...

  5. Treating the untreated: applying a community-based, culturally sensitive psychiatric intervention to confined and physically restrained mentally ill individuals in Bali, Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryani, Luh Ketut; Lesmana, Cokorda Bagus Jaya; Tiliopoulos, Niko

    2011-11-01

    This study identified, mapped and treated the clinical features of mentally ill people, who had been isolated and restrained by family and community members as a result of a functional failure of the traditional medical, hospital-based mental health model currently practiced in Indonesia. A 10-month epidemiological population survey was carried out in Karangasem regency of Bali, Indonesia. A total of 404,591 individuals were clinically interviewed, of which 895 individuals with mental health problems were identified, with 23 satisfying criteria of physical restraint and confinement. Of the latter, twenty were males; age range was 19-69 years, all diagnosed by the researchers with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (ICD-10 diagnostic criteria). Duration of restraint ranged from 3 months to 30 years (mean = 8.1 years, SD = 8.3 years). Through the application of a holistic intervention model, all patients exhibited a remarkable recovery within 19 months of treatment. We conclude that the development of a community-based, culturally sensitive and respectful mental health model can serve as an optimum promoter of positive mental health outcomes.

  6. A cultural critique of community psychiatry in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, Sumeet; Jadhav, Sushrut

    2008-01-01

    This article is the first comprehensive cultural critique of India's official community mental health policy and program. Data are based on a literature review of published papers, conference proceedings, analyses of official policy and popular media, interviews with key Indian mental health professionals, and fieldwork in Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh (2004-2006). The authors demonstrate how three influences have shaped community psychiatry in India: a cultural asymmetry between health professionals and the wider society, psychiatry's search for both professional and social legitimacy, and WHO policies that have provided the overall direction to the development of services. Taken together, the consequences are that rural community voices have been edited out. The authors hypothesize that community psychiatry in India is a bureaucratic and culturally incongruent endeavor that increases the divide between psychiatry and local rural communities. Such a claim requires sustained ethnographic fieldwork to reveal the dynamics of the gap between community and professional experiences. The development of culturally sensitive psychiatric theory and clinical services is essential to improve the mental health of rural citizens who place their trust in India's biomedical network.

  7. CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS OF EVIDENCE-BASED HOME-VISITATION MODELS IN TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiratsuka, Vanessa Y; Parker, Myra E; Sanchez, Jenae; Riley, Rebecca; Heath, Debra; Chomo, Julianna C; Beltangady, Moushumi; Sarche, Michelle

    2018-05-01

    The Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (Tribal MIECHV) Program provides federal grants to tribes, tribal consortia, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to implement evidence-based home-visiting services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families. To date, only one evidence-based home-visiting program has been developed for use in AI/AN communities. The purpose of this article is to describe the steps that four Tribal MIECHV Programs took to assess community needs, select a home-visiting model, and culturally adapt the model for use in AI/AN communities. In these four unique Tribal MIECHV Program settings, each program employed a rigorous needs-assessment process and developed cultural modifications in accordance with community strengths and needs. Adaptations occurred in consultation with model developers, with consideration of the conceptual rationale for the program, while grounding new content in indigenous cultures. Research is needed to improve measurement of home-visiting outcomes in tribal and urban AI/AN settings, develop culturally grounded home-visiting interventions, and assess the effectiveness of home visiting in AI/AN communities. © 2018 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

  8. Effect of local cultural context on the success of community-based conservation interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waylen, Kerry A; Fischer, Anke; McGowan, Philip J K; Thirgood, Simon J; Milner-Gulland, E J

    2010-08-01

    Conservation interventions require evaluation to understand what factors predict success or failure. To date, there has been little systematic investigation of the effect of social and cultural context on conservation success, although a large body of literature argues it is important. We investigated whether local cultural context, particularly local institutions and the efforts of interventions to engage with this culture significantly influence conservation outcomes. We also tested the effects of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration. We systematically reviewed the literature on community-based conservation and identified 68 interventions suitable for inclusion. We used a protocol to extract and code information and evaluated a range of measures of outcome success (attitudinal, behavioral, ecological, and economic). We also examined the association of each predictor with each outcome measure and the structure of predictor covariance. Local institutional context influenced intervention outcomes, and interventions that engaged with local institutions were more likely to succeed. Nevertheless, there was limited support for the role of community participation, conservation education, benefit provision, and market integration on intervention success. We recommend that conservation interventions seek to understand the societies they work with and tailor their activities accordingly. Systematic reviews are a valuable approach for assessing conservation evidence, although sensitive to the continuing lack of high-quality reporting on conservation interventions.

  9. Culture-sensitive psychotraumatology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulrich Schnyder

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Although there is some evidence of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD construct's cross cultural validity, trauma-related disorders may vary across cultures, and the same may be true for treatments that address such conditions. Experienced therapists tailor psychotherapy to each patient's particular situation, to the nature of the patient's psychopathology, to the stage of therapy, and so on. In addition, culture-sensitive psychotherapists try to understand how culture enhances the meaning of their patient's life history, the cultural components of their illness and help-seeking behaviors, as well as their expectations with regard to treatment. We cannot take for granted that all treatment-seeking trauma survivors speak our language or share our cultural values. Therefore, we need to increase our cultural competencies. Methods: The authors of this article are clinicians and/or researchers from across the globe, working with trauma survivors in various settings. Each author focused on one or more specific cultural aspects of working with trauma survivors and highlighted the following aspects. Results: As a result of culture-specific individual and collective meanings linked to trauma and trauma-related disorders survivors may be exposed to (self-stigma in the aftermath of trauma. Patients who are reluctant to talk about their traumatic experiences may instead be willing to write or use other ways of accessing the painful memories such as drawing. In other cultures, community and family cohesion are crucial elements of recovery. While awareness of culture-specific aspects is important, we also need to beware of premature cultural stereotyping. When disseminating empirically supported psychotherapies for PTSD across cultures, a number of additional challenges need to be taken into account: many low and middle income countries have very limited resources available and suffer from a poor health infrastructure. Conclusions: In summary

  10. A cultural landscape approach to community-based conservation in Solomon Islands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard K. Walter

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available International environmental organizations have an increasing commitment to the development of conservation programs in high-diversity regions where indigenous communities maintain customary rights to their lands and seas. A major challenge that these programs face is the alignment of international conservation values with those of the indigenous communities whose cooperation and support are vital. International environmental organizations are focused on biodiversity conservation, but local communities often have a different range of concerns and interests, only some of which relate to biodiversity. One solution to this problem involves adoption of a cultural landscape approach as the ethical and organizational foundation of the conservation program. In our conservation work in coastal Melanesia, we have developed a cultural landscape approach that involves the construction of a conceptual model of environment that reflects the indigenous perceptions of landscape. This model incorporates cultural, ideational, and spiritual values alongside other ecosystem services and underpins the conservation activities, priorities, and organizational structure of our programs. This cultural landscape model was a reaction to a survey of environmental values conducted by our team in which Solomon Islanders reported far greater interest in conserving cultural heritage sites than any other ecosystem resources. This caused a radical rethinking of community-based conservation programs. The methodologies we adopted are derived from the fields of archaeology and historical anthropology, in which there is an established practice of working through research problems within the framework of indigenous concepts of, and relationship to, landscape. In our work in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, coastal communities have enthusiastically adopted conservation programs that are based on cultural landscape models that recognize indigenous values. A particularly useful tool is

  11. Sensitivity Analysis of an Agent-Based Model of Culture's Consequences for Trade

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Burgers, S.L.G.E.; Jonker, C.M.; Hofstede, G.J.; Verwaart, D.

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes the analysis of an agent-based model’s sensitivity to changes in parameters that describe the agents’ cultural background, relational parameters, and parameters of the decision functions. As agent-based models may be very sensitive to small changes in parameter values, it is of

  12. Engaging the Community Cultural Wealth of Latino Immigrant Families in a Community-Based Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative case study utilizing ethnographic methods was to understand how family members' participation in Digital Home, a community-based technology program in an urban mid-sized Midwestern city, built on and fostered Latino immigrant families' community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) in order to increase their abilities to…

  13. Alginate foam-based three-dimensional culture to investigate drug sensitivity in primary leukaemia cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karimpoor, Mahroo; Yebra-Fernandez, Eva; Parhizkar, Maryam; Orlu, Mine; Craig, Duncan; Khorashad, Jamshid S; Edirisinghe, Mohan

    2018-04-01

    The development of assays for evaluating the sensitivity of leukaemia cells to anti-cancer agents is becoming an important aspect of personalized medicine. Conventional cell cultures lack the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the bone marrow (BM), the extracellular matrix and stromal components which are crucial for the growth and survival of leukaemia stem cells. To accurately predict the sensitivity of the leukaemia cells in an in vitro assay a culturing system containing the essential components of BM is required. In this study, we developed a porous calcium alginate foam-based scaffold to be used for 3D culture. The new 3D culture was shown to be cell compatible as it supported the proliferation of both normal haematopoietic and leukaemia cells. Our cell differential assay for myeloid markers showed that the porous foam-based 3D culture enhanced myeloid differentiation in both leukaemia and normal haematopoietic cells compared to two-dimensional culture. The foam-based scaffold reduced the sensitivity of the leukaemia cells to the tested antileukaemia agents in K562 and HL60 leukaemia cell line model and also primary myeloid leukaemia cells. This observation supports the application of calcium alginate foams as scaffold components of the 3D cultures for investigation of sensitivity to antileukaemia agents in primary myeloid cells. © 2018 The Author(s).

  14. Developing cultural sensitivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ruddock, Heidi; Turner, deSalle

    2007-01-01

    . Background. Many countries are becoming culturally diverse, but healthcare systems and nursing education often remain mono-cultural and focused on the norms and needs of the majority culture. To meet the needs of all members of multicultural societies, nurses need to develop cultural sensitivity......Title. Developing cultural sensitivity: nursing students’ experiences of a study abroad programme Aim. This paper is a report of a study to explore whether having an international learning experience as part of a nursing education programme promoted cultural sensitivity in nursing students...... and incorporate this into caregiving. Method. A Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted. Data were collected in 2004 by using in-depth conversational interviews and analysed using the Turner method. Findings. Developing cultural sensitivity involves a complex interplay between becoming...

  15. Towards Community - Reflections on Community Psychiatry, Culture and Alterity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Neto

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The constant transformation of  communities  and  its relationship  with mental illness has been studied and debated for the past decades, although it is still not clear how it has been incorporated in clinical practice.Aims: The authors propose to review the relevance to Psychiatry, especially Community Psychiatry, of understanding  communities as well as the methodologies and conceptual frameworks that allow that approach.Methods: Selected and critical review of the literature about Community Psychiatry and Culture, Communities, and Social Inequity and Mental Health.Results: The authors start by reviewing the meaning  of  Community and the  defining principles of Community Psychiatry in their relationships with  cultural  sensitivity.  This aspect is illustrated with two examples of the impact of culture and alterity in the understanding of Mental Health and Service Organization, one at the level of International and Global Mental Health, and the other at the local communities’ level. In this context, participatory action research is highlighted.Conclusions: Psychiatry,  in  particular Community  Psychiatry,  by acknowledging a  wide  range  of  methodologies  and  being open  to transdisciplinary  models, is in a privileged position of electing communities as a field of investigation and integrate it in its praxis.

  16. Developing Community-Based Rehabilitation Programs for Musculoskeletal Diseases in Low-Income Areas of Mexico: The Community-Based Rehabilitation for Low-Income Communities Living With Rheumatic Diseases (CONCORD) Protocol

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background The negative impact of musculoskeletal diseases on the physical function and quality of life of people living in developing countries is considerable. This disabling effect is even more marked in low-socioeconomic communities within developing countries. In Mexico, there is a need to create community-based rehabilitation programs for people living with musculoskeletal diseases in low-socioeconomic areas. These programs should be directed to prevent and decrease disability, accommodating the specific local culture of communities. Objective The objective of this paper is to describe a research protocol designed to develop, implement, and evaluate culturally sensitive community-based rehabilitation programs aiming to decrease disability of people living with musculoskeletal diseases in two low-income Mexican communities. Methods A community-based participatory research approach is proposed, including multi and transdisciplinary efforts among the community, medical anthropology, and the health sciences. The project is structured in 4 main stages: (1) situation analysis, (2) program development, (3) program implementation, and (4) program evaluation. Each stage includes the use of quantitative and qualitative methods (mixed method program). Results So far, we obtained resources from a Mexican federal agency and completed stage one of the project at Chankom, Yucatán. We are currently receiving funding from an international agency to complete stage two at this same location. We expect that the project at Chankom will be concluded by December of 2017. On the other hand, we just started the execution of stage one at Nuevo León with funding from a Mexican federal agency. We expect to conclude the project at this site by September of 2018. Conclusions Using a community-based participatory research approach and a mixed method program could result in the creation of culturally sensitive community-based rehabilitation programs that promote community development and

  17. The Cultural Adaptation of a Community-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLeigh, Jill D; Katz, Carmit; Davidson-Arad, Bilha; Ben-Arieh, Asher

    2017-06-01

    A unique primary prevention effort, Strong Communities for Children (Strong Communities), focuses on changing attitudes and expectations regarding communities' collective responsibilities for the safety of children. Findings from a 6-year pilot of the initiative in South Carolina have shown promise in reducing child maltreatment, but efforts to adapt the initiative to different cultural contexts have been lacking. No models exist for adapting an initiative that takes a community-level approach to ensuring children's safety. Thus, this article addresses the gap by providing an overview of the original initiative, how the initiative was adapted to the Israeli context, and lessons learned from the experience. Building on conceptualizations of cultural adaptation by Castro et al. (Prevention Science, 5, 2004, 41) and Resnicow et al. (Ethnicity and Disease, 9, 1999, 11), sources of nonfit (i.e., sociodemographic traits, political conflict, government services, and the presence and role of community organizations) were identified and deep and surface structure modifications were made to the content and delivery. Ultimately, this article describes the adaption and dissemination of a community-based child maltreatment prevention initiative in Tel Aviv, Israel, and addresses researchers' calls for more publications describing the adaptation of interventions and the procedures that need to be implemented to achieve cultural relevance. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

  18. [How therapists view the contribution of cultural resources for community-based integrative therapy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Danielle Samara Tavares; Ferreira Filha, Maria de Oliveira

    2011-09-01

    This study aims to investigate the contribution of cultural resources to Community-Based Integrative Care (CBIC), to consolidate it as a model of community-based mental health and a political strategy for local health, and to identify the cultural strategies most used in CBIC sessions. This is a qualitative study, conducted in the city of João Pessoa, state of Paraíba, Brazil, with ten therapists. We used semi-structured interviews and afield diary, from September, 2008, to March, 2009, then proceeded to the interpretive analysis of the data. It was evident that the inclusion of cultural resources contributes to the consolidation of CBIC, for it reclaims and strengthen values, and it underscores the personal and social identity of individuals, encouraging effective participation. The main cultural resources used were music, dynamics and prayers. The conclusion was that cultural resources are an important resource for the work of the therapist, for it strengthens bonds and helps people to give a new meaning to their suffering.

  19. A Culture-Sensitive Agent in Kirman's Ant Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shu-Heng; Liou, Wen-Ching; Chen, Ting-Yu

    The global financial crisis brought a serious collapse involving a "systemic" meltdown. Internet technology and globalization have increased the chances for interaction between countries and people. The global economy has become more complex than ever before. Mark Buchanan [12] indicated that agent-based computer models will prevent another financial crisis and has been particularly influential in contributing insights. There are two reasons why culture-sensitive agent on the financial market has become so important. Therefore, the aim of this article is to establish a culture-sensitive agent and forecast the process of change regarding herding behavior in the financial market. We based our study on the Kirman's Ant Model[4,5] and Hofstede's Natational Culture[11] to establish our culture-sensitive agent based model. Kirman's Ant Model is quite famous and describes financial market herding behavior from the expectations of the future of financial investors. Hofstede's cultural consequence used the staff of IBM in 72 different countries to understand the cultural difference. As a result, this paper focuses on one of the five dimensions of culture from Hofstede: individualism versus collectivism and creates a culture-sensitive agent and predicts the process of change regarding herding behavior in the financial market. To conclude, this study will be of importance in explaining the herding behavior with cultural factors, as well as in providing researchers with a clearer understanding of how herding beliefs of people about different cultures relate to their finance market strategies.

  20. Highly Sensitive Bacteriophage-Based Detection of Brucella abortus in Mixed Culture and Spiked Blood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergueev, Kirill V; Filippov, Andrey A; Nikolich, Mikeljon P

    2017-06-10

    For decades, bacteriophages (phages) have been used for Brucella species identification in the diagnosis and epidemiology of brucellosis. Traditional Brucella phage typing is a multi-day procedure including the isolation of a pure culture, a step that can take up to three weeks. In this study, we focused on the use of brucellaphages for sensitive detection of the pathogen in clinical and other complex samples, and developed an indirect method of Brucella detection using real-time quantitative PCR monitoring of brucellaphage DNA amplification via replication on live Brucella cells. This assay allowed the detection of single bacteria (down to 1 colony-forming unit per milliliter) within 72 h without DNA extraction and purification steps. The technique was equally efficient with Brucella abortus pure culture and with mixed cultures of B . abortus and α-proteobacterial near neighbors that can be misidentified as Brucella spp., Ochrobactrum anthropi and Afipia felis . The addition of a simple short sample preparation step enabled the indirect phage-based detection of B . abortus in spiked blood, with the same high sensitivity. This indirect phage-based detection assay enables the rapid and sensitive detection of live B . abortus in mixed cultures and in blood samples, and can potentially be applied for detection in other clinical samples and other complex sample types.

  1. Highly Sensitive Bacteriophage-Based Detection of Brucella abortus in Mixed Culture and Spiked Blood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergueev, Kirill V.; Filippov, Andrey A.; Nikolich, Mikeljon P.

    2017-01-01

    For decades, bacteriophages (phages) have been used for Brucella species identification in the diagnosis and epidemiology of brucellosis. Traditional Brucella phage typing is a multi-day procedure including the isolation of a pure culture, a step that can take up to three weeks. In this study, we focused on the use of brucellaphages for sensitive detection of the pathogen in clinical and other complex samples, and developed an indirect method of Brucella detection using real-time quantitative PCR monitoring of brucellaphage DNA amplification via replication on live Brucella cells. This assay allowed the detection of single bacteria (down to 1 colony-forming unit per milliliter) within 72 h without DNA extraction and purification steps. The technique was equally efficient with Brucella abortus pure culture and with mixed cultures of B. abortus and α-proteobacterial near neighbors that can be misidentified as Brucella spp., Ochrobactrum anthropi and Afipia felis. The addition of a simple short sample preparation step enabled the indirect phage-based detection of B. abortus in spiked blood, with the same high sensitivity. This indirect phage-based detection assay enables the rapid and sensitive detection of live B. abortus in mixed cultures and in blood samples, and can potentially be applied for detection in other clinical samples and other complex sample types. PMID:28604602

  2. Community Collaborative Problem Solving--Cross-Cultural Lessons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Georgia L.; Marin-Hernandez, Agueda

    1999-01-01

    Examples of Midwestern and Honduran community-based collaborative problem solving provide cross-culturally-adaptable suggestions for community coalitions: adapt the process to the culture, recognize structural constraints, understand reciprocity norms, appreciate the validity of avoidance, and remember that communication roadblocks are always…

  3. International Journal of Web Based Communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2006-01-01

    Special Issue on Knowledge Communication, culture and communities of practice in web based communities. ......Special Issue on Knowledge Communication, culture and communities of practice in web based communities. ...

  4. Highly Sensitive Bacteriophage-Based Detection of Brucella abortus in Mixed Culture and Spiked Blood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirill V. Sergueev

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available For decades, bacteriophages (phages have been used for Brucella species identification in the diagnosis and epidemiology of brucellosis. Traditional Brucella phage typing is a multi-day procedure including the isolation of a pure culture, a step that can take up to three weeks. In this study, we focused on the use of brucellaphages for sensitive detection of the pathogen in clinical and other complex samples, and developed an indirect method of Brucella detection using real-time quantitative PCR monitoring of brucellaphage DNA amplification via replication on live Brucella cells. This assay allowed the detection of single bacteria (down to 1 colony-forming unit per milliliter within 72 h without DNA extraction and purification steps. The technique was equally efficient with Brucella abortus pure culture and with mixed cultures of B. abortus and α-proteobacterial near neighbors that can be misidentified as Brucella spp., Ochrobactrum anthropi and Afipia felis. The addition of a simple short sample preparation step enabled the indirect phage-based detection of B. abortus in spiked blood, with the same high sensitivity. This indirect phage-based detection assay enables the rapid and sensitive detection of live B. abortus in mixed cultures and in blood samples, and can potentially be applied for detection in other clinical samples and other complex sample types.

  5. Teaching ethics: when respect for autonomy and cultural sensitivity collide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minkoff, Howard

    2014-04-01

    Respect for autonomy is a key ethical principle. However, in some cultures other moral domains such as community (emphasizing the importance of family roles) and sanctity (emphasizing the sacred and the spiritual side of human nature) hold equal value. Thus, an American physician may sometimes perceive a conflict between the desire to practice ethically and the wish to be sensitive to the mores of other cultures. For example, a woman may appear to be making what the physician thinks is a bad clinical choice because her spouse is speaking on her behalf. That physician may find it difficult to reconcile the sense that the patient had not exercised freely her autonomy with the desire to be culturally sensitive. In this article, the means by which a physician can reconcile respect for other cultures with respect for autonomy is explored. The question of whether physicians must always defer to patients' requests solely because they are couched in the language of cultural sensitivity is also addressed. Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Community health workers as cultural producers in addressing gender-based violence in rural South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lange, Naydene; Mitchell, Claudia

    2016-01-01

    South Africa has been experiencing an epidemic of gender-based violence (GBV) for a long time and in some rural communities health workers, who are trained to care for those infected with HIV, are positioned at the forefront of addressing this problem, often without the necessary support. In this article, we pose the question: How might cultural production through media making with community health workers (CHWs) contribute to taking action to address GBV and contribute to social change in a rural community? This qualitative participatory arts-based study with five female CHWs working from a clinic in a rural district of South Africa is positioned as critical research, using photographs in the production of media posters. We offer a close reading of the data and its production and discuss three data moments: CHWs drawing on insider cultural knowledge; CHWs constructing messages; and CHWs taking action. In our discussion, we take up the issue of cultural production and then offer concluding thoughts on 'beyond engagement' when the researchers leave the community.

  7. Community of Communities: An Electronic Link to Integrating Cultural Diversity in Nursing Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryan, Marilyn; Ali, Nagia; Carlton, Kay Hodson

    2002-01-01

    The Community of Communities (COC) website contains information and case studies based on cultural assessment. Online nursing courses are linked to a cultural module in the COC. Evaluation results from 63 students showed that the COC increased awareness of the role of culture in health care and knowledge of international health practices.…

  8. Culture Development Planning in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Management Planning of Cultural Heritage in Kotagede District based on Community Empowerment Conservation Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eko Suryanti

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a cultural rich city with excellent cultural resources. Yogyakarta should manage their assets with long-term planning to keep the sustainability. There is a very unique planning process due to a combination of political, technocratic, participatory, top down and bottom up approaches. This planning process is comprehensive or integrated because its involved many actor from multisectoral, multidisciplinary, multi regulatory, and multi planning documents, etc. Local wisdoms have been coloring the planning documents. This study describe and analyze the cultural development planning in Yogyakarta especially on the Management Planning in Kotagede Cultural Heritage District. We used qualitative descriptive approach methods and Miles and Huberman analysis methods. Participation of community and Non Governmental Organization (NGO in conservation planning of cultural heritage in this area is very significant in simplify the government task because people have been more literate in planning, have database of cultural assets, and capable of making their own decisions for the future of the region. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA dan Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA were integrated in the planning process of Kotagede Heritage District management, thus it becomes a model of cultural heritage with community empowerment-based conservation. Keywords: culture development planning, comprehensive planning, heritage cultural district, community empowerment-based conservation.

  9. The Interplay Between Online and Offline Community Culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kornum, Niels; Gyrd-Jones, Richard; Al Zagir, Nadia

    This study examines the interplay between online and offline community cultures based on identifying the distinct features of both. Studying this interaction explicitly and in empirical analysis is new to community literature and brands can through this better know the communities to which...... they relate. The findings reveal that without a thorough understanding of both online and offline cultures and their interaction, companies or brands may get a misleading picture of these cultures. For instance, if only looking at the culture online and not core values offline, the company might intervene...

  10. Factors associated with routine screening for the early detection of breast cancer in cultural-ethnic and faith-based communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freund, Anat; Cohen, Miri; Azaiza, Faisal

    2017-07-04

    Studies have shown a lower adherence to health behaviors among women in cultural-ethnic minorities and faith-based communities, especially lower screening attendance for the early detection of breast cancer. This study compares factors related to cancer screening adherence in two distinct cultural-ethnic minorities in Israel: Arab women as a cultural-ethnic minority and Jewish ultra-Orthodox women as a cultural-ethnic faith-based minority. During the year 2014, a total of 398 Jewish ultra-Orthodox women and 401 Arab women between the ages of 40-60, were randomly selected using population-based registries. These women answered questionnaires regarding adherence to mammography and clinical breast examination (CBE), health beliefs and cultural barriers. Arab women adhered more than ultra-Orthodox women to mammography (p faith-based communities. In order to increase adherence, health care professionals and policymakers should direct their attention to the specific nature of each community.

  11. A Community-Based Culture Collection for Targeting Novel Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria from the Sugarcane Microbiome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaderson Silveira Leite Armanhi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The soil-plant ecosystem harbors an immense microbial diversity that challenges investigative approaches to study traits underlying plant-microbe association. Studies solely based on culture-dependent techniques have overlooked most microbial diversity. Here we describe the concomitant use of culture-dependent and -independent techniques to target plant-beneficial microbial groups from the sugarcane microbiome. The community-based culture collection (CBC approach was used to access microbes from roots and stalks. The CBC recovered 399 unique bacteria representing 15.9% of the rhizosphere core microbiome and 61.6–65.3% of the endophytic core microbiomes of stalks. By cross-referencing the CBC (culture-dependent with the sugarcane microbiome profile (culture-independent, we designed a synthetic community comprised of naturally occurring highly abundant bacterial groups from roots and stalks, most of which has been poorly explored so far. We then used maize as a model to probe the abundance-based synthetic inoculant. We show that when inoculated in maize plants, members of the synthetic community efficiently colonize plant organs, displace the natural microbiota and dominate at 53.9% of the rhizosphere microbial abundance. As a result, inoculated plants increased biomass by 3.4-fold as compared to uninoculated plants. The results demonstrate that abundance-based synthetic inoculants can be successfully applied to recover beneficial plant microbes from plant microbiota.

  12. International Community-Based Service Learning: Two Comparative Case Studies of Benefits and Tensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhurst, Jacqueline

    2016-01-01

    The drives to internationalise the UK curriculum and psychology students' desires to work in communities are brought together in this paper. International community-based learning (ICBL) links with many psychology students' motivations to make contributions to others; with the potential to enhance students' learning and cultural sensitivities. The…

  13. Transformation of dwelling culture based on riverine community in Musi River Palembang

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wicaksono, Bambang; Siswanto, Ari; Kusdiwanggo, Susilo; Anwar, Widya Fransiska Febriati

    2017-11-01

    Palembang City development since the Palembang Darussalam Sultanate era to the reformation era has impact on the living culture community, less of the raft houses, houses on stilts transformed into a terraced house, and the house became the dominant land. Dwelling Culture oriented on transformation of river become land-oriented. The development has leaving identity, character, and potential of the riverine architecture and dwelling life of river. The goals of study are to describe a case and revealing the meaning of dwelling cultural transformation in Musi River society from the process of cultural acculturation and investigate the architectural aspect from the form of house and modes of dwelling through the structuralism approach. The data collection is conducted qualitatively by using data collection techniques such as observation, interview, literature study, whereas the method of analysis, is a method that is done through Levi-Strauss structuralism approach that identifies all the elements of community thought in a systematic procedure. The results showed the structure behind the orientation, position, shape, and layout of dwelling revealed through the meanings in it. It means, the change and development from cultural acculturation process which oriented in the land dwelling, based on structure thinking of Palembang society.

  14. Integrating Faith-based and Community-based Participatory Research Approaches to Adapt the Korean Parent Training Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eunjung; Boutain, Doris; Kim, Sangho; Chun, Jin-Joo; Im, Hyesang

    Faith and community based inquiry approaches are rarely used to develop research interventions. The purpose of this article is to present how a research team worked with six Korean American Christian churches to revise the prototype Korean Parent Training Program (KPTP), based upon the Bright Futures Parenting Program. The collaboration was sought to better integrate and align the KPTP with Korean culture and faith. The KPTP was developed to promote positive parenting practices and decrease mental health disparities of Korean American children. Sixteen church participants completed a Delphi survey, a workshop series, Community Theaters, and focus groups. The participants suggested adding Korean traditional parenting virtues, Christian parenting principles, and revising the standardized parent training and program philosophy. Revisions made KPTP sensitive to Korean culture and faith, and promoted program acceptability. The process demonstrated the importance of working with church volunteers to develop faith-based and community-based health promotion interventions targeting Korean American faith communities. This research presents significant and meaningful implications for working with other faith communities from minority backgrounds. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Community based fish culture in the public and private floodplains of Bangladesh

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mahfuzul Haque, A.B.

    2015-01-01

    Seasonal floodplains are water bodies that retain water for 5-6 months during which they are suitable to grow fish and other aquatic animals. Out of 2.8 million ha of medium and deep-flooded areas, about 1.5 million ha are estimated to be suitable for Community-Based Fish Culture (CBFC).

  16. Predicting community sensitivity to ozone, using Ellenberg Indicator values

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jones, M. Laurence M. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Bangor, Orton Building, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UP (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: lj@ceh.ac.uk; Hayes, Felicity [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Bangor, Orton Building, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UP (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: fhay@ceh.ac.uk; Mills, Gina [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Bangor, Orton Building, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UP (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: gmi@ceh.ac.uk; Sparks, Tim H. [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: ths@ceh.ac.uk; Fuhrer, Juerg [Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture (FAL), Air Pollution/Climate Group, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zurich (Switzerland)]. E-mail: juerg.fuhrer@fal.admin.ch

    2007-04-15

    This paper develops a regression-based model for predicting changes in biomass of individual species exposed to ozone (RS{sub p}), based on their Ellenberg Indicator values. The equation (RS{sub p}=1.805-0.118Light-0.135Salinity) underpredicts observed sensitivity but has the advantage of widespread applicability to almost 3000 European species. The model was applied to grassland communities to develop two further predictive tools. The first tool, percentage change in biomass (ORI%) was tested on data from a field-based ozone exposure experiment and predicted a 27% decrease in biomass over 5 years compared with an observed decrease of 23%. The second tool, an index of community sensitivity to ozone (CORI), was applied to 48 grassland communities and suggests that community sensitivity to ozone is primarily species-driven. A repeat-sampling routine showed that nine species were the minimum requirement to estimate CORI within 5%.

  17. Exploring Links between Empowerment and Community-Based Arts and Cultural Practices: Perspectives from Barcelona Practitioners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrasco, Ruben David Fernández; Monferrer, Moisés Carmona; Tarditi, Andrés Di Masso

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we reflect on the development of community-based arts and cultural (CBAC) practices to promote psychosocial, group/organisational and community changes from the perspective of empowerment. We draw on findings from an initial exploratory phase of an ongoing action-research project in Spain about creative tools that empower artists…

  18. Culture in Asian American community psychology: beyond the East-West binary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okazaki, Sumie; Saw, Anne

    2011-03-01

    In response to a call to better integrate culture in community psychology (O'Donnell in American Journal of Community Psychology 37:1-7 2006), we offer a cultural-community framework to facilitate a collaborative engagement between community psychologists and ethnic minority communities, focusing on Asian American communities as illustrations. Extending Hays' (Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2008) ADDRESSING framework for considering cultural influences on a counseling relationship, the proposed framework provides a broad but systematic guidepost for considering three major cultural-ecological influences on Asian American communities: Race and Ethnicity (R), Culture (C), and Immigration and Transnational Ties (I). We provide a sequence of steps that incorporate the ADDRESSING and the RCI frameworks to facilitate the collaborative community-based research or social action.

  19. The community-based participatory intervention effect of "HIV-RAAP".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yancey, Elleen M; Mayberry, Robert; Armstrong-Mensah, Elizabeth; Collins, David; Goodin, Lisa; Cureton, Shava; Trammell, Ella H; Yuan, Keming

    2012-07-01

    To design and test HIV-RAAP (HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Among Heterosexually Active African American Men and Women: A Risk Reduction Prevention Intervention) a coeducational, culture- and gender-sensitive community-based participatory HIV risk reduction intervention. A community-based participatory research process included intervention development and implementation of a 7-session coeducational curriculum conducted over 7 consecutive weeks. The results indicated a significant intervention effect on reducing sexual behavior risk (P=0.02), improving HIV risk knowledge (P=0.006), and increasing sexual partner conversations about HIV risk reduction (P= 0.001). The HIV-RAAP intervention impacts key domains of heterosexual HIV transmission.

  20. Culture, Personality, Health, and Family Dynamics: Cultural Competence in the Selection of Culturally Sensitive Treatments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sperry, Len

    2010-01-01

    Cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in the selection of culturally sensitive treatments is a requisite for effective counseling practice in working with diverse clients and their families, particularly when clients present with health issues or medical problems. Described here is a strategy for selecting culturally sensitive treatments…

  1. Promoting Community Health and Eliminating Health Disparities Through Community-Based Participatory Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Ruiping; Stone, John R; Hoffman, Julie E; Klappa, Susan G

    2016-03-01

    In physical therapy, there is increasing focus on the need at the community level to promote health, eliminate disparities in health status, and ameliorate risk factors among underserved minorities. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is the most promising paradigm for pursuing these goals. Community-based participatory research stresses equitable partnering of the community and investigators in light of local social, structural, and cultural elements. Throughout the research process, the CBPR model emphasizes coalition and team building that joins partners with diverse skills/expertise, knowledge, and sensitivities. This article presents core concepts and principles of CBPR and the rationale for its application in the management of health issues at the community level. Community-based participatory research is now commonly used to address public health issues. A literature review identified limited reports of its use in physical therapy research and services. A published study is used to illustrate features of CBPR for physical therapy. The purpose of this article is to promote an understanding of how physical therapists could use CBPR as a promising way to advance the profession's goals of community health and elimination of health care disparities, and social responsibility. Funding opportunities for the support of CBPR are noted. © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.

  2. Mediating Expectations and Encounters: Community-Based Tourism Protocols- Cultural Tourism Workshop

    OpenAIRE

    Lena Mortensen

    2013-01-01

    Across the world an increasing number of communities are embracing cultural tourism as a means to strengthen or build local economies, to revitalize cultural traditions, and also to complement the management of local and cultural resources. The potential for cultural tourism to build cross cultural understanding and the importance of considering the human context of tourism is explored in this presentation by Lena Mortensen (Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto) an...

  3. Responsible Adult Culture (RAC): Cognitive and Behavioral Changes at a Community-Based Correctional Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devlin, Renee S.; Gibbs, John C.

    2010-01-01

    This article examined cognitive and behavioral changes among participants in Responsible Adult Culture (RAC), a cognitive-behavioral (especially, cognitive restructuring) treatment program in use at the Franklin County Community-Based Correctional Facility (CBCF). Participants were adult felony offenders (approximately three-fourths male). A…

  4. Cultural competence in healthcare in the community: A concept analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, Saras; Horne, Maria; Hills, Ruth; Kendall, Elizabeth

    2018-03-07

    This study aims to conduct a concept analysis on cultural competence in community healthcare. Clarification of the concept of cultural competence is needed to enable clarity in the definition and operation, research and theory development to assist healthcare providers to better understand this evolving concept. Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis method was used to clarify the concept's context, surrogate terms, antecedents, attributes and consequences and to determine implications for further research. Articles from 2004 to 2015 were sought from Medline, PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus using the terms "cultural competency" AND "health," "cultural competence" OR "cultural safety" OR "cultural knowledge" OR "cultural awareness" OR cultural sensitivity OR "cultural skill" AND "Health." Articles with antecedents, attributes and consequences of cultural competence in community health were included. The 26 articles selected included nursing (n = 8), health (n = 8), psychology (n = 2), social work (n = 1), mental health (n = 3), medicine (n = 3) and occupational therapy (n = 1). Findings identify cultural openness, awareness, desire, knowledge and sensitivity and encounter as antecedents of cultural competence. Defining attributes are respecting and tailoring care aligned with clients' values, needs, practices and expectations, providing equitable and ethical care, and understanding. Consequences of cultural competence are satisfaction with care, the perception of quality healthcare, better adherence to treatments, effective interaction and improved health outcomes. An interesting finding is that the antecedents and attributes of cultural competence appear to represent a superficial level of understanding, sometimes only manifested through the need for social desirability. What is reported as critical in sustaining competence is the carers' capacity for a higher level of moral reasoning attainable through formal education in cultural and ethics knowledge. Our

  5. Family Counseling: Cultural Sensitivity, Relativism, and the Cultural Defense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    May, Kathleen M.

    1998-01-01

    Cultural sensitivity, cultural relativism, and the cultural defense are defined and described. Each concept is addressed in terms of its relationship to couple and family counseling. The role of counselor must be broadened and deepened to include the role of cultural broker. (Author/EMK)

  6. Coal, culture and community

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1993-11-01

    16 papers are presented with the following titles: the miners; municipalisation and the millenium - Bolton-upon-Dearne Urban District Council 1899-1914; the traditional working class community revisited; the cultural capital of coal mining communities; activities, strike-breakers and coal communities; the limits of protest - media coverage of the Orgreave picket during the miners` strike; in defence of home and hearth? Families, friendships and feminism in mining communities; young people`s attitudes to the police in mining communities; the determinants of productivity growth in the British coal mining industry, 1976-1989; strategic responses to flexibility - a case study in coal; no coal turned in Yorkshire?; the North-South divide in the Central Coalfields; the psychological effects of redundancy and worklessness - a case study from the coalfields; the Dearne Valley initiative; the future under labour: and coal, culture and the community.

  7. The Community-based Participatory Intervention Effect of “HIV-RAAP”

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yancey, Elleen M.; Mayberry, Robert; Armstrong-Mensah, Elizabeth; Collins, David; Goodin, Lisa; Cureton, Shava; Trammell, Ella H.; Yuan, Keming

    2012-01-01

    Objectives To design and test HIV-RAAP (HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Among Heterosexually Active African American Men and Women: A Risk Reduction Prevention Intervention) a coeducational, culture- and gender-sensitive community-based participatory HIV risk reduction intervention. Methods A community-based participatory research process included intervention development and implementation of a 7-session coeducational curriculum conducted over 7 consecutive weeks. Results The results indicated a significant intervention effect on reducing sexual behavior risk (P=0.02), improving HIV risk knowledge (P=0.006), and increasing sexual partner conversations about HIV risk reduction (P= 0.001). Conclusions The HIV-RAAP intervention impacts key domains of heterosexual HIV transmission. PMID:22488405

  8. Cultural diversity in center-based childcare: Childrearing beliefs of professional caregivers from different cultural communities in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huijbregts, S.K.; Leseman, P.P.M.; Tavecchio, L.W.C.

    2008-01-01

    The present study investigated the cultural childrearing beliefs of 116 caregivers from different cultural communities in the Netherlands (Dutch, Caribbean-Dutch, and Mediterranean-Dutch), working with 2-4-year-olds in daycare centers. Cultural childrearing beliefs were assessed with standard

  9. Culturally sensitive strategies designed to target the silent epidemic of hepatitis B in a Filipino community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marineau, Michelle; Tice, Alan D; Taylor-Garcia, David; Akinaka, Kenneth T; Lusk, Heather; Ona, Fernando

    2007-06-01

    Hepatitis B is frequent in the Philippines. A high rate of immigration to the United States has brought many Filipinos with infections who are asymptomatic yet will go on to develop liver cancer and cirrhosis unless diagnose and evaluated. Interventions are necessary to educate this ethnic community, identify those infected, and offer therapy. In an effort to reach this high risk population in Hawai'i an intervention program was designed to address the silent epidemic of hepatitis. Ethnic barriers were crossed through involvement of trusted, key stakeholders and individuals within the Filipino health care and church communities, along with groups that had joint missions to address viral hepatitis. After extensive planning and meetings with faith-based organizations and health care providers in the Filipino community, it was decided to hold a community health fair in the Filipino community to provide culturally appropriate health information and services. More than 500 individuals attended the health fair; 167 participated in a survey and were tested for hepatitis B. Significant knowledge gaps were found in relation to risk factors, prevention strategies, and transmission. Five individuals tested positive; all were immigrants and did not know of their disease. The objective to educate people and test them for hepatitis was successful through utilizing ethnic community leaders, religious organizations, health care professionals, and a collaborative health fair.

  10. Development of culturally sensitive dialog tools in diabetes education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nana Folmann Hempler

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Person-centeredness is a goal in diabetes education, and cultural influences are important to consider in this regard. This report describes the use of a design-based research approach to develop culturally sensitive dialog tools to support person-centered dietary education targeting Pakistani immigrants in Denmark with type 2 diabetes. The approach appears to be a promising method to develop dialog tools for patient education that are culturally sensitive, thereby increasing their acceptability among ethnic minority groups. The process also emphasizes the importance of adequate training and competencies in the application of dialog tools and of alignment between researchers and health care professionals with regards to the educational philosophy underlying their use.

  11. Cultural Diversity in Center-Based Childcare: Childrearing Beliefs of Professional Caregivers from Different Cultural Communities in the Netherlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huijbregts, S. K.; Leseman, P. P. M.; Tavecchio, L. W. C.

    2008-01-01

    The present study investigated the cultural childrearing beliefs of 116 caregivers from different cultural communities in the Netherlands (Dutch, Caribbean-Dutch, and Mediterranean-Dutch), working with 2-4-year-olds in daycare centers. Cultural childrearing beliefs were assessed with standard questionnaires, focusing on general and…

  12. Cultural context of school communities in rural Hawaii to inform youth violence prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Affonso, Dyanne D; Mayberry, Linda; Shibuya, June Y; Archambeau, Olga G; Correa, Mary; Deliramich, Aimee N; Frueh, B Christopher

    2010-03-01

    Escalation of youth violence within a large geographic school-complex area in southeastern rural Hawaii became a major problem in 2006. How cultural forces impact the problem was an impetus to examine youth violence from perspectives of adults and children in rural communities. Gathering these data was an essential first step toward school-based youth violence prevention program development. Eight focus groups involving 86 community stakeholders included 51 adults (parent, teachers, school staff, community leaders) and 35 children aged 8-15 years old (3rd- to 10-th grade). Qualitative narrative analysis elicited major themes. Five themes emerged: (1) School-community violence takes on many forms that become entrenched in local culture. (2) Disintegration of community resources and a sense of learned helplessness underlie the escalation of youth violence. (3) Inadequate role modeling coupled with behavioral ambivalence among adults has sustained a climate of local cultural acceptance with youth violence. (4) Connection to cultural values has diminished, leading to a sense of loss in cultural identity among students. (5) Cultural values and practices are potential strategies for youth violence prevention. Cultural and community contextual factors contributed to youth violence in rural Hawaiian communities. Study implications include the need to further investigate the impact of vigilant, community involvement of stakeholders in school-based youth violence prevention program development. Cultural revitalization at family, school, and community levels may be critical success factors of such programs.

  13. Social marketing: approach to cultural and contextual relevance in a community-based physical activity intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Colleen; Vega-López, Sonia; Ainsworth, Barbara; Nagle-Williams, Allison; Records, Kathie; Permana, Paska; Coonrod, Dean

    2014-01-01

    We report the social marketing strategies used for the design, recruitment and retention of participants in a community-based physical activity (PA) intervention, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health). The study example used to illustrate the use of social marketing is a 48-week prescribed walking program, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health), which tests a social support intervention to explore the effectiveness of a culturally specific program using ‘bouts’ of PA to effect the changes in body fat, fat tissue inflammation and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women. Using the guidelines from the National Benchmark Criteria, we developed intervention, recruitment and retention strategies that reflect efforts to draw on community values, traditions and customs in intervention design, through partnership with community members. Most of the women enrolled in Madres para la Salud were born in Mexico, largely never or unemployed and resided among the highest crime neighborhoods with poor access to resources. We developed recruitment and retention strategies that characterized social marketing strategies that employed a culturally relevant, consumer driven and problem-specific design. Cost and benefit of program participation, consumer-derived motivation and segmentation strategies considered the development transition of the young Latinas as well as cultural and neighborhood barriers that impacted retention are described. PMID:23002252

  14. Social marketing: approach to cultural and contextual relevance in a community-based physical activity intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Colleen; Vega-López, Sonia; Ainsworth, Barbara; Nagle-Williams, Allison; Records, Kathie; Permana, Paska; Coonrod, Dean

    2014-03-01

    We report the social marketing strategies used for the design, recruitment and retention of participants in a community-based physical activity (PA) intervention, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health). The study example used to illustrate the use of social marketing is a 48-week prescribed walking program, Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health), which tests a social support intervention to explore the effectiveness of a culturally specific program using 'bouts' of PA to effect the changes in body fat, fat tissue inflammation and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women. Using the guidelines from the National Benchmark Criteria, we developed intervention, recruitment and retention strategies that reflect efforts to draw on community values, traditions and customs in intervention design, through partnership with community members. Most of the women enrolled in Madres para la Salud were born in Mexico, largely never or unemployed and resided among the highest crime neighborhoods with poor access to resources. We developed recruitment and retention strategies that characterized social marketing strategies that employed a culturally relevant, consumer driven and problem-specific design. Cost and benefit of program participation, consumer-derived motivation and segmentation strategies considered the development transition of the young Latinas as well as cultural and neighborhood barriers that impacted retention are described.

  15. Integrating Community into the Classroom: Community Gardening, Community Involvement, and Project-Based Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhout, Regina Day; Rappaport, Julian; Simmons, Doretha

    2002-01-01

    Culturally relevant, ongoing project-based learning was facilitated in a predominantly African American urban elementary school via a community garden project. The project involved teachers, students, university members, and community members. This article evaluates the project through two classroom-community collaboration models, noting common…

  16. A modified culture-based study of bacterial community composition in a tannery wastewater treatment plant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desta, Adey F; Dalhammer, Gunnel; Kittuva, Gunatrana R

    2010-01-01

    Though culture-independent methods have been used in preference to traditional isolation techniques for characterization of microbial community of wastewater treatment plants, it is difficult to widely apply this approach in resource-poor countries. The present study aimed to develop a test to identify the culturable portion of bacterial community in a high-strength wastewater. Wastewater samples were collected from nitrification-denitrification and settling tanks of the treatment plant of Elmo Leather AB tannery located in Borås, Sweden. After cultivating on nutrient agar with the optimal dilution (10⁻²), phenotypic and biochemical identification of the bacteria were done with colony morphology, Gram reaction, growth on MacConkey, phenylethanol media, triple sugar Iron agar slants, catalase and oxidase tests. Biochemical grouping of the isolates was done based on their test results for MacConkey, phenylethanol media, triple sugar Iron agar and oxidase test reaction. From the biochemical groups, isolates were randomly selected for API test and 16SrRNA gene sequencing. The isolates from the denitrification, nitrification tank were identified to be Paracoccus denitrificans (67%), Azoarcus spp (3%) and Spingomonas wittichii (1%). From the settling tank, Paracoccus denitrificans (22%), Corynebacterium freneyi (20%) and Bacillus cereus (1%) were identified. The grouping based on biochemical test results as well as the identification based on sequencing has shown coherence except for discrepancies with the API test. The preliminary implications of the grouping based on culture-based characteristics and its potential application for resource-limited environmental microbial studies is discussed.

  17. DIAGNOSIS OF CULTURE POSITIVE URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS AND THEIR ANTIMICROBIAL SENSITIVITY PROFILE IN TERTIARY CARE CENTRE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prince Sreekumar Pius

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Urinary tract infection is very common all over the world and in India more than 10 million cases are reported per year. It is one of the common infections diagnosed in the outpatients as well as the hospitalised patients. Empirical treatment of community acquired urinary tract infections are determined by the antibiotic sensitivity in a population. This study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial sensitivity amongst the uropathogens to help establish local guidelines on treatment of urinary tract infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, we collected 1306 samples from patients in whom we suspected to have urinary tract infection based on clinical signs and symptoms (e.g. with fever (greater than 38°C without another explanation or from a patient who had at least one urinary symptom (dysuria, urgency, frequency, or suprapubic pain or tenderness in our hospital during January 2016-June 2016. RESULTS Urine cultures were positive for 18% of the patients. Among these cultures, Klebsiella pneumonia (41%, Escherichia coli (35% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7% were the common organisms found. Highest antimicrobial sensitivity amongst these pathogens was found with cefoperazone/sulbactam and amikacin. CONCLUSION Cefoperazone/sulbactam and amikacin were the highly sensitive systemic antibiotics while ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin were the sensitive oral antibiotics in our locality.

  18. Promoting human subjects training for place-based communities and cultural groups in environmental research: curriculum approaches for graduate student/faculty training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quigley, Dianne

    2015-02-01

    A collaborative team of environmental sociologists, community psychologists, religious studies scholars, environmental studies/science researchers and engineers has been working together to design and implement new training in research ethics, culture and community-based approaches for place-based communities and cultural groups. The training is designed for short and semester-long graduate courses at several universities in the northeastern US. The team received a 3 year grant from the US National Science Foundation's Ethics Education in Science and Engineering in 2010. This manuscript details the curriculum topics developed that incorporate ethical principles, particularly for group protections/benefits within the field practices of environmental/engineering researchers.

  19. Is Ethical Sensitivity in Teaching Culturally Bound? Comparing Finnish and Iranian Teachers' Ethical Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gholami, Khalil; Kuusisto, Elina; Tirri, Kirsi

    2015-01-01

    In this study, we investigated the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of teachers' ethical sensitivity in two countries. Our case study involves teachers from Finland (n = 864) representing Western culture, and from Iran (n = 556) representing Eastern culture. Culturally bound elements of ethical sensitivity were studied with the…

  20. Community Empowerment Strategy Based on Social and Cultural Capital of Coastal Communities at Makassar Island

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanzil, Tanzil

    2018-05-01

    The study aims to (1) analyze the form and the function of social capital in fisher communities of Makasar Island (2) formulate a strategy of empowerment through reinforcement of social capital in fisher communities in Makasar Island. The methodological design used is a case study. The data is then analysed through descriptive-qualitative, an analysis carried out continuously from the collection of data until the investigation is completed. The study findings showed that the fisher communities in Makasar Island have social and cultural capital that can be identified on the forms of trust, values/norms, and networks in which each social and cultural capital has become a power for fishermen to survive and adapt to its environment. The results of this study also identify various problems related to the process of empowering fishing communities on the island of Makassar. The problems also become a constraint for fishermen to improve their business so that they obtain relatively low incomes. The problems are: firstly, the weakness on the use of technology so that the productivity of fishermen is relatively low and the small business scale, the second, the difficulty in business development because of the limited access to capital and the third, the poor of business management as the result of limited ability in business management. These factors then lead the fishing communities on the island of Makasar powerless to exploit the rich potential of marine resources.

  1. Cultural sensitivity in public health: defined and demystified.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resnicow, K; Baranowski, T; Ahluwalia, J S; Braithwaite, R L

    1999-01-01

    There is consensus that health promotion programs should be culturally sensitive (CS). Yet, despite the ubiquitous nature of CS within public health research and practice, there has been surprisingly little attention given to defining CS or delineating a framework for developing culturally sensitive programs and practitioners. This paper describes a model for understanding CS from a public health perspective; describes a process for applying this model in the development of health promotion and disease prevention interventions; and highlights research priorities. Cultural sensitivity is defined by two dimensions: surface and deep structures. Surface structure involves matching intervention materials and messages to observable, "superficial" characteristics of a target population. This may involve using people, places, language, music, food, locations, and clothing familiar to, and preferred by, the target audience. Surface structure refers to how well interventions fit within a specific culture. Deep structure involves incorporating the cultural, social, historical, environmental and psychological forces that influence the target health behavior in the proposed target population. Whereas surface structure generally increases the "receptivity" or "acceptance" of messages, deep structure conveys salience. Techniques, borrowed from social marketing and health communication theory, for developing culturally sensitive interventions are described. Research is needed to determine the effectiveness of culturally sensitive programs.

  2. Community and evidence-based approaches to healthcare ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2016-04-29

    Apr 29, 2016 ... This project developed community connections, shared cross-cultural teaching experiences, and fostered local community partnerships. Participants in the course were encouraged to continue providing evidence-based care throughout their careers. UniLúrio now plans to include the community-based ...

  3. Revising and Updating the Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahon, Jennifer A.; Cushner, Kenneth

    2014-01-01

    The following article outlines research conducted to examine cross-cultural sensitivity in a sample of 949 incoming university students in the USA. The study was conducted during the process of updating an existing measure of cross-cultural sensitivity known as the Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (ICCS), and to examine the various levels…

  4. Cultural Sensitivity in English Language Teaching Materials

    OpenAIRE

    MEHMET, Sean Collin

    2008-01-01

    This expository paper will begin by uncovering and examining some lesser known, Western journal articles, ones that deal specifically with the issue of cultural sensitivity in language classrooms. This opening discussion will attempt to reveal that cultural sensitivity in teaching materials is by no means an issue limited solely to the Western world. After this, the discussion will focus on Edward Said's widely-known Culture and Imperialism. Said's monograph will be used as a springboard to e...

  5. Sensitive and selective culture medium for detection of environmental Clostridium difficile isolates without requirement for anaerobic culture conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadnum, Jennifer L; Hurless, Kelly N; Deshpande, Abhishek; Nerandzic, Michelle M; Kundrapu, Sirisha; Donskey, Curtis J

    2014-09-01

    Effective and easy-to-use methods for detecting Clostridium difficile spore contamination would be useful for identifying environmental reservoirs and monitoring the effectiveness of room disinfection. Culture-based detection methods are sensitive for detecting C. difficile, but their utility is limited due to the requirement of anaerobic culture conditions and microbiological expertise. We developed a low-cost selective broth medium containing thioglycolic acid and l-cystine, termed C. difficile brucella broth with thioglycolic acid and l-cystine (CDBB-TC), for the detection of C. difficile from environmental specimens under aerobic culture conditions. The sensitivity and specificity of CDBB-TC (under aerobic culture conditions) were compared to those of CDBB (under anaerobic culture conditions) for the recovery of C. difficile from swabs collected from hospital room surfaces. CDBB-TC was significantly more sensitive than CDBB for recovering environmental C. difficile (36/41 [88%] versus 21/41 [51%], respectively; P = 0.006). C. difficile latex agglutination, an enzyme immunoassay for toxins A and B or glutamate dehydrogenase, and a PCR for toxin B genes were all effective as confirmatory tests. For 477 total environmental cultures, the specificity of CDBB-TC versus that of CDBB based upon false-positive yellow-color development of the medium without recovery of C. difficile was 100% (0 false-positive results) versus 96% (18 false-positive results), respectively. False-positive cultures for CDBB were attributable to the growth of anaerobic non-C. difficile organisms that did not grow in CDBB-TC. Our results suggest that CDBB-TC provides a sensitive and selective medium for the recovery of C. difficile organisms from environmental samples, without the need for anaerobic culture conditions. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  6. Indigenous cultural contexts for STEM experiences: snow snakes' impact on students and the community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Brant G.; Roehrig, Gillian

    2018-03-01

    Opportunities for American Indian youth to meaningfully engage in school-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences have historically been inadequate. As a consequence, American Indian students perform lower on standardized assessments of science education than their peers. In this article we describe the emergence of meaning for students—as well as their community—resulting from Indigenous culturally-based STEM curriculum that used an American Indian tradition as a focal context. Specifically, the game of snow snakes ( Gooneginebig in Ojibwe) afforded an opportunity for STEM and culturally-based resources to work in unison. A case study research design was used with the bounded case represented by the community associated with the snow snake project. The research question guiding this study was: What forms of culturally relevant meaning do students and the community form as a result of the snow snake game? Results indicate evidence of increased student and community engagement through culturally-based STEM experiences in the form of active participation and the rejuvenation of a traditional game. Implications are discussed for using culturally-based contexts for STEM learning.

  7. Legal Design of Domestic Workers Protection Based on Gorontalo Community Local Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherawaty Thalib, Mutia

    2018-05-01

    This study was conducted with an empirical juridical approach. The juridical approach was done by identifying community norms and legal policy related to the domestic workers existence, while the empirical approach was done by observing social phenomenon of housemaid and local culture that underlies the working relationship between employer and domestic workers (housemaid). In-depth interviews and group discussions were done to obtain the data. The result shows that the domestic workers existence in Gorontalo cannot be relied upon the domestic service market because it is increasingly eroded by socio-cultural changes that evolve in the rapid rise society awareness of human rights and technological development. Huyula’s culture values, timoa, ambu, bilohe, and tolianga remain as survival strategies for some domestic workers who last longer with their work. For new domestic workers, the bargaining position is increasingly high with the poor quality of work. Some of the rural workers who still hold the principle of “dila biasa” (uncustomary principle), moomu (unwilling), moolito / moqolito (shame), affect their resilience in working as domestic workers. On the other hand, domestic work relations as a social institution is not supported by strong instruments like the government. Consequently, it needs an integrated thinking and step by step designing of the form of protection for domestic workers based on the local culture values of Gorontalo people.

  8. Community-Based Financial Literacy Education in a Cultural Context: A Study of Teacher Beliefs and Pedagogical Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tisdell, Elizabeth J.; Taylor, Edward W.; Forte, Karin Sprow

    2013-01-01

    This article presents the findings related to teaching beliefs and pedagogical practices of a study that examined how financial literacy educators educate adults from underserved population groups in community-based settings. The study is theoretically framed in the teaching beliefs and culturally responsive education literature. Findings reveal a…

  9. Promoting Culturally Responsive Standards-Based Teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saifer, Steffen; Barton, Rhonda

    2007-01-01

    Culturally responsive standards-based (CRSB) teaching can help bring diverse school communities together and make learning meaningful. Unlike multicultural education--which is an important way to incorporate the world's cultural and ethnic diversity into lessons--CRSB teaching draws on the experiences, understanding, views, concepts, and ways of…

  10. Local Cultural Heritage Sites and Spatial Planning for the Bantik Ethnic Community in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Egam, P. P.

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The course of a city’s development has an effect on both spatial and social aspects, and this situation affects ethnic communities. As a result of recent urban developments, the cultural values of a community that are embedded in living arrangements have been disturbed, thus obscuring, or even hiding, the rich cultural heritage therein. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the spatial characteristics of local neighborhoods based on a wealth of cultural heritage objects. This research focuses on the physical cultural heritage of the Bantik settlement in Malalayang. The spatial characteristics of cultural heritage objects are analyzed, based on physical and other characteristics. The results indicate that, although the Bantik ethnic community in Malalayang, Indonesia, has physical cultural heritage sites, it is unable to effectively develop these as significant cultural spaces because of the physical separation of their locations, the declining meaning of these sites to the community, and the lack of support from indigenous organizations. Distance is not the only determinant of the optimization of cultural space. Planning for cultural spaces involves three zones: 1 a promotion zone, 2 a core zone, and 3 a buffer zone. The greatest potential for developing a cultural space is in the vicinity of Minanga Road and the Niopo Stone, with the physical object reinforcement of similar sites. To improve cultural space, it is not enough to only rely on the existence of a physical object, it is necessary to create a close relationship between the object and the community with the support of indigenous organizations.

  11. The community health worker cultural mentoring project: preparing professional students for team work with health workers from urban communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwen, Laurie N; Schwolsky-Fitch, Elena; Rodriquez, Romelia; Horta, Greg; Lopez, Ivanna

    2007-01-01

    Community Health Workers or CHWs (also known by a variety of alternative titles) are health workers drawn from communities to provide access to care for members of their communities. CHWs have been documented as effective in delivering a variety of services in a culturally-sensitive manner, and in providing a bridge between health professionals and underserved or minority communities. Yet, CHWs have not been well incorporated into interdisciplinary health care teams. The majority of health professionals are not even aware of the possible role and skills of CHWs. Believing that the best time to educate professionals about this valuable health worker and ensure that CHWs become part of interdisciplinary health care teams is during the student years, the Hunter College Schools of the Health Professions, and the Community Health Worker Network of New York City developed a pilot project, the Community Health Worker Cultural Mentoring Project. Community Health Workers, who were members of the Network, served as "community mentors" for health professions students drawn from the programs of community health education, nursing, and nutrition. CHWs worked with faculty of selected courses in each of the professional programs, and served as panelists in these courses, presenting information about health beliefs and alternative health practices of diverse cultural groups in communities of New York City. Class sessions were first held in the fall of 2004; subsequent sessions were held in following semesters. Approximately 40 students participated in 7 classes, with 6 CHWs serving as mentors - two per class. At the end of the classroom presentations, students wrote reflections relating to their understanding of the CHW role and relevance for their future interdisciplinary practice. The majority of reflections met the goal of increasing professional students' understanding of the CHW role and skills. At this point, quantitative and qualitative data will need to be collected to

  12. The New Community Policing: Developing a Partnership-Based Theoretical Foundation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam J McKee

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a Partnership Model of Community Policing based on Partnership concepts developed by Riane Eisler and undergirded by Cultural Transformation Theory as a guiding principle (1987, 2010, 2013. This model is more reflective of the daily lived experiences of community police officers. It is culturally relevant and based on the whole of the police officer’s relationship with the community within the context in which the interactions occur. This "New Community Policing" is an extension of Riane Eisler’s Cultural Transformation Theory and is an attempt to answer her call for a movement towards a partnership model of social organization. Ultimately, "8 Pillars of the New Community Policing" are developed to aid in defining and implementing community policing.

  13. Using community-based participatory research and organizational diagnosis to characterize relationships between community leaders and academic researchers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Karen H; Ray, Natasha J; Berg, David N; Greene, Ann T; Lucas, Georgina; Harris, Kenn; Carroll-Scott, Amy; Tinney, Barbara; Rosenthal, Marjorie S

    2017-09-01

    Sustaining collaborations between community-based organization leaders and academic researchers in community-engaged research (CEnR) in the service of decreasing health inequities necessitates understanding the collaborations from an inter-organizational perspective. We assessed the perspectives of community leaders and university-based researchers conducting community-engaged research in a medium-sized city with a history of community-university tension. Our research team, included experts in CEnR and organizational theory, used qualitative methods and purposeful, snowball sampling to recruit local participants and performed key informant interviews from July 2011-May 2012. A community-based researcher interviewed 11 community leaders, a university-based researcher interviewed 12 university-based researchers. We interviewed participants until we reached thematic saturation and performed analyses using the constant comparative method. Unifying themes characterizing community leaders and university-based researchers' relationships on the inter-organizational level include: 1) Both groups described that community-engaged university-based researchers are exceptions to typical university culture; 2) Both groups described that the interpersonal skills university-based researchers need for CEnR require a change in organizational culture and training; 3) Both groups described skepticism about the sustainability of a meaningful institutional commitment to community-engaged research 4) Both groups described the historical impact on research relationships of race, power, and privilege, but only community leaders described its persistent role and relevance in research relationships. Challenges to community-academic research partnerships include researcher interpersonal skills and different perceptions of the importance of organizational history. Solutions to improve research partnerships may include transforming university culture and community-university discussions on race

  14. Resistance and diversity: cultural narratives of a quilombola community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valdir Pierote Silva

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Riacho das Pedras was a remnant quilombo community in the municipality of Rio de Contas (Bahia which lands were flooded after the construction of a dam. The work led to serious impacts on the affected population and to the surrounding environment. We performed a five trajectories study of former residents of this village between 2008 and 2009. Based on the narratives, we sought to map the displacement processes, the establishment in new territories and the group current conditions. Our project was developed based on interviews, literature, ethnographic inspiration field and oral history of life method. This article aims to conduct an analysis focusing on the quilombo cultural manifestations and consequences of these practices in the local context. We believe that despite the diaspora, the community has endured and asserted itself politically through artistic and cultural events. We understand that the quilombo descendants have (recreated specific forms of expression that value them positively. Besides, through these expressions, important cultural variations are accomplished in order to contribute to the expansion of diversity in Rio de Contas.

  15. Plant-based culture media: Efficiently support culturing rhizobacteria and correctly mirror their in-situ diversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youssef, Hanan H; Hamza, Mervat A; Fayez, Mohamed; Mourad, Elhussein F; Saleh, Mohamed Y; Sarhan, Mohamed S; Suker, Ragab M; Eltahlawy, Asmaa A; Nemr, Rahma A; El-Tahan, Mahmod; Ruppel, Silke; Hegazi, Nabil A

    2016-03-01

    Our previous publications and the data presented here provide evidences on the ability of plant-based culture media to optimize the cultivability of rhizobacteria and to support their recovery from plant-soil environments. Compared to the tested chemically-synthetic culture media (e.g. nutrient agar and N-deficient combined-carbon sources media), slurry homogenates, crude saps, juices and powders of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) and succulent plants (Aloe vera and Aloe arborescens) were rich enough to support growth of rhizobacteria. Representative isolates of Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Bacillus spp. and Azospirillum spp. exhibited good growth on agar plates of such plant-based culture media. Cell growth and biomass production in liquid batch cultures were comparable to those reported with the synthetic culture media. In addition, the tested plant-based culture media efficiently recovered populations of rhizobacteria associated to plant roots. Culturable populations of >10(6)-10(8) cfu g(-1) were recovered from the ecto- and endo-rhizospheres of tested host plants. More than 100 endophytic culture-dependent isolates were secured and subjected to morphophysiological identification. Factor and cluster analyses indicated the unique community structure, on species, genera, class and phyla levels, of the culturable population recovered with plant-based culture media, being distinct from that obtained with the chemically-synthetic culture media. Proteobacteria were the dominant (78.8%) on plant-based agar culture medium compared to only 31% on nutrient agar, while Firmicutes prevailed on nutrient agar (69%) compared to the plant-based agar culture media (18.2%). Bacteroidetes, represented by Chryseobacterium indologenes, was only reported (3%) among the culturable rhizobacteria community of the plant-based agar culture medium.

  16. Influence of soil zinc concentrations on zinc sensitivity and functional diversity of microbial communities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lock, K.; Janssen, C.R.

    2005-01-01

    Pollution induced community tolerance (PICT) is based on the phenomenon that toxic effects reduce survival of the most sensitive organisms, thus increasing community tolerance. Community tolerance for a contaminant is thus a strong indicator for the presence of that contaminant at the level of adverse concentrations. Here we assessed PICT in 11 soils contaminated with zinc runoff from galvanised electricity pylons and 11 reference soils sampled at 10 m distance from these pylons. Using PICT, the influence of background concentration and bioavailability of zinc on zinc sensitivity and functional diversity of microbial communities was assessed. Zinc sensitivity of microbial communities decreased significantly with increasing zinc concentrations in pore water and calcium chloride extracted fraction while no significant relationship was found with total zinc concentration in the soil. It was also found that functional diversity of microbial communities decreased with increasing zinc concentrations, indicating that increased tolerance is indeed an undesirable phenomenon when environmental quality is considered. The hypothesis that zinc sensitivity of microbial communities is related to background zinc concentration in pore water could not be confirmed. - Zinc sensitivity of microbial communities and functional diversity decrease with increasing zinc concentration in the pore water

  17. Copyright, Culture, and Community in Virtual Worlds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Burk

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Communities that interact on-line through computer games and other virtual worlds are mediated by the audiovisual content of the game interface. Much of this content is subject to copyright law, which confers on the copyright owner the legal right to prevent certain unauthorized uses of the content. Such exclusive rights impose a limiting factor on the development of communities that are situated around the interface content, as the rights, privileges, and exceptions associated with copyright generally tend to disregard the cultural significance of copyrighted content. This limiting effect of copyright is well illustrated by examination of the copying of content by virtual diaspora communities such as that formed around the game Uru: Ages of Myst; thus, the opportunity for on-line communities to legally access the graphical elements on which those communities are built is fraught with potential legal liability. This presents the reciprocal situation from efforts to protect the cultural properties of indigenous communities as traditional knowledge. Reconsideration of current copyright law would be required in order to accommodate the cohesion of on-line communities and related cultural uses of copyrighted content.

  18. Engaging Karen refugee students in science learning through a cross-cultural learning community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harper, Susan G.

    2017-02-01

    This research explored how Karen (first-generation refugees from Burma) elementary students engaged with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence within the context of a cross-cultural learning community. In this action research, the researcher and a Karen parent served as co-teachers for fourth- and fifth-grade Karen and non-Karen students in a science and culture after-school programme in a public elementary school in the rural southeastern United States. Photovoice provided a critical platform for students to create their own cultural discourses for the learning community. The theoretical framework of critical pedagogy of place provided a way for the learning community to decolonise and re-inhabit the learning spaces with knowledge they co-constructed. Narrative analysis of video transcripts of the after-school programme, ethnographic interviews, and focus group discussions from Photovoice revealed a pattern of emerging agency by Karen students in the scientific practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence and in Karen language lessons. This evidence suggests that science learning embedded within a cross-cultural learning community can empower refugee students to construct their own hybrid cultural knowledge and leverage that knowledge to engage in a meaningful way with the epistemology of science.

  19. Using community-based participatory research and organizational diagnosis to characterize relationships between community leaders and academic researchers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen H. Wang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Sustaining collaborations between community-based organization leaders and academic researchers in community-engaged research (CEnR in the service of decreasing health inequities necessitates understanding the collaborations from an inter-organizational perspective. We assessed the perspectives of community leaders and university-based researchers conducting community-engaged research in a medium-sized city with a history of community-university tension. Our research team, included experts in CEnR and organizational theory, used qualitative methods and purposeful, snowball sampling to recruit local participants and performed key informant interviews from July 2011–May 2012. A community-based researcher interviewed 11 community leaders, a university-based researcher interviewed 12 university-based researchers. We interviewed participants until we reached thematic saturation and performed analyses using the constant comparative method. Unifying themes characterizing community leaders and university-based researchers' relationships on the inter-organizational level include: 1 Both groups described that community-engaged university-based researchers are exceptions to typical university culture; 2 Both groups described that the interpersonal skills university-based researchers need for CEnR require a change in organizational culture and training; 3 Both groups described skepticism about the sustainability of a meaningful institutional commitment to community-engaged research 4 Both groups described the historical impact on research relationships of race, power, and privilege, but only community leaders described its persistent role and relevance in research relationships. Challenges to community-academic research partnerships include researcher interpersonal skills and different perceptions of the importance of organizational history. Solutions to improve research partnerships may include transforming university culture and community

  20. Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akkuş, Birol; Postmes, Tom; Stroebe, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111) among Dutch (religious and non-religious), Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual ('What do you value?') and at the level of the perceived community ('What does your community value?'). Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting) behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture.

  1. Our games our health: a cultural asset for promoting health in indigenous communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Elizabeth; Meiklejohn, Beryl; Patterson, Carla; Edwards, Ken; Preece, Cilia; Shuter, Patricia; Gould, Trish

    2006-08-01

    Indigenous Australians have higher morbidity and mortality rates than non-Indigenous Australians. Until recently, few health promotion interventions have had more than limited success in Indigenous populations. This community-based health promotion initiative introduced traditional Indigenous games into schools and community groups in Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island (Queensland, Australia). A joint community forum managed the project, and the Indigenous community-based project officers co-ordinated training in traditional games and undertook community asset audits and evaluations. The games have been included in the activities of a range of community organisations in Cherbourg and Stradbroke Island. Several other organisations and communities in Australia have included them in their projects. A games video and manual were produced to facilitate the initiative's transferability and sustainability. Conventional approaches to health promotion generally focus on individual risk factors and often ignore a more holistic perspective. This project adopted a culturally appropriate, holistic approach, embracing a paradigm that concentrated on the communities' cultural assets and contributed to sustainable and transferable outcomes. There is a need for appropriate evaluation tools for time-limited community engagement projects.

  2. Identifying ozone-sensitive communities of (semi-)natural vegetation suitable for mapping exceedance of critical levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mills, G.; Hayes, F.; Jones, M.L.M.; Cinderby, S.

    2007-01-01

    Using published data on the responses of individual species to ozone, 54 EUNIS (European Nature Information System) level 4 communities with six or more ozone-sensitive species (%OS) and c. 20% or more species tested for ozone sensitivity, were identified as potentially ozone-sensitive. The largest number of these communities (23) was associated with Grasslands, with Heathland, scrub and tundra, and Mires, bogs and fens having the next highest representation at 11 and 8 level 4 communities each respectively. Within the grasslands classification, E4 (Alpine and sub-alpine grasslands), E5 (Woodland fringes and clearings) and E1 (Dry grasslands) were the most sensitive with 68.1, 51.6 and 48.6%OS respectively. It is feasible to map the land-cover for these and other communities at level 2, but it may not be currently possible to map the land-cover for all communities identified to be ozone-sensitive at levels 3 and 4. - Grassland communities such as alpine and sub-alpine grasslands have the highest potential sensitivity ozone, based on the responses of their component species

  3. Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Postmes, Tom; Stroebe, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111) among Dutch (religious and non-religious), Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual (‘What do you value?’) and at the level of the perceived community (‘What does your community value?’). Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting) behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture. PMID:28957447

  4. Community Collectivism: A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birol Akkuş

    Full Text Available Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its social environment. Within such communities, values serve to maintain collective harmony whilst preserving individual agency. From a social-dynamic analysis of communities, we infer that community values of loyalty regulate individual commitment, values of honor regulate norm compliance, and values of group hierarchy maintain a division of labor. In addition, communities may regulate the ways in which individuals have independent agency. A new scale to measure these values was validated in four studies (N = 398, 112, 465 and 111 among Dutch (religious and non-religious, Turkish-Dutch, Surinamese and Turkish groups. Values and practices were measured at the level of the individual ('What do you value?' and at the level of the perceived community ('What does your community value?'. Results show that, unlike individual-level measures of individualism/collectivism, this scale has excellent reliability, differentiates between cultural groups, and has predictive validity for future (voting behavior. This approach provides a new way of conceptualizing culture, a new measure of collectivism and new insights into the role of proximate others in shaping culture.

  5. Present status and approaches for the sustainable development of community based fish culture in seasonal floodplains of Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, M F; Jalal, K C A; Jahan, Nasrin; Kamaruzzaman, B Y; Ara, R; Arshad, A

    2012-06-15

    Coordination among the different stakeholders at policy planning, implementation and target beneficiary level, particularly among the agencies responsible for development and management of water resources, agriculture and fisheries, is essential for overall sustainable development. Stocking of larger fingerlings at suitable stocking densities of endemic (rohu, catla, mrigal) and exotic (silver carp, bighead carp, common carp/mirror carp) species should be stocked at varying proportion. Floodplain fish production depends only on the natural fertility of the water bodies. Technological interventions should include the installation of low cost bamboo fencing at water inlet and outlet points and setting of ring culverts for maintaining suitable levels of water for fish culture without hampering the production of rice and other crops in the intervention areas, selective stocking with native and exotic carps, restricted fishing for certain period of time and guarding. It is expected to exert positive influences in enhancing the standing crop and biodiversity of non-stocked species of fishes in the intervention seasonal floodplain. Entry of fish larvae, hatchlings and young fry of wild non-stocked fishes into the seasonal floodplains because of large fence spacing (approximately 1.0 cm), could restrict fishing for certain period, undisturbed habitat and guarding could contribute to higher productivity and enhancement of fish biodiversity in the seasonal floodplains. Proper motivation and effective cooperation of the beneficiaries are extremely important to culture fish in the seasonal floodplains under community based management system. Institutional support and constant vigilance from the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and local administrations are indispensable to ensure the sustainability of fish culture initiatives in the seasonal floodplains. Active participation and involvement of the local community people in all stages of fish culture operation beginning from

  6. Culture-based and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of the bacterial community from Chungkookjang, a traditional Korean fermented soybean food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Sung Wook; Choi, Jae Young; Chung, Kun Sub

    2012-10-01

    The bacterial community of Chungkookjang and raw rice-straw collected from various areas in South Korea was investigated using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Pure cultures were isolated from Chungkookjang and raw rice-straw on tryptic soy agar plates with 72 to 121 colonies and identified by 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis, respectively. The traditional culture-based method and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA confirmed that Pantoea agglomerans and B. subtilis were identified as predominant in the raw rice-straw and Chungkookjang, respectively, from Iljuk district of Gyeonggi province, P. ananatis and B. licheniformis were identified as predominant in the raw rice-straw and Chungkookjang from Wonju district of Gangwon province, and Microbacterium sp. and B. licheniformis were identified as predominant in the raw rice-straw and Chungkookjang from Sunchang district of Jeolla province. Other strains, such as Bacillus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, and uncultured bacteria were also present in raw rice-straw and Chungkookjang. A comprehensive analysis of these microorganisms would provide a more detailed understanding of the biologically active components of Chungkookjang and help improve its quality. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis can be successfully applied to a fermented food to detect unculturable or more species than the culture-dependent method. This technique is an effective and convenient culture-independent method for studying the bacterial community in Chungkookjang. In this study, the bacterial community of Chungkookjang collected from various areas in South Korea was investigated using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

  7. Cultural Health Capital on the margins: Cultural resources for navigating healthcare in communities with limited access.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madden, Erin Fanning

    2015-05-01

    Communities struggling with access to healthcare in the U.S. are often considered to be disadvantaged and lacking in resources. Yet, these communities develop and nurture valuable strategies for healthcare access that are underrecognized by health scholars. Combining medical sociology and critical race theory perspectives on cultural capital, this paper examines the health-relevant cultural resources, or Cultural Health Capital, in South Texas Mexican American border communities. Ethnographic data collected during 2011-2013 in Cameron and Hidalgo counties on the U.S.-Mexico border provide empirical evidence for expanding existing notions of health-relevant cultural capital. These Mexican American communities use a range of cultural resources to manage healthcare exclusion and negotiate care in alternative healthcare spaces like community clinics, flea markets and Mexican pharmacies. Navigational, social, familial, and linguistic skills and knowledge are used to access doctors and prescription drugs in these spaces despite social barriers to mainstream healthcare (e.g. cost, English language skills, etc.). Cultural capital used in marginalized communities to navigate limited healthcare options may not always fully counteract healthcare exclusion. Nevertheless, recognizing the cultural resources used in Mexican American communities to facilitate healthcare challenges deficit views and yields important findings for policymakers, healthcare providers, and advocates seeking to capitalize on community resources to improve healthcare access. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Globalization and the cultural safety of an immigrant Muslim community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Cynthia

    2007-02-01

    This paper reports a study the aim of which was to further understanding of cultural safety by focusing on the social health of a small immigrant community of Muslims in a relatively homogeneous region of Canada following the terror attacks on 11 September 2001 (9/11). The aftermath of 9/11 negatively affected Muslims living in many centers of Western Europe and North America. Little is known about the social health of Muslims in smaller areas with little cultural diversity. Developed by Maori nurses, the cultural safety concept captures the negative health effects of inequities experienced by the indigenous people of New Zealand. Nurses in Canada have used the concept to understand the health of Aboriginal peoples. It has also been used to investigate the nursing care of immigrants in a Canadian metropolitan centre. Findings indicated, however, that the dichotomy between culturally safe and unsafe groups was blurred. The methodology was qualitative, based on the constructivist paradigm. A purposive sample of 26 Muslims of Middle Eastern, Indian or Pakistani origin and residing in the province of New Brunswick, Canada were interviewed in 2002-2003. Findings. Participants experienced a sudden transition from cultural safety to cultural risk following 9/11. Their experience of cultural safety included a sense of social integration in the community and invisibility as a minority. Cultural risk stemmed from being in the spotlight of an international media and becoming a visible minority. Cultural risk is not necessarily rooted in historical events and may be generated by outside forces rather than by longstanding inequities in relationships between groups within the community. Nurses need to think about the cultural safety of their practices when caring for members of socially disadvantaged cultural minority groups as this may affect the health services delivered to them.

  9. Building evaluative culture in community services: Caring for evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayne, John

    2017-05-25

    An organization with a strong evaluative culture engages in self-reflection, evidence-based learning and experimentation. It sees evidence as essential for managing well, but building such a culture is challenging. Community service organizations seek to provide effective services for their clients. To build an evaluative culture, they need to acquire basic monitoring and evaluation capabilities, be provided with opportunities for using these capabilities and be adequately motivated to care about evidence as a means to improve services to their clients. Leadership along with a phased in approach are key in bringing about these behaviour changes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Attending to Communication and Patterns of Interaction: Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Care for Groups of Urban, Ethnically Diverse, Impoverished, and Underserved Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molewyk Doornbos, Mary; Zandee, Gail Landheer; DeGroot, Joleen

    2014-07-01

    The United States is ethnically diverse. This diversity presents challenges to nurses, who, without empirical evidence to design culturally congruent interventions, may contribute to mental health care disparities. Using Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality, this study documented communication and interaction patterns of ethnically diverse, urban, impoverished, and underserved women. Using a community-based participatory research framework, 61 Black, Hispanic, and White women participated in focus groups around their experiences with anxiety/depression. Researchers recorded verbal communication, nonverbal behavior, and patterns of interaction. The women's communication and interaction patterns gave evidence of three themes that were evident across all focus groups and five subthemes that emerged along ethnic lines. The results suggest cultural universalities and cultural uniquenesses relative to the communication and interaction patterns of urban, ethnically diverse, impoverished, and underserved women that may assist in the design of culturally sensitive mental health care. © The Author(s) 2014.

  11. Culture and community psychology: toward a renewed and reimagined vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kral, Michael J; Ramírez García, Jorge I; Aber, Mark S; Masood, Nausheen; Dutta, Urmitapa; Todd, Nathan R

    2011-03-01

    Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided in community psychology in its emphasis on context, ecology, and diversity, however we believe that the field will benefit from a more explicit focus on culture. We suggest a cultural approach that values the community's points of view and an understanding of shared and divergent meanings, goals, and norms within a theory of empowerment. Furthermore, we posit the importance of pluralistic, multi-method programs of research and action encompassing both idiographic and nomothetic approaches, and critical reflexivity of our roles and agendas. Culture can be further incorporated into all the branches and fibers of community psychology.

  12. Tourism Communication in Community Based Tourism in Dieng Community, Central Java, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manik Sunuantari

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available To encourage a community’s role in the field of tourism, the local government of Central Java, Indonesia promotes a Community Based Tourism (CBT as a tourism development for the sustainable economy. It involves the community in decision-making processes, especially related to the acquisition of income, employment, and the preservation of the environment, and culture of the indigenous people. This research aimed to determine communication activities in the implementation of CBT. The theory used was tourism communication using Attention, Interest, Desire, Action (AIDA model. Then, the method was a case study by choosing Dieng as a tourist destination, and the tourism communication activities were undertaken in Dieng’s society, especially in the activities of Dieng Culture Festival (DCF. The results show that the tourism communication activities involving the community, POKDARWIS (Kelompok Sadar Wisata - Tourism Awareness Group, tourism advocates, and local governments should pay attention to the cultural and natural tourism potentials, and empower the local communities.

  13. Validation of a patient-centered culturally sensitive health care office staff inventory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Carolyn M; Wall, Whitney; Marsiske, Michael; Nghiem, Khanh; Roncoroni, Julia

    2015-09-01

    Research suggests that patient-perceived culturally sensitive health care encompasses multiple components of the health care delivery system including the cultural sensitivity of front desk office staff. Despite this, research on culturally sensitive health care focuses almost exclusively on provider behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge. This is due in part to the paucity of instruments available to assess the cultural sensitivity of front desk office staff. Thus, the objective of the present study is to determine the psychometric properties of the pilot Tucker-Culturally Sensitive Health Care Office Staff Inventory-Patient Form (T-CSHCOSI-PF), which is an instrument designed to enable patients to evaluate the patient-defined cultural sensitivity of their front desk office staff. A sample of 1648 adult patients was recruited by staff at 67 health care sites across the United States. These patients anonymously completed the T-CSHCOSI-PF, a demographic data questionnaire, and a patient satisfaction questionnaire. Findings Confirmatory factor analyses of the TCSHCOSI-PF revealed that this inventory has two factors with high internal consistency reliability and validity (Cronbach's αs=0.97 and 0.95). It is concluded that the T-CSHCOSI-PF is a psychometrically strong and useful inventory for assessing the cultural sensitivity of front desk office staff. This inventory can be used to support culturally sensitive health care research, evaluate the job performance of front desk office staff, and aid in the development of trainings designed to improve the cultural sensitivity of these office staff.

  14. Exploring the potential of cultural villages as a model of community based tourism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewi, N. I. K.; Astawa, I. P.; Siwantara, I. W.; Mataram, I. G. A. B.

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide better understanding of the potential of cultural villages as a model of Community Based Tourism. The research was held in Buleleng regency, North of Bali, where the tourism is growing in this area. A qualitative research had been applied and data was collected through in-depth interview with informants from the community who directly involve in the tourism businesses. Observation and document review were also utilized. Data was analyzed in qualitative manner following Miles and Huberman method: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing. Four villages that won the Anugerah Desa Wisata award were selected as the cases namely Pemuteran Village, Munduk Village, Sambangan Village and Kalibukbuk Village. The findings revealed that those four villages have its own uniqueness and strong points to attract tourists. Pemuteran village has strong point on under water attraction and preservation of coral reefs. Munduk village relies on nature scenery, agro-tourism and traditional game as tourist’s attraction. Sambangan village is famous of waterfalls and adventurous activities. Kalibukbuk village depends on black sandy beach with dolphin watching as the main attraction. It is also apparent that the local community is actively involved and gets benefits from the tourism businesses.

  15. Community Culture and the Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Guide explores the concepts of community and culture and provides tools for identifying, assessing and working cooperatively within the social dynamics and local values connected to environmental protection.

  16. Private development-based forest conservation in Patagonia: comparing mental models and revealing cultural truths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher Serenari

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Private protected area (PPA conservation agents (CA engaging in development-based conservation in southern Chile have generated conflict with locals. Poor fit of dominant development-based conservation ideology in rural areas is commonly to blame. We developed and administered a cultural consensus survey near the Valdivian Coastal Reserve (RCV and Huilo Huilo Reserve (HH to examine fit of CA cultural truths with local residents. Cultural consensus analysis (CCA of 23 propositions reflecting CA cultural truths confirmed: (1 a single CA culture exists, and (2 RCV communities were more aligned with this culture than HH communities. Inadequate communication, inequitable decision making, divergent opinions about livelihood impacts and trajectories, and PPA purpose may explain differences between CAs and communities. Meanwhile, variability in response between and within communities may reflect differing environmental histories. Private protected area administrations might use CCA to confront cultural differences and thereby improve their community interactions.

  17. Avoiding "culture rejection" in healthcare mergers and acquisitions: how New Heights Community Health Centres and York Community Services minimized the culture risk when forming Unison Health and Community Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Jeff

    2013-01-01

    Among the requirements for a successful merger or acquisition are strategic rationale, rigorous due diligence, the right price and revenue and cost synergies. However, bridging the culture gap between organizations is frequently overlooked. The leaders of New Heights Community Health Centres and York Community Services explicitly considered culture in their merger to form Unison Health and Community Services, and they used employee engagement surveys to assess culture in their merger planning and post-merger integration. How Unison Health leaders avoided the risk of culture rejection to achieve a successful merger, and the lessons learned from their experience, is the focus of this article.

  18. Enhancing Social Capital in Children via School-Based Community Cultural Development Projects: A Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buys, Laurie; Miller, Evonne

    2009-01-01

    This exploratory pilot study investigates the extent to which participating in a community cultural development (CCD) initiative builds social capital among children. An independent youth arts organisation implemented two cultural activities, developing a compact disc of original music and designing mosaic artworks for a library courtyard, in two…

  19. Integrating cultural community psychology: activity settings and the shared meanings of intersubjectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Donnell, Clifford R; Tharp, Roland G

    2012-03-01

    Cultural and community psychology share a common emphasis on context, yet their leading journals rarely cite each other's articles. Greater integration of the concepts of culture and community within and across their disciplines would enrich and facilitate the viability of cultural community psychology. The contextual theory of activity settings is proposed as one means to integrate the concepts of culture and community in cultural community psychology. Through shared activities, participants develop common experiences that affect their psychological being, including their cognitions, emotions, and behavioral development. The psychological result of these experiences is intersubjectivity. Culture is defined as the shared meanings that people develop through their common historic, linguistic, social, economic, and political experiences. The shared meanings of culture arise through the intersubjectivity developed in activity settings. Cultural community psychology presents formidable epistemological challenges, but overcoming these challenges could contribute to the transformation and advancement of community psychology.

  20. Local stakeholders' perceptions of community sensitization for school-based deworming programme in Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Njomo, D W; Masaku, J; Mwende, F; Odhiambo, G; Musuva, R; Matey, E; Thuita, I G; Kihara, J H

    2017-01-01

    In Kenya, the National School-Based Deworming Programme (NSBDP) for soil-transmitted helminthes and schistosomiasis in prioritized areas has been going on since the year 2012. By the year 2013 over 6 million School Age Children (SAC) had been treated. A community sensitization supplement containing key messages and answers to frequently asked questions was developed as a guiding tool. Awareness creation methods used include county sensitization meetings, stakeholder forums, town criers and posters. To assess the local stakeholders' perceptions of community sensitization for programme implementation, a qualitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in four-sub-counties of coastal region. In-depth interviews (IDIs) were administered to 40 purposively selected opinion leaders so as to explore their perceptions of awareness creation sources, adequacy of information given, length of period of awareness creation and period between which information is given and drugs are administered. Separate IDIs were administered to pre-school teachers (41), community health extension workers (34) and primary school teachers (38). To elicit more information, 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) categorized by gender and age were conducted among parents of school-age children. Data was audio recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed manually by study themes. The most commonly reported source of information was school pupils. Due to low literacy levels, use of posters was regarded as ineffective and religious institutions, town criers and vernacular radio stations considered more effective. The information given during programme implementation was considered inadequate and use of complementary methods to reach all targeted children including the non-enrolled, and relay adequate information reported as important. Use of school and chief's meetings with health personnel being present was mentioned as a useful method that would allow for interaction with participants indicating that they

  1. Culture, context and therapeutic processes: delivering a parent-child intervention in a remote Aboriginal community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mares, Sarah; Robinson, Gary

    2012-04-01

    Little is written about the process of delivering mainstream, evidence-based therapeutic interventions for Aboriginal children and families in remote communities. Patterns of interaction between parents and children and expectations about parenting and professional roles and responsibilities vary across cultural contexts. This can be a challenging experience for professionals accustomed to work in urban settings. Language is only a part of cultural difference, and the outsider in a therapeutic group in an Aboriginal community is outside not only in language but also in access to community relationships and a place within those relationships. This paper uses examples from Let's Start, a therapeutic parent-child intervention to describe the impact of distance, culture and relationships in a remote Aboriginal community, on the therapeutic framework, group processes and relationships. Cultural and contextual factors influence communication, relationships and group processes in a therapeutic group program for children and parents in a remote Aboriginal community. Group leaders from within and from outside the community, are likely to have complementary skills. Cultural and contextual factors influence communication, relationships and group processes in a therapeutic group program for children and parents in a remote Aboriginal community. Group leaders from within and from outside the community, are likely to have complementary skills. Program adaptation, evaluation and staff training and support need to take these factors into account to ensure cultural accessibility without loss of therapeutic fidelity and efficacy.

  2. Influence of culture and community perceptions on birth and perinatal care of immigrant women: doulas' perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hye-Kyung

    2014-01-01

    A qualitative study examined the perceptions of doulas practicing in Washington State regarding the influence of cultural and community beliefs on immigrant women's birth and perinatal care, as well as their own cultural beliefs and values that may affect their ability to work interculturally. The findings suggest that doulas can greatly aid immigrant mothers in gaining access to effective care by acting as advocates, cultural brokers, and emotional and social support. Also, doulas share a consistent set of professional values, including empowerment, informed choice, cultural relativism, and scientific/evidence-based practice, but do not always recognize these values as culturally based. More emphasis on cultural self-awareness in doula training, expanding community doula programs, and more integration of doula services in health-care settings are recommended.

  3. Managerial capacity and adoption of culturally competent practices in outpatient substance abuse treatment organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerrero, Erick G

    2010-12-01

    The field of cultural competence is shifting its primary emphasis from enhancement of counselors' skills to management, organizational policy, and processes of care. This study examined managers' characteristics associated with adoption of culturally competent practices in the nation's outpatient substance abuse treatment field. Findings indicate that in 1995, supervisors' cultural sensitivity played the most significant role in adopting practices, such as matching counselors and clients based on race and offering bilingual services. Staff's exposure to cross-cultural training increased from 1995 to 2005. In this period, positive associations were found between managers' cultural sensitivity and connection with the community and staff receiving cross-cultural training and the number of training hours completed. However, exposure to and investment in this training were negatively correlated with managers' formal education. Health administration policy should consider the extent to which the decision makers' education, community involvement, and cultural sensitivity contribute to building culturally responsive systems of care. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Microbial community dynamics in thermophilic undefined milk starter cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parente, Eugenio; Guidone, Angela; Matera, Attilio; De Filippis, Francesca; Mauriello, Gianluigi; Ricciardi, Annamaria

    2016-01-18

    Model undefined thermophilic starter cultures were produced from raw milk of nine pasta-filata cheesemaking plants using a selective procedure based on pasteurization and incubation at high temperature with the objective of studying the microbial community dynamics and the variability in performances under repeated (7-13) reproduction cycles with backslopping. The traditional culture-dependent approach, based on random isolation and molecular characterization of isolates was coupled to the determination of pH and the evaluation of the ability to produce acid and fermentation metabolites. Moreover, a culture-independent approach based on amplicon-targeted next-generation sequencing was employed. The microbial diversity was evaluated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V1-V3 regions), while the microdiversity of Streptococcus thermophilus populations was explored by using novel approach based on sequencing of partial amplicons of the phosphoserine phosphatase gene (serB). In addition, the occurrence of bacteriophages was evaluated by qPCR and by multiplex PCR. Although it was relatively easy to select for a community dominated by thermophilic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) within a single reproduction cycle, final pH, LAB populations and acid production activity fluctuated over reproduction cycles. Both culture-dependent and -independent methods showed that the cultures were dominated by either S. thermophilus or Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis or by both species. Nevertheless, subdominant mesophilic species, including lactococci and spoilage organisms, persisted at low levels. A limited number of serB sequence types (ST) were present in S. thermophilus populations. L. delbrueckii and Lactococcus lactis bacteriophages were below the detection limit of the method used and high titres of cos type S. thermophilus bacteriophages were detected in only two cases. In one case a high titre of bacteriophages was concurrent with a S. thermophilus biotype shift in the culture

  5. Family intervention in Indigenous communities: emergent issues in conducting outcome research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Karen; Sanders, Matthew

    2007-01-01

    Indigenous children and youth are at greater risk of emotional and behavioural problems than non-Indigenous youth, with family life stresses and parenting style identified as common risk factors. There is substantial evidence that parenting programs can improve family relationships and improve child outcomes, however little research has focused on Indigenous communities. Our team is conducting research to evaluate a culturally sensitive adaptation of a mainstream intervention, the Group Triple P---Positive Parenting Program, for Indigenous families. This paper shares some of the insights into research and clinical issues gained as non-Indigenous researchers working with urban, rural and remote Indigenous communities. The experience of the research team and feedback from practitioners and parents have been drawn on for this discussion. Parenting programs need to be sensitive to the political and cultural context in which parenting takes place, flexibly incorporate cultural practices and expectations, and develop an evidence base of outcomes for families in diverse communities. As research is needed to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of these programs, culturally sensitive research practices are also necessary and the value of program evaluation and its benefit to the community must be clear. Community acceptance of the research process and the intervention itself is vital and may be influenced by community perceptions, current priorities, and local issues. If our overall aim is to increase the skilled health and mental health workforce in Indigenous communities and their use of evidence-based interventions, ongoing collaborative relationships between research institutions and service providers will serve to further this aim.

  6. Cultural sensitivity and supportive expressive psychotherapy: an integrative approach to treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Tracela M; Gibbons, Mary Beth Connolly; Schamberger, Megan

    2006-01-01

    Cultural sensitivity is a concept that has become increasingly important in psychotherapy research and practice. In response to the growing ethnic minority population and the increased demand for psychological services among minority clients, many therapists and researchers have attempted to identify competencies and guidelines for providing culturally sensitive approaches to treatment. However, many cultural sensitivity concepts are theoretical and have rarely been integrated into an established psychotherapeutic framework. The purpose of this manuscript is to operationalize the concepts of cultural sensitivity into specific therapeutic techniques using a manual-guided Supportive Expressive Psychotherapy approach. Developing these strategies may serve to further assist therapists with the delivery of mental health services to ethnic minority clients.

  7. TEACH (Train to Enable/Achieve Culturally Sensitive Healthcare)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maulitz, Russell; Santarelli, Thomas; Barnieu, Joanne; Rosenzweig, Larry; Yi, Na Yi; Zachary, Wayne; OConnor, Bonnie

    2010-01-01

    Personnel from diverse ethnic and demographic backgrounds come together in both civilian and military healthcare systems, facing diagnoses that at one level are equalizers: coronary disease is coronary disease, breast cancer is breast cancer. Yet the expression of disease in individuals from different backgrounds, individual patient experience of disease as a particular illness, and interactions between patients and providers occurring in any given disease scenario, all vary enormously depending on the fortuity of the equation of "which patient happens to arrive in whose exam room." Previously, providers' absorption of lessons-learned depended on learning as an apprentice would when exposed over time to multiple populations. As a result, and because providers are often thrown into situations where communications falter through inadequate direct patient experience, diversity in medicine remains a training challenge. The questions then become: Can simulation and virtual training environments (VTEs) be deployed to short-track and standardize this sort of random-walk problem? Can we overcome the unevenness of training caused by some providers obtaining the valuable exposure to diverse populations, whereas others are left to "sink or swim"? This paper summarizes developing a computer-based VTE called TEACH (Training to Enable/Achieve Culturally Sensitive Healthcare). TEACH was developed to enhance healthcare providers' skills in delivering culturally sensitive care to African-American women with breast cancer. With an authoring system under development to ensure extensibility, TEACH allows users to role-play in clinical oncology settings with virtual characters who interact on the basis of different combinations of African American sub-cultural beliefs regarding breast cancer. The paper reports on the roll-out and evaluation of the degree to which these interactions allow providers to acquire, practice, and refine culturally appropriate communication skills and to

  8. Collaborative measurement development as a tool in CBPR: measurement development and adaptation within the cultures of communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez, John; Trickett, Edison J

    2014-09-01

    This paper describes the processes we engaged into develop a measurement protocol used to assess the outcomes in a community based suicide and alcohol abuse prevention project with two Alaska Native communities. While the literature on community-based participatory research (CBPR) is substantial regarding the importance of collaborations, few studies have reported on this collaboration in the process of developing measures to assess CBPR projects. We first tell a story of the processes around the standard issues of doing cross-cultural work on measurement development related to areas of equivalence. A second story is provided that highlights how community differences within the same cultural group can affect both the process and content of culturally relevant measurement selection, adaptation, and development.

  9. Cultural competence in working with the Arab Australian community: a conceptual review and the experience of the Arab Council Australia (ACA gambling help counselling service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randa Mazbouh-Moussa

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Although Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD communities participate less in gambling than the general population, those who gamble are more likely to show signs of disordered gambling (Moore and Ohtsuka International Gambling Studies, 1, 87–101, 2001; Raylu and Oei Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 1087–1114, 2004; Yamine and Thomas The impact of gaming on specific cultural groups, Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority, Melbourne, 2000. Research data on gambling problems and interventions in the Arab Australian community are extremely scarce. Therefore, this article will present an overview of the Arab Australian community and cultural issues regarding gambling within the Arab Australian community. Identifying these issues is important to work effectively with Arab Australians clients and those from other CALD backgrounds. The article also presents a conceptual review of peer-reviewed research articles on cultural competence in working with the Arab clients, the overview of Arab migration history to Australia and a summary of recent events that suggest a tension between Arab and non-Arab Australian communities. Observations and experiences that were encountered during the gambling counselling service operating in the Australian Arab community in New South Wales are also discussed. The research data to validate the effectiveness and positive impact of cultural competence are still in its early stages. However, a small number of community education resources have been available for working with the Arab community. From the data in annual reviews on the Arab Council Australia gambling counselling service, it was identified that cultural beliefs and expectations influence risk-taking decisions, identification of gambling issues, and preference of help seeking within the client’s social network. Further, culturally-specific sensitive issues related to political and global security events, which in turn influenced openness and

  10. Microbial community composition of the ileum and cecum of broiler chickens as revealed by molecular and culture-based techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjerrum, L; Engberg, R M; Leser, T D; Jensen, B B; Finster, K; Pedersen, K

    2006-07-01

    The microbial communities of the ileum and cecum of broiler chickens from a conventional and an organic farm were investigated using conventional culture techniques as well as cloning and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Eighty-five percent of the 557 cloned sequences were <97% related to known cultured species. The chicken ileum was dominated by lactobacilli, whereas the cecum harbored a more diverse microbial community. The cecum was dominated by a large group of bacteria with hitherto no close cultured relatives but most closely related to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Approximately 49 and 20% of the cecal clones belonged to this cluster in conventional and organic broiler chickens, respectively. We were, however, able to recover a number of these phylotypes by cultivation, and the isolates were shown to be butyric acid producers. The investigation was a descriptive rather than a comparative study of 2 different rearing systems; however, several differences were observed. For instance, Clostridium perfringens was found in significantly higher numbers in the birds from the organic farm compared with the conventional broilers, probably due to the addition of salinomycin to the conventional feed. In the ileum, the abundance of the different Lactobacillus species differed between the 2 broiler types. The culture-based and culture-independent techniques complemented each other well. Strengths and limitations of the different methods are discussed.

  11. An organizational culture gap analysis in 6 New Zealand community pharmacies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scahill, Shane L; Carswell, Peter; Harrison, Jeff

    2011-09-01

    The barriers to moving forward and meeting the expectations of policy makers and professional pharmacy bodies appear to relate to the organizational culture of community pharmacy. Despite the importance of cultural change for business transformation, organizational culture has largely gone unnoticed in community pharmacy practice research. To perform an organizational culture gap analysis in 6 New Zealand community pharmacies. Mean scores from a cultural rating survey (n=47) were calculated for 8 cultural clusters and mapped onto a typical and a beneficial pattern match (ladder diagram) for each case site. These ladder diagrams provide an understanding of the gap between the 2 ratings based on the gradient of the lines joining cultural clusters-the rungs of the ladder. Software can be used to generate a Pearson correlation describing the strength of the relationship between the typical and beneficial ratings. Eight cultural clusters were mapped: "leadership and staff management"; "valuing each other and the team"; "free-thinking, fun and, open to challenge"; "trusted behavior"; "customer relations"; "focus on external integration"; "provision of systematic advice"; and the "embracing of innovation." Analysis suggested a high level of correlation between the means of the typical and beneficial ratings. Although the variance between average ratings might be quite small, the relative difference can still be meaningful to participants in the cultural setting. The diagrams suggest a requirement for external integration, the provision of systematic advice, and the embracing of innovation to become more typical in most pharmacies. Trusted behavior is the most typical and most beneficial cultural dimension in most pharmacies, whereas valuing each other and the team is the least beneficial. Gaps in organizational culture have been identified through the use of a rating survey. The dimensions of focus on external integration, providing systematic advice, and embracing

  12. Influence of Culture and Community Perceptions on Birth and Perinatal Care of Immigrant Women: Doulas’ Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hye-Kyung

    2014-01-01

    A qualitative study examined the perceptions of doulas practicing in Washington State regarding the influence of cultural and community beliefs on immigrant women’s birth and perinatal care, as well as their own cultural beliefs and values that may affect their ability to work interculturally. The findings suggest that doulas can greatly aid immigrant mothers in gaining access to effective care by acting as advocates, cultural brokers, and emotional and social support. Also, doulas share a consistent set of professional values, including empowerment, informed choice, cultural relativism, and scientific/evidence-based practice, but do not always recognize these values as culturally based. More emphasis on cultural self-awareness in doula training, expanding community doula programs, and more integration of doula services in health-care settings are recommended. PMID:24453465

  13. Greek Immigrants in Australia: Implications for Culturally Sensitive Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georgiades, Savvas Daniel

    2015-10-01

    This exploratory research examined adjustment challenges, resiliencies, attitudes, emotional health, economic stability, criminal involvement, victimization and service experiences, and some cultural propensities of Greek Immigrants (GIs) in Australia using a convenient multi-generational sample (n = 123; response rate = .5). Data were collected via surveys, telephone, and personal-interviews in four major Australian cities. Among other things, the study revealed that Greek identity and cultural customs are often significant to first generation GIs. Adjustment challenges upon entry include primarily language, housing, and transportation difficulties, nostalgia for relatives and the motherland, unfamiliarity with socio-cultural systems, unemployment, money challenges, and lack of friendships. Christian faith, the extended family, family values and traditions, cultural pride for ancient Greek achievements, and a hard 'work ethic' are notable resiliencies that support GIs in their struggles and solidify their pursuit for happiness and success. Financial concerns, aging, and nostalgia for relatives and the motherland were the primary causes of socio-emotional instability. Attitudinal differences in the respondents based on age, gender, and socio-economic status, cross-cultural comparisons, and recommendations for culturally-sensitive practice with GIs are analyzed and methodological limitations illuminated. Future research needs in the field are also highlighted.

  14. Delivering culturally sensitive, sexual health education in western Kenya: a phenomenological case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacey, Gary

    2017-09-01

    While generic programmes have been created to raise sexual health awareness, these cannot always be applied to communities whose cultures and circumstances make them especially vulnerable to infection. Taking a phenomenological approach, this paper examines the circumstances of the Gusii people of Kisii, Kenya, and examines the specific challenges of providing sexual health education to the community as experienced by an ethnic Gusii woman, Joyce Ombasa. Joyce's story reveals that the Gusii living in and around rural villages have several cultural characteristics that make them susceptible to HIV/AIDS and that render community health education problematic, especially if offered by a female educator of the same ethnicity. Women cannot teach men. Discussions of sex and condom use, and viewing the naked bodies of the opposite sex are taboo. Promiscuity is commonplace and there is a reluctance to use condoms and to undergo HIV testing. Female circumcision persists and there is a high rate of sexual violence, incest and intergenerational sexual intercourse. In addition, government policies and legislation threaten to exacerbate some of the sexually risky behaviours. Bringing HIV education and female empowerment to the rural Gusii requires a culturally sensitive approach, discarding sexual abstinence messages in favour of harm minimisation, including the promotion of condom use, regular HIV testing and the rejection of female circumcision and intergenerational sex. Trust needs to be built through tactics such as adopting a complex and fluid outsider identity and replacing formal sex education with training in income generating skills and casual discussions regarding condoms and sexual health.

  15. The co-evolution of cultures, social network communities, and agent locations in an extension of Axelrod’s model of cultural dissemination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfau, Jens; Kirley, Michael; Kashima, Yoshihisa

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a variant of the Axelrod model of cultural dissemination in which agents change their physical locations, social links, and cultures. Numerical simulations are used to investigate the evolution of social network communities and the cultural diversity within and between these communities. An analysis of the simulation results shows that an initial peak in the cultural diversity within network communities is evident before agents segregate into a final configuration of culturally homogeneous communities. Larger long-range interaction probabilities facilitate the initial emergence of culturally diverse network communities, which leads to a more pronounced initial peak in cultural diversity within communities. At equilibrium, the number of communities, and hence cultures, increases when the initial cultural diversity increases. However, the number of communities decreases when the lattice size or population density increases. A phase transition between two regimes of initial cultural diversity is evident. For initial diversities below a critical value, a single network community and culture emerges that dominates the population. For initial diversities above the critical value, multiple culturally homogeneous communities emerge. The critical value of initial diversity at which this transition occurs increases with increasing lattice size and population density and generally with increasing absolute population size. We conclude that larger initial diversities promote cultural heterogenization, while larger lattice sizes, population densities, and in fact absolute population sizes promote homogenization.

  16. Engaging cultural resources to promote mental health in Dutch LSES neighborhoods: study of a community-based participatory media project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knibbe, Mare; de Vries, Marten; Horstman, Klasien

    2017-06-01

    Community-based participatory media projects form a promising new strategy for mental health promotion that can help address the mental health-gap identified by the World Health Organization. (2008b) mhGAP, Mental Health Gap Action Programme: Scaling Up Care for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use Disorders. World Health Organization, Geneva. In this article we present an ethnographic study about a participatory media project that was developed to promote mental health in selected Dutch low socio-economic status neighborhoods. Through narrowcastings (group film viewings), participant observation and interviews we mapped the ways in which the media project effected and facilitated the collective sense-making process of the audience with regard to sources of stress impacting mental health and opportunities for action. These determinants of mental health are shaped by cultural dimensions, since the cultural context shapes everyday experiences of stress as well as the resources and skills to manage them. Our analysis shows that the media project engaged cultural resources to challenge stressful social scripts. We conclude that more attention should be paid to cultural narratives in a community to understand how health promotion strategies can support social resilience. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. A review of barriers to effective asthma management in Puerto Ricans: cultural, healthcare system and pharmacogenomic issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alicea-Alvarez, Norma; Swanson-Biearman, Brenda; Kelsen, Steven G

    2014-02-01

    Among the Hispanic community, Puerto Ricans have the highest prevalence of asthma and manifest the worst outcomes. The expected growth of the Hispanic population in the USA in the next several decades make elimination of disparate care in Puerto Rican asthmatics a matter of national importance. The purpose of this review of the literature (ROL) is to examine a variety of health system, genetic and cultural barriers in the Puerto Rican community which have created disparities in asthma care and outcomes among adult and pediatric Hispanic populations. In addition, this ROL describes several culturally sensitive, community-based educational interventions which can be used as a framework for future projects to improved asthma outcomes. Databases searched included Medline, PubMED, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Google Scholar and ERIC. Papers published in English from January 1990 to January 2012 were reviewed. Health system policies, insurer compensation patterns, clinician attitudes and cultural values/folk remedies in the Puerto Rican community represent barriers to effective asthma management, the use of controller medication and the implementation of educational interventions. In addition, genetic factors involving the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene, which impair the response to albuterol, appear to contribute to poorer outcomes in Puerto Rican asthmatics. In contrast, several comprehensive, community-based, culturally sensitive educational interventions such as Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project (CAACP), the Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health in the US Program and Healthy Hoops programs (REACH) have been described. We believe that culturally sensitive community-based asthma education programs can serve as models for programs targeted toward Puerto Ricans to help decrease asthma morbidity. Moreover, greater sensitivity to Puerto Rican mores and folk remedies on the part of healthcare providers may improve the patient-clinician rapport and

  18. An investigation of total bacterial communities, culturable antibiotic-resistant bacterial communities and integrons in the river water environments of Taipei city.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Chu-Wen; Chang, Yi-Tang; Chao, Wei-Liang; Shiung, Iau-Iun; Lin, Han-Sheng; Chen, Hsuan; Ho, Szu-Han; Lu, Min-Jheng; Lee, Pin-Hsuan; Fan, Shao-Ning

    2014-07-30

    The intensive use of antibiotics may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). The global geographical distribution of environmental ARB has been indicated by many studies. However, the ARB in the water environments of Taiwan has not been extensively investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the communities of ARB in Huanghsi Stream, which presents a natural acidic (pH 4) water environment. Waishuanghsi Stream provides a neutral (pH 7) water environment and was thus also monitored to allow comparison. The plate counts of culturable bacteria in eight antibiotics indicate that the numbers of culturable carbenicillin- and vancomycin-resistant bacteria in both Huanghsi and Waishuanghsi Streams are greater than the numbers of culturable bacteria resistant to the other antibiotics tested. Using a 16S rDNA sequencing approach, both the antibiotic-resistant bacterial communities (culture-based) and the total bacterial communities (metagenome-based) in Waishuanghsi Stream exhibit a higher diversity than those in Huanghsi Stream were observed. Of the three classes of integron, only class I integrons were identified in Waishuanghsi Stream. Our results suggest that an acidic (pH 4) water environment may not only affect the community composition of antibiotic-resistant bacteria but also the horizontal gene transfer mediated by integrons. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Event and Community Development: Planning Legacy for the 2008 European Capital of Culture, Liverpool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi-De Liu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Event legacy has become a major topic of discussion in recent years. Especially, European Capital of Culture is emerging as a means of facilitating community development in Europe. Based on a case study of the 2008 European Capital of Culture Liverpool, this article aims to conceptualise the relationship between an event and its sustained effects on community development. Methodologically, adopting case study as approach, both primary and secondary were collected and analysed, including four times neighborhood surveys, official evaluation reports and academic publications. The study period is from 2007 to 2015 to monitor changes in an event’s impacts. The results reveal four dimensions of effects, including: cultural access and engagement, volunteering, governance and infrastructure, and sense of place. Overall, the study stresses the importance of integrating the event into a long-term development strategy of the city, through synergies between culture and urban regeneration and community renewal.

  20. Creating a successful culturally sensitive home care program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanter, R; Page, P M

    1995-12-01

    Providing quality home care services to immigrants requires an integrated, holistic approach that genuinely addresses language and cultural differences. One home care agency in Massachusetts developed a team-oriented, culturally sensitive outreach program that ensures non-English-speaking patients the same level of service that the general population receives.

  1. Community Based Learning and Civic Engagement: Informal Learning among Adult Volunteers in Community Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mundel, Karsten; Schugurensky, Daniel

    2008-01-01

    Many iterations of community based learning employ models, such as consciousness raising groups, cultural circles, and participatory action research. In all of them, learning is a deliberate part of an explicit educational activity. This article explores another realm of community learning: the informal learning that results from volunteering in…

  2. Evidence for cultural differences between neighboring chimpanzee communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luncz, Lydia V; Mundry, Roger; Boesch, Christophe

    2012-05-22

    The majority of evidence for cultural behavior in animals has come from comparisons between populations separated by large geographical distances that often inhabit different environments. The difficulty of excluding ecological and genetic variation as potential explanations for observed behaviors has led some researchers to challenge the idea of animal culture. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, crack Coula edulis nuts using stone and wooden hammers and tree root anvils. In this study, we compare for the first time hammer selection for nut cracking across three neighboring chimpanzee communities that live in the same forest habitat, which reduces the likelihood of ecological variation. Furthermore, the study communities experience frequent dispersal of females at maturity, which eliminates significant genetic variation. We compared key ecological factors, such as hammer availability and nut hardness, between the three neighboring communities and found striking differences in group-specific hammer selection among communities despite similar ecological conditions. Differences were found in the selection of hammer material and hammer size in response to changes in nut resistance over time. Our findings highlight the subtleties of cultural differences in wild chimpanzees and illustrate how cultural knowledge is able to shape behavior, creating differences among neighboring social groups. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Group cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in Spanish: culture-sensitive manualized treatment in practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilera, Adrian; Garza, Monica J; Muñoz, Ricardo F

    2010-08-01

    The authors applied cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression using the Healthy Management of Reality treatment manual. This 16-week group treatment comprised four 4-week modules: thoughts (cognitive restructuring), activities (behavioral activation), people (interpersonal skills training), and health (addresses physical health and depression). They illustrated the use of the culture-sensitive treatment manuals by way of the member characteristics and clinical process of a Spanish-language CBT group for depression. They highlighted the challenges and satisfactions of working with a Spanish-speaking population in the public sector, and focused on how culture and socioeconomic status influence patients, and how to adapt treatment to these factors. Last, they demonstrated how technological advances integrate with culture-sensitive, evidence-based treatments to better serve this population and reduce disparities.

  4. Improving Medical Decision Making and Health Promotion through Culture-Sensitive Health Communication: An Agenda for Science and Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betsch, Cornelia; Böhm, Robert; Airhihenbuwa, Collins O; Butler, Robb; Chapman, Gretchen B; Haase, Niels; Herrmann, Benedikt; Igarashi, Tasuku; Kitayama, Shinobu; Korn, Lars; Nurm, Ülla-Karin; Rohrmann, Bernd; Rothman, Alexander J; Shavitt, Sharon; Updegraff, John A; Uskul, Ayse K

    2016-10-01

    This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient's cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication's effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients' cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve preparation for medical decision making and to enhance the persuasiveness of messages in health promotion. To achieve effective health communication in varying cultural contexts, an empirically and theoretically based understanding of culture will be indispensable. We therefore define culture, discuss which evolutionary and structural factors contribute to the development of cultural diversity, and examine how differences are conceptualized as scientific constructs in current models of cultural differences. In addition, we will explicate the implications of cultural differences for psychological theorizing, because common constructs of health behavior theories and decision making, such as attitudes or risk perception, are subject to cultural variation. In terms of communication, we will review both communication strategies and channels that are used to disseminate health messages, and we will discuss the implications of cultural differences for their effectiveness. Finally, we propose an agenda both for science and for practice to advance and apply the evidence base for culture-sensitive health communication. This calls for more interdisciplinary research between science and practice but also between scientific disciplines and between basic and applied research. © The Author(s) 2015.

  5. Promotores as researchers: expanding the promotor role in community-based research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Atiba; Lewy, Robin; Dovydaitis, Tiffany; Ricardo, Francine; Kugel, Candace

    2011-09-01

    The community health worker, known as promotor in the Hispanic community, is an accepted member of the public health team whose core role is that of bridging target communities with health services. However, the promotor's role in research has not been considered a core function of their work. This article will present the promotor in the additional role of researcher, as conceived by the Migrant Clinicians Network for the Hombres Unidos Contra La Violencia Familiar (Men United Against Family Violence) sexual violence/intimate partner violence project. The Hombres Unidos project used promotores as survey facilitators, gathering male Hispanic farmworkers' perspectives on the sensitive topic of sexual violence and intimate partner violence. This article demonstrates that when trained, the promotores' linguistic and cultural competence make them a valuable addition to the research team, especially when collecting sensitive information.

  6. Promotores as Researchers: Expanding the Promotor Role in Community-Based Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Atiba; Lewy, Robin; Dovydaitis, Tiffany; Ricardo, Francine; Kugel, Candace

    2011-01-01

    The community health worker, known as promotor in the Hispanic community, is an accepted member of the public health team whose core role is that of bridging target communities with health services. However, the promotor’s role in research has not been considered a core function of their work. This article will present the promotor in the additional role of researcher, as conceived by the Migrant Clinicians Network for the Hombres Unidos Contra La Violencia Familiar (Men United Against Family Violence) sexual violence/intimate partner violence project. The Hombres Unidos project used promotores as survey facilitators, gathering male Hispanic farmworkers’ perspectives on the sensitive topic of sexual violence and intimate partner violence. This article demonstrates that when trained, the promotores’ linguistic and cultural competence make them a valuable addition to the research team, especially when collecting sensitive information. PMID:21427265

  7. Comparative sensitivity of human and rat neural cultures to chemical-induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harrill, Joshua A.; Freudenrich, Theresa M.; Robinette, Brian L.; Mundy, William R., E-mail: mundy.william@epa.gov

    2011-11-15

    There is a need for rapid, efficient and cost-effective alternatives to traditional in vivo developmental neurotoxicity testing. In vitro cell culture models can recapitulate many of the key cellular processes of nervous system development, including neurite outgrowth, and may be used as screening tools to identify potential developmental neurotoxicants. The present study compared primary rat cortical cultures and human embryonic stem cell-derived neural cultures in terms of: 1) reproducibility of high content image analysis based neurite outgrowth measurements, 2) dynamic range of neurite outgrowth measurements and 3) sensitivity to chemicals which have been shown to inhibit neurite outgrowth. There was a large increase in neurite outgrowth between 2 and 24 h in both rat and human cultures. Image analysis data collected across multiple cultures demonstrated that neurite outgrowth measurements in rat cortical cultures were more reproducible and had higher dynamic range as compared to human neural cultures. Human neural cultures were more sensitive than rat cortical cultures to chemicals previously shown to inhibit neurite outgrowth. Parallel analysis of morphological (neurite count, neurite length) and cytotoxicity (neurons per field) measurements were used to detect selective effects on neurite outgrowth. All chemicals which inhibited neurite outgrowth in rat cortical cultures did so at concentrations which did not concurrently affect the number of neurons per field, indicating selective effects on neurite outgrowth. In contrast, more than half the chemicals which inhibited neurite outgrowth in human neural cultures did so at concentrations which concurrently decreased the number of neurons per field, indicating that effects on neurite outgrowth were secondary to cytotoxicity. Overall, these data demonstrate that the culture models performed differently in terms of reproducibility, dynamic range and sensitivity to neurite outgrowth inhibitors. While human neural

  8. Comparative sensitivity of human and rat neural cultures to chemical-induced inhibition of neurite outgrowth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrill, Joshua A.; Freudenrich, Theresa M.; Robinette, Brian L.; Mundy, William R.

    2011-01-01

    There is a need for rapid, efficient and cost-effective alternatives to traditional in vivo developmental neurotoxicity testing. In vitro cell culture models can recapitulate many of the key cellular processes of nervous system development, including neurite outgrowth, and may be used as screening tools to identify potential developmental neurotoxicants. The present study compared primary rat cortical cultures and human embryonic stem cell-derived neural cultures in terms of: 1) reproducibility of high content image analysis based neurite outgrowth measurements, 2) dynamic range of neurite outgrowth measurements and 3) sensitivity to chemicals which have been shown to inhibit neurite outgrowth. There was a large increase in neurite outgrowth between 2 and 24 h in both rat and human cultures. Image analysis data collected across multiple cultures demonstrated that neurite outgrowth measurements in rat cortical cultures were more reproducible and had higher dynamic range as compared to human neural cultures. Human neural cultures were more sensitive than rat cortical cultures to chemicals previously shown to inhibit neurite outgrowth. Parallel analysis of morphological (neurite count, neurite length) and cytotoxicity (neurons per field) measurements were used to detect selective effects on neurite outgrowth. All chemicals which inhibited neurite outgrowth in rat cortical cultures did so at concentrations which did not concurrently affect the number of neurons per field, indicating selective effects on neurite outgrowth. In contrast, more than half the chemicals which inhibited neurite outgrowth in human neural cultures did so at concentrations which concurrently decreased the number of neurons per field, indicating that effects on neurite outgrowth were secondary to cytotoxicity. Overall, these data demonstrate that the culture models performed differently in terms of reproducibility, dynamic range and sensitivity to neurite outgrowth inhibitors. While human neural

  9. Community sensitization and decision-making for trial participation: a mixed-methods study from The Gambia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dierickx, Susan; O'Neill, Sarah; Gryseels, Charlotte; Immaculate Anyango, Edna; Bannister-Tyrrell, Melanie; Okebe, Joseph; Mwesigwa, Julia; Jaiteh, Fatou; Gerrets, René; Ravinetto, Raffaella; D'Alessandro, Umberto; Peeters Grietens, Koen

    2017-08-16

    Ensuring individual free and informed decision-making for research participation is challenging. It is thought that preliminarily informing communities through 'community sensitization' procedures may improve individual decision-making. This study set out to assess the relevance of community sensitization for individual decision-making in research participation in rural Gambia. This anthropological mixed-methods study triangulated qualitative methods and quantitative survey methods in the context of an observational study and a clinical trial on malaria carried out by the Medical Research Council Unit Gambia. Although 38.7% of the respondents were present during sensitization sessions, 91.1% of the respondents were inclined to participate in the trial when surveyed after the sensitization and prior to the informed consent process. This difference can be explained by the informal transmission of information within the community after the community sensitization, expectations such as the benefits of participation based on previous research experiences, and the positive reputation of the research institute. Commonly mentioned barriers to participation were blood sampling and the potential disapproval of the household head. Community sensitization is effective in providing first-hand, reliable information to communities as the information is cascaded to those who could not attend the sessions. However, further research is needed to assess how the informal spread of information further shapes people's expectations, how the process engages with existing social relations and hierarchies (e.g. local political power structures; permissions of heads of households) and how this influences or changes individual consent. © 2017 The Authors Developing World Bioethics Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Blood culture gram stain, acridine orange stain and direct sensitivity-based antimicrobial therapy of bloodstream infection in patients with trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behera, B; Mathur, P; Gupta, B

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to ascertain if the simple practice of Gram stain, acridine orange stain and direct sensitivity determination of positive blood culture bottles could be used to guide early and appropriate treatment in trauma patients with clinical suspicion of sepsis. The study also aimed to evaluate the error in interpreting antimicrobial sensitivity by direct method when compared to standard method and find out if specific antibiotic-organism combination had more discrepancies. Findings from consecutive episodes of blood stream infection at an Apex Trauma centre over a 12-month period are summarized. A total of 509 consecutive positive blood cultures were subjected to Gram staining. AO staining was done in BacT/ALERT-positive Gram-stain negative blood cultures. Direct sensitivity was performed from 369 blood culture broths, showing single type of growth in Gram and acridine orange staining. Results of direct sensitivity were compared to conventional sensitivity for errors. No 'very major' discrepancy was found in this study. About 5.2 and 1.8% minor error rates were noted in gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, respectively, while comparing the two methods. Most of the discrepancies in gram-negative bacteria were noted in beta lactam - beta lactamase inhibitor combinations. Direct sensitivity testing was not reliable for reporting of methicillin and vancomycin resistance in Staphylococci. Gram stain result together with direct sensitivity testing is required for optimizing initial antimicrobial therapy in trauma patients with clinical suspicion of sepsis. Gram staining and AO staining proved particularly helpful in the early detection of candidaemia.

  11. Rice Production Vulnerability to Climate Change in Indonesia: An Overview on Community-based Adaptation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komaladara, A. A. S. P.; Budiasa, I. W.; Ambarawati, I. G. A. A.

    2015-12-01

    Rice remains to be a major crop and staple food in Indonesia. The task to ensure that rice production meets the demand of a growing population continues to engage the attention of national planners and policy makers. However, the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture production have presented Indonesia with yet another significant challenge. The exposure of rice crops to climate-related hazards such as temperature stress, floods, and drought, may lead to lower yield and self-sufficiency rate. This study explores the vulnerability of rice production to the effects of climate change in Indonesia. Considering the vast geographical span of the country and varying exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to climate change at regional level, this study emphasize the importance of community-based adaptation. Results from a simulation based on production and climate data from 1984 to 2014 indicates that rice production is sensitive to variation in growing season temperature and precipitation. A projection of these climate factors in 2050 has a significant impact on the major rice crop. To manage the impact of climate change, this study turns to the potential roles of farmer organizations, such as Subak, in adaptation strategies. The Subak in Bali is recognized for its cultural and organizational framework that highlights the sharing of knowledge and local wisdom in rice production. This is demonstrated by its efficient community-based irrigation management system, leading to sustainable rice production. Keywords: rice production, climate change, community-based adaptation, Indonesia

  12. Compositional Stability of the Bacterial Community in a Climate-Sensitive Sub-Arctic Peatland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weedon, James T; Kowalchuk, George A; Aerts, Rien; Freriks, Stef; Röling, Wilfred F M; van Bodegom, Peter M

    2017-01-01

    The climate sensitivity of microbe-mediated soil processes such as carbon and nitrogen cycling offers an interesting case for evaluating the corresponding sensitivity of microbial community composition to environmental change. Better understanding of the degree of linkage between functional and compositional stability would contribute to ongoing efforts to build mechanistic models aiming at predicting rates of microbe-mediated processes. We used an amplicon sequencing approach to test if previously observed large effects of experimental soil warming on C and N cycle fluxes (50-100% increases) in a sub-arctic Sphagnum peatland were reflected in changes in the composition of the soil bacterial community. We found that treatments that previously induced changes to fluxes did not associate with changes in the phylogenetic composition of the soil bacterial community. For both DNA- and RNA-based analyses, variation in bacterial communities could be explained by the hierarchy: spatial variation (12-15% of variance explained) > temporal variation (7-11%) > climate treatment (4-9%). We conclude that the bacterial community in this environment is stable under changing conditions, despite the previously observed sensitivity of process rates-evidence that microbe-mediated soil processes can alter without concomitant changes in bacterial communities. We propose that progress in linking soil microbial communities to ecosystem processes can be advanced by further investigating the relative importance of community composition effects versus physico-chemical factors in controlling biogeochemical process rates in different contexts.

  13. Increased Mental Health Treatment Financing, Community-Based Organization's Treatment Programs, and Latino-White Children's Financing Disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snowden, Lonnie R; Wallace, Neal; Cordell, Kate; Graaf, Genevieve

    2017-09-01

    Latino child populations are large and growing, and they present considerable unmet need for mental health treatment. Poverty, lack of health insurance, limited English proficiency, stigma, undocumented status, and inhospitable programming are among many factors that contribute to Latino-White mental health treatment disparities. Lower treatment expenditures serve as an important marker of Latino children's low rates of mental health treatment and limited participation once enrolled in services. We investigated whether total Latino-White expenditure disparities declined when autonomous, county-level mental health plans receive funds free of customary cost-sharing charges, especially when they capitalized on cultural and language-sensitive mental health treatment programs as vehicles to receive and spend treatment funds. Using Whites as benchmark, we considered expenditure pattern disparities favoring Whites over Latinos and, in a smaller number of counties, Latinos over Whites. Using segmented regression for interrupted time series on county level treatment systems observed over 64 quarters, we analyzed Medi-Cal paid claims for per-user total expenditures for mental health services delivered to children and youth (under 18 years of age) during a study period covering July 1, 1991 through June 30, 2007. Settlement-mandated Medicaid's Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) expenditure increases began in the third quarter of 1995. Terms were introduced to assess immediate and long term inequality reduction as well as the role of culture and language-sensitive community-based programs. Settlement-mandated increased EPSDT treatment funding was associated with more spending on Whites relative to Latinos unless plans arranged for cultural and language-sensitive mental health treatment programs. However, having programs served more to prevent expenditure disparities from growing than to reduce disparities. EPSDT expanded funding increased proportional

  14. The Communication, Awareness, Relationships and Empowerment (C.A.R.E. Model: An Effective Tool for Engaging Urban Communities in Community-Based Participatory Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joniqua Ceasar

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about recruitment methods for racial/ethnic minority populations from resource-limited areas for community-based health and needs assessments, particularly assessments that incorporate mobile health (mHealth technology for characterizing physical activity and dietary intake. We examined whether the Communication, Awareness, Relationships and Empowerment (C.A.R.E. model could reduce challenges recruiting and retaining participants from faith-based organizations in predominantly African American Washington, D.C. communities for a community-based assessment. Employing C.A.R.E. model elements, our diverse research team developed partnerships with churches, health organizations, academic institutions and governmental agencies. Through these partnerships, we cultivated a visible presence at community events, provided cardiovascular health education and remained accessible throughout the research process. Additionally, these relationships led to the creation of a community advisory board (CAB, which influenced the study’s design, implementation, and dissemination. Over thirteen months, 159 individuals were recruited for the study, 99 completed the initial assessment, and 81 used mHealth technology to self-monitor physical activity over 30 days. The culturally and historically sensitive C.A.R.E. model strategically engaged CAB members and study participants. It was essential for success in recruitment and retention of an at-risk, African American population and may be an effective model for researchers hoping to engage racial/ethnic minority populations living in urban communities.

  15. The Communication, Awareness, Relationships and Empowerment (C.A.R.E.) Model: An Effective Tool for Engaging Urban Communities in Community-Based Participatory Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceasar, Joniqua; Peters-Lawrence, Marlene H; Mitchell, Valerie; Powell-Wiley, Tiffany M

    2017-11-21

    Little is known about recruitment methods for racial/ethnic minority populations from resource-limited areas for community-based health and needs assessments, particularly assessments that incorporate mobile health (mHealth) technology for characterizing physical activity and dietary intake. We examined whether the Communication, Awareness, Relationships and Empowerment (C.A.R.E.) model could reduce challenges recruiting and retaining participants from faith-based organizations in predominantly African American Washington, D.C. communities for a community-based assessment. Employing C.A.R.E. model elements, our diverse research team developed partnerships with churches, health organizations, academic institutions and governmental agencies. Through these partnerships, we cultivated a visible presence at community events, provided cardiovascular health education and remained accessible throughout the research process. Additionally, these relationships led to the creation of a community advisory board (CAB), which influenced the study's design, implementation, and dissemination. Over thirteen months, 159 individuals were recruited for the study, 99 completed the initial assessment, and 81 used mHealth technology to self-monitor physical activity over 30 days. The culturally and historically sensitive C.A.R.E. model strategically engaged CAB members and study participants. It was essential for success in recruitment and retention of an at-risk, African American population and may be an effective model for researchers hoping to engage racial/ethnic minority populations living in urban communities.

  16. Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Spanish: Culture-Sensitive Manualized Treatment in Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilera, Adrian; Garza, Monica J.; Muñoz, Ricardo F.

    2014-01-01

    The authors applied cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression using the Healthy Management of Reality treatment manual. This 16-week group treatment comprised four 4-week modules: thoughts (cognitive restructuring), activities (behavioral activation), people (interpersonal skills training), and health (addresses physical health and depression). They illustrated the use of the culture-sensitive treatment manuals by way of the member characteristics and clinical process of a Spanish-language CBT group for depression. They highlighted the challenges and satisfactions of working with a Spanish-speaking population in the public sector, and focused on how culture and socioeconomic status influence patients, and how to adapt treatment to these factors. Last, they demonstrated how technological advances integrate with culture-sensitive, evidence-based treatments to better serve this population and reduce disparities. PMID:20549680

  17. Gender sensitive research in a Chinese community

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chan, Simon; Shaw, Ian Frank

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this article is to foster an awareness of the need for gender-sensitive research in the context of the methodological and ethical challenges posed by such research. We trace the development of gender sensitivity and masculinity in social work practice and research and connect...... this to an overview of the issues posed by research on sensitive topics. Reflecting on a research project involving Chinese male sexual abuse survivors, we draw conclusions illustrating and proposing a range of methodological practices and ethical safeguards. We underscore the importance of gender......-sensitivity in performing research on sensitive topics with men in a Chinese community....

  18. Development of a model of dementia support and pathway for culturally and linguistically diverse communities using co-creation and participatory action research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goeman, Dianne; King, Jordan; Koch, Susan

    2016-12-07

    To develop an inclusive model of culturally sensitive support, using a specialist dementia nurse (SDN), to assist people with dementia from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities and their carers to overcome barriers to accessing health and social care services. Co-creation and participatory action research, based on reflection, data collection, interaction and feedback from participants and stakeholders. An SDN support model embedded within a home nursing service in Melbourne, Australia was implemented between October 2013 and October 2015. People experiencing memory loss or with a diagnosis of dementia from CALD backgrounds and their carers and family living in the community setting and expert stakeholders. Reflections from the SDN on interactions with participants and expert stakeholder opinion informed the CALD dementia support model and pathway. Interaction with 62 people living with memory loss or dementia from CALD backgrounds, carers or family members receiving support from the SDN and feedback from 13 expert stakeholders from community aged-care services, consumer advocacy organisations and ethnic community group representatives informed the development and refinement of the CALD dementia model of care and pathway. We delineate the three components of the 'SDN' model: the organisational support; a description of the role; and the competencies needed. Additionally, we provide an accompanying pathway for use by health professionals delivering care to consumers with dementia from CALD backgrounds. Our culturally sensitive model of dementia care and accompanying pathway allows for the tailoring of health and social support to assist people from CALD backgrounds, their carers and families to adjust to living with memory loss and remain living in the community as long as possible. The model and accompanying pathway also have the potential to be rolled out nationally for use by health professionals across a variety of health services. Published

  19. A new cell primo-culture method for freshwater benthic diatom communities

    OpenAIRE

    Debenest, Timothée; Silvestre, Jérôme; Coste, Michel; Delmas, François; Pinelli, Eric

    2009-01-01

    A new cell primo-culture method was developed for the benthic diatom community isolated from biofilm sampled in rivers. The approach comprised three steps: (1) scraping biofilm from river pebbles, (2) diatom isolation from biofilm, and (3) diatom community culture. With a view to designing a method able to stimulate the growth of diatoms, to limit the development of other microorganisms, and to maintain in culture a community similar to the original natural one, different factors were test...

  20. Chapter 11. Community analysis-based methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cao, Y.; Wu, C.H.; Andersen, G.L.; Holden, P.A.

    2010-05-01

    Microbial communities are each a composite of populations whose presence and relative abundance in water or other environmental samples are a direct manifestation of environmental conditions, including the introduction of microbe-rich fecal material and factors promoting persistence of the microbes therein. As shown by culture-independent methods, different animal-host fecal microbial communities appear distinctive, suggesting that their community profiles can be used to differentiate fecal samples and to potentially reveal the presence of host fecal material in environmental waters. Cross-comparisons of microbial communities from different hosts also reveal relative abundances of genetic groups that can be used to distinguish sources. In increasing order of their information richness, several community analysis methods hold promise for MST applications: phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), cloning/sequencing, and PhyloChip. Specific case studies involving TRFLP and PhyloChip approaches demonstrate the ability of community-based analyses of contaminated waters to confirm a diagnosis of water quality based on host-specific marker(s). The success of community-based MST for comprehensively confirming fecal sources relies extensively upon using appropriate multivariate statistical approaches. While community-based MST is still under evaluation and development as a primary diagnostic tool, results presented herein demonstrate its promise. Coupled with its inherently comprehensive ability to capture an unprecedented amount of microbiological data that is relevant to water quality, the tools for microbial community analysis are increasingly accessible, and community-based approaches have unparalleled potential for translation into rapid, perhaps real-time, monitoring platforms.

  1. Culturally Tailored Depression/Suicide Prevention in Latino Youth: Community Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford-Paz, Rebecca E; Reinhard, Christine; Kuebbeler, Andrea; Contreras, Richard; Sánchez, Bernadette

    2015-10-01

    Latino adolescents are at elevated risk for depression and suicide compared to other ethnic groups. Project goals were to gain insight from community leaders about depression risk factors particular to Latino adolescents and generate innovative suggestions to improve cultural relevance of prevention interventions. This project utilized a CBPR approach to enhance cultural relevance, acceptability, and utility of the findings and subsequent program development. Two focus groups of youth and youth-involved Latino community leaders (n = 18) yielded three overarching themes crucial to a culturally tailored depression prevention intervention: (1) utilize a multipronged and sustainable intervention approach, (2) raise awareness about depression in culturally meaningful ways, and (3) promote Latino youth's social connection and cultural enrichment activities. Findings suggest that both adaptation of existing prevention programs and development of hybrid approaches may be necessary to reduce depression/suicide disparities for Latino youth. One such hybrid program informed by community stakeholders is described.

  2. Etiology and anti-microbial sensitivity of organisms causing community acquired pneumonia: A single hospital study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Resmi U Menon

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the common etiological pathogens causing community acquired pneumonia (CAP in our hospital and sensitivity patterns to the common antibiotics used. Materials and Methods: This study was undertaken in a 750 bedded multi-specialty referral hospital in Kerala catering to both urban and semi-urban populations. It is a prospective study of patients who attended the medical out-patient department and those admitted with a clinical diagnosis of CAP, during the year 2009. Data were collected based on detailed patient interview, clinical examination and laboratory investigations. The latter included sputum culture and sensitivity pattern. These were tabulated and percentage incidence of etiological pathogens calculated. The antimicrobial sensitivity pattern was also classified by percentage and expressed as bar diagram. Results: The study showed Streptococcus pneumoniae to be the most common etiological agent for CAP, in our hospital setting. The other organisms isolated in order of frequency were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alpha hemolytic streptococci, Escherichia coli, Beta hemolytic streptococci and atypical coli. S. pneumoniae was most sensitive to linezolid, followed by amoxicillin-clavulanate (augmentin, cloxacillin and ceftriaxone. Overall, the common pathogens causing CAP showed highest sensitivity to amikacin, followed by ofloxacin, gentamycin, amoxicillin-clavulanate (augmentin, ceftriaxone and linezolid. The least sensitivity rates were shown to amoxicillin and cefoperazone. Conclusion: In a hospital setting, empirical management for cases of CAP is not advisable. The present study has shown S. pneumoniae as the most likely pathogen and either linezolid or amikacin as the most likely effective antimicrobial in cases of CAP, in our setting.

  3. Should We Use a Capital Framework to Understand Culture? Applying Cultural Capital to Communities of Color

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinton, Kip Austin

    2015-01-01

    Social science research on communities of color has long been shaped by theories of social and cultural capital. This article is a hermeneutic reading of metaphorical capital frameworks, including community cultural wealth and funds of knowledge. Financial capital, the basis of these frameworks, is premised on unequal exchange. Money only becomes…

  4. Maternal Sensitivity and Child Secure Base Use in Early Childhood: Studies in Different Cultural Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Posada, German; Trumbell, Jill; Noblega, Magaly; Plata, Sandra; Peña, Paola; Carbonell, Olga A.; Lu, Ting

    2016-01-01

    This study tested whether maternal sensitivity and child security are related during early childhood and whether such an association is found in different cultural and social contexts. Mother-child dyads (N = 237) from four different countries (Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States) were observed in naturalistic settings when children were…

  5. Essential education in communication skills and cultural sensitivities for global public health in an evolving veterinary world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurtz, S M; Adams, C L

    2009-08-01

    In the practise of veterinary medicine and global public health, communication skill is as critical as clinical reasoning and an extensive knowledge base. Effective communication skills and cross-cultural sensitivity are essential across the board for interdisciplinary, international, and local veterinary medicine. This paper offers an evidence-based, three-part framework for developing and sustaining curricula that enhance communication skills and cross-cultural sensitivity so that students are better prepared to practise veterinary medicine in an evolving world. These curricula may well also serve as a conduit for encouraging more veterinary graduates to choose global public health as a career path.

  6. Community Collectivism : A social dynamic approach to conceptualizing culture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akkus, Birol; Postmes, Tom; Stroebe, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    Culture shapes individuals, but the measurement of cultural differences has proven a challenge. Traditional measures of cultural values focus on individual perceptions. We suggest that values are established and maintained within social communities of proximate others, such as the family and its

  7. Developing a Culturally Sensitive Lifestyle Behavior Change Program for Older Latinas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwingel, Andiara; Linares, Deborah E; Gálvez, Patricia; Adamson, Brynn; Aguayo, Liliana; Bobitt, Julie; Castañeda, Yvette; Sebastião, Emerson; Marquez, David X

    2015-12-01

    Despite the burgeoning U.S. Latino population and their increased risk of chronic disease, little emphasis had been placed on developing culturally sensitive lifestyle interventions in this area. This article examines older Latinas' sociocultural context relative to health with the goal of developing a culturally sensitive health behavior intervention. Photo-elicitation indicated two emerging themes that influenced lifestyle choices: family caregiving and religion. Researchers partnered with a faith-based organization to develop and implement a 6-month lifestyle intervention for Latinas ages 50 and older: Abuelas en Acción (AEA). At completion, interviews were conducted to understand women's experiences and the influence AEA had on their lifestyles and health. Findings suggest that religious content empowered and deeply affected women; however, the intergenerational content presented significant challenges for instruction, retention, and implementation. We discuss findings in relation to the health intervention literature and provide suggestions for future interventions drawing on religion, family, and health behavior change. © The Author(s) 2015.

  8. Religious values and healthcare accommodations: voices from the American Muslim community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padela, Aasim I; Gunter, Katie; Killawi, Amal; Heisler, Michele

    2012-06-01

    Minority populations receive a lower quality healthcare in part due to the inadequate assessment of, and cultural adaptations to meet, their culturally informed healthcare needs. The seven million American Muslims, while ethnically and racially diverse, share religiously informed healthcare values that influence their expectations of healthcare. There is limited empirical research on this community's preferences for cultural modifications in healthcare delivery. Identify healthcare accommodations requested by American Muslims. Using community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods, we partnered with four community organizations in the Greater Detroit area to design and conduct thirteen focus groups at area mosques serving African American, Arab American, and South Asian American Muslims. Qualitative content analysis utilized a framework team-based approach. Participants reported stigmatization within the healthcare system and voiced the need for culturally competent healthcare providers. In addition, they identified three key healthcare accommodations to address Muslim sensitivities: the provision of (1) gender-concordant care, (2) halal food and (3) a neutral prayer space. Gender concordance was requested based on Islamic conceptions of modesty and privacy. Halal food was deemed to be health-promoting and therefore integral to the healing process. Lastly, a neutral prayer space was requested to ensure security and privacy during worship. This study informs efforts to deliver high-quality healthcare to American Muslims in several ways. We note three specific healthcare accommodations requested by this community and the religious values underlying these requests. Healthcare systems can further cultural sensitivity, engender trust, and improve the healthcare experiences of American Muslims by understanding and then attempting to accommodate these values as much as possible.

  9. Food culture of faith communities and potential impact on childhood obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opalinski, Andra S; Dyess, Susan M; Gropper, Sareen S

    2017-09-01

    To explore the food culture within faith communities (FC) in order to examine the consumption of away-from-home foods, and to provide an evidence base for the future development of healthy away-from-home meal initiatives though FCs. A qualitative descriptive design informed by an ethnographic method of free listing was utilized. A purposive sample of 34 FC leaders from seven distinct FCs participated in this study. The top five salience scores for five research questions are considered in detail. Of note, food is provided at multiple FC events including at worship time and Bible or group study, but also as part of school, youth programming, and special events. The purposes of serving food were reported to be not only for modes of entertainment and fellowship but also for promoting attendance and providing basic nutrition needs. Professionals practicing in public health, faith community nursing, or in community health nursing are apt to engage in focused dialogues regarding the multidimensional health problem of childhood obesity. This research study directs nurses to consider food culture as a dimension of importance, especially within FCs. Appreciating FC food culture is important because many families engage in the settings for years, decades, and possibly a life span. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Spanish-speaking patients' satisfaction with clinical pharmacists' communication skills and demonstration of cultural sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim-Romo, Dawn N; Barner, Jamie C; Brown, Carolyn M; Rivera, José O; Garza, Aida A; Klein-Bradham, Kristina; Jokerst, Jason R; Janiga, Xan; Brown, Bob

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVE To assess Spanish-speaking patients' satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists' communication skills and demonstration of cultural sensitivity, while controlling for patients' sociodemographic, clinical, and communication factors, as well as pharmacist factors, and to identify clinical pharmacists' cultural factors that are important to Spanish-speaking patients. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Central Texas during August 2011 to May 2012. PARTICIPANTS Spanish-speaking patients of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) A Spanish-translated survey assessed Spanish-speaking patients' satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists' communication skills and demonstration of cultural sensitivity. RESULTS Spanish-speaking patients (N = 101) reported overall satisfaction with their clinical pharmacists' communication skills and cultural sensitivity. Patients also indicated that pharmacists' cultural rapport (e.g., ability to speak Spanish, respectfulness) was generally important to Spanish speakers. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that cultural rapport was significantly related to satisfaction with pharmacists' communication skills and demonstration of cultural sensitivity. CONCLUSION Overall, patients were satisfied with pharmacists' communication skills and cultural sensitivity. Patient satisfaction initiatives that include cultural rapport should be developed for pharmacists who provide care to Spanish-speaking patients with limited English proficiency.

  11. Exploration in sensitive areas: Convincing the community

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stejskal, I.V.

    1995-01-01

    The Exmouth region WA is known for the Ningaloo Reef, an environmentally sensitive region covered by petroleum exploration permits. This paper discusses the issue of carrying out drilling operations in an environmentally sensitive area. Despite the successful drilling of two wells in the area in 1993, and an environmental management strategy developed by the operating company, the continuing policy of not allowing drilling in Ningaloo Marine Park was an example of government, the local community and the widespread public disregarding of scientific evidence and the environmental record of the oil and gas industry. Nevertheless, the communications program was a success and the exploration company now has an environmental policy that reflects the importance of community and government education and consultation. 1 fig., 1 photo., 11 refs

  12. Salutogenesis and culture: personal and community sense of coherence among adolescents belonging to three different cultural groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braun-Lewensohn, Orna; Sagy, Shifra

    2011-12-01

    The salutogenic theory considers sense of coherence (SOC) as a cross-cultural concept ( Antonovsky, 1987 ), meaning that in all cultures and at all stages of coping with a stressor, a person with a strong SOC is at an advantage in preventing tension from being transformed into stress. However, in seeking to understand how the SOC works, it is culture which seems to define which resources are appropriate. The aim of our paper is to examine this theoretical assumption of Antonovsky. Data on personal and community SOC as well as on stress reactions were gathered after the last fire in northern Israel (December 2010) among adolescents aged 12-18 belonging to three cultural groups (Jews, Druze, Muslims). We compared the pattern of personal versus community SOC in explaining stress reactions in the three cultures. Results indicate that personal SOC was the strongest predictor of stress reactions in all cultures. Community SOC, however, played a significant role mainly for Druze. Results are discussed relating to Antonovsky's theory and to adolescence as a 'universal' period, as well as considering the uniqueness of each culture separately.

  13. Community helping services: dynamic of formation and expressiveness of the cultural care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landim, Fátima Luna Pinheiro

    2006-01-01

    Community helping services is an expression used by the social movements to designate families that live in shacks installed in a public area intended for building of own house at a community helping system. Studies in ethnonursing that aimed: in order to detail dynamic configuration in a community helping service. It took place in an community helping area located in the outskirts of Fortaleza, Ceará. The community members acting as general informants from the local culture, while eight (8) women heads-of-families, working as key informers. The data collect used the Observation-Participation-Reflection Model. The analyses were processing by the time that the dates were collected, considering the categories: inserting in the community helping culture to obtain their history; community helping is not a slum -describing the formation dynamic. Established that the formation dynamic of the community helping go on the own house representation as a symbol of " a better life". To assimilate such expression introducing in own cultural universe is a challenge for the nursing to assist a care culture congruent.

  14. Next-generation sequencing and culture-based techniques offer complementary insights into fungi and prokaryotes in beach sands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romão, Daniela; Staley, Christopher; Ferreira, Filipa; Rodrigues, Raquel; Sabino, Raquel; Veríssimo, Cristina; Wang, Ping; Sadowsky, Michael; Brandão, João

    2017-06-15

    A next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach, in conjunction with culture-based methods, was used to examine fungal and prokaryotic communities for the presence of potential pathogens in beach sands throughout Portugal. Culture-based fungal enumeration revealed low and variable concentrations of the species targeted (yeasts and dermatophytes), which were underrepresented in the community characterized by NGS targeting the ITS1 region. Conversely, NGS indicated that the potentially pathogenic species Purpureocillium liliacinum comprised nearly the entire fungal community. Culturable fecal indicator bacterial concentrations were low throughout the study and unrelated to communities characterized by NGS. Notably, the prokaryotic communities characterized revealed a considerable abundance of archaea. Results highlight differences in communities between methods in beach sand monitoring but indicate the techniques offer complementary insights. Thus, there is a need to leverage culture-based methods with NGS methods, using a toolbox approach, to determine appropriate targets and metrics for beach sand monitoring to adequately protect public health. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Sustaining Community-University Partnerships: Lessons learned from a participatory research project with elderly Chinese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    XinQi Dong

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available The strength of community-engaged research has been well documented in public health literature. It is recognised as a useful approach for eliminating health disparities by linking research and practice. While the framework of community-engaged research encompasses a broad range of research collaborations, community-based participatory research (CBPR places most emphasis on involving the community as a full, equitable partner throughout the collaboration. Despite growing interest in and demand for community-university partnerships, less attention is given to the issue of partnership sustainability. The purpose of this article is to present the challenges faced in sustaining a community-university partnership when conducting a CBPR project with an elderly Chinese population in Chicago’s Chinatown. Lessons and strategies learned from the cultural and linguistic complexities of the Chinese community are also detailed. In addition, based on a well-accepted sustainability conceptual framework, we reflect on the initial stage, mid-term actions and long-term goals of developing partnership sustainability. Working with the Chinese community required trust and respect for its unique cultural values and diversity. The cultural, social and environmental contexts within which the partnership operated served as critical forces for long-term sustainability: a culturally sensitive approach is instrumental in sustaining community-university partnership. Also discussed are the significant implications for evidence-based, impact-driven partnerships to develop culturally appropriate strategies to meet the needs of diverse populations. Keywords Community-based participatory research, community health partnerships, health promotion, Chinese Americans, ageing

  16. Influence of Culture and Language Sensitive Physics on Science Attitude Enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales, Marie Paz E.

    2015-01-01

    The study critically explored how culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics improve Pangasinan learners' attitude towards science. Their cultural dimensions, epistemological beliefs, and views on integration of culture and language in the teaching and learning process determined their cultural preference or profile. Design and…

  17. The fun culture in seniors' online communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nimrod, Galit

    2011-04-01

    Previous research found that "fun on line" is the most dominant content in seniors' online communities. The present study aimed to further explore the fun culture in these communities and to discover its unique qualities. The study applied an online ethnography (netnography) approach, utilizing a full year's data from 6 leading seniors' online communities. The final database included about 50,000 posts. The majority of posts were part of online social games, including cognitive, associative, and creative games. The main subjects in all contents were sex, gender differences, aging, grandparenting, politics, faith, and alcohol. Main participatory behaviors were selective timing, using expressive style, and personalization of the online character. Although most participants were "lurkers," the active participants nurtured community norms and relationships, as reflected in the written dialogues. In a reality of limited alternatives for digital games that meet older adults' needs and interests, seniors found an independent system to satisfy their need for play. Seniors' online communities provided a unique form of casual leisure, whose nature varied among different groups of participants. The fun culture seemed to offer participants many desired benefits, including meaningful play, liminality and communitas, opportunity to practice and demonstrate their abilities, and means for coping with aging. Therefore, it may have positive impact on seniors' well-being and successful aging.

  18. Building a Community-Academic Partnership: Implementing a Community-Based Trial of Telephone Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Rural Latinos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugene Aisenberg

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Concerns about the appropriate use of EBP with ethnic minority clients and the ability of community agencies to implement and sustain EBP persist and emphasize the need for community-academic research partnerships that can be used to develop, adapt, and test culturally responsive EBP in community settings. In this paper, we describe the processes of developing a community-academic partnership that implemented and pilot tested an evidence-based telephone cognitive behavioral therapy program. Originally demonstrated to be effective for urban, middle-income, English-speaking primary care patients with major depression, the program was adapted and pilot tested for use with rural, uninsured, low-income, Latino (primarily Spanish-speaking primary care patients with major depressive disorder in a primary care site in a community health center in rural Eastern Washington. The values of community-based participatory research and community-partnered participatory research informed each phase of this randomized clinical trial and the development of a community-academic partnership. Information regarding this partnership may guide future community practice, research, implementation, and workforce development efforts to address mental health disparities by implementing culturally tailored EBP in underserved communities.

  19. [On the Way to Culture-Sensitive Patient Information Materials: Results of a Focus Group Study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ries, Zivile; Frank, Fabian; Bermejo, Isaac; Kalaitsidou, Chariklia; Zill, Jördis; Dirmaier, Jörg; Härter, Martin; Bengel, Jürgen; Hölzel, Lars

    2018-06-01

    This study was part of a double-blind randomised controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effects of culture-sensitive patient information materials (PIM) compared with standard translated material. The study aimed to obtain the data for the development of culture sensitive PIM about unipolar depression for the 4 largest migrant groups in Germany (Turkish, Polish, Russian and Italian migration background). A qualitative study using 4 manual-based focus groups (FG), one for each migrant group, with 29 participants (9 with a Turkish (TüG), 8 with a Polish (PoG), 5 with a Russian (RuG) and 7 with an Italian (ItG) migration background) was conducted. The discussions were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. 7 categories were identified. For the (1.) development of a good culture-sensitive PIM an easy language, a clear structure, an assessable extent of information and the avoidance of stereotypes were highlighted cross-culturally in all four FG. RuG and PoG had the largest (2.) lack of information about the German health care system. Concerning the (3.) illness perception RuG named problems with recognizing and understanding depression. PoG, RuG and TüG thematized (4.) feared consequences of the illness and of professional helpseeking. ItG, PoG, RuG had fears concerning (5.) psychotropic drugs as a result from insufficient knowledge about medication. For (6.) doctor-patient relationship cultural specifics were identified in RuG and TüG and for (7.) migration or culture specific reasons for depression in RuG, ItG and TüG. Although the identified categories were relevant for all or for the majority of migrant groups, for most categories specific cultural aspects were discovered. These findings show the importance of a culture sensitive adaptation of PIM. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  20. Adaptive capacity and community-based natural resource management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armitage, Derek

    2005-06-01

    Why do some community-based natural resource management strategies perform better than others? Commons theorists have approached this question by developing institutional design principles to address collective choice situations, while other analysts have critiqued the underlying assumptions of community-based resource management. However, efforts to enhance community-based natural resource management performance also require an analysis of exogenous and endogenous variables that influence how social actors not only act collectively but do so in ways that respond to changing circumstances, foster learning, and build capacity for management adaptation. Drawing on examples from northern Canada and Southeast Asia, this article examines the relationship among adaptive capacity, community-based resource management performance, and the socio-institutional determinants of collective action, such as technical, financial, and legal constraints, and complex issues of politics, scale, knowledge, community and culture. An emphasis on adaptive capacity responds to a conceptual weakness in community-based natural resource management and highlights an emerging research and policy discourse that builds upon static design principles and the contested concepts in current management practice.

  1. Potential profitability of pearl culture in coastal communities in Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Saidi

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Artisanal half-pearl culture has been shown to provide livelihood and economic opportunities for coastal communities in Tanzania that depend directly on exploitation of marine resources. However, these pilot research studies have been supported by donor organisations and the economic feasibility of such development has not yet been assessed. Furthermore, there is little understanding of the costs required to establish pearl farms and the relative impacts of farm size on production, running costs, profitability and risks involved in production. The aim of this study was to develop economic models for subsistence level half-pearl culture in Tanzania. Models were generated for various scenarios relating to farm size and products (i.e. half-pearls and juvenile oyster or ‘spat’ collection and they give detail on infrastructure costs, operational costs and income generated for various levels of operation. We concluded that the most profitable model for community-based pearl farming is to culture at least 600 oysters for half-pearl production. However, for communities to be able to run a sustainable and profitable enterprise, development of a sustainable source of oysters is crucial. Farmers can also generate income from collection of juvenile oysters and their subsequent sale to pearl farmers, but this is less profitable than half-pearl farming and requires a longer operational period before profits are made. Like pearl farming, there were major benefits or economies of scale with the largest farms tested providing greatest profit and/or a shorter time required to reach profitability. Our results provide a valuable source of information for prospective pearl farmers, donors, funding bodies and other stakeholders, and valuable extension information supporting further development of pearl culture in Tanzania.

  2. Community vulnerability to climate change in the context of other exposure-sensitivities in Kugluktuk, Nunavut

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Tozer

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Climate change in the Canadian north is, and will be, managed by communities that are already experiencing social, political, economic and other environmental changes. Hence, there is a need to understand vulnerability to climate change in the context of multiple exposure-sensitivities at the community level. This article responds to this perceived knowledge need based on a case study of the community of Kugluktuk in Nunavut, Canada. An established approach for vulnerability assessment is used to identify current climatic and non-climatic exposure-sensitivities along with their associated contemporary adaptation strategies. This assessment of current vulnerability is used as a basis to consider Kugluktuk's possible vulnerability to climatic change in the future. Current climate-related exposure-sensitivities in Kugluktuk relate primarily to subsistence harvesting and community infrastructure. Thinner and less stable ice conditions and unpredictable weather patterns are making travel and harvesting more dangerous and some community infrastructure is sensitive to permafrost melt and extreme weather events (e.g., flash floods. The ability of individuals and households to adapt to these and other climatic exposure-sensitivities is influenced by non-climatic factors that condition adaptive capacity including substance abuse, the erosion of traditional knowledge and youth suicide. These and other non-climatic factors often underpin adaptive capacity to deal with and adapt to changing conditions and must be considered in an assessment of vulnerability. This research argues that Northern communities are challenged by multiple exposure-sensitivities—beyond just those posed by climate—and effective adaptation to climate change requires consideration if not resolution of socio-economic and other issues in communities.

  3. The Exploration of Culturally Sensitive Nursing Care in Pediatric Setting: a Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila Valizadeh

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: One of the essential aspects of the provision of care is cultural issues. Cultural sensitivity is the key for cultural care. The aim of this study was to explore culturally sensitive care in pediatric nursing care in Iran.Materials and Methods: This study was a conventional content analysis. Participants were consisted of 25 nurses and 9 parents selected through purposive sampling from three pediatric referral centers in Tabriz and Tehran, Iran. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and field notes and were concurrently analyzed by using Graneheim and Lundman (2004 method. Data was transcribed verbatim, words, sentences, and phrases were considered meaning units, abstracted, labeled and compared for developing categories.Results: Culturally sensitive care of a sick child was consisted of three themes: ‘cultural exposure’, ‘intercultural communication’ and ‘the reconciliation of cultural conflict in families/care’. During the ‘cultural exposure’ nurses were informed of the cultural manifestations, strived to identify and understand patients/families with cultural diversities and respect their cultural beliefs. The nurse used the native language in ‘intercultural communication’ or a combination of verbal and nonverbal communication methods to reach a common understanding. Finally, a nurse in the conflict between the culture of child/family and care took actions for making decisions to develop a compliance between care and the family culture and amended parents’ harmful desires through negotiation and appropriate care.Conclusion: Understanding the concept of culturally sensitive care, can help with resolving the problems of cultural exchanges in Pediatric wards. Providing cultural facilities and interpreters to communicate with patients/family increase their satisfaction.

  4. Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude enhancement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales, Marie Paz E.

    2015-12-01

    The study critically explored how culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics improve Pangasinan learners' attitude towards science. Their cultural dimensions, epistemological beliefs, and views on integration of culture and language in the teaching and learning process determined their cultural preference or profile. Design and development of culture and language sensitive curriculum materials in physics were heavily influenced by these learners' cultural preference or profile. Pilot-study using interviews and focus group discussions with natives of Pangasinan and document analysis were conducted to identify the culture, practices, and traditions integrated in the lesson development. Comparison of experimental participants' pretest and posttest results on science attitude measure showed significant statistical difference. Appraisal of science attitude enhancement favored the experimental group over the control group. Qualitative data deduced from post implementation interviews, focus group discussions, and journal log entries showed the same trend in favor of the experimental participants. The study revealed that culture and language integration in the teaching and learning process of physics concepts enabled students to develop positive attitude to science, their culture, and native language.

  5. Validity of calendar day-based definitions for community-onset bloodstream infections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laupland, Kevin B; Gregson, Daniel B; Church, Deirdre L

    2015-04-02

    Community-onset (CO) bloodstream infections (BSI) are those BSI where the blood culture is drawn culture draw or hospital admission are not always available. We evaluated the validity of using 2- or 3- calendar day based definitions for CO-BSI by comparing to a "gold standard" 48-hour definition. Among the population-based cohort of 14,106 episodes of BSI studied, 10,543 were classified as CO based on "gold standard" 48-hour criteria. When 2-day and 3-day definitions were applied, 10,396 and 10,707 CO-BSI episodes were ascertained, respectively. All but 147 (1.4%) true CO-BSI cases were included by using the 2-day definition. When the 3-day definition was applied, all cases of CO-BSI were identified but and additional 164 (1.5%) cases of hospital-onset HO-BSI were also included. Thus the sensitivity and specificity of the 2-day definition was 98.6% and 100% and for the 3-day definition was 100% and 98.5%, respectively. Overall, only 311 (2.2%) cases were potentially miss-classifiable using either the 2- or 3-calendar day based definitions. Use of either a 2- or 3-day definition is highly accurate for classifying CO-BSI.

  6. A community-based intervention to build community harmony in an Indigenous Guatemalan Mining Town.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caxaj, Claudia Susana; Parroquia de San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Kolol Qnan Tx'otx'

    2018-01-24

    The presence of large-scale mining operations poses many threats to communities. In a rural community in Guatemala, community leaders were motivated to address divisiveness and local conflict that have been exacerbated since the arrival of a mining company in the region. Prior research by our team identified spiritual and cultural strengths as important sources of strength and resilience in the community. We piloted a community-based intervention centred on spiritual and cultural practices in the region, to address divisiveness and build community harmony. One hundred and seventeen participants from over 18 villages in the municipality participated in the workshops and follow-up focus groups. Community leaders facilitated the intervention and partnered with the academic researcher throughout the research process. Overall, community members and facilitators expressed satisfaction with the workshop. Further, our analysis revealed three important processes important to the development of community harmony in the region: (a) mutual recognition and collectivisation; (b) affirmation of ancestral roots and connections to Mother Earth and (c) inspiring action and momentum towards solutions. These mechanisms, and the socio-political contexts that undermine them, have important implications for how global health programmes are developed and how collective processes for well-being are understood within an inequitable, conflict-laden world.

  7. Community Based Educational Model on Water Conservation Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudiajeng, L.; Parwita, I. G. L.; Wiraga, I. W.; Mudhina, M.

    2018-01-01

    The previous research showed that there were indicators of water crisis in the northern and eastern part of Denpasar city and most of coastal area experienced on seawater intrusion. The recommended water conservation programs were rainwater harvesting and educate the community to develop a water saving and environmentally conscious culture. This research was conducted to built the community based educational model on water conservation program through ergonomics SHIP approach which placed the human aspect as the first consideration, besides the economic and technically aspects. The stakeholders involved in the program started from the problem analyses to the implementation and the maintenance as well. The model was built through three main steps, included determination of accepted design; building the recharge wells by involving local communities; guidance and assistance in developing a water saving and environmentally conscious culture for early childhood, elementary and junior high school students, community and industry. The program was implemented based on the “TRIHITA KARANA” concept, which means the relationship between human to God, human-to-human, and human to environment. Through the development of the model, it is expected to grow a sense of belonging and awareness from the community to maintain the sustainability of the program.

  8. Barriers beyond words: cancer, culture, and translation in a community of Russian speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dohan, Daniel; Levintova, Marya

    2007-11-01

    Language and culture relate in complex ways. Addressing this complexity in the context of language translation is a challenge when caring for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). To examine processes of care related to language, culture and translation in an LEP population is the objective of this study. We used community based participatory research to examine the experiences of Russian-speaking cancer patients in San Francisco, California. A Russian Cancer Information Taskforce (RCIT), including community-based organizations, local government, and clinics, participated in all phases of the study. A purposeful sample of 74 individuals were the participants of the study. The RCIT shaped research themes and facilitated access to participants. Methods were focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. RCIT reviewed data and provided guidance in interpreting results. Four themes emerged. (1) Local Russian-language resources were seen as inadequate and relatively unavailable compared to other non-English languages; (2) a taboo about the word "cancer" led to language "games" surrounding disclosure; (3) this taboo, and other dynamics of care, reflected expectations that Russian speakers derived from experiences in their countries of origin; (4) using interpreters as cultural brokers or establishing support groups for Russian speakers could help address barriers. The language barriers experienced by this LEP population reflect cultural and linguistic issues. Providers should consider partnering with trained interpreters to address the intertwining of language and culture.

  9. The Relationship of Workplace Culture With Nursing-Sensitive Organizational Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahtela, Nina; McCormack, Brendan; Paavilainen, Eija; Slater, Paul; Helminen, Mika; Suominen, Tarja

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to explore the relations of workplace culture on nursing-sensitive organizational factors. The need for standardized and valid measures for nursing-sensitive organizational outcomes has already been recognized in the literature. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 21 inpatient acute care units in 9 organizations at the municipal primary healthcare level was conducted. Participants included licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and nurse managers. Workplace culture, especially the overarching factor of stress, correlated with the use of supplemental nursing staff and patients' length of stay. It is essential to find and test workplace-sensitive indicators so that managers will have a wider range of methods to plan and evaluate nursing outcomes.

  10. International Cultural Immersion: Assessing the Influence of a Group Intervention on Intercultural Sensitivity for Counselor Trainees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barden, Sejal M.; Shannonhouse, Laura; Mobley, Keith

    2015-01-01

    Scholars (e.g., Bemak & Chung, 2004) underscore the need for group workers to be culturally sensitive. One group training strategy, cultural immersion, is often employed to develop cultural sensitivity. However, no studies have utilized quasi-experimental methodologies to assess differences in cultural sensitivity between trainees that immerse…

  11. Community-based Ecotourism in Tenganan Dauh Tukad: An Indigenous Conservation Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I Ketut Sardiana

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Community-based ecotourism involves conservation, business, and community development. It is a subset of nature-based tourism that are owned and managed by the community and used to improve the well-being of its community members. Research conducted in Indigenous Tenganan Dauh Tukad Village, Bali. This paper examines the linkage of community participation in ecotourism with the conservation practices and perspectives. This study revealed that there is a positive linkage between community participation to their practices and perspective of conservation. This includes conservation of biodiversity environment and cultural heritage of the local community.

  12. Culturally Sensitive and Environment-Friendly Outcome Measures in

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Olaleye

    A systematic review of evidence on culturally sensitive and environment-friendly outcome measures in ..... which included manual grass cutting/hoeing, assuming the Islamic ... who opined that the starting point for any outcome measure is to ...

  13. Student nurses' experiences of living and studying in a different culture to their own and the development of cultural sensitivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ruddock, Heidi

    With the increase of culturally diverse people residing in Denmark, it has become imperative to provide student nurses with knowledge and skills that will enable them to become culturally sensitive in order interact effectively with clients from culturally diverse backgrounds. The aim of this study...... was to explore whether student nurses develop cultural sensitivity as a consequence of living and studying in a culture that is different from their own. Seven Danish student nurses who had participated in student exchanges in Jamaica, Australia, Malta and Greenland took part in this study. A qualitative...

  14. Creating a "culture of research" in a community hospital: Strategies and tools from the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimond, Eileen P; St Germain, Diane; Nacpil, Lianne M; Zaren, Howard A; Swanson, Sandra M; Minnick, Christopher; Carrigan, Angela; Denicoff, Andrea M; Igo, Kathleen E; Acoba, Jared D; Gonzalez, Maria M; McCaskill-Stevens, Worta

    2015-06-01

    The value of community-based cancer research has long been recognized. In addition to the National Cancer Institute's Community Clinical and Minority-Based Oncology Programs established in 1983, and 1991 respectively, the National Cancer Institute established the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program in 2007 with an aim of enhancing access to high-quality cancer care and clinical research in the community setting where most cancer patients receive their treatment. This article discusses strategies utilized by the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program to build research capacity and create a more entrenched culture of research at the community hospitals participating in the program over a 7-year period. To facilitate development of a research culture at the community hospitals, the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program required leadership or chief executive officer engagement; utilized a collaborative learning structure where best practices, successes, and challenges could be shared; promoted site-to-site mentoring to foster faster learning within and between sites; required research program assessments that spanned clinical trial portfolio, accrual barriers, and outreach; increased identification and use of metrics; and, finally, encouraged research team engagement across hospital departments (navigation, multidisciplinary care, pathology, and disparities) to replace the traditionally siloed approach to clinical trials. The health-care environment is rapidly changing while complexity in research increases. Successful research efforts are impacted by numerous factors (e.g. institutional review board reviews, physician interest, and trial availability). The National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program sites, as program participants, had access to the required resources and support to develop and implement the strategies described. Metrics are an important component yet often challenging to

  15. Integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment in Nigeria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nzeadibe, Thaddeus Chidi, E-mail: chidi.nzeadibe@unn.edu.ng [Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, 410001 Nsukka (Nigeria); Ajaero, Chukwuedozie Kelechukwu [Demography and Population Studies Programme, The University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg (South Africa); Okonkwo, Emeka Emmanuel; Okpoko, Patrick Uche [Department of Archaeology and Tourism, University of Nigeria, 410001 Nsukka (Nigeria); Akukwe, Thecla Iheoma [Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, 410001 Nsukka (Nigeria); Njoku-Tony, Roseline Feechi [Department of Environmental Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (Nigeria)

    2015-11-15

    The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act of 1992 aimed to make the environment a central theme in development in Nigeria. Nevertheless, the extent of engagement with local cultures in the Nigerian EIA process is not statutorily guaranteed. While most EIAs in Nigeria have been for oil and gas projects in the Niger Delta, and have focused strongly on the biophysical environment, socio-economic and cultural aspects have remained marginal. The palpable neglect of community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment (SIA) in this region prone to conflict has tended to alienate the people in the decision-making process. Thus, despite claims to compliance with regulatory requirements for EIAs, and numerous purported sustainable development initiatives by international oil companies (IOCs), the region continues to face multiple sustainability challenges. This paper situates local perceptions and cultural diversity in participatory development and canvasses the integration of community perceptions and cultural diversity into SIA in the Niger Delta region. It is argued that doing this would be critical to ensuring acceptance and success of development actions within the context of local culture while also contributing to sustainable development policy in the region. - Highlights: • Nigeria EIA Act aimed to make the environment central to development in Nigeria. • Engagement with local communities in the process is not statutorily guaranteed. • SIAs in Nigeria neglect community perceptions and cultural diversity. • Article canvasses integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in SIA. • Local acceptance in context of culture would yield sustainable development outcomes.

  16. Integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment in Nigeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nzeadibe, Thaddeus Chidi; Ajaero, Chukwuedozie Kelechukwu; Okonkwo, Emeka Emmanuel; Okpoko, Patrick Uche; Akukwe, Thecla Iheoma; Njoku-Tony, Roseline Feechi

    2015-01-01

    The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act of 1992 aimed to make the environment a central theme in development in Nigeria. Nevertheless, the extent of engagement with local cultures in the Nigerian EIA process is not statutorily guaranteed. While most EIAs in Nigeria have been for oil and gas projects in the Niger Delta, and have focused strongly on the biophysical environment, socio-economic and cultural aspects have remained marginal. The palpable neglect of community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment (SIA) in this region prone to conflict has tended to alienate the people in the decision-making process. Thus, despite claims to compliance with regulatory requirements for EIAs, and numerous purported sustainable development initiatives by international oil companies (IOCs), the region continues to face multiple sustainability challenges. This paper situates local perceptions and cultural diversity in participatory development and canvasses the integration of community perceptions and cultural diversity into SIA in the Niger Delta region. It is argued that doing this would be critical to ensuring acceptance and success of development actions within the context of local culture while also contributing to sustainable development policy in the region. - Highlights: • Nigeria EIA Act aimed to make the environment central to development in Nigeria. • Engagement with local communities in the process is not statutorily guaranteed. • SIAs in Nigeria neglect community perceptions and cultural diversity. • Article canvasses integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in SIA. • Local acceptance in context of culture would yield sustainable development outcomes

  17. East-West cultural differences in context-sensitivity are evident in early childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imada, Toshie; Carlson, Stephanie M; Itakura, Shoji

    2013-03-01

    Accumulating evidence suggests that North Americans tend to focus on central objects whereas East Asians tend to pay more attention to contextual information in a visual scene. Although it is generally believed that such culturally divergent attention tendencies develop through socialization, existing evidence largely depends on adult samples. Moreover, no past research has investigated the relation between context-sensitivity and other domains of cognitive development. The present study examined children in the United States and Japan (N = 175, age 4-9 years) to investigate the developmental pattern in context-sensitivity and its relation to executive function. The study found that context-sensitivity increased with age across cultures. Nevertheless, Japanese children showed significantly greater context-sensitivity than American children. Also, context-sensitivity fully mediated the cultural difference in a set-shifting executive function task, which might help explain past findings that East Asian children outperformed their American counterparts on executive function. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  18. Diverse Asian American Families and Communities: Culture, Structure, and Education (Part 1: Why They Differ)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paik, Susan J.; Rahman, Zaynah; Kula, Stacy M.; Saito, L. Erika; Witenstein, Matthew A.

    2017-01-01

    Based on 11 diverse Asian American (AA) communities, this article discusses the similarities and differences across East, South, and Southeast Asians. Of two parts in this journal issue, Part 1 presents a review of literature and census data to understand the cultural and structural factors of different types of coethnic communities (strong, weak,…

  19. The Impact of Culture On Smart Community Technology: The Case of 13 Wikipedia Instances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zinayida Petrushyna

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Smart communities provide technologies for monitoring social behaviors inside communities. The technologies that support knowledge building should consider the cultural background of community members. The studies of the influence of the culture on knowledge building is limited. Just a few works consider digital traces of individuals that they explain using cultural values and beliefs. In this work, we analyze 13 Wikipedia instances where users with different cultural background build knowledge in different ways. We compare edits of users. Using social network analysis we build and analyze co- authorship networks and watch the networks evolution. We explain the differences we have found using Hofstede dimensions and Schwartz cultural values and discuss implications for the design of smart community technologies. Our findings provide insights in requirements for technologies used for smart communities in different cultures.

  20. Engaging community volunteers in participatory action research in Tāmaki community of Auckland, New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andajani-Sutjahjo, Sari; Liew, Theresa C H; Smith, John F; Esekielu, Iutita; Mason, Gabrielle; Tariu, Imele

    2018-04-01

    This article discusses the experiences of community volunteers' participation in a community-based participatory research project in Tāmaki, a low socio-economic and ethnically diverse suburban community within greater Auckland City, New Zealand. In the Tāmaki Community Action Research project, community volunteers were recruited and trained to conduct random household surveys (RHS) and asset mapping commissioned by community groups and government agencies in that area. The volunteers were involved in planning, coordination and ongoing governance of the project and ∼70 residents and local university students participated at different stages of the 2-year project. Over 600 RHS were completed and the volunteers' experiences were recorded in field notes, informal group discussions, daily team meetings and individual interviews and form the basis of this article. Only their experiences are discussed here, not the survey results which will be presented elsewhere. The project reflected the inherent asset-rich nature of the community via examples of individual volunteer empowerment and collective social/community capacity building. Volunteers increased their interpersonal and organizational skills, their understanding of the complexity of their community's logistics and cultural diversity, and gained an increased sense of community purpose and commitment. There was very strong endorsement of culturally sensitive research practice to recognize cultural differences and to engage productively within their richly ethnically diverse community. Full community volunteer participation in the project's governance (i.e. through design, training, implementation and ongoing consultation/management phases) was considered key to sustaining the life of project.

  1. Developing Patterns of Parenting in Two Cultural Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Heidi; Borke, Joern; Lamm, Bettina; Lohaus, Arnold; Yovsi, Relindis Dzeaye

    2011-01-01

    This paper is aimed at analyzing verbal and nonverbal strategies in terms of body contact, face-to-face contact, and discourse style during the first three months of life in two cultural communities that have been characterized as embodying different cultural models of parenting: German middle-class, and Nso farmer families. It can be demonstrated…

  2. Considering the culture of disability in cultural competence education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eddey, Gary E; Robey, Kenneth L

    2005-07-01

    Cultural competence extends beyond understanding those values, beliefs, and needs that are associated with patients' age or gender or with their racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. People hold many simultaneous cultural associations, and each have implications for the care process. The "culture of disability" is a pan-ethnic culture for which a set of physician competencies are required to ensure appropriate, culturally sensitive care to persons with congenital or acquired disabilities. Such competencies include communicating with patients who have deficits in verbal communication and avoidance of infantilizing speech; understanding the values and needs of persons with disabilities; the ability to encourage self-advocacy skills of patients and families; acknowledging the core values of disability culture including the emphasis on interdependence rather than independence; and feeling comfortable with patients with complex disabilities. Medical schools have developed programs to increase students' exposure to persons with disabilities and it is suggested that such programs are most effective when they are the result of collaboration with community-based facilities or organizations that serve persons with disabilities in the natural environment. Combining lecture-based instruction and structured experiences with the opportunity for students to interact with patients in their natural environments may facilitate development of competencies with respect to patients with disabilities. The culture of disability should be included as one of the many cultures addressed in cultural competence initiatives in medical school and residency curricula.

  3. (De)colonizing culture in community psychology: reflections from critical social science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes Cruz, Mariolga; Sonn, Christopher C

    2011-03-01

    Since its inception, community psychology has been interested in cultural matters relating to issues of diversity and marginalization. However, the field has tended to understand culture as static social markers or as the background for understanding group differences. In this article the authors contend that culture is inseparable from who we are and what we do as social beings. Moreover, culture is continually shaped by socio-historical and political processes intertwined within the globalized history of power. The authors propose a decolonizing standpoint grounded in critical social science to disrupt understandings of cultural matters that marginalize others. This standpoint would move the field toward deeper critical thinking, reflexivity and emancipatory action. The authors present their work to illustrate how they integrate a decolonizing standpoint to community psychology research and teaching. They conclude that community psychology must aim towards intercultural work engaging its political nature from a place of ontological/epistemological/methodological parity.

  4. Reconcilable differences? Human diversity, cultural relativity, and sense of community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townley, Greg; Kloos, Bret; Green, Eric P; Franco, Margarita M

    2011-03-01

    Sense of community (SOC) is one of the most widely used and studied constructs in community psychology. As proposed by Sarason in (The Psychological sense of community: prospects for a community psychology, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1974), SOC represents the strength of bonding among community members. It is a valuable component of community life, and it has been linked to positive mental health outcomes, citizen participation, and community connectedness. However, promotion of SOC can become problematic in community psychology praxis when it conflicts with other core values proposed to define the field, namely values of human diversity, cultural relativity, and heterogeneity of experience and perspective. Several commentators have noted that promotion of SOC can conflict with multicultural diversity because it tends to emphasize group member similarity and appears to be higher in homogeneous communities. In this paper, we introduce the idea of a community-diversity dialectic as part of praxis and research in community psychology. We argue that systematic consideration of cultural psychology perspectives can guide efforts to address a community-diversity dialectic and revise SOC formulations that ultimately will invigorate community research and action. We provide a working agenda for addressing this dialectic, proposing that systematic consideration of the creative tension between SOC and diversity can be beneficial to community psychology.

  5. Development of a community-based diabetes and hypertension preventive program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, C Y; Abbott, L J

    1998-12-01

    The purpose of this project was to develop rapport with a Chinese Community Association and then establish preventive diabetic and hypertension programs with the Chinese in Chinatown, Hawaii. Subjects were recruited from this Chinese Community Association. Two hundred Chinese responded to the invitation. Among these, 75 individuals had either Type 2 diabetes, hypertension or both. Thirty-six males and 39 females ranging in age from 51 years old to 96 years old (Mean = 71.76, SD = 9.58) participated. Surveys and educational programs were carried out in Chinese. Results were described in terms of quantitative measures (family support and health outcomes) and qualitative experiences (case studies). Eighty percent of participants had decreased their diastolic blood pressure from above 95 mmHg to below 90 mmHg and systolic blood pressure from above 155 mmHg to below 140 mmHg. Ninety-five (n = 71) percent of participants had maintained their glucose level within the 90 mg/dL to 150 mg/dL range with a mean reduction of 57.86 mg/dL in one year. The hardest thing for families was the glucose self-monitoring. Case studies suggested that open-minded active listening and persistence formed the basis for developing a culturally sensitive community-based self management program for chronic diseases. Collaboration among the community, public health nurses, and diabetes nurse educators facilitated the process of community education and health promotion.

  6. Mobilising culture against domestic violence in migrant and ethnic communities: practitioner perspectives from Aotearoa/New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon-Kumar, Rachel; Kurian, Priya A; Young-Silcock, Faith; Narasimhan, Nirmala

    2017-07-01

    Studies on domestic violence in ethnic minority communities highlight that social norms, family structures and cultural practices are among the key triggers of violence against women. Not surprisingly, most anti-violence interventions in these communities aim to redeem women from the oppressive features of these cultures. More recently, however, emergent scholarship advocates mobilising, rather than erasing, culture within existing anti-violence strategies. This paper explores the nature of culturally informed interventions used by front-line workers. It presents the findings of a small-scale qualitative study in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where around 13% of the population are currently deemed to be from minority ethnic communities. Interviews and one focus group were conducted with nine practitioners - including social workers, counsellors and the police - in Hamilton, Aotearoa in 2013-2014. Based on thematic analysis, the paper identifies two core strands: (a) the distinctive profile of ethnic violence and (b) the strategies that mobilise culture in anti-violence interventions. Specifically within the former strand, it was found that violence in the ethnic community was distinctive for the following reasons: the heightened sense of stigma surrounding disclosure and the consequent silence by women who suffer from it; the lack of trust in authority; and the fear of conventional safety plans necessitating longer time periods for rapport-building. Among the strategies that mobilise culture, the study found that practitioners used a family approach; engaged men in their interventions, at times reinforcing gendered roles; utilised micro-interventions; and deployed cultural tropes, especially around spirituality, as a strategy. The conclusion points to the gap between interventions that challenge and mobilise cultures. While anecdotally, the latter are perceived to be relevant and effective in anti-violence interventions, there is need for a fuller assessment and better

  7. Culture-sensitive adaptation and validation of the community-oriented program for the control of rheumatic diseases methodology for rheumatic disease in Latin American indigenous populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peláez-Ballestas, Ingris; Granados, Ysabel; Silvestre, Adriana; Alvarez-Nemegyei, José; Valls, Evart; Quintana, Rosana; Figuera, Yemina; Santiago, Flor Julian; Goñi, Mario; González, Rosa; Santana, Natalia; Nieto, Romina; Brito, Irais; García, Imelda; Barrios, Maria Cecilia; Marcano, Manuel; Loyola-Sánchez, Adalberto; Stekman, Ivan; Jorfen, Marisa; Goycochea-Robles, Maria Victoria; Midauar, Fadua; Chacón, Rosa; Martin, Maria Celeste; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A

    2014-09-01

    The purpose of the study is to validate a culturally sensitive adaptation of the community-oriented program for the control of rheumatic diseases (COPCORD) methodology in several Latin American indigenous populations. The COPCORD Spanish questionnaire was translated and back-translated into seven indigenous languages: Warao, Kariña and Chaima (Venezuela), Mixteco, Maya-Yucateco and Raramuri (Mexico) and Qom (Argentina). The questionnaire was administered to almost 100 subjects in each community with the assistance of bilingual translators. Individuals with pain, stiffness or swelling in any part of the body in the previous 7 days and/or at any point in life were evaluated by physicians to confirm a diagnosis according to criteria for rheumatic diseases. Overall, individuals did not understand the use of a 0-10 visual analog scale for pain intensity and severity grading and preferred a Likert scale comprising four items for pain intensity (no pain, minimal pain, strong pain, and intense pain). They were unable to discriminate between pain intensity and pain severity, so only pain intensity was included. For validation, 702 subjects (286 male, 416 female, mean age 42.7 ± 18.3 years) were interviewed in their own language. In the last 7 days, 198 (28.2 %) subjects reported having musculoskeletal pain, and 90 (45.4 %) of these had intense pain. Compared with the physician-confirmed diagnosis, the COPCORD questionnaire had 73.8 % sensitivity, 72.9 % specificity, a positive likelihood ratio of 2.7 and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73. The COPCORD questionnaire is a valid screening tool for rheumatic diseases in indigenous Latin American populations.

  8. Increased sensitivity to ET-1 in rat cerebral arteries following organ culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen-Schwartz, J; Edvinsson, L

    2000-01-01

    Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is recognized as being involved in the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular diseases. Using organ culture as a model for possible pathological changes we studied changes in ET(A) and ETB receptor function using a sensitive in vitro method. We observed an up-regulation of the ET......(B) receptor and an amazingly increased sensitivity to ET-1 by 3 log units in pEC50; pEC50(fresh) was 8.7 +/- 0.1, and pEC50(cultured) was 11.7 +/- 0.3. pA2 for FR139317 in the fresh vessel was 7.0 +/- 0.2 whereas it could not be obtained for the cultured vessel, indicating a possible cross-talk between the ET......(A) and ET(B) receptors. The increased sensitivity to ET-1 could also take place during cerebrovascular disease such as stroke or haemorrhage rendering the vessels considerably more sensitive to ET-1....

  9. History, culture, and substance use in a rural Scottish community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dean, Alan

    2002-01-01

    This paper provides a detailed discussion of substance use and misuse in a rural community in the Western Highlands of Scotland, United Kingdom. Attention is focused on the way in which patterns of substance use arise from a complex interplay of historical, cultural, social, and personal events. The discussion illustrates how large changes in patterns of intoxication in rural communities can be rendered intelligible through an understanding of the impact of economic, religious, and social changes. The analysis is based on an historical and ethnographic account, carried out between 1987 and 1990 with adolescents, of patterns of use which range from pagan ceremonies in the 16th century to contemporary "soft drug" use.

  10. Community as Teacher Model: Health Profession Students Learn Cultural Safety from an Aboriginal Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kline, Cathy C.; Godolphin, William J.; Chhina, Gagun S.; Towle, Angela

    2013-01-01

    Communication between health care professionals and Aboriginal patients is complicated by cultural differences and the enduring effects of colonization. Health care providers need better training to meet the needs of Aboriginal patients and communities. We describe the development and outcomes of a community-driven service-learning program in…

  11. Resistance Patterns of Typhoid Fever in Children: A Longitudinal Community-Based Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vala, Snehal; Shah, Urvesh; Ahmad, Syed Amir; Scolnik, Dennis; Glatstein, Miguel

    2016-01-01

    Salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi are important causes of bacteremia in children, especially those from the developing world. There is a lack of standardized treatment protocols for such patients in the literature, and there are also reports of therapeutic failure related to resistance to commonly used antibiotics. We analyzed the epidemiological, clinical, and antimicrobiological sensitivity patterns of disease in patients diagnosed with blood culture-positive typhoid fever over a 6-month period in a tertiary-care pediatric hospital in western India. Data were retrospectively analyzed for all patients with Salmonella isolates on blood culture between January 1 and June 30, 2011 at the Synergy Neonatal and Pediatric Hospital. Susceptibility of isolates to antimicrobials and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined. Demographic data, symptoms and signs, basic laboratory results, treatment courses, and clinical outcomes were collected from clinical charts. All of the 61 isolates of S. typhi were sensitive to cefepime (fourth-generation cephalosporin), 96% to third-generation cephalosporins, and 95% to quinolones. There was intermediate sensitivity to ampicillin (92%) and chloramphenicol (80%). Notably, azithromycin resistance was observed in 63% of isolates. All patients ultimately made full recoveries. There is an urgent need for large scale, community-based clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of different antibiotics in enteric fever. Our antimicrobial susceptibility data suggest that quinolones and third-generation cephalosporins should be used as first-line antimicrobials in enteric fever. Although fourth-generation cephalosporins are useful, we feel their use should be restricted to complicated or resistant cases.

  12. A Model for Community-Based Pediatric Oral Heath: Implementation of an Infant Oral Care Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco J. Ramos-Gomez

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The Affordable Care Act (ACA mandates risk assessments, preventive care, and evaluations based on outcomes. ACA compliance will require easily accessible, cost-effective care models that are flexible and simple to establish. UCLA has developed an Infant Oral Care Program (IOCP in partnership with community-based organizations that is an intervention model providing culturally competent perinatal and infant oral care for underserved, low-income, and/or minority children aged 0–5 and their caregivers. In collaboration with the Venice Family Clinic's Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center, UCLA Pediatrics, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC, and Early Head Start and Head Start programs, the IOCP increases family-centered care access and promotes early utilization of dental services in nontraditional, primary care settings. Emphasizing disease prevention, management, and care that is sensitive to cultural, language, and oral health literacy challenges, IOCP patients achieve better oral health maintenance “in health” not in “disease modality”. IOCP uses interprofessional education to promote pediatric oral health across multiple disciplines and highlights the necessity for the “age-one visit”. This innovative clinical model facilitates early intervention and disease management. It sets a new standard of minimally invasive dental care that is widely available and prevention focused, with high retention rates due to strong collaborations with the community-based organizations serving these vulnerable, high-risk children.

  13. A model for community-based pediatric oral heath: implementation of an infant oral care program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos-Gomez, Francisco J

    2014-01-01

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates risk assessments, preventive care, and evaluations based on outcomes. ACA compliance will require easily accessible, cost-effective care models that are flexible and simple to establish. UCLA has developed an Infant Oral Care Program (IOCP) in partnership with community-based organizations that is an intervention model providing culturally competent perinatal and infant oral care for underserved, low-income, and/or minority children aged 0-5 and their caregivers. In collaboration with the Venice Family Clinic's Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center, UCLA Pediatrics, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and Early Head Start and Head Start programs, the IOCP increases family-centered care access and promotes early utilization of dental services in nontraditional, primary care settings. Emphasizing disease prevention, management, and care that is sensitive to cultural, language, and oral health literacy challenges, IOCP patients achieve better oral health maintenance "in health" not in "disease modality". IOCP uses interprofessional education to promote pediatric oral health across multiple disciplines and highlights the necessity for the "age-one visit". This innovative clinical model facilitates early intervention and disease management. It sets a new standard of minimally invasive dental care that is widely available and prevention focused, with high retention rates due to strong collaborations with the community-based organizations serving these vulnerable, high-risk children.

  14. Culturally Sensitive and Environment-Friendly Outcome Measures in

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Olaleye

    to review research studies on outcome measures that were developed for ... A systematic review of evidence on culturally sensitive and environment- ... Various databases including Google Scholar, PEDro and PubMed were accessed to search for relevant empirical ... utilization of disease-specific, patient-centered outcome.

  15. Recalling community: Using material culture and digital archives in Salford

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Cassidy

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available This article explores strategies for engaging geographically fragmented urban communities as active participants in conceptually re-mapping their former localities. It looks in detail at the ongoing Retracing Salford project in Salford, UK, which employs the use of everyday objects and oral histories to engage and enable former residents to reconnect with their recently demolished neighbourhoods and each other. The project also seeks to document an urban working class history largely overlooked by the large-scale institutions. The project is based on a PhD study undertaken by the author at The District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa, which examined the use of material artefacts in exhibitions and memory workshops at that museum (Cassidy 2009. Like District Six, Salford has undergone wide-scale demolition and population dispersal over the past 40 years. What began as relatively simple installations in museums, libraries and the like, has now grown to include digitised versions of the family snaps, street signs and oral histories, as a developing online Streets Museum archive (www.streetsmuseum.co.uk. This article reflects on how the methodology employed in the Retracing Salford project has helped rejuvenate and reconnect these dispersed communities. The article argues that the approach used is succeeding in widening the circle of participation and debate in relation to heritage issues, in particular the absence of commemoration of working-class community culture in the city. It has also increased awareness of urban land clearance issues. Its continued success depends on numerous factors, such as developing new strategies of engagement with the community, regularly gaining publicity and organising new exhibitions and workshops. Keywords: Material culture, community participation, urban working class history

  16. Maintaining Research Integrity While Balancing Cultural Sensitivity: A Case Study and Lessons From the Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibbald, Rebekah; Loiseau, Bethina; Darren, Benedict; Raman, Salem A; Dimaras, Helen; Loh, Lawrence C

    2016-04-01

    Contemporary emphasis on creating culturally relevant and context specific knowledge increasingly drives researchers to conduct their work in settings outside their home country. This often requires researchers to build relationships with various stakeholders who may have a vested interest in the research. This case study examines the tension between relationship development with stakeholders and maintaining study integrity, in the context of potential harms, data credibility and cultural sensitivity. We describe an ethical breach in the conduct of global health research by a arising from the ad-hoc participation of a community stakeholder external to the visiting research group. A framework for reflection is developed from a careful examination of underlying factors and presented with a discussion of consequences and mitigation measures. This framework aims to present lessons learned for researchers working abroad who might face similar situations in their work. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. A Qualitative Analysis of Pesantren Educational Management: School Culture and Leadership of a Professional Learning Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nyimas Mu'azzomi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at one Indonesian Islamic boarding school (Pesantren as a function of school culture policies and procedures in a professional learning community in the disctrict. A qualitative study was conducted at one Pesantren located in Jambi, an Indonesian province in west part of Sumatra island. We interviewed three administrators and five teachers to get in-depth information about the purpose of this paper. The interview transcriptions were translated, coded, divided into themes, and elaborated in the findings of the paper. The findings of study conclude that Pesantren leaders in the perspective of the participants must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to create positive cultures and effective a professional learning community for the development of the Pesantren. Leaders of the Pesantren must directly cooperate with teaching staff to provide policies and procedures for teachers in the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative attempts. This study was conducted based on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. This study is significant to the community as specific cases informing educational leaders especially in Islamic education on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures on the leadership and school culture of a professional learning community literature.

  18. Engaging Karen Refugee Students in Science Learning through a Cross-Cultural Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harper, Susan G.

    2017-01-01

    This research explored how Karen (first-generation refugees from Burma) elementary students engaged with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practice of constructing scientific explanations based on evidence within the context of a cross-cultural learning community. In this action research, the researcher and a Karen parent served as…

  19. Diversifying the Midwifery Workforce: Inclusivity, Culturally Sensitive Bridging, and Innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyson, Holliday; Wilson-Mitchell, Karline

    2016-11-01

    Midwifery educators and regulators in Canada have begun to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in admission processes and program curricula. Populations served by midwives value internationally educated midwives from their countries of origin. The International Midwifery Pre-Registration Program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, provides assessment, midwifery workplace orientation, and accelerated education for internationally educated midwives on behalf of the regulatory College of Midwives of Ontario. Between 2003 and 2015, midwives from 41 countries participated in the bridging program, and 214 (80%) successfully completed the program and qualified for licensure. Of these 214 graduates, 100% passed the Canadian Midwifery Registration Examination and 193 (90%) were employed full time as midwives within 4 months of graduation. The program curriculum enables the integration of these midwives into health care workplaces utilizing innovative approaches to assessment and competency enhancement. Critical to the bridging process are simulation-based practices to develop effective psychomotor learning, virtual and real primary care community placements, and coaching in empathetic, client-centered communication. Cultural sensitivity is embedded into the multiple assessment and learning modalities, and addresses relevant barriers faced by immigrant midwives in the workplace. Findings from the 13 years of the program may be applicable to increase diversity in other North American midwifery settings. This article describes the process, content, outcomes, and findings of the program. Midwifery educators and regulators may consider the utility of these approaches for their settings. © 2016 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

  20. Seabirds as a subsistence and cultural resource in two remote Alaskan communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca C. Young

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Small rural Alaskan communities face many challenges surrounding rapid social and ecological change. The role of local subsistence resources may change over time because of changes in social perception, economic need, and cultural patterns of use. We look at the Bering Sea's Pribilof Islands, comprising two very small communities, and investigate the relationship between the local residents and seabirds as a natural resource. Seabirds may strengthen ties to older ways of life and have potential for future economic opportunities, or modernization may direct interest away from seabirds as a cultural and economic resource. We conducted a survey and interviews of residents of the two Pribilof Island communities, St. Paul and St. George, to assess opinions toward seabirds and harvest levels. Seabirds were generally regarded as important both to individuals and the wider community. However, current levels of subsistence harvest are low, and few people continue to actively harvest or visit seabird colonies. Respondents expressed desire for greater knowledge about seabirds and also concerns about the current economy of the islands and a lack of future development prospects. Despite the challenging economic conditions, the villages retain a strong sense of community and place value on their environment and on seabirds. Surveys indicated an interest in developing eco-tourism based around local resources, including seabirds, as a way to improve the economy.

  1. Validation of a Culturally Appropriate Social Capital Framework to Explore Health Conditions in Canadian First Nations Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brenda Elias

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available An earlier study of our research group formulated a conceptual framework of social capital for First Nation communities and developed a culturally appropriate instrument for its measurement. We tested this instrument further with the Manitoba (Canada First Nations Regional Health Survey, 2003. Using data from this survey, we investigated the bonding dimension of the social capital conceptual framework, with a total sample of 2,765 First Nations individuals living in 24 Manitoba First Nations communities. Twenty seven Likert-scale survey questions measured aspects of bonding social capital, socially-invested resources, ethos,and networks. Validation analyses included an evaluation of internal consistency, factor analyses to explore how well the items clustered together into the components of the social capital framework, and the ability of the items to discriminate across the communities represented in the sample. Cronbach’s Alpha was computed on the 27 scale items, producing an Alpha of 0.84 indicating high internal consistency. The factor analyses produced five distinct factors with a total explained variance of 54.3%. Lastly, a one-way analysis of variancerun by community produced highly significant F-ratios between the groups on all twenty-seven bonding items. The culturally-sensitive items included in the social capital framework were found to be an appropriate tool to measure bonding aspects among Manitoba First Nations communities. Research and policy implications are discussed.

  2. Culturally appropriate environmental education: an example of a partnership with the Hmong American community

    Science.gov (United States)

    David N. Bengston; Michele A. Schermann; Foung Hawj; MaiKia. Moua

    2012-01-01

    Society's increasing diversity poses many challenges to environmental educators. Numerous barriers and constraints to ethnic minority communities' environmental literacy and engagement in nature-based activities have been identified, including lack of outreach, discrimination or the perceived potential for discrimination, cultural differences, economic...

  3. The Relationship Between Cultural Sensitivity and Assertiveness in Nursing Students from Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kılıç, Serap Parlar; Sevinç, Sibel

    2017-07-01

    As foreigners live in and visit Turkey for various reasons, it is essential to provide culturally appropriate health care. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between cultural sensitivity and assertiveness in university nursing students. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at two universities in the cities of Kilis and Elazığ, Turkey. The study sample consisted of 444 nursing students. Data collection tools included a questionnaire about participant sociodemographic characteristics, Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, and the Rathus Assertiveness Scale. The mean age of participants was 21.09 years. Most students (71.6%) were female and 34.7% of the students stayed at the hostel. Of the students, 44.4%, 27.5%, and 28.2% attended were the second-, third-, and fourth-year students, respectively. Participants were asked about problems related to caring for patients who speak different languages. The mean score for the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale was 89.42 ± 13.55 and the total score for all students for the Assertiveness Scale was 112.64 ± 15.61. We identified a positive relationship between total scores for the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and the Assertiveness Scale ( p assertiveness and year of nursing education and want to work overseas. Nursing students at both schools had a moderate level of cultural sensitivity and assertiveness. It has been determined that as assertiveness level of the students increased, intercultural sensitivity of them also increased. Consequently, it is concluded that training as assertive and self-confident individuals during the nursing education of students has a contribution to making patient-specific and culture-sensitive care.

  4. Perceived Effectiveness of Elder Abuse Interventions in Psychological Distress and the Design of Culturally Adapted Interventions: A Qualitative Study in the Chinese Community in Chicago

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    XinQi Dong

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This qualitative study examines US Chinese older adults’ views on the perceived effectiveness, challenges, and cultural adaptations of elder abuse interventions to psychological distress in the Chinese community in Chicago. A community-based participatory research approach was implemented to partner with the Chinese community. A total of 37 community-dwelling Chinese older adults (age 60+ participated in focus group discussions. Data analysis was based on grounded theory framework. Our findings suggest that older adults perceived social support, empowerment, and community-based interventions design as most effective to promote psychological well-being of victims. The perceived preferences were similar between elder abuse victims and non-victims. Strategies to culturally adapt evidence-based interventions were proposed with respect to nurturing filial piety values, familial integrations, and increased independence. Research and educational outreach initiatives were also discussed. This study has wide policy and practice implications for designing and deploying interventions to reduce psychological distress with respect to elder abuse outcome. Cultural relevancy of health interventions is important in the context of the Chinese communities. Collective federal, state, and community efforts are needed to support the culturally appropriate design and implementation of interventions suitable for the needs of the Chinese older adults.

  5. Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity into Interactive Entertainment-Education for Diabetes Self-Management Designed for Hispanic Audiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kline, Kimberly N; Montealegre, Jane R; Rustveld, Luis O; Glover, Talar L; Chauca, Glori; Reed, Brian C; Jibaja-Weiss, Maria L

    2016-06-01

    Diabetes self-management education can improve outcomes in adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, Hispanics, a group that carries a large burden of disease, may not participate in diabetes education programs. Audience engagement with entertainment-education has been associated with improved health education outcomes and may engage and empower Hispanic users to active self-care. Successful use of entertainment-education relies on the use of characters and situations with whom the viewers can feel some sense of involvement and for Hispanic audiences is encouraged when storylines and characters are culturally sensitive. In this study, we used a mixed methods approach that included descriptive statistics of closed-ended and content analysis of open-ended questions to measure the cultural sensitivity of the telenovela portion of a novel technology-based application called Sugar, Heart, and Life (SHL). Specifically, we analyzed the responses of 123 male and female patients diagnosed with uncontrolled T2DM to determine viewer involvement with characters and situations in the telenovela, viewer perceived self-efficacy in following recommendations, as well as viewer satisfaction with the program. Our findings indicate that the SHL application achieved its goal of creating a user-friendly program that depicted realistic, culturally sensitive characters and storylines that resonated with Hispanic audiences and ultimately fostered perceived self-efficacy related to following recommendations given about healthy lifestyle changes for diabetes self-management. These findings suggest that the SHL application is a culturally sensitive health education intervention for use by Hispanic male and female individuals that may empower them in self-management of T2DM.

  6. A View of Professional Learning Communities through Three Frames: Leadership, Organization, and Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullen, Carol A.; Schunk, Dale H.

    2010-01-01

    In this discussion of professional learning communities (PLCs) in North American public schools, we examine three theoretical frames--leadership, organization, and culture. Issues related to learning are infused throughout our presentation of the frames. Based on our analysis of the current literature on this topic, PLCs offer a promising tool for…

  7. Delivering culturally sensitive health messages: the process of adapting brochures for grandparents raising grandchildren in Hawai'i.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yancura, Loriena A

    2010-05-01

    The efficacy of programs to reduce health disparities depends on their ability to deliver messages in a culturally sensitive manner. This article describes the process of designing a series of brochures for grandparents raising grandchildren. National source material on topics important to grandparents (self-care, service use, addiction, and grandchildren's difficult behaviors) was put into draft brochures and pilot tested in two focus groups drawn from Native Hawaiian Asian and Pacific Islander populations. Elements of surface and deep levels directed the form and content of the final brochures. On a surface level, these brochures reflect local culture through pictures and language. On a deep level, which integrates cultural beliefs and practices, they reflect the importance of indirect communication and harmonious relationships. The final brochures have been received favorably in the community. The process of adapting educational material with attention to surface and deep levels can serve as a guide for other health promotion materials.

  8. Index of Cultural Significance as a Potential Tool for Conservation of Plants Diversity by Communities in The Kerinci Seblat National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asvic Helida

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The Kerinci community is an Indonesian indigenous people who live in Kerinci Regency, Jambi Province. They have local knowledge of the surrounding vegetation that has become a cultural unifying factor within the community. The study reported here aimed to analyze the importance of plants of particular cultural significance and to review efforts to conserve these plants based on Kerinci cultural values. The study was conducted for eight months from October 2013 to May 2014 at three locations chosen purposively, they were Lempur Baru Village, Lama Tamiai Village and Ulu Jernih Village. The data was obtained using a participatory observation approach, based on key informant interviews, while the assessment of plant distribution was based on a whole-of-community viewpoint. The research data consisted of data on the botany of the plants, on the utilization of the plants and on assessment of plant distribution. Analysis of data for 234 plant species used a formula for index of cultural significance (ICS adopted from Turner (1988. The study showed that rice (Oryza sativa L. and cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanni (Nees & T.Nees Blume are important plant species with values for the Cultural Index of 59 and 57 respectively, while the species known as 'inggu' (Ruta angustifolia (L. Pers had the lowest ICS, of 3. The 'Tri-Stimulus Amar' conservation analysis developed by Zuhud (2007 is seen as a useful model for considering the cultural values that motivate the Kerinci community's plant conservation actions.

  9. The Banyamulenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo: A cultural community in the making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.L. Rukundwa

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available In recent years the name Banyamulenge has become associated with a warrior group in Eastern Congo because of the role some of its community members played in the war against the Mobutu regime. Researchers have been intrigued by the political motivations which unfortunately do not cover the cultural aspects of this community. This article attempts to document the cultural heritage of the Banyamulenge community. Many of the practices and traditions have become obsolete. The article explains the Banyamulenge cultural way of living, and how the divine was traditionally revealed to them in the form of human deities. Burnt sacrifice was part of community worship. The article documents what has been learnt from elders about the oral tradition, the cultural and religious realities of the community.

  10. Community-based dental education and the importance of faculty development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAndrew, Maureen

    2010-09-01

    Community-based dental education offers a variety of positive learning experiences for students while providing needed dental services for the underserved. More dental students are being instructed by a growing body of largely volunteer community-based faculty who practice in a wide range of community settings including community hospitals and clinics, nursing homes, and private practices. These geographically dispersed instructors may have little experience as educators. Their practice styles and their motivation to improve teaching effectiveness are likely to differ from the styles and motivation of school-based faculty members. Moreover, many dental schools have begun to emphasize practices that may be unfamiliar to community-based faculty such as evidence-based practice. Providing faculty development for them is challenging, yet crucial to the success of these programs and dental education in general. Fundamental elements that must be considered for effective community faculty development programming include fostering a culture of respect between school-based and community faculty members, basing programs on the actual needs of these educators, integrating principles of adult learning theory, and establishing ongoing institutional support. This article provides background on this movement, reviews the literature for faculty development programs geared specifically to community-based educators, makes recommendations for development programs for these dental educators, and includes suggestions for future research.

  11. value-sensitive clinical accompaniment in community nursing science

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2010-11-05

    Nov 5, 2010 ... negative effects on clinical learning in community nursing science. The goal of this ..... such positive effect of value-sensitive communication during clinical .... computer games the whole morning; it was unpleasant);. 'Ons [die ...

  12. Incorporating Campus-Based Cultural Resources into Humanities Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Traver, Amy E.; Nedd, Rolecia

    2018-01-01

    In this article, the authors reviewed one effort to deepen students' connections to the humanities through the use of campus-based cultural resources at Queensborough Community College (QCC) of the City University of New York (CUNY), a minority-serving institution in one of the most diverse counties in the United States. Focusing specifically on…

  13. Mediating Effect of School Nurses' Self Efficacy between Multicultural Attitude and Cultural Sensitivity in Korean Elementary Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suk, Min Hyun; Oh, Won Oak; Im, Yeo Jin; Cho, Hun Ha

    2015-09-01

    This study examined the mediating effect of school nurses' self efficacy, which is one of the significant cognitive factors influencing cultural sensitivity, on the mutual relationships between multicultural attitude and cultural sensitivity in Korean elementary schools. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. Participants were 157 school nurses in elementary schools located in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The survey instruments included Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey, Teacher Efficacy Scale, and Multicultural Sensitivity Scale. Data were analyzed using three regression equations to test the mediation model. The mean score of the school nurses' cultural sensitivity was relatively low. A positive correlation among multicultural attitude, self efficacy, and cultural sensitivity was noted. Self efficacy of school nurses showed a significant mediating effect on the relationships between multicultural attitude and cultural sensitivity. Given the meaningful influence of positive multicultural attitude on cultural sensitivity and significant mediator effect of self efficacy as a school nurse between the two variables, the strategies to cultivate a positive multicultural attitude and enhance school nurses' self efficacy in their unique role should be considered in a training program. School nurses' health care services will benefit from the improvement of cultural sensitivity toward young children from multicultural families. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Forum: cultural identity and (dis)continuities of children of immigrant communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obsiye, Mohamed; Cook, Rachel

    2016-12-01

    Susan Harper's study centres on `funds of knowledge' as a pedagogical resource for the development of a science curriculum, drawing on Karen refugee parents' cultural knowledge and identity. She argues that engagement in this process helps the parent generation of this community to `rebuild their cultural resilience' and cope with the resettlement process (p. 43). Drawing on our own research with Somali, Sierra Leonean and Nigerian diaspora communities in London, the following article extends this discussion with a particular focus on the intricate intergenerational dynamics between children and their parents' generation in relation to cultural identity development though engagement with education.

  15. Madrasah Culture Based Transformational Leadership Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nur Khoiri

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Leadership is the ability to influence, direct behavior, and have a particular expertise in the field of the group who want to achieve the goals. A dynamic organization requires transformational leadership model. A school principal as a leader at school aims to actualize good learning leadership. Leadership learning focuses on learning which components include curriculum, teaching and learning process, assessment, teacher assessment and development, good service in learning, and developing a learning community in schools based on organizational culture as value, assumption, belief evolved from the roots of member thought of the organization and believed by all members of the organization and implemented in everyday life that could give meaning Keywords: leadership, transformational leadership, headmaster, instructional leadership, organizational culture.

  16. Interdisciplinary linkage of community psychology and cross-cultural psychology: history, values, and an illustrative research and action project on intimate partner violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mankowski, Eric S; Galvez, Gino; Glass, Nancy

    2011-03-01

    An analysis of the respective organizational histories, missions, and scholarly activity of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology and the Society for Community Research and Action was conducted in order to inform the development of interdisciplinary linkages between members of the two organizations. The analysis revealed many points of shared values and actions, as well as some important differences. Both scholarly organizations developed out of a similar historical and cultural zeitgeist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The missions emphasize the role of culture/diversity in psychological phenomena, adopting an interdisciplinary orientation, the value of collaboration, the importance of research method and ethics, and the value of action research. However, community psychology generally lacks an adequate treatment of cultural phenomena while cross-cultural psychology often fails to draw on community and participatory methods useful for understanding culture in context. These common roots and differences are examined. Finally, we describe a community based, participatory research and intervention project to address intimate partner violence among Latinos and European-Americans living in Oregon. Analysis of the research process and on some of our initial findings illustrates challenges and potential benefits of an interdisciplinary, cultural community psychology.

  17. World Culture and ICT use – a Study from Bhutan

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zander, Pär-Ola Mikael; Choeda, Choeda; Dukpa, Dorji

    2015-01-01

    The HCI community has recognized the importance of culture and to be culturally sensitive when designing interaction. Local culture should not be overlooked when designing. On the other hand, recent advances in theorizing of cultural patterns have reported that in some sectors, World Cultures has...

  18. Focus Groups in Qualitative Research: Culturally Sensitive Methodology for the Arabian Gulf?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    This article explores whether focus groups can constitute a culturally sensitive method of data gathering for educational leadership, management and related areas in a Gulf-Arab cultural context. Reviewing the literature on focus groups and cross-cultural psychology for the Arab region, it identifies key notions related to societal values such as…

  19. Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Zapka

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one’s own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water. We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples (P < 0.001; we were unable to detect changes with glove-based samples. Bacterial cell counts significantly decreased with use of the ABHS (P < 0.05 and ethanol control (P < 0.05. Skin hydration at baseline correlated with bacterial abundances, bacterial community composition, pH, and redness across subjects. The importance of the method choice was substantial. These findings are important to ensure improvement of hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research.

  20. Community Attitudes towards Culture-Influenced Mental Illness: Scrupulosity vs. Nonreligious OCD among Orthodox Jews

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirutinsky, Steven; Rosmarin, David H.; Pargament, Kenneth I.

    2009-01-01

    Culture may particularly influence community attitudes towards mental illness, when the illness itself is shaped by a cultural context. To explore the influence of culture-specific, religious symptoms on Orthodox Jewish community attitudes, the authors compared the attitudes of 169 Orthodox Jews, who randomly viewed one of two vignettes describing…

  1. Culture-sensitive neural substrates of human cognition: a transcultural neuroimaging approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Shihui; Northoff, Georg

    2008-08-01

    Our brains and minds are shaped by our experiences, which mainly occur in the context of the culture in which we develop and live. Although psychologists have provided abundant evidence for diversity of human cognition and behaviour across cultures, the question of whether the neural correlates of human cognition are also culture-dependent is often not considered by neuroscientists. However, recent transcultural neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that one's cultural background can influence the neural activity that underlies both high- and low-level cognitive functions. The findings provide a novel approach by which to distinguish culture-sensitive from culture-invariant neural mechanisms of human cognition.

  2. Integrative Report on a culture-sensitive quality & curriculum framework

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sylva, Kathy; Ereky-Stevens, Katharina; Pastori, Giulia; Slot, P.L.; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina

    This report draws together research findings that support a comprehensive culture-sensitive European curriculum and quality assessment framework that can inform practice, teacher education and policy. The aim of this integrative report is to inform the development of a comprehensive,

  3. Teaching Strategies and Practices that Promote a Culturally Sensitive Nursing Education: A Delphi Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewald, Robin J.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore teaching strategies that promote a culturally sensitive nursing education and culturally sensitive nursing. The diversity of Americans has increased. Thus, the nursing student population and patient population have both become more diverse. Nursing education programs, therefore, need to know the best…

  4. Reliability of direct sensitivity determination of blood cultures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noman, F.; Ahmed, A.

    2008-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the error in interpreting antimicrobial sensitivity by direct method when compared to standard method and find out if specific antibiotic-organism combination had more discrepancies. All blood culture samples received at Microbiology Laboratory from 1st July 2006 to 31st August 2006 were ncluded in the study. All samples were inoculated in automated blood culture system BACTEC 9240 which contained enriched Soybean-Casein Digest broth with CO/sub 2/. Once positive, bottles were removed from system; gram staining of the positive broths was done. Susceptibility test was performed from positive broth, on MHA (Mueller-Hinton Agar), with antibiotics panel according to gram stain result. All positive broths were also sub-cultured on blood agar, chocolate agar and McConkey agar for only gram-negative rods. Next day, the zone sizes of all antibiotics were recorded using measuring scale and at the same time susceptibility test was repeated from isolated colonies from subcultures, with inoculums prepared of McFarland 0.5 standard 0.2 Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213); E.coli (ATCC 25922) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) were included as quality control strain. Zone sizes were interpreted as sensitive (S), resistant (R) and intermediate (I) according to CLSI recommendation. Two results were compared and recorded. Out of a total 1083 combinations, zone diameters by standard method were either equal or greater than direct zone diameter (never smaller). Most of the discrepancies were in b-lactam/b-lactamase combinations and aminoglycosides. While reporting these groups of antibiotics with direct sensitivity test, one should be cautious. These are the major antibiotic used for life-threatening infections. In case of being heavy/lighter standard inoculums or marginal zones, repeating with standard method should be preferred to minimize the chances of error. (author)

  5. Examining physical activity service provision to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD communities in Australia: a qualitative evaluation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina M Caperchione

    Full Text Available Strong evidence exists for the role of physical activity in preventing and managing a range of chronic health conditions. A particular challenge in promoting physical activity as a health strategy exists in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD groups, as such groups demonstrate high risk for a range of non-communicable diseases. The aim of this research was to examine the perspective of multicultural health service providers for CALD groups with respect to the physical activity services/initiatives on offer, access barriers to these services, and ideas for future service delivery in this area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 multicultural health service providers across the capital cities of the three most populous states in Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, and thematic content analysis was used to examine the data. Findings indicated that the majority of physical activity initiatives were associated with organizations offering other social services for CALD communities but were greatly restrained by resources. As well, it was found that most services were not designed by taking into account specific cultural requirements for CALD communities or their cultural expectations. Common barriers identified to service uptake were classified as socio-cultural (e.g., gender, language, context of health and environmental (e.g., transportation in nature. These findings should be utilized when planning future physical activity and health promotion initiatives for increasing CALD participation. In particular, programs need to be culturally tailored to the specific expectations of CALD groups, addressing cultural safety and sensitivity, and should be in partnership with other organizations to extend the reach and capacity.

  6. Transforming community members into diabetes cultural health brokers: the Neighborhood Health Talker project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadzow, Renee B; Craig, Mary; Rowe, Jimmy; Kahn, Linda S

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate a community-based diabetes education pilot project. The Neighborhood Health Talker project aimed to train and implement cultural health brokers primarily targeting communities of color to improve community members' diabetes knowledge and diabetes self-management skills. A secondary aim was to establish diabetes resource libraries accessible to communities that normally experience barriers to these resources. Recruited community members completed 1 week of formal training developed by a multidisciplinary team in Buffalo, NY. The effect of training was evaluated through the use of baseline surveys, a pretest/posttest covering all training content, and daily quizzes evaluating knowledge relevant to each of the five training modules. Trained NHTs then held at least five community conversations in various locations and administered anonymous postconversation surveys to participants. Descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis techniques were used to summarize test, quiz, and survey results. Twelve women and 1 man completed the training program. Working alone as well as in pairs, each held at least five community conversations reaching over 700 community members of all ages over 3 months and established 8 diabetes resource libraries in the community. All trainees increased their diabetes knowledge and confidence as well as their abilities to perform the tasks of a cultural health broker. Trainees also indicated that the goals they set at training initiation were met. The training was successful in increasing trainee knowledge and confidence about diabetes prevention and self-management. Participants not only developed proficiency in discussing diabetes, they also made important lifestyle changes that demonstrated their commitment to the cause and the project. Low-cost initiatives like this are easily reproducible in other communities of color and could be modified to meet the needs of other communities as well.

  7. Engaging First Nation and Inuit communities in asthma management and control: assessing cultural appropriateness of educational resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latycheva, O; Chera, R; Hampson, C; Masuda, J R; Stewart, M; Elliott, S J; Fenton, N E

    2013-01-01

    Asthma is a growing concern in First Nations and Inuit communities. As with many health indicators and outcomes, Aboriginal peoples living in remote areas experience greater disparities in respiratory health compared with non-Aboriginal Canadians. Therefore, it is critically important to take into account their unique needs when developing asthma educational materials and resources. The purpose of this study is to assess the cultural relevance of existing asthma education materials for First Nations and Inuit peoples. Five First Nations and Inuit communities from across Canada participated in the project. A combination of quantitative evaluations (eg surveys) and qualitative approaches (eg open discussion, live chats) were used to assess printed and web-based asthma education materials. Participants represented First Nations and Inuit communities from across Canada and were selected on the basis of age and role: 6 to 12 years old (children), 12 and over (youth), parents and grandparents, community leaders and teachers, and community advisory group members. In general, the results showed that although participants of all age categories liked the selection of asthma educational materials and resources, they identified pictures and images related to First Nations and Inuit people living and coping with asthma as ways of improving cultural relevance. This reinforces findings that tailoring materials to include Aboriginal languages, ceremonies and traditions would enhance their uptake. Our findings also demonstrate that visually based content in both printed and virtual form were the preferred style of learning of all participants, except young children who preferred to learn through play and interactive activities. Asthma is a growing concern in First Nations and Inuit communities. Given this concern, it is essential to understand cultural needs and preferences when developing asthma education materials and resources. The findings from this research emphasize the need

  8. Bacterial Isolates andAntibiotic Sensitivity in Community Acquired ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective: The objective of the studywas to determine bacterial causes of community acquired pneumonia and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern amongst patients admitted intomedicalwards inAminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria Methods: The study incorporated patients aged fifteen years and above admitted into ...

  9. Restoring the Balance: First Nations Women, Community, and Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María del Carmen Rodríguez de France

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available With empowering stories and histories from twelve Aboriginal women who are leaders in different contexts and communities, the book acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of Aboriginal women to diverse fields of work and disciplines such as art, culture, politics, language, law, community, education, and social activism. About the Authors Eric Guimond is an assistant director at the Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Gail Guthrie Valaskakis was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Concordia University and was a leading authority on Aboriginal Media and Communication. She passed away in 2007. Madeleine Dion Stout is a former nurse and founding director of the Centre of Aboriginal Education, Research, and Culture at Carleton University.

  10. Safety culture relationships with hospital nursing sensitive metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Diane Storer; Wolosin, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Public demand for safer care has catapulted the healthcare industry's efforts to understand relationships between patient safety and hospital performance. This study explored linkages between staff perceptions of safety culture (SC) and ongoing measures of hospital nursing unit-based structures, care processes, and adverse patient outcomes. Relationships between nursing-sensitive measures of hospital performance and SC were explored at the unit-level from 9 California hospitals and 37 nursing units. SC perceptions were measured 6 months prior to collection of nursing metrics and relationships between the two sets of data were explored using correlational and regression analyses. Significant relationships were found with reported falls and process measures for fall prevention. Multiple associations were identified with SC and the structure of care delivery: skill mix, staff turnover, and workload intensity demonstrated significant relationships with SC, explaining 22-45% of the variance. SC was an important factor to understand in the quest to advance safe patient care. These findings have affordability and care quality implications for hospital leadership. When senior leaders prioritized a safety culture, patient outcomes may have improved with less staff turnover and more productivity. A business case could be made for investing in patient safety systems to provide reliably safe care. © 2013 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

  11. Development of an Inventory for Health-Care Office Staff to Self-Assess Their Patient-Centered Cultural Sensitivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolyn M. Tucker

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Patient-centered culturally sensitive health care (PC-CSHC is a best practice approach for improving health-care delivery to culturally diverse populations and reducing health disparities. Despite patients’ report that cultural sensitivity by health-care office staff is an important aspect of PC-CSHC, the majority of available research on PC-CSHC focuses exclusively on health-care providers. This may be due in part to the paucity of instruments available to assess the cultural sensitivity of health-care office staff. The objective of the present study is to determine the psychometric properties of the Tucker-Culturally Sensitive Health Care Office Staff Inventory-Self-Assessment Form (T-CSHCOSI-SAF. This instrument is designed to enable health-care office staff to self-assess their level of agreement that they display behaviors and attitudes that culturally diverse patients have identified as office staff cultural sensitivity indicators. Methods: A sample of 510 health-care office staff were recruited at 67 health-care sites across the United States. These health-care office staff anonymously completed the T-CSHCOSI-SAF and a demographic data questionnaire. Results and Level of Evidence: Confirmatory factor analyses of the T-CSHCOSI-SAF revealed that this inventory has 2 factors with high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s αs= .916 and .912. Conclusion and Implications: The T-CSHCOSI-SAF is a useful inventory for health-care office staff to assess their own level of patient-centered cultural sensitivity. Such self-assessment data can be used in the development and implementation of trainings to promote patient-centered cultural sensitivity of health-care office staff and to help draw the attention of these staff to displaying patient-centered cultural sensitivity.

  12. The clinical spectrum and antibiotic sensitivity patterns of staphylococcal pyodermas in the community and hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shireen Furtado

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: The uncontrolled use of antibiotics has resulted in a relentless spread of multiresistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. There are studies conducted in medical colleges in Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai and Vellore comparing pyodermas in the community and hospital setting based on clinical and bacteriological parameters. Aims: This study, conducted over 1½ years from March 2009 to August 2010, aimed at analyzing the clinical spectrum and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of community and hospital-associated (HA staphylococcal pyoderma. It also assessed the prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA in the community and hospital cohort settings. Subjects and Methods: The study comprised of 200 cases of staphylococcal pyodermas, derived from the community (150 cases and hospital (50 cases. Patients were evaluated based on their clinical presentation; antibiotic susceptibility was tested using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical significance between individual attributes between the community and HA staphylococcal pyoderma groups was analyzed using Chi-square test and mean differences using student′s t-test. Results: Factors associated with community-associated (CA pyodermas were young age (P = 0.0021, primary pyodermas, and involvement of extremities, while those with HA pyodermas were middle age, secondary pyodermas, and significantly increased body surface involvement (P = 0.041. Incidence of CA-MRSA was 11.3%, while that of HA-MRSA was 18%. Conclusions: A high level of resistance to first-line drugs such as penicillin, ciprofloxacin and cotrimoxazole was observed, more so in the hospital strain than in the community strain. S. aureus demonstrated good susceptibility to cephalosporins. Though the two strains of MRSA differed clinically, they showed 100% sensitivity to vancomycin and linezolid.

  13. Rural Tourism at its Peak: Socio-Cultural Impacts towards Host Communities of Kinabalu Park, Sabah (Malaysian-Borneo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tangit Tania Maria

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The Kinabalu Park in Sabah (Malaysian-Borneo represents multiple tourism opportunities for its stakeholders, host communities and tourists. Being the first World Heritage Site in Malaysia endorsed by UNESCO since 2000, this nature-based tourism destination is a popular tourism destination in Malaysia, as well as in the Asia region. The designated study area includes villages nearby Kinabalu Park. Through the popularity of the park and various other attractions within the area, tourism activities contributes to socio-cultural impacts towards its host communities. The perceptions and attitudes of the locals towards tourism are identified and evaluated. By having the input of host communities as part of conserving tourism whilst meeting certain principles of sustainable tourism, the paper aims to attain interesting findings about the perceptions of the host communities towards socio-cultural impacts of tourism on their community. The paper further aims to recommend for the continuous improvement of sustainable tourism development at Kinabalu Park and its surroundings.

  14. Developing graduate student competency in providing culturally sensitive end of life care in critical care environments - a pilot study of a teaching innovation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northam, Holly L; Hercelinskyj, Gylo; Grealish, Laurie; Mak, Anita S

    2015-11-01

    Australia's immigration policy has generated a rich diverse cultural community of staff and patients in critical care environments. Many different cultural perspectives inform individual actions in the context of critical care, including the highly sensitive area of end of life care, with nurses feeling poorly prepared to provide culturally sensitive end of life care. This article describes and evaluates the effectiveness of an educational innovation designed to develop graduate-level critical care nurses' capacity for effective interpersonal communication, as members of a multi-disciplinary team in providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care. A mixed method pilot study was conducted using a curriculum innovation intervention informed by The Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership Program (EXCELL),(1) which is a higher education intervention which was applied to develop the nurses' intercultural communication skills. 12 graduate nursing students studying critical care nursing participated in the study. 42% (n=5) of the participants were from an international background. Information about students' cultural learning was recorded before and after the intervention, using a cultural learning development scale. Student discussions of end of life care were recorded at Week 2 and 14 of the curriculum. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative data was thematically analysed. Students demonstrated an increase in cultural learning in a range of areas in the pre-post surveys including understandings of cultural diversity, interpersonal skills, cross cultural interactions and participating in multicultural groups. Thematic analysis of the end of life discussions revealed an increase in the levels of nurse confidence in approaching end of life care in critical care environments. The EXCELL program provides an effective and supportive educational framework to increase graduate nurses' cultural learning

  15. Environmental context determines community sensitivity of freshwater zooplankton to a pesticide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stampfli, Nathalie C.; Knillmann, Saskia; Liess, Matthias; Beketov, Mikhail A.

    2011-01-01

    The environment is currently changing worldwide, and ecosystems are being exposed to multiple anthropogenic pressures. Understanding and consideration of such environmental conditions is required in ecological risk assessment of toxicants, but it remains basically limited. In the present study, we aimed to determine how and to what extent alterations in the abiotic and biotic environmental conditions can alter the sensitivity of a community to an insecticide, as well as its recovery after contamination. We conducted an outdoor microcosm experiment in which zooplankton communities were exposed to the insecticide esfenvalerate (0.03, 0.3, and 3 μg/L) under different regimes of solar radiation and community density, which represented different levels of food availability and competition. We focused on the sensitivity of the entire community and analysed it using multivariate statistical methods, such as principal response curves and redundancy analysis. The results showed that community sensitivity varied markedly between the treatments. In the experimental series with the lowest availability of food and strongest competition significant effects of the insecticide were found at the concentration of 0.03 μg/L. In contrast, in the series with relatively higher food availability and weak competition such effects were detected at 3 μg/L only. However, we did not find significant differences in the community recovery rates between the experimental treatments. These findings indicate that environmental context is more important for ecotoxicological evaluation than assumed previously.

  16. Community-based adaptation to climate change: an update

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ayers, Jessica; Huq, Saleemul

    2009-06-15

    Over a billion people - the world's poorest and most bulnerable communities – will bear the brunt of climate change. For them, building local capacity to cope is a vital step towards resilience. Community-based adaptation (CBA) is emerging as a key response to this challenge. Tailored to local cultures and conditions, CBA supports and builds on autonomous adaptations to climate variability, such as the traditional baira or floating gardens of Bangladesh, which help small farmers' crops survive climate-driven floods. Above all, CBA is participatory – a process involving both local stakeholders, and development and disaster risk reduction practitioners. As such, it builds on existing cultural norms while addressing local development issues that contribute to climate vulnerability. CBA is now gaining ground in many regions, and is ripe for the reassessment offered here.

  17. Ethics and Community-Based Participatory Research: Perspectives From the Field

    OpenAIRE

    Bastida, Elena M.; Tseng, Tung-Sung; McKeever, Corliss; Jack, Leonard

    2010-01-01

    Exploring the importance of ethical issues in the conduct of community-based participatory research (CBPR) continues to be an important topic for researchers and practitioners. This article uses the Beyond Sabor Project, a CBPR project implemented in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as a case example to discuss ethical issues such as the importance of increasing community involvement in research, ensuring that communities benefit from the research, sharing leadership roles, and sensitive issues r...

  18. Belonging to a community-based football team: an ethnographic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mynard, Lorrae; Howie, Linsey; Collister, Laura

    2009-08-01

    This study considered the benefits derived from participation in a community-based Australian Rules Football league in Melbourne, Australia. The RecLink league deliberately tackles the social and occupational disadvantages associated with mental illness, addictions, unemployment and homelessness. An ethnographic methodology was used to study one team from the RecLink football league throughout an entire season. Fieldnotes were written following participant observation at training, games and events, and five in-depth interviews were conducted and transcribed. A constant comparative approach to data analysis was adopted. Three major themes were identified: a spirit of inclusion, team-building and meaning of team involvement. The first describes how members were accepted, welcomed and given the opportunity for team involvement, with the expectation that they 'had a go', and 'tried their best'. The second illustrates how the team collectively fostered a culture of friendship, cooperation and support. The third examines the significance of being part of the team, incorporating personal contributions and gains, and meanings attributed to team involvement. These findings demonstrated how football can be used as non-clinical, community-based occupational therapy: enabling participation in a personally meaningful and culturally valued occupation. Occupational therapists are challenged to explore further how such community-based sports programs may complement existing clinical and welfare-based approaches to social disadvantage.

  19. Focus groups to increase the cultural acceptability of a contingency management intervention for American Indian and Alaska Native Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirchak, Katherine A; Leickly, Emily; Herron, Jalene; Shaw, Jennifer; Skalisky, Jordan; Dirks, Lisa G; Avey, Jaedon P; McPherson, Sterling; Nepom, Jenny; Donovan, Dennis; Buchwald, Dedra; McDonell, Michael G

    2018-07-01

    Many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people seek evidence-based, cost-effective, and culturally acceptable solutions for treating alcohol use disorders. Contingency management (CM) is a feasible, low-cost approach to treating alcohol use disorders that uses "reinforcers" to promote and support alcohol abstinence. CM has not been evaluated among AI/AN communities. This study explored the cultural acceptability of CM and adapted it for use in diverse AI/AN communities. We conducted a total of nine focus groups in three AI/AN communities: a rural reservation, an urban health clinic, and a large Alaska Native healthcare system. Respondents included adults in recovery, adults with current drinking problems, service providers, and other interested community members (n = 61). Focus group questions centered on the cultural appropriateness of "reinforcers" used to incentivize abstinence and the cultural acceptability of the intervention. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded independently by two study team members using both a priori and emergent codes. We then analyzed coded data. Across all three locations, focus group participants described the importance of providing both culturally specific (e.g., bead work and cultural art work supplies), as well as practical (e.g., gas cards and bus passes) reinforcers. Focus group participants underscored the importance of providing reinforcers for the children and family of intervention participants to assist with reengaging with family and rebuilding trust that may have been damaged during alcohol use. Respondents indicated that they believed CM was in alignment with AI/AN cultural values. There was consensus that Elders or a well-respected community member implementing this intervention would enhance participation. Focus group participants emphasized use of the local AI/AN language, in addition to the inclusion of appropriate cultural symbols and imagery in the delivery of the intervention. A CM

  20. Haloxyfop mode of action in liquid cultures of proso millet: An analysis of haloxyfop sensitivity changes during growth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irzyk, G.P.

    1989-01-01

    Haloxyfop is a grass-selective herbicide that inhibits acetyl-CoA carboxylase in species that are not tolerant to the herbicide. Liquid cultures of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) cells treated with haloxyfop at different phases of growth exhibited different levels of sensitivity to the herbicide. Treatment of 1-d cultures with 1 μM haloxyfop completely inhibited growth within 48 h. In contrast, 1 mM haloxyfop was required to elicit a similar response in 4-, 7-, or 10-d cultures. Calculated IC 50 values indicated a 300-fold decrease in haloxyfop sensitivity during the period from 1 to 4 d. This period of growth coincided with the greatest increase in cell number during culture growth and suggested that dividing cells are most sensitive to haloxyfop. Uptake and metabolism of 14 C-haloxyfop in 1-d and 4-d cultures were compared. In both cultures, amounts of radiolabel uptake were similar. Almost all radioactivity extracted from 1- and 4-d cells was present as the parent compound. These results suggested that the sensitivity change was related to other factors. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity of proso millet cells, measured in vitro by the acetyl-CoA-dependent incorporation of 14 C-bicarbonate into an acid-stable product, was essentially constant during culture growth. Micromolar concentrations of haloxyfop significantly inhibited acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity from both sensitive and insensitive cultures. Thus, the change in the sensitivity of cultures to haloxyfop was not correlated with changes in acetyl-CoA carboxylase abundance, activity, or sensitivity to haloxyfop during culture growth. In vivo incorporation of 14 C-acetate into lipids was decreased by 1 μM haloxyfop in both 1-d and 4-d cultures at the earliest sampling times but the amount of inhibition was significantly greater in the sensitive cultures

  1. University-Community Partnerships: Bridging People and Cultures in an HIV/AIDS Health Intervention in an African American Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Maxine Seaborn; Head, Rachel; Rikard, R. V.; McNeil, Carlotta; White, Caressa

    2012-01-01

    As universities become more involved in real-world problems that affect racial and ethnic communities, university members are identifying strategies to effectively work with culturally diverse community partners. The Communities and Health Disparities Project described in this article is an example of collaborative scholarship that engages the…

  2. A community-based program evaluation of community competency trainings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanssmann, Christoph; Morrison, Darius; Russian, Ellery; Shiu-Thornton, Sharyne; Bowen, Deborah

    2010-01-01

    Transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals encounter a multitude of barriers to accessing clinically and culturally competent health care. One strategy to increase the quality and competence of care delivery is workplace trainings. This study describes a community-based program for the evaluation of this type of training. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research team assessed the effectiveness of three competency trainings administered by a local nonprofit organization in the Northwest United States. Quantitative data indicated a significant shift in self-assessed knowledge associated with completion of the training. Qualitative data confirmed this result and revealed a number of important themes about the effect of the trainings on providers and their ability to implement knowledge and skills in practice. Clinical considerations are proposed for providers who seek similar trainings and who aim to increase clinical and cultural competency in delivering care to transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and clients.

  3. Comparison of the sensitivity of typhi dot test with blood culture in typhoid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rizvi, Q [Hamdard College of Medicine, Karachi (Pakistan). Dept. of Pharmacology

    2006-10-15

    To evaluate the sensitivity of Typhi Dot test in comparison to Blood Culture for the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever in our setup. Fifty patients who fulfilled the clinical criteria of having Typhoid Fever. The data of all the patients was documented, and they were submitted to the Typhi Dot and Blood Culture tests, apart from other routine investigations. Out of the total 50 patients, 47(94%) had their Blood Culture positive for Typhoid bacillus, while in 49 (98%) the Typhi Dot test was positive. Two patients which were found positive on Typhi dot test, gave negative results on Blood Culture. One patient with the signs and symptoms of Typhoid Fever was found neither positive on Typhi Dot test nor upon Blood Culture. There was no significant difference between the results of Blood Culture and Typhi Dot test in the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever. However, Typhi Dot has the advantages of being less expensive and quicker in giving results with excellent sensitivity. (author)

  4. Comparison of the sensitivity of typhi dot test with blood culture in typhoid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rizvi, Q.

    2006-01-01

    To evaluate the sensitivity of Typhi Dot test in comparison to Blood Culture for the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever in our setup. Fifty patients who fulfilled the clinical criteria of having Typhoid Fever. The data of all the patients was documented, and they were submitted to the Typhi Dot and Blood Culture tests, apart from other routine investigations. Out of the total 50 patients, 47(94%) had their Blood Culture positive for Typhoid bacillus, while in 49 (98%) the Typhi Dot test was positive. Two patients which were found positive on Typhi dot test, gave negative results on Blood Culture. One patient with the signs and symptoms of Typhoid Fever was found neither positive on Typhi Dot test nor upon Blood Culture. There was no significant difference between the results of Blood Culture and Typhi Dot test in the diagnosis of Typhoid Fever. However, Typhi Dot has the advantages of being less expensive and quicker in giving results with excellent sensitivity. (author)

  5. Community violence exposure and substance use: cross-cultural and gender perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Löfving-Gupta, Sandra; Willebrand, Mimmie; Koposov, Roman; Blatný, Marek; Hrdlička, Michal; Schwab-Stone, Mary; Ruchkin, Vladislav

    2018-04-01

    The negative effects of community violence exposure on child and adolescent mental health are well documented and exposure to community violence has been linked both to a number of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Our aim was, therefore, to investigate cross-cultural and gender differences in the relationship between community violence exposure and substance abuse. A self-report survey was conducted among 10,575, 12-18 year old adolescents in three different countries, Czech Republic (N = 4537), Russia (N = 2377) and US (N = 3661). We found that in all three countries both substance use and problem behavior associated with it increased similarly along with severity of violence exposure and this association was not gender-specific. It was concluded that in spite of the differences in the levels of violence exposure and substance use cross-culturally and by gender, the pattern of their association is neither culturally nor gender bound.

  6. A novel chemotherapeutic sensitivity-testing system based on collagen gel droplet embedded 3D-culture methods for hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Jun; Hong, Zhixian; Feng, Fan; Chai, Yantao; Zhang, Yunkai; Jiang, Qiyu; Hu, Yan; Wu, Shunquan; Wu, Yingsong; Gao, Xunian; Chen, Qiong; Wan, Yong; Bi, Jingfeng; Zhang, Zheng

    2017-11-08

    Patients suffering from advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often exhibit a poor prognosis or dismal clinical outcomes due to ineffective chemotherapy or a multi-drug resistance (MDR) process. Thus, it is urgent to develop a new chemotherapeutic sensitivity testing system for HCC treatment. The presence study investigated the potential application of a novel chemotherapeutic sensitivity-testing system based on a collagen gel droplet embedded 3D-culture system (CD-DST). Primary cells were separating from surgical resection specimens and then tested by CD-DST. To identify whether HCC cell lines or cells separating from clinical specimens contain MDR features, the cells were treated with an IC 50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) or IC max (maximal inhibitory concentration) concentration of antitumor agents, e.g., 5-furuolouracil (5-FU), paclitaxel (PAC), cisplatin (CDDP), epirubicin (EPI), or oxaliplatin (L-OHP), and the inhibitory rates (IRs) were calculated. HepG2 cells were sensitive to 5-FU, PAC, CDDP, EPI, or L-OHP; the IC 50 value is 0.83 ± 0.45 μg/ml, 0.03 ± 0.02 μg/ml, 1.15 ± 0.75 μg/ml, 0.09 ± 0.03 μg/ml, or 1.76 ± 0.44 μg/ml, respectively. Only eight (8/26), nine (9/26), or five (5/26) patients were sensitive to the IC max concentration of CDDP, EPI, or L-OHP; whereas only three (3/26), four (4/26), or two (2/26) patients were sensitive to the IC 50 concentration of CDDP, EPI, or L-OHP. No patients were sensitive to 5-FU or PAC. The in vitro drug sensitivity exanimation revealed the MDR features of HCC and examined the sensitivity of HCC cells from clinical specimens to anti-tumor agents. CD-DST may be a useful method to predict the potential clinical benefits of anticancer agents for HCC patients.

  7. The role of culture in substance abuse treatment programs for American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legha, Rupinder Kaur; Novins, Douglas

    2012-07-01

    Culture figures prominently in discussions regarding the etiology of alcohol and substance abuse in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities, and a substantial body of literature suggests that it is critical to developing meaningful treatment interventions. However, no study has characterized how programs integrate culture into their services. Furthermore, reports regarding the associated challenges are limited. Twenty key informant interviews with administrators and 15 focus groups with clinicians were conducted in 18 alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs serving AI/AN communities. Transcripts were coded to identify relevant themes. Substance abuse treatment programs for AI/AN communities are integrating culture into their services in two discrete ways: by implementing specific cultural practices and by adapting Western treatment models. More important, however, are the fundamental principles that shape these programs and their interactions with the people and communities they serve. These foundational beliefs and values, defined in this study as the core cultural constructs that validate and incorporate AI/AN experience and world view, include an emphasis on community and family, meaningful relationships with and respect for clients, a homelike atmosphere within the program setting, and an “open door” policy for clients. The primary challenges for integrating these cultural practices include AI/AN communities' cultural diversity and limited socioeconomic resources to design and implement these practices. The prominence of foundational beliefs and values is striking and suggests a broader definition of culture when designing services. This definition of foundational beliefs and values should help other diverse communities culturally adapt their substance abuse interventions in more meaningful ways.

  8. Pushing boundaries-culture-sensitive care in oncology and palliative care: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrank, Beate; Rumpold, Tamara; Amering, Michaela; Masel, Eva Katharina; Watzke, Herbert; Schur, Sophie

    2017-06-01

    In increasingly globalized societies, patient-centered cancer care requires culture-sensitive approaches in order to ensure patients well-being. While migrant patients' needs are frequently reported in the literature, staff members' perception of work with migrant patients, associated challenges, or individual work approaches are largely unknown. This study addresses this research gap through qualitative exploration of experiences of multicultural health care professionals in supportive oncology and palliative care, working with patients from different cultural backgrounds. This study aims to understand staff experience of the impact of culture on cancer care. This study was conducted at the Medical University of Vienna, including staff from different settings of oncology and palliative care, in different professional positions, and with a range of individual migration backgrounds. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 staff members working with patients from different cultural backgrounds. Interviews explored views on the impact of culture on care were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed using a rigorous method of thematic analysis, enhanced with grounded theory techniques. Interviews revealed 4 key topics: culture-specific differences, assumed reasons for differences, consequences of multicultural care, and tools for culture-sensitive care. Strategies to better deal with migrant patients and their families were suggested to improve work satisfaction amongst staff. This study identifies relevant staff challenges in work with migrant patients. Concrete suggestions for improvement include measures on an organizational level, team level, and personal tools. The suggested measures are applicable to improve work satisfaction and culture-sensitive care not only in cancer care but also in other areas of medicine. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Teachers' professional development in a community: A study of the central actors, their networks and web-based learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiri Lallimo

    2008-07-01

    community. Teachers' in-service training programs should be more sensitive to the culture of teacher communities and teachers' reciprocal relations. Further, teacher trainers should design teachers' in-service training of web-based learning in co-evolution with supporting networks which include the media and artefacts as well as people.

  10. Integrating Cultural Heritage into Contemporary Life. The Perspective of Local Communities: The Case of Arcadia, Greece

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra Lappa

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The current study aims to highlight the importance of integrating cultural heritage into contemporary life as a means to contribute to the economic and tourism development of a historical area and as an asset to local development. The study focuses on the cultural goods of Arcadia in central Peloponnese, Greece, an area of great history and rich architectural heritage, which gives a distinct cultural identity to the region. The overall objective of the current research is to describe how the different kinds of cultural benefits, derived by tourism, are perceived by the local community. A questionnaire based survey, conducted in Arcadia during the period 2012-2014, demonstrates that the locals strongly support the promotion of the architectural richness of the region in order to become an attraction for visitors, contributing both to the improvement of the quality of life, as well as the economic and tourism development of the area. The survey results confirm that cultural tourism is seen as an opportunity to contribute to the economic and cultural sustainability of the area and the local community. The implementation of a linear regression model shows that education is the key factor influencing the residents’ view regarding the promotion of cultural tourism in the region.

  11. Content validity and nursing sensitivity of community-level outcomes from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Head, Barbara J; Aquilino, Mary Lober; Johnson, Marion; Reed, David; Maas, Meridean; Moorhead, Sue

    2004-01-01

    To evaluate the content validity and nursing sensitivity of six community-level outcomes from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC; Johnson, Maas, & Moorhead, 2000). A survey research design was used. Questionnaires were mailed to 300 public health nursing experts; 102 nurses responded. Experts evaluated between 11 and 30 indicators for each of the six outcomes for: (a) importance of the indicators for measuring the outcome, and (b) influence of nursing on the indicators. Content validity and nursing sensitivity of the outcomes were estimated with a modified Fehring technique. All outcomes were deemed important; only Community Competence had an outcome content validity score < .80. The outcome sensitivity score for Community Health: Immunity was .80; other outcome scores ranged from .62-.70. Indicator ratios for all 102 indicators met the study criterion for importance, with 87% designated as critical and 13% as supplemental. Sensitivity ratios reflected judgments that 45% of the indicators were sensitive to nursing intervention. The study provided evidence of outcome content validity and nursing sensitivity of the study outcomes; further validation research is recommended, followed by testing of the study outcomes in clinical practice. Community-level nursing-sensitive outcomes will potentially enable study of the efficacy and effectiveness of public health interventions focused on improving health of populations and communities.

  12. Prostate Cancer Information Available in Health-Care Provider Offices: An Analysis of Content, Readability, and Cultural Sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Seul Ki; Seel, Jessica S; Yelton, Brooks; Steck, Susan E; McCormick, Douglas P; Payne, Johnny; Minter, Anthony; Deutchki, Elizabeth K; Hébert, James R; Friedman, Daniela B

    2018-07-01

    Prostate cancer (PrCA) is the most common cancer affecting men in the United States, and African American men have the highest incidence among men in the United States. Little is known about the PrCA-related educational materials being provided to patients in health-care settings. Content, readability, and cultural sensitivity of materials available in providers' practices in South Carolina were examined. A total of 44 educational materials about PrCA and associated sexual dysfunction was collected from 16 general and specialty practices. The content of the materials was coded, and cultural sensitivity was assessed using the Cultural Sensitivity Assessment Tool. Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, and the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook were used to assess readability. Communication with health-care providers (52.3%), side effects of PrCA treatment (40.9%), sexual dysfunction and its treatment (38.6%), and treatment options (34.1%) were frequently presented. All materials had acceptable cultural sensitivity scores; however, 2.3% and 15.9% of materials demonstrated unacceptable cultural sensitivity regarding format and visual messages, respectively. Readability of the materials varied. More than half of the materials were written above a high-school reading level. PrCA-related materials available in health-care practices may not meet patients' needs regarding content, cultural sensitivity, and readability. A wide range of educational materials that address various aspects of PrCA, including treatment options and side effects, should be presented in plain language and be culturally sensitive.

  13. Reflecting on the tensions faced by a community-based multicultural health navigator service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, Saras; Kendall, Elizabeth

    2014-11-01

    The community navigator model was developed to assist four culturally and linguistically diverse communities (Sudanese, Burmese, Pacific Islander Group, Afghani) in south-east Queensland to negotiate the Australian health system and promote health. Using participatory action research, we developed the model in partnership with community leaders and members, the local health department and two non-governmental organisations. Following implementation, we evaluated the model, with the results published elsewhere. However, our evaluation revealed that although the model was accepted by the communities and was associated with positive health outcomes, the financial, social and organisational durability of the model was problematic. Ironically, this situation was inadvertently created by critical decisions made during the development process to enhance the durability and acceptability of the model. This paper explores these critical decisions, our rationale for making those decisions and the four hidden tensions that subsequently emerged. Using a reflective case study method to guide our analysis, we provide possible resolutions to these tensions that may promote the longevity and utility of similar models in the future. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE TOPIC?: The use of community navigators to assist culturally diverse communities to access health services is not new. Many benefits have been documented for communities, individuals and heath service providers following the use of such models. What is not well documented is how to maintain these models in a safe and cost-effective way within the Australian health system while respecting cultural and community practices and reducing the burden of service delivery on the navigators. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD?: This paper provides a perspective on how the development of community-based service models inherently places them in a position of tension that must be resolved if they are to be long lasting. Four core tensions experienced

  14. Community-based research in action: tales from the Ktunaxa community learning centres project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stacy, Elizabeth; Wisener, Katherine; Liman, Yolanda; Beznosova, Olga; Lauscher, Helen Novak; Ho, Kendall; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    Rural communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, often have limited access to health information, a situation that can have significant negative consequences. To address the lack of culturally and geographically relevant health information, a community-university partnership was formed to develop, implement, and evaluate Aboriginal Community Learning Centres (CLCs). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the community-based research process used in the development of the CLCs. It focuses on the process of building relationships among partners and the CLC's value and sustainability. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including principal investigators, community research leads, and supervisors. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an open-coding process to identify themes. Key challenges included enacting shared project governance, negotiating different working styles, and hiring practices based on commitment to project objectives rather than skill set. Technological access provided by the CLCs increased capacity for learning and collective community initiatives, as well as building community leads' skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy. An important lesson was to meet all partners "where they are" in building trusting relationships and adapting research methods to fit the project's context and strengths. Successful results were dependent upon persistence and patience in working through differences, and breaking the project into achievable goals, which collectively contributed to trust and capacity building. The process of building these partnerships resulted in increased capacity of communities to facilitate learning and change initiatives, and the capacity of the university to engage in successful research partnerships with Aboriginal communities in the future.

  15. Kikiskawâwasow - prenatal healthcare provider perceptions of effective care for First Nations women: an ethnographic community-based participatory research study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oster, Richard T; Bruno, Grant; Montour, Margaret; Roasting, Matilda; Lightning, Rick; Rain, Patricia; Graham, Bonny; Mayan, Maria J; Toth, Ellen L; Bell, Rhonda C

    2016-08-11

    Pregnant Indigenous women suffer a disproportionate burden of risk and adverse outcomes relative to non-Indigenous women. Although there has been a call for improved prenatal care, examples are scarce. Therefore, we explored the characteristics of effective care with First Nations women from the perspective of prenatal healthcare providers (HCPs). We conducted an ethnographic community-based participatory research study in collaboration with a large Cree First Nations community in Alberta, Canada. We carried out semi-structured interviews with 12 prenatal healthcare providers (HCPs) that were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to qualitative content analysis. According to the participants, relationships and trust, cultural understanding, and context-specific care were key features of effective prenatal care and challenge the typical healthcare model. HCPs that are able to foster sincere, non-judgmental, and enjoyable interactions with patients may be more effective in treating pregnant First Nations women, and better able to express empathy and understanding. Ongoing HCP cultural understanding specific to the community served is crucial to trusting relationships, and arises from real experiences and learning from patients over and above relying only on formal cultural sensitivity training. Consequently, HCPs report being better able to adapt a more flexible, all-inclusive, and accessible approach that meets specific needs of patients. Aligned with the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, improving prenatal care for First Nations women needs to allow for genuine relationship building with patients, with enhanced and authentic cultural understanding by HCPs, and care approaches tailored to women's needs, culture, and context.

  16. Negotiating Culture, Economics and Community Politics: The Practice of Lei Yue Mun Tourism in Postcolonial Hong Kong

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shun-Hing Chan

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available This article is based on an on-going research project that examines how tourism is constructed in Hong Kong by using the specific tourist spot, Lei Yue Mun, as a case study. The article’s aim is to demonstrate how the local agents of a small, squatter-based community with a distinctive history and cultural traditions may, without making any claim to indigenousness or aboriginality, manage a local economy and engage in cultural negotiation at the metropolitan, national and global levels. Their economic practices lead the authors to enquire whether preservationism or invoking historical traditions from the margins is the most significant form or strategy of cultural tourism.

  17. Value-sensitive clinical accompaniment in community nursing science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonya Beukes

    2010-11-01

    The goal of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of students with regard to value-sensitive clinical accompaniment in the community nursing environment. An exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was used. Interactions between community nurses and students during clinical accompaniment were explored for value sensitivity by means of video recordings,participant observation and focus group interviews. Data were collected by means of video recordings, participant observation and focus group interviews. The data were analysed and coded by the researcher and the external coder, using an inductive descriptive method to identify important segments of the regularity of behaviour. The focus group interviews were transcribed, analysed and coded by the researcher and the external coder, using Tesch’s steps of analysis (Creswell 1994:155–156.Lincoln and Guba’s criteria (1985:290 for trustworthiness were applied to the study. The general findings indicate that clinical accompaniment in community nursing is not value sensitive and, as a result, guidelines for value-sensitive clinical accompaniment need to be developed for undergraduate students in the community nursing environment. The following values (values for which guidelines need to be developed were identified: respect during clinical accompaniment,value-sensitive communication and sensitivity to the quality of clinical accompaniment. Opsomming Kliniese gemeenskapsgesondheidsfasiliteite waar voorgraadse studente geplaas word vir gemeenskapsverpleegkundepraktika is dinamies en het groot veranderinge oor die laaste paar jare ondergaan. In die kliniese veld verteenwoordig gemeenskapsverpleegkundiges en voorgraadse studente verskillende rasse en taal- en etniese groepe in die Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking, elkeen met verskillende waardes. Albei partye – studente en gemeenskapsverpleegkundiges – het gerapporteer dat waardekonflik weens verskillende kulture en waardes tydens kliniese begeleiding

  18. Comparison of communication skills between trained and untrained students using a culturally sensitive nurse-client communication guideline in Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claramita, Mora; Tuah, Rodianson; Riskione, Patricia; Prabandari, Yayi Suryo; Effendy, Christantie

    2016-01-01

    A communication guideline that is sensitive to the local culture is influential in the process of nursing care. The Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline, the "Ready-Greet-Invite-Discuss," was meant (1) to strengthen the relationship between the nurse and the client despite of socio-culturally hierarchical gap between health providers and clients in Indonesian context, (2) to provide attention to the unspoken concerns especially in the context of indirect communication which mostly using non-verbal signs and politeness etiquettes, and (3) to initiate dialog in the society which hold a more community-oriented decision making. Our aim is to compare the communication skills of nursing students who had and had not received a training using a culture-sensitive Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline. This was a quasi experimental randomized control study to the fifth semester students of a nursing school at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The intervention group was trained by the Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline. Both intervention and the control group had learned general nurse-client communication guidelines. The training was 4h with role-plays, supportive information and feedback sessions. An objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) was conducted 1week after the training, in seven stations, with seven simulated clients. Observers judged the communication skills of the students using a checklist of 5-point Likert scale, whereas simulated clients judged their satisfaction using 4-point Likert scale represented in colorful ribbons. There were significant mean differences in each domain of communication guideline observed between the trained and the control groups as judged by the teachers (p≤0.05) and simulated clients. Training using a culture-sensitive communication skills guideline could improve the communication skills of the nursing students and may increase satisfaction of the clients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  19. [Reflections on community-based rehabilitation strategy (CBR): the experience of a CBR program in Bolivia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Díaz-Aristizabal, Urko; Sanz-Victoria, Silvia; Sahonero-Daza, Milton; Ledesma-Ocampo, Sandra; Cachimuel-Vinueza, Mesías; Torrico, Marisabel

    2012-01-01

    Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a strategy for community development endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Office (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is designed to promote rehabilitation, equal opportunity and social inclusion of Disabled Persons (DP) in their home communities by fostering cooperation among disabled individuals, their families, and other concerned social actors, it encourages community leadership and full social participation by DP through multi-sector cooperation. This article explores the historical antecedents and basic features of CBR strategy through an analysis of a directed culture change initiative developed by a foundation in the Cochabamba administrative region of Bolivia. Especially in intercultural environments, certain aspects of the socio-cultural context may determine whether CBR programs succeed or fail.

  20. Future Scope of Community Based Tourism in Nepal

    OpenAIRE

    Gurung, Sunita

    2015-01-01

    This Bachelor’s thesis is based on the tourism and community based tourism in Nepal. The purpose of selecting tourism as a main topic is to find out the future scope of CBT in Nepal. Despite having small size, Nepal holds many attractive and adventurous tourist destinations. Nepal is famous from its cultural and traditional diversity, natural beauty, trekking trails, moun-taineering and warm and welcoming hospitality. Tourism in Nepal is undoubtedly the most important source for the econo...

  1. A case study in the use of community-based participatory research in public health nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savage, Christine L; Xu, Yin; Lee, Rebecca; Rose, Barbara L; Kappesser, Mary; Anthony, Jean Spann

    2006-01-01

    There is growing demand for research using a community-based participatory (CBPR) approach. CBPR requires that the academic research team actively partner with community members and stakeholders in the entire research process. The community members are full partners with the researchers in relation to the development and implementation of the study, analysis of the data, and dissemination of the findings. The purpose of this article is to review four basic principles of CBPR and provide an example of how these CBPR principles were used in an ethnographic study related to the culture of African American infant health. In the pilot study, CBPR provided the framework for recruitment and retention of participants, ongoing data analysis, and dissemination of findings. Using CBPR provided the researchers an introduction into the selected community. Community members served as key informants about the culture of the community and provided access to potential participants. The community partners contributed to analysis of emerging themes and in the dissemination of findings to the community, stakeholders, and the scientific community. CBPR provides opportunities for community health nurse researchers to conduct research with vulnerable populations and sets the stage for implementing evidenced-based nursing interventions in the community.

  2. Factors limiting deceased organ donation: focus groups' perspective from culturally diverse community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, L P

    2010-06-01

    In-depth understanding of cultural and religious factors limiting organ donation of three ethnic populations (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) in Southeast Asia is lacking. Identification of factors limiting organ donation among these three ethnic groups will provide insights into culturally appropriate strategies to promote acceptance of organ donation in a multiethnic Asian community. A total of 17 focus group discussions (105 participants) were conducted between September and December 2008. Participants were members of the general public aged 18 to 60 years, recruited through convenient sampling around the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. Although the majority had favorable attitudes toward deceased organ donation and transplantation, a diversity of myths and misinformation were unearthed from the discussions across the ethnic groups. These include perceived religious prohibition, cultural myths and misperceptions, fear of disfigurement, fear of surgery, distrust of the medical system, and family disapproval. Culture and religious beliefs played important prohibitive roles among those opposed to organ donations. There were distinctive ethnic differences in cultural and religious concerns regarding organ donation. Less-educated and rural groups appeared to have more misconceptions than the well-educated and the urban groups. Our findings may assist organ donation and transplantation organizations to reach diverse sociodemographic and ethnic communities with culture-specific information about organ donation. The involvement of community and religious leaders is critical in organ donation requests.

  3. Yeast Autolysis in Sparkling Wine Aging: Use of Killer and Sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains in Co-Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lombardi, Silvia Jane; De Leonardis, Antonella; Lustrato, Giuseppe; Testa, Bruno; Iorizzo, Massimo

    2015-01-01

    Sparkling wines produced by traditional method owe their characteristics to secondary fermentation and maturation that occur during a slow ageing in bottles. Yeast autolysis plays an important role during the sparkling wine aging. Using a combination of killer and sensitive yeasts is possible to accelerate yeast autolysis and reduce maturing time. killer and sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, separately and in co-cultures, were inoculated in base wine and bottled on pilot-plant scale. Commercial Saccaromyces bayanus strain was also investigated. Protein free amino acid and polysaccharides contents and sensory analysis were determined on the wine samples at 3, 6 and 9 months of aging. Yeast autolysis that occurs during the production of sparkling wines, obtained with co-cultures of killer and sensitive strains, has influenced free amino acids, total protein and polysaccharides content after 3 months aging time: sparkling wines, produced without the use of these yeasts, have reached the same results only after 9 months aging time. These results demonstrate that killer and sensitive yeasts in co-culture can accelerate the onset of autolysis in enological conditions, and has a positive effect on the quality of the aroma and flavor of sparkling wine. This paper offers an interesting biotechnological method to reduce production time of sparkling wine with economical benefits for the producers. We revised all patents relating to sparkling wine considering only those of interest for our study.

  4. Culture-bound syndrome and a culturally sensitive approach: from a viewpoint of medical anthropology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimoji, A; Miyakawa, T

    2000-08-01

    Some aspects of the culture-bound syndrome are presented for discussion. From the psychiatric and medical anthropological viewpoints, kamidaari is described as an initiatory illness for seeing a shaman, and focus on clinical realities developing between different therapeutic subcultures in the same culture and the complementary practices of two epistemological ones, namely, the shamanistic and modern psychiatric system in the shamanistic climate. It is suggested that the culture-bound syndrome that reflects cultural influences on disease patterns and renders them difficult to place in a universal classificatory system should be seen as a vernacular bricolage or as tactics used by people within the web of their own local culture of origin. Therapists who treat patients in a cross-epistemological milieu should be aware of the subcultural-epistemological issues that may affect the clinical process. It should be recognized that, depending on the nature of a particular psychiatric crisis, the clinical encounter is straddling the boundaries of multiple clinical realities. At every stage in the clinical field, there is an intersection, consonance, or interruption of rejoinders in the open dialog by all those engaged in the clinical time. Aspects of climatic, culturally sensitive psychotherapy will be described, and the concept of the culture-bound syndrome will be reconsidered. Our approach could be seen as 'situation- and fudo-bound'.

  5. Culture, regeneration and community: Reinventing the city

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donald Hyslop

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available It is just over 12 years since the doors of Tate Modern in London were opened. In converting Gilbert Giles Scott’s Bankside Power Station into a museum we planned for two million visitors in the first year but received over five million – a number exceeding our wildest expectations. Year after year the high levels of attendance continues and now we are very much part of the cultural landscape, not only in the UK but across the world. This article explores the development, challenges and successes of what has become known as the Tate Modern ‘project’. While the museum and its collection is undoubtedly at the project's heart, it also involves a comprehensive strategy to utilise creative organisations and creative thinking in the development, regeneration and reinvention of a key area of a major world city. Central to this model of engaged working are a series of basic challenges: —how can the various needs of local communities, workers and tourists be balanced when developing an area? —how can cultural organisations and other businesses work together, and can culture be good for business? —what is the best way to engage and encourage political leadership and advocacy? —what is the best way to develop an organisation which not only works within local, national and international contexts but makes connections between them? —what are the opportunities to bring artists, creative forces and ideas into urban development and the places and spaces in which we live our everyday lives? It is hoped that this article will help us think about, imagine and practically develop the neighbourhoods and communities that we aspire to create. Keywords: Creative thinking, culture, urban regeneration and reinvention

  6. Cultural differences in ant-dipping tool length between neighbouring chimpanzee communities at Kalinzu, Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koops, Kathelijne; Schöning, Caspar; Isaji, Mina; Hashimoto, Chie

    2015-07-22

    Cultural variation has been identified in a growing number of animal species ranging from primates to cetaceans. The principal method used to establish the presence of culture in wild populations is the method of exclusion. This method is problematic, since it cannot rule out the influence of genetics and ecology in geographically distant populations. A new approach to the study of culture compares neighbouring groups belonging to the same population. We applied this new approach by comparing ant-dipping tool length between two neighbouring communities of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Kalinzu Forest, Uganda. Ant-dipping tool length varies across chimpanzee study sites in relation to army ant species (Dorylus spp.) and dipping location (nest vs. trail). We compared the availability of army ant species and dipping tool length between the two communities. M-group tools were significantly longer than S-group tools, despite identical army ant target species availabilities. Moreover, tool length in S-group was shorter than at all other sites where chimpanzees prey on epigaeic ants at nests. Considering the lack of ecological differences between the two communities, the tool length difference appears to be cultural. Our findings highlight how cultural knowledge can generate small-scale cultural diversification in neighbouring chimpanzee communities.

  7. Building effective working relationships across culturally and ethnically diverse communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosley, Cheryl A; Gensheimer, Linda; Yang, Mai

    2003-01-01

    Amherst H. Wilder Foundation's Social Adjustment Program for Southeast Asians is implementing two collaborative, best practice, mental health and substance abuse prevention service models in Minnesota. It faced several issues in effectively bridging multiple cultural groups, including building a diverse collaborative team, involving families and youth, reconciling cultural variation in meeting styles, and making best practice models culturally appropriate. Researchers and program staff used multiple strategies to address these challenges and build successful partnerships. Through shared goals, flexibility, and a willingness to explore and address challenges, collaboratives can promote stronger relationships across cultural communities and improve their service delivery systems.

  8. Community transformation through culturally competent nursing leadership: application of theory of culture care diversity and universality and tri-dimensional leader effectiveness model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Mina L; Miller, June; White, Kathleen

    2006-04-01

    Transcultural knowledge and competency have become a critical need for nurses to accommodate the global trends in cultural diversity and health care disparities. Today, nurses are increasingly taking on leadership roles in community settings. This article addresses the application of Leininger's culture care theory with the sunrise model and Hersey and Blanchard's tri-dimensional leader effectiveness model as potential collaborating theories for capacity building and community transformation from a global, transcultural nursing perspective. The two theories, used in collaboration, view the provision of competent leadership as the delivery of effective, culturally congruent nursing care in promoting health and health equity at the community level.

  9. The Impact of Software Culture on the Management of Community Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, J. A.; Pulsifer, P. L.; Sheffield, E.; Lewis, S.; Oldenburg, J.

    2013-12-01

    The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA), a program hosted at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), supports the collection, curation, and distribution of Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) data, as well as some quantitative data products. Investigations involving LTK data often involve community participation, and therefore require flexible and robust user interfaces to support a reliable process of data collection and management. Often, investigators focused on LTK and community-based monitoring choose to use ELOKA's data services based on our ability to provide rapid proof-of-concepts and economical delivery of a usable product. To satisfy these two overarching criteria, ELOKA is experimenting with modifications to its software development culture both in terms of how the software applications are developed as well as the kind of software applications (or components) being developed. Over the past several years, NSIDC has shifted its software development culture from one of assigning individual scientific programmers to support particular principal investigators or projects, to an Agile Software Methodology implementation using Scrum practices. ELOKA has participated in this process by working with other product owners to schedule and prioritize development work which is then implemented by a team of application developers. Scrum, along with practices such as Test Driven Development (TDD) and paired programming, improves the quality of the software product delivered to the user community. To meet the need for rapid prototyping and to maximize product development and support with limited developer input, our software development efforts are now focused on creating a platform of application modules that can be quickly customized to suit the needs of a variety of LTK projects. This approach is in contrast to the strategy of delivering custom applications for individual projects. To date, we have integrated components of

  10. Cultural Robotics: The Culture of Robotics and Robotics in Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hooman Samani

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we have investigated the concept of “Cultural Robotics” with regard to the evolution of social into cultural robots in the 21st Century. By defining the concept of culture, the potential development of a culture between humans and robots is explored. Based on the cultural values of the robotics developers, and the learning ability of current robots, cultural attributes in this regard are in the process of being formed, which would define the new concept of cultural robotics. According to the importance of the embodiment of robots in the sense of presence, the influence of robots in communication culture is anticipated. The sustainability of robotics culture based on diversity for cultural communities for various acceptance modalities is explored in order to anticipate the creation of different attributes of culture between robots and humans in the future.

  11. Intercultural Sensitivity, Gender, and Nationality of Third Culture Kids Attending an International High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morales, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    Due to the globalization and interconnectedness of people from different cultures, intercultural competence is a prerequisite to communicating effectively across different cultures. The Intercultural Sensitivity Inventory (ICSI) measures a person's ability to modify behavior in culturally appropriate ways when coming into contact with diverse…

  12. Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leff, J.; Henley, J.; Tittl, J.; De Nardo, E.; Butler, M.; Griggs, R.; Fierer, N.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one’s own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples (P hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. PMID:28351915

  13. Addressing Cultural Competency in Pharmacy Education through International Service Learning and Community Engagement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosemin Kassam

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a course in international service learning and community engagement for pharmacy undergraduate students. The course offered students opportunities to cultivate cultural competency in an international setting foreign to their own—Sub-Saharan Africa. The experience consisted of pre-departure preparation seminars followed by subsequent community immersion to experience, explore and confront personal attitudes and perceptions. A key feature of this course was its emphasis on a continuing cycle of learning, community engagement and reflection. Three students participated, a near-maximum cohort. Their daily self-reflections were qualitatively analyzed to document the impact of their cultural learning and experiences and revealed meaningful learning in the domains of self-assessment and awareness of their personal and professional culture, exposure to a participatory health delivery model involving the patient, the community and a multidisciplinary team and opportunities to engage in patient care in a different cultural setting. This proof-of-concept course provided students with experiences that were life-changing on both personal and professional levels and confirmed the viability and relevance of international service learning for the pharmacy field within its university-wide mandate.

  14. Systemic Analysis of the Cultural Production of a Virtual Learning Community

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    Germán Alejandro Miranda Díaz

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a systemic analysis from the standpoint of activity theory of the cultural emergence of a virtual learning community as a complex system. Three levels of analysis were employed: data mining, visualization of complex systems and analysis of discursive interactions, with the aim of understanding the emerging phenomena of online learning and in order to have the necessary elements to assist in planning the formation of virtual communities in formal settings. This was carried out using six years of activity from 3,324 people from different documentary sources: 9,871,531 CMS records; 1,371,907 from LMS; 67,828 IRC statements; and 27,798 online forum comments. In the process, we observed how action aimed at socialization and discussion of its object evolve into historical-cultural milestones such as the culture of merit as opposed to certification, the division of labor and the process of transition from free software to free culture.

  15. Healthy Native Community Fellowship: An Indigenous Leadership Program to Enhance Community Wellness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca Rae

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The Healthy Native Communities Fellowship (HNCF is a grassroots evidence-based mentorship and leadership program that develops the skills and community-building capacities of leaders and community teams to improve health status through several intermediate social and cultural mechanisms: (a strengthening social participation (also known as social capital or cohesion; (b strengthening cultural connectedness and revitalization of cultural identity; and (c advocating for health-enhancing policies, practices, and programs that strengthen systems of prevention and care, as well as address the structural social determinants of health. This leadership program uses a community-based participatory research (CBPR approach and participatory evaluation to investigate how the work of local American Indian and Alaska Native leaders (fellows and their community coalitions contributes to individual, family, and community level health outcomes.

  16. Communities and Cultures of Women: A Study of Neighbourhood Groups and Gated Communities in Assam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syeda Sakira Sahin

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to tease out the factors and forces that enable women to form communities of women and the circumstances within which they act. In addition, the research aims to observe into their activities to see if there is a germination of gender consciousness even if in a nascent form. Taking off from a historical vantage point of women coming together for various kinds of social and political action, the paper tries to delve into the epistemological dilemma encountered by feminist politics, where the subject of feminist politics i.e., women, is presented as a problematic category. Gender is understood not as a sole defining category but one that exists alongside other constituents of identities intersecting with it like class, caste, race, ethnicity etc. Given such an understanding the paper is based on a micro-level qualitative study conducted in an urban set-up of Guwahati city where two different kinds of locality-based women’s communities are taken as case studies, one of which is an all-women local neighbourhood development committee and the other a women’s forum within a gated community. The interesting contrasts as well as complexities of the groups in their membership as well their cultures are analysed to raise questions on whether such groups serve patriarchal interests or whether they present themselves as potential sites through which social change towards a more gender-conscious society can be made possible.

  17. Forum: Cultural Identity and (Dis)Continuities of Children of Immigrant Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obsiye, Mohamed; Cook, Rachel

    2016-01-01

    Susan Harper's study centres on "funds of knowledge" as a pedagogical resource for the development of a science curriculum, drawing on Karen refugee parents' cultural knowledge and identity. She argues that engagement in this process helps the parent generation of this community to "rebuild their cultural resilience" and cope…

  18. A Cultural Competence Organizational Review for Community Health Services: Insights From a Participatory Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truong, Mandy; Gibbs, Lisa; Pradel, Veronika; Morris, Michal; Gwatirisa, Pauline; Tadic, Maryanne; de Silva, Andrea; Hall, Martin; Young, Dana; Riggs, Elisha; Calache, Hanny; Gussy, Mark; Watt, Richard; Gondal, Iqbal; Waters, Elizabeth

    2017-05-01

    Cultural competence is an important aspect of health service access and delivery in health promotion and community health. Although a number of frameworks and tools are available to assist health service organizations improve their services to diverse communities, there are few published studies describing organizational cultural competence assessments and the extent to which these tools facilitate cultural competence. This article addresses this gap by describing the development of a cultural competence assessment, intervention, and evaluation tool called the Cultural Competence Organizational Review (CORe) and its implementation in three community sector organizations. Baseline and follow-up staff surveys and document audits were conducted at each participating organization. Process data and organizational documentation were used to evaluate and monitor the experience of CORe within the organizations. Results at follow-up indicated an overall positive trend in organizational cultural competence at each organization in terms of both policy and practice. Organizations that are able to embed actions to improve organizational cultural competence within broader organizational plans increase the likelihood of sustainable changes to policies, procedures, and practice within the organization. The benefits and lessons learned from the implementation of CORe are discussed.

  19. A systematic community-based participatory approach to refining an evidence-based community-level intervention: the HOLA intervention for Latino men who have sex with men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhodes, Scott D; Daniel, Jason; Alonzo, Jorge; Duck, Stacy; García, Manuel; Downs, Mario; Hergenrather, Kenneth C; Alegría-Ortega, José; Miller, Cindy; Boeving Allen, Alex; Gilbert, Paul A; Marsiglia, Flavio F

    2013-07-01

    Our community-based participatory research partnership engaged in a multistep process to refine a culturally congruent intervention that builds on existing community strengths to promote sexual health among immigrant Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). The steps were the following: (1) increase Latino MSM participation in the existing partnership, (2) establish an Intervention Team, (3) review the existing sexual health literature, (4) explore needs and priorities of Latino MSM, (5) narrow priorities based on what is important and changeable, (6) blend health behavior theory with Latino MSM's lived experiences, (7) design an intervention conceptual model, (8) develop training modules and (9) resource materials, and (10) pretest and (11) revise the intervention. The developed intervention contains four modules to train Latino MSM to serve as lay health advisors known as Navegantes. These modules synthesize locally collected data with other local and national data; blend health behavior theory, the lived experiences, and cultural values of immigrant Latino MSM; and harness the informal social support Latino MSM provide one another. This community-level intervention is designed to meet the expressed sexual health priorities of Latino MSM. It frames disease prevention within sexual health promotion.

  20. Looking beyond "affordable" health care: cultural understanding and sensitivity-necessities in addressing the health care disparities of the U.S. Hispanic population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Askim-Lovseth, Mary K; Aldana, Adriana

    2010-10-01

    Health disparities are pervasive in the United States; but among Hispanics, access to health care is encumbered by poverty, lack of insurance, legal status, and racial or minority status. Research has identified certain aspects of Hispanic culture, values, and traditions contributing to the nature of the Hispanic patient-doctor relationship and the quality of the health care service. Current educational efforts by nonprofit organizations, government, health professionals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers fail to address the needs for accessible and appropriately culture-sensitive information when approaching the diverse Hispanic community. Understanding Hispanics' consumptive practices and expectations surrounding medications is critical to the success of many treatment regimens. Recommendations are presented to address this health care issue.

  1. Researching in the community: the value and contribution of nurses to community based or primary health care research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barthow, Christine; Jones, Bernadette; Macdonald, Lindsay; Vernall, Sue; Gallagher, Peter; McKinlay, Eileen

    2015-05-01

    To describe the role, contribution and value of research nurses in New Zealand community-based or primary health care research. Research nurses are increasingly recognised as having a key role in undertaking successful research in hospitals and clinical trial units however only limited work has been undertaken to examine their role in community-based research. Undertaking health research in the community has unique challenges particularly in relation to research design and recruitment and retention of participants. We describe four community-based research projects involving research nurses, each with particular recruitment, retention and logistical problems. Vignettes are used to illustrate the role, contribution and value of research nurses in a diverse range of community research projects. The knowledge and skills used by research nurses in these projects included familiarity with communities, cultural competence, health care systems and practice philosophies and in particular with vulnerable populations. Their research actions and activities include competence with a broad range of research methodologies, organisational efficiency, family-centred approach, along with advocacy and flexibility. These are underpinned by nursing knowledge and clinical expertise contributing to an ability to work autonomously. These four projects demonstrate that research nurses in community-based research possess specific attributes which facilitate successful study development, implementation and outcome.

  2. A Transcription and Translation Protocol for Sensitive Cross-Cultural Team Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Lauren; Birkhead, Ana Sanchez; Fernandez, Cecilia; Egger, Marlene J

    2017-10-01

    Assurance of transcript accuracy and quality in interview-based qualitative research is foundational for data accuracy and study validity. Based on our experience in a cross-cultural ethnographic study of women's pelvic organ prolapse, we provide practical guidance to set up step-by-step interview transcription and translation protocols for team-based research on sensitive topics. Beginning with team decisions about level of detail in transcription, completeness, and accuracy, we operationalize the process of securing vendors to deliver the required quality of transcription and translation. We also share rubrics for assessing transcript quality and the team protocol for managing transcripts (assuring consistency of format, insertion of metadata, anonymization, and file labeling conventions) and procuring an acceptable initial translation of Spanish-language interviews. Accurate, complete, and systematically constructed transcripts in both source and target languages respond to the call for more transparency and reproducibility of scientific methods.

  3. Healthy options: a community-based program to address food insecurity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dailey, Amy B; Hess, Audrey; Horton, Camille; Constantian, Emily; Monani, Salma; Wargo, Betsy; Davidson, Kim; Gaskin, Kathy

    2015-01-01

    The objectives of this study are to better understand the lived experience of food insecurity in our community and to examine the impact of a community-based program developed to increase access to local, healthy foods. Participants were given monthly vouchers to spend at local farmers' markets and invited to engage in a variety of community activities. Using a community-based participatory research framework, mixed methods were employed. Survey results suggest that most respondents were satisfied with the program and many increased their fruit and vegetable consumption. However, over 40% of respondents reported a higher level of stress over having enough money to buy nutritious meals at the end of the program. Photovoice results suggest that the program fostered cross-cultural exchanges, and offered opportunities for social networking. Building on the many positive outcomes of the program, community partners are committed to using this research to further develop policy-level solutions to food insecurity.

  4. Teaching International Business as an Opportunity to Develop Cultural Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Ellen J.

    2017-01-01

    Business program graduates are expected to perform with cultural sensitivity in international and intercultural professional environments. In order to support student development of the necessary mindset, a variety of assignments and activities have been integrated into the undergraduate International Business (IB) course. This article describes…

  5. Medical Ethnobotany in Europe: From Field Ethnography to a More Culturally Sensitive Evidence-Based CAM?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cassandra L. Quave

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available European folk medicine has a long and vibrant history, enriched with the various documented uses of local and imported plants and plant products that are often unique to specific cultures or environments. In this paper, we consider the medicoethnobotanical field studies conducted in Europe over the past two decades. We contend that these studies represent an important foundation for understanding local small-scale uses of CAM natural products and allow us to assess the potential for expansion of these into the global market. Moreover, we discuss how field studies of this nature can provide useful information to the allopathic medical community as they seek to reconcile existing and emerging CAM therapies with conventional biomedicine. This is of great importance not only for phytopharmacovigilance and managing risk of herb-drug interactions in mainstream patients that use CAM, but also for educating the medical community about ethnomedical systems and practices so that they can better serve growing migrant populations. Across Europe, the general status of this traditional medical knowledge is at risk due to acculturation trends and the urgency to document and conserve this knowledge is evident in the majority of the studies reviewed.

  6. Medical Ethnobotany in Europe: From Field Ethnography to a More Culturally Sensitive Evidence-Based CAM?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quave, Cassandra L.; Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel; Pieroni, Andrea

    2012-01-01

    European folk medicine has a long and vibrant history, enriched with the various documented uses of local and imported plants and plant products that are often unique to specific cultures or environments. In this paper, we consider the medicoethnobotanical field studies conducted in Europe over the past two decades. We contend that these studies represent an important foundation for understanding local small-scale uses of CAM natural products and allow us to assess the potential for expansion of these into the global market. Moreover, we discuss how field studies of this nature can provide useful information to the allopathic medical community as they seek to reconcile existing and emerging CAM therapies with conventional biomedicine. This is of great importance not only for phytopharmacovigilance and managing risk of herb-drug interactions in mainstream patients that use CAM, but also for educating the medical community about ethnomedical systems and practices so that they can better serve growing migrant populations. Across Europe, the general status of this traditional medical knowledge is at risk due to acculturation trends and the urgency to document and conserve this knowledge is evident in the majority of the studies reviewed. PMID:22899952

  7. Culturally Sensitive Risk Behavior Prevention Programs for African American Adolescents: A Systematic Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzger, Isha; Cooper, Shauna M.; Zarrett, Nicole; Flory, Kate

    2013-01-01

    The current review conducted a systematic assessment of culturally sensitive risk prevention programs for African American adolescents. Prevention programs meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated across several domains: (1) theoretical orientation and foundation; (2) methodological rigor; (3) level of cultural integration; (4)…

  8. Knowledge and Use of Intervention Practices by Community-Based Early Intervention Service Providers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paynter, Jessica M.; Keen, Deb

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated staff attitudes, knowledge and use of evidence-based practices (EBP) and links to organisational culture in a community-based autism early intervention service. An EBP questionnaire was completed by 99 metropolitan and regionally-based professional and paraprofessional staff. Participants reported greater knowledge and use…

  9. Cultural diversity in community sport: an ethnographic inquiry of Somali Australians' experiences

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spaaij, R.

    2013-01-01

    Sport organisations aim to grow the participation of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including newly arrived people from refugee backgrounds. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research conducted by the author at community sport organisations in the multicultural city of

  10. Development of community plans to enhance survivorship from colorectal cancer: community-based participatory research in rural communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lengerich, Eugene J; Kluhsman, Brenda C; Bencivenga, Marcyann; Allen, Regina; Miele, Mary Beth; Farace, Elana

    2007-09-01

    In 2002, 10.4% of the 10 million persons alive who have ever been diagnosed with cancer had colorectal cancer (CRC). Barriers, such as distance, terrain, access to care and cultural differences, to CRC survivorship may be especially relevant in rural communities. We tested the hypothesis that teams from rural cancer coalitions and hospitals would develop a Community Plan (CP) to enhance CRC survivorship. We used community-based participatory research and the PRECEDE-PROCEED model to train teams from rural cancer coalitions and hospitals in Pennsylvania and New York. We measured knowledge at three points in time and tested the change with McNemar's test, corrected for multiple comparisons (p < 0.0167). We also conducted a qualitative review of the CP contents. Fourteen (93.3%) of the 15 coalitions or hospitals initially recruited to the study completed a CP. Knowledge in public health, sponsorship of A National Action Plan for Cancer Survivorship, and CRC survivorship and treatment increased. Teams identified perceived barriers and community assets. All teams planned to increase awareness of community assets and almost all planned to enhance treatment-related care and psychosocial care for the CRC survivor; 50% planned to enhance primary care and CRC screening. The study demonstrated the interest and ability of rural organizations to plan to enhance CRC survivorship, including linkage of CRC survivorship to primary care. Rural cancer coalitions and hospitals may be a vehicle to develop local action for A National Action Plan. Access to more comprehensive care for CRC cancer survivors in rural communities appears to be facilitated by the community-based initiative described and investigated in this study. Efforts such as these could be replicated in other rural communities and may impact the care and quality of life of survivors with many types of cancers. While access to health services may be increased through community-based initiatives, we still need to measure

  11. A knowledge synthesis of culturally- and spiritually-sensitive end-of-life care: findings from a scoping review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Mei Lan; Sixsmith, Judith; Sinclair, Shane; Horst, Glen

    2016-05-18

    Multiple factors influence the end-of-life (EoL) care and experience of poor quality services by culturally- and spiritually-diverse groups. Access to EoL services e.g. health and social supports at home or in hospices is difficult for ethnic minorities compared to white European groups. A tool is required to empower patients and families to access culturally-safe care. This review was undertaken by the Canadian Virtual Hospice as a foundation for this tool. To explore attitudes, behaviours and patterns to utilization of EoL care by culturally and spiritually diverse groups and identify gaps in EoL care practice and delivery methods, a scoping review and thematic analysis of article content was conducted. Fourteen electronic databases and websites were searched between June-August 2014 to identify English-language peer-reviewed publications and grey literature (including reports and other online resources) published between 2004-2014. The search identified barriers and enablers at the systems, community and personal/family levels. Primary barriers include: cultural differences between healthcare providers; persons approaching EoL and family members; under-utilization of culturally-sensitive models designed to improve EoL care; language barriers; lack of awareness of cultural and religious diversity issues; exclusion of families in the decision-making process; personal racial and religious discrimination; and lack of culturally-tailored EoL information to facilitate decision-making. This review highlights that most research has focused on decision-making. There were fewer studies exploring different cultural and spiritual experiences at the EoL and interventions to improve EoL care. Interventions evaluated were largely educational in nature rather than service oriented.

  12. Environment sensitization through arts: an experience with communities along Amazon rivers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Freitas, Wanderleia Isabel P. de; Gusmao, Dulce Milena Almeida [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2009-07-01

    In Brazil, the deforestation, pollution, losses in historic and cultural patrimony are each time more common in communities which, due to the great distances from urban centers, lack of any level of information. Normally, in these communities, theaters do not exist, nor local cinemas or places where people can have access to any type of art and culture. In this context, the Amazon suffers from the same problems than other regions in Brazil, however allied to logistic difficulties and other local specificities. That way, this work is about an experience lived in the Urucu-Coari-Manaus gas pipeline construction and assembly process, in which 18 communities were involved in a work of Environmental Education through arts: music, theater, movies, and others. In those communities there is great disinformation or distortion regarding programs and environmental plans from Urucu-Coari-Manaus gas pipeline, mainly due to the distance from urban centers and lack of communication vehicles. But this initiative did not come from an obligation or legal recommendations, but from a necessity to reach this public using an assertive communication. This work's specific goals were: To use the interpenetration between art and education and the playful, creative and humorous language of specific artistic interventions, adjusted to that public and its peculiarities, in order to lead the dialogue between different knowledge, that is, between traditional culture and environmental concepts paved in studies and scientific data, and to spread Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline environmental programs; To arise, in the artistic interventions, that specific public's participation and integration, always focusing the environmental message and the respect for the Amazonian culture; To value, in all artistic interventions, people's traditional knowledge, the Amazonian environment and, mainly, the importance of each local inhabitant for that environment's conservation, important for us all

  13. Unmet Supportive Care Needs among Breast Cancer Survivors of Community-Based Support Group in Kuching, Sarawak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmanuel Joseph Fong

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Recognizing the needs of cancer survivors is one of the important aspects in healthcare delivery. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs and its associated factors among the breast cancer survivors of community-based support group in Kuching, Sarawak. Materials and Methods. This was a cross-sectional study using Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34. All the members of community-based breast cancer support groups in Kuching were invited. A total of 101 respondents were face-to-face interviewed after the consent was obtained. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results. The respondents endorsed health system and information domain with the highest mean score (2.48; 95% CI: 2.32–2.64. Top 10 items with “moderate to high” level unmet needs had a prevalence of 14.9% to 34.7% of respondents indicating need. Significantly higher level of unmet needs was associated with survivors who were younger (less than 60 years old, had higher education attainment, were unemployed, had survival duration of up to 5 years, and were undergoing active treatment. Conclusion. Systematic delivery of health information which is targeted, culturally sensitive, and linguistically appropriate for addressing younger age, education level, employment status, length of survivorship, and treatment stage should be considered not only at hospital-based setting but also at the community-based support groups.

  14. The Professional Culture of Community Pharmacy and the Provision of MTM Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meagen M. Rosenthal

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The integration of advanced pharmacy services into community pharmacy practice is not complete. According to implementation research understanding professional culture, as a part of context, may provide insights for accelerating this process. There are three objectives in this study. The first objective of this study was to validate an adapted version of an organizational culture measure in a sample of United States’ (US community pharmacists. The second objective was to examine potential relationships between the cultural factors identified using the validated instrument and a number of socialization and education variables. The third objective was to examine any relationships between the scores on the identified cultural factors and the provision of MTM services. This study was a cross-sectional online survey for community pharmacists in the southeastern US. The survey contained questions on socialization/education, respondents’ self-reported provision of medication therapy management (MTM services, and the organizational culture profile (OCP. Analyses included descriptive statistics, a principle components analysis (PCA, independent samples t-test, and multivariate ordinal regression. A total of 303 surveys were completed. The PCA revealed a six-factor structure: social responsibility, innovation, people orientation, competitiveness, attention to detail, and reward orientation. Further analysis revealed significant relationships between social responsibility and years in practice, and people orientation and attention to detail and pharmacists’ training and practice setting. Significant positive relationships were observed between social responsibility, innovation, and competitiveness and the increased provision of MTM services. The significant relationships identified between the OCP factors and community pharmacist respondents’ provision of MTM services provides an important starting point for developing interventions to improve the

  15. The Professional Culture of Community Pharmacy and the Provision of MTM Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenthal, Meagen M; Holmes, Erin R

    2018-03-21

    The integration of advanced pharmacy services into community pharmacy practice is not complete. According to implementation research understanding professional culture, as a part of context, may provide insights for accelerating this process. There are three objectives in this study. The first objective of this study was to validate an adapted version of an organizational culture measure in a sample of United States' (US) community pharmacists. The second objective was to examine potential relationships between the cultural factors identified using the validated instrument and a number of socialization and education variables. The third objective was to examine any relationships between the scores on the identified cultural factors and the provision of MTM services. This study was a cross-sectional online survey for community pharmacists in the southeastern US. The survey contained questions on socialization/education, respondents' self-reported provision of medication therapy management (MTM) services, and the organizational culture profile (OCP). Analyses included descriptive statistics, a principle components analysis (PCA), independent samples t-test, and multivariate ordinal regression. A total of 303 surveys were completed. The PCA revealed a six-factor structure: social responsibility, innovation, people orientation, competitiveness, attention to detail, and reward orientation. Further analysis revealed significant relationships between social responsibility and years in practice, and people orientation and attention to detail and pharmacists' training and practice setting. Significant positive relationships were observed between social responsibility, innovation, and competitiveness and the increased provision of MTM services. The significant relationships identified between the OCP factors and community pharmacist respondents' provision of MTM services provides an important starting point for developing interventions to improve the uptake of practice

  16. Project GRACE: a staged approach to development of a community-academic partnership to address HIV in rural African American communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Adimora, Adaora A; Youmans, Selena; Muhammad, Melvin; Blumenthal, Connie; Ellison, Arlinda; Akers, Aletha; Council, Barbara; Thigpen, Yolanda; Wynn, Mysha; Lloyd, Stacey W

    2011-03-01

    The HIV epidemic is a health crisis in rural African American communities in the Southeast United States; however, to date little attention has been paid to community-academic collaborations to address HIV in these communities. Interventions that use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to address individual, social, and physical environmental factors have great potential for improving community health. Project GRACE (Growing, Reaching, Advocating for Change and Empowerment) uses a CBPR approach to develop culturally sensitive, feasible, and sustainable interventions to prevent the spread of HIV in rural African American communities. This article describes a staged approach to community-academic partnership: initial mobilization, establishment of organizational structure, capacity building for action, and planning for action. Strategies for engaging rural community members at each stage are discussed; challenges faced and lessons learned are also described. Careful attention to partnership development has resulted in a collaborative approach that has mutually benefited both the academic and community partners.

  17. Inscription and interpretation of text: a cultural hermeneutic examination of virtual community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary Burnett

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available People engaging in electronic exchanges can create communities--places with socially constituted norms, values, and expectations. We adopt an anthropological perspective, yoked with a methodology based in hermeneutics, to illustrate how language use both reflects and influences culture in a virtual community. Our study analyses contributions to a Usenet newsgroup. Four elements of our conceptual model--coherence, reference, invention, and intention--provide mechanisms to examine a community's texts as it engages in social interaction and knowledge creation. While information exchange and socializing are intertwined, our model allows a robust understanding of the relationship between the two. Texts are not merely vehicles for communication but serve multiple purposes simultaneously. While they transfer information, texts also provide information within a social context, and create an expanding archive of socially-contextualized information well beyond the capabilities of any individual participant. This allows groups to negotiate reputations, socialize, and define the limits of their knowledge.

  18. Developing a Measure of Community Well-Being Based on Perceptions of Impact in Various Life Domains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirgy, M. Joseph; Widgery, Robin N.; Lee, Dong-Jin; Yu, Grace B.

    2010-01-01

    A new measure of community well-being is developed based on the notion that community residents perceive the quality-of-life (QOL) impact of community services and conditions in various life domains (e.g., family, social, leisure, health, financial, cultural, consumer, work, spiritual, and environmental domains). These perceptions influence…

  19. COMMUNITY INTERVENTION IN THE UNIVERSITY CONTEXT TO RAISE THE CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norma Amalia Rodríguez-Barrera

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The modern university has the mission of training of competent professionals, able to preserve, develop and promote the strengthening of cultural development of students and the community through academic, research and social work practice processes. This paper aims to present the results of Community action in the university context Career Early Childhood Education, to raise the cultural development of families. The intervention was designed according to three basic processes: planning, implementation, evaluation and control, and to ensure, as previous steps, the study programs of disciplines and subjects of the race, for determining the didactic treatment of the required content Community intervention from academic, scientific and practical work; of the main needs of the community and preparing students for the fulfillment of the tasks. The research was conducted with the application of a quasi-experiment Teaching and the use of theoretical, empirical (interview, observation, document analysis and for the collection and statistical data processing methods. The comparison of results between the experimental and control groups before and after application of the Community intervention allowed to check their effectiveness from raising the cultural development of families in the experimental group, in the motivational-regulative dimensions, cognitive, attitudinal and communication. The essential differences in the results of each dimension not only differ significantly between the groups, but all of them is able to distinguish very well the cultural development of families applied after the intervention actions.

  20. Community-Based Management of Diabetes in Nepal: Exploring the Potential Role of Female Community Health Volunteers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gyawali, Bishal

    2016-01-01

    , and this is particularly apparent in the South Asian countries, including Nepal. Despite the growing burden and chronic nature of type 2 diabetes, prevention and control of this disease is far from adequate in these settings. One possibility could be through the involvement of community health workers to prevent, diagnose...... and treat type 2 diabetes. We suggest that involving Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) of Nepal offering culturally appropriate health promotion may be the blue print for community-based management programmes tackling type 2 diabetes. We aim to explore the potential role of FCHVs of Nepal...... for diabetes management at community level. It is anticipated that the study can give valuable information regarding effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of an innovative way to improve diabetes management in low resource settings....

  1. Interrupting Mythic Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linnell Secomb

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available If nation is increasingly perceived as a less than honourable institution formed through war, invasion and geo-political territorialisation, and government is widely denounced as the site of political intrigue and the means of subjectification of citizen–voters, community appears to escape this critique and to be viewed as an idyllic formation based on bonds of affinity. However, this romancing of community is disrupted by trans-cultural and sub-cultural formations that expose the fantasy of a harmonious, homogenous community. While community is often conceived as arising organically from familial, tribal or cultural similarity, or as constituted through a common history and shared cultural institutions, this totalising conception of community is interrupted by the demands of difference and heterogeneity and by a questioning of the idyll of community authenticated in myths of archaic origin.

  2. Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration rates enhanced by microbial community response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karhu, Kristiina; Auffret, Marc D; Dungait, Jennifer A J; Hopkins, David W; Prosser, James I; Singh, Brajesh K; Subke, Jens-Arne; Wookey, Philip A; Agren, Göran I; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Gouriveau, Fabrice; Bergkvist, Göran; Meir, Patrick; Nottingham, Andrew T; Salinas, Norma; Hartley, Iain P

    2014-09-04

    Soils store about four times as much carbon as plant biomass, and soil microbial respiration releases about 60 petagrams of carbon per year to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Short-term experiments have shown that soil microbial respiration increases exponentially with temperature. This information has been incorporated into soil carbon and Earth-system models, which suggest that warming-induced increases in carbon dioxide release from soils represent an important positive feedback loop that could influence twenty-first-century climate change. The magnitude of this feedback remains uncertain, however, not least because the response of soil microbial communities to changing temperatures has the potential to either decrease or increase warming-induced carbon losses substantially. Here we collect soils from different ecosystems along a climate gradient from the Arctic to the Amazon and investigate how microbial community-level responses control the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. We find that the microbial community-level response more often enhances than reduces the mid- to long-term (90 days) temperature sensitivity of respiration. Furthermore, the strongest enhancing responses were observed in soils with high carbon-to-nitrogen ratios and in soils from cold climatic regions. After 90 days, microbial community responses increased the temperature sensitivity of respiration in high-latitude soils by a factor of 1.4 compared to the instantaneous temperature response. This suggests that the substantial carbon stores in Arctic and boreal soils could be more vulnerable to climate warming than currently predicted.

  3. The extent of cultural variation between adjacent chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) communities; a microecological approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luncz, Lydia V; Boesch, Christophe

    2015-01-01

    Chimpanzees show cultural differences among populations across Africa but also between neighboring communities. The extent of these differences among neighbors, however, remains largely unknown. Comparing three neighboring chimpanzee community in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, we found 27 putative cultural traits, including tool use, foraging, social interaction, communication and hunting behavior, exceeding by far previously known diversity. As foraging behavior is predominantly influenced by the environment, we further compared in detail ecological circumstances underlying insectivore feeding behavior to analyze whether foraging differences on Dorylus ants and Thoracotermes termites seen between neighboring chimpanzee communities were caused by environmental factors. Differences in the prey characteristics of Dorylus ants (aggression level, running speed, and nest structure) that could influence the behavior of chimpanzees were excluded, suggesting that the observed group-specific variation is not ecologically driven. Only one community preyed on Thoracotermes termites despite a similar abundance of termite mounds in all three territories, supporting the idea that this difference is also not shaped by the environment. Therefore, our study suggests that transmission of cultural knowledge plays a role in determining insectivory prey behavior. This behavioral plasticity, independent of ecological conditions, can lead to large numbers of cultural diversification between neighboring chimpanzee communities. These findings not only deepen our understanding of the cultural abilities of chimpanzees in the wild but also open up possible future comparisons of the origin of cultural diversification among humans and chimpanzees. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Taxonomic Structure and Stability of the Bacterial Community in Belgian Sourdough Ecosystems as Assessed by Culture and Population Fingerprinting▿ †

    OpenAIRE

    Scheirlinck, Ilse; Van der Meulen, Roel; Van Schoor, Ann; Vancanneyt, Marc; De Vuyst, Luc; Vandamme, Peter; Huys, Geert

    2008-01-01

    A total of 39 traditional sourdoughs were sampled at 11 bakeries located throughout Belgium which were visited twice with a 1-year interval. The taxonomic structure and stability of the bacterial communities occurring in these traditional sourdoughs were assessed using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. A total of 1,194 potential lactic acid bacterium (LAB) isolates were tentatively grouped and identified by repetitive element sequence-based PCR, followed by sequence-base...

  5. Moving Into Communities: Developing Cultural Competence with Pre-service Educators through Community Service-Learning Experiences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather Coffey

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Research in teacher education suggests that field experiences in community settings can offer pre-service teachers a context for understanding the link between theory and practice. This paper documents the experiences of pre-service educators who participated in service-learning partnerships for thirty hours in multiple community settings in the southeast United States. Pre-service teachers not only volunteered in the community, but they also engaged in critically reflective journal writing and participated in evaluative class discussions. Students praised the benefits of a service experience in both school and community placements and discussed how interactions with the community agencies gave them the insight into how community organizations often play a significant role in the lives of the underserved students they will eventually teach. The author argues that the inclusion of a service-learning component in early pre-service teacher education field experiences has the potential to facilitate the examination of the relationships between community organizations and schools and encourage development of cultural competence among pre-service teachers. KEYWORDSservice-learning, pre-service teacher preparation, community partnerships

  6. Improving Medical Decision Making and Health Promotion through Culture-Sensitive Health Communication : an Agenda for Science and Practice

    OpenAIRE

    Betsch, Cornelia; Böhm, Robert; Airhihenbuwa, Collins O.; Butler, Robb; Chapman, Gretchen B.; Haase, Niels; Herrmann, Benedikt; Igarashi, Tasuku; Kitayama, Shinobu; Korn, Lars; Nurm, Ülla-Karin; Rohrmann, Bernd; Rothman, Alexander J.; Shavitt, Sharon; Updegraff, John A.

    2016-01-01

    This review introduces the concept of culture-sensitive health communication. The basic premise is that congruency between the recipient's cultural characteristics and the respective message will increase the communication's effectiveness. Culture-sensitive health communication is therefore defined as the deliberate and evidence-informed adaptation of health communication to the recipients' cultural background in order to increase knowledge and improve preparation for medical decision making ...

  7. Does a Culturally Sensitive Smoking Prevention Program Reduce Smoking Intentions among Aboriginal Children? A Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKennitt, Daniel W.; Currie, Cheryl L.

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the study was to determine if a culturally sensitive smoking prevention program would have short-term impacts on smoking intentions among Aboriginal children. Two schools with high Aboriginal enrollment were selected for the study. A grade 4 classroom in one school was randomly assigned to receive the culturally sensitive smoking…

  8. Developing theoretically based and culturally appropriate interventions to promote hepatitis B testing in 4 Asian American populations, 2006-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maxwell, Annette E; Bastani, Roshan; Glenn, Beth A; Taylor, Victoria M; Nguyen, Tung T; Stewart, Susan L; Burke, Nancy J; Chen, Moon S

    2014-05-01

    Hepatitis B infection is 5 to 12 times more common among Asian Americans than in the general US population and is the leading cause of liver disease and liver cancer among Asians. The purpose of this article is to describe the step-by-step approach that we followed in community-based participatory research projects in 4 Asian American groups, conducted from 2006 through 2011 in California and Washington state to develop theoretically based and culturally appropriate interventions to promote hepatitis B testing. We provide examples to illustrate how intervention messages addressing identical theoretical constructs of the Health Behavior Framework were modified to be culturally appropriate for each community. Intervention approaches included mass media in the Vietnamese community, small-group educational sessions at churches in the Korean community, and home visits by lay health workers in the Hmong and Cambodian communities. Use of the Health Behavior Framework allowed a systematic approach to intervention development across populations, resulting in 4 different culturally appropriate interventions that addressed the same set of theoretical constructs. The development of theory-based health promotion interventions for different populations will advance our understanding of which constructs are critical to modify specific health behaviors.

  9. USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE ASEAN SOCIO-CULTURAL COMMUNITY IN VIETNAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulas Basar Gezgin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The global openness of Vietnam brought out very fast major social changes. The country is a party to a number of international economic agreements and frameworks including World Trade Organization, Trans Pacific Partnership as well as ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations. External economic factors such as those associated with South East Asian integration are coupled with ASEAN’s ambition to set up a socio-cultural community in addition to the economic community. In the meantime, the popularity of social media is rapidly growing in Vietnam with more than 30 million Vietnamese Facebook accounts. Considering these 2 major influences, ie social media and regional integration efforts, this article proposes a number of recommendations to use social media to promote ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

  10. Cultural translation of refugee trauma: Cultural idioms of distress among Somali refugees in displacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Hyojin; Ferguson, Aidan; Hunter, Margaret

    2017-01-01

    Westernized approaches to mental health care often place limited emphasis on refugees' own experiences and cultural explanations of symptoms and distress. In order to effectively assess community mental health needs and develop interventions grounded in local needs, mental health programs need to be informed by an understanding of cultural features of mental health, including cultural idioms of distress (CIDs). The current study aims to explore CIDs among Somali refugees displaced in Kenya to understand mental health needs in cultural context and serve the community in a culturally responsive and sensitive manner. This research was conducted as a two-phase qualitative study. First, key informant interviews with Somali mental health stakeholders generated a list of 7 common Somali CIDs: buufis, buqsanaan, welwel, murug, qaracan, jinn, and waali. Typologies of each CID were further explored through four focus group interviews with Somali community members. The findings from a template analysis revealed Somali lay beliefs on how trauma and daily stressors are experienced and discussed in the form of CIDs and how each term is utilized and understood in attributing symptoms to associated causes. This study highlights the need to incorporate colloquial terms in mental health assessment and to adopt a culturally relevant framework to encourage wider utilization of services and religious/spiritual support systems.

  11. Culture -independent Pathogenic Bacterial Communities in Bottled Mineral Water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamdy A. Hassan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Bottled mineral water (BMW is an alternative to mains water and consider it to be better and safer. Access to safe BMW from the bacteria involving potential health hazard is essential to health. Cultivation-independent technique PCR-based single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP for genetic profiling of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes was performed using Com primer set targeting the 16S rRNA genes for detection of pathogenic bacteria in bottled mineral water from the final product of six factories for bottled mineral drinking water in Wadi El-natron region- Egypt. These factories use often ozone technology to treat large quantities of water because of its effectiveness in purifying and conditioning water. A total of 27 single products were isolated from the profiles by PCR re-amplification and cloning. Sequence analysis of 27 SSCP bands revealed that the 16S rRNA sequences were clustered into seven operational taxonomic units (OTUs and the compositions of the communities of the six samples were all common. The results showed that most communities from phyla Alphaproteobacteria and certainly in the Sphingomonas sp. Culture-independent approaches produced complementary information, thus generating a more accurate view for the bacterial community in the BMW, particularly in the disinfection step, as it constitutes the final barrier before BMW distribution to the consumer

  12. Educational Policy vs. Culturally Sensitive Programs in Turkish Educational System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arslan, Hasan

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of elementary school teachers about the sensitiveness of principals, teachers, and curriculum on multicultural education. Education provides the transmission and the advancement of its culture while it is developing and enhancing the common values, the integrity and the progress of…

  13. From "Water Boiling in a Peruvian Town" to "Letting them Die": culture, community intervention, and the metabolic balance between patience and zeal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trickett, Edison J

    2011-03-01

    While the concept of culture has long been central to community psychology research and intervention, it has most frequently referred to the communities in which such work occurs. The purpose of this paper is to reframe this discussion by viewing community interventions as instances of intercultural contact between the culture of science, reflected in community intervention research, and the culture of the communities in which those interventions occur. Following a brief discussion of the complexities of culture as a concept, two illustrative stories of failed community interventions are provided to highlight the centrality of cultural and contextual understanding as prelude to community intervention. These stories, set 50 years apart, reflect the depth and pervasive influence of both the culture of science and the culture of communities. Next, a series of propositions about the culture of social science as a partial reflection of the broader culture of the United States are offered, and their implications for the conduct of community interventions drawn. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations which, together, provide an ecological mind-set for taking culture seriously in community interventions. Central to this mind set are the importance of focusing on communities rather than programs and emphasizing the intervention goal of choice over change.

  14. A course-based cross-cultural interaction among pharmacy students in Qatar and Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilby, Kyle John; Taylor, Jeff; Khalifa, Sherief I; Jorgenson, Derek

    2015-03-25

    To develop, implement, and evaluate a course-based, cross-cultural student interaction using real-time videoconferencing between universities in Canada and Qatar. A professional skills simulation practice session on smoking cessation was run for students in Qatar (n=22) and Canada (n=22). Students role played cases in small group situations and then interacted with colleagues from the other country regarding culturally challenging situations and communication strategies. Students were assessed on analytical content and communication skills through faculty member and peer evaluation. Cultural competency outcomes were assessed using a postsession survey. Overall, 92.3% of respondents agreed that learning was enhanced through the cross-cultural exchange, and 94.9% agreed that insight was gained into the health-related issues and needs of people from another culture. A course-based, cross-cultural interaction was an effective method to incorporate cultural competency principles into student learning. Future initiatives should increase direct student interaction and focus on culturally sensitive topics.

  15. Assessing the cultural in culturally sensitive printed patient-education materials for Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Evelyn Y; Tran, Henrietta; Chesla, Catherine A

    2015-01-01

    Type 2 diabetes affects Chinese Americans at an alarming rate. To address this health disparity, research in the area of cultural sensitivity and health literacy provides useful guidelines for creating culturally appropriate health education. In this article, we use discourse analysis to examine a group of locally available, Chinese- and English-language diabetes print documents from a surface level and deep structure level of culture. First, we compared these documents to research findings about printed health information to determine whether and how these documents apply current best practices for health literacy and culturally appropriate health communication. Second, we examined how diabetes as a disease and diabetes management is being constructed. The printed materials addressed surface level culture through the use of Chinese language, pictures, foods, and exercises. From a deeper cultural level, the materials constructed diabetes management as a matter of measurement and control that contrasted with previous research suggesting an alternative construction of balance. A nuanced assessment of both surface and deeper levels of culture is essential for creating health education materials that are more culturally appropriate and can lead to increased health literacy and improved health outcomes.

  16. Reducing violence in poor urban areas of Honduras by building community resilience through community-based interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen-Nord, Nete Sloth; Kjaerulf, Finn; Almendarez, Juan; Rodas, Victor Morales; Castro, Julio

    2016-11-01

    To examine the impact of a 3 year community-based violence prevention intervention on risk of violence and social capital in two poor urban communities in Honduras in 2011-2014. A quasi-experimental design pre and post implementation of the intervention was conducted based on data from two randomly selected samples using the same structured questionnaire in 2011 and in 2014. Community members had a 42 % lower risk of violence in 2014 compared to 2011. There was a positive relation between participation in the intervention and structural social capital, and participants had more than twice the likelihood of engaging in citizenship activities compared to the general population. The intervention contributed to decreasing violence and increasing community resilience in two urban areas in Honduras. Citizenship activities and active community participation in the violence prevention agenda rather than social trust and cohesion characteristics was affected by the intervention. This research introduces important lessons learned to future researchers aiming to retrieve very sensitive data in a similarly violent setting, and provides strong research opportunities within areas, which to this date remain undiscovered.

  17. Social Media and eBusiness: Cultural Impacts on the Influence Process in Consumer Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yong; Chen, Hong; Xu, Li

    2016-08-01

    Social media has been used as an important tool by firms to influence consumers’ attitude and behavior. Influence occurs in consumer communities in social media because community members have the control of discovering, producing, sharing, and distributing information and because the spread out of their experiences and opinions in the format of electronic word-of-mouth forms emerging conformance. Prior research has explored how the influence occurring in online social media communities impacts consumers’ attitude and behavior (e.g., product attitude and purchase decision, effectual thinking and behavior, brand trust and brand loyalty). But because social media has the ability of global reach, cross-border factors should not be neglected in studying the influence process. As such, this paper adopts national cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede (1984), individualism/collectivism and power distance particularly, the index of cultural distance, and the social influence theory to explore how culture impacts the influence occurring in consumer communities in social media.

  18. Sustainable Communities: A Lens for Envisioning and Achieving a Community-Based Culture of Social and Ecological Peace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhagen, Frans C.

    2014-01-01

    One of the obstacles to dealing with the social and ecological crises that obstruct the achievement of a culture of peace is silo thinking in global governance. A unidimensional mode of planning, silo thinking leads to decisions based on the area of expertise of a particular agency or intergovernmental organization and fails to recognize linkages…

  19. Cultivating the Spatial Politics of Community-Based Literacy Practices in Hip-Hop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prier, Darius D.

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the social imagination of community-based sites of urban resistance enable out-of-school literacy practices in Black popular culture to foreground the contemporary context in which youth empowerment is nurtured in out-of-school learning settings. Second, the author chronicles how youth advocates in hip-hop--based community…

  20. Photodamage of the cells in culture sensitized with bilirubin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kozlenkova, O. A.; Plavskaya, L. G.; Mikulich, A. V.; Leusenko, I. A.; Tretyakova, A. I.; Plavskii, V. Yu

    2016-08-01

    It has been shown that exposure to radiation of LED sources of light with an emission band maximum at about 465 and 520 nm having substantially identical damaging effects on animal cells in culture, that are in a logarithmic growth phase and preincubated with pigment. Photobiological effect is caused by photodynamic processes involving singlet oxygen generated by triplet excited sensitizer. Mono-exponential type dependence of cell survival on the energy dose indicates that it is bilirubin that acts as a sensitizer but not its photoproducts. The inclusion of bilirubin in the cells, where it is primarily localized in the mitochondria cells, it is accompanied by multiple amplification photochemical stability compared to pigment molecules bound with albumin

  1. Community-Based Participatory Research to Improve Preconception Health among Northern Plains American Indian Adolescent Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Jennifer; Mousseau, Alicia

    2012-01-01

    Background: Sacred Beginnings is a community-based participatory research project that examines the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate preconception health educational intervention developed by tribal community members and elders. The primary goal is to increase knowledge of preconception health and its benefits among adolescent females and…

  2. African American Students in a California Community College: Perceptions of Cultural Congruity and Academic Self-Concept within a Black Culture Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Tenisha Celita

    2017-01-01

    This study focused on the cultural congruity and academic self-concept of African American students in a community college setting who participated in a Black Culture Center. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between cultural congruity and academic self-concept through the following two research…

  3. Community based rehabilitation: a strategy for peace-building

    OpenAIRE

    Hodgson Jennifer; Koros Michael; Boyce William

    2002-01-01

    Abstract Background Certain features of peace-building distinguish it from peacekeeping, and make it an appropriate strategy in dealing with vertical conflict and low intensity conflict. However, some theorists suggest that attempts, through peace-building, to impose liberal values upon non-democratic cultures are misguided and lack an ethical basis. Discussion We have been investigating the peace-building properties of community based approaches to disability in a number of countries. This p...

  4. A fast and highly sensitive blood culture PCR method for clinical detection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Liqing

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Salmonella Typhi causes an estimated 21 million new cases of typhoid fever and 216,000 deaths every year. Blood culture is currently the gold standard for diagnosis of typhoid fever, but it is time-consuming and takes several days for isolation and identification of causative organisms. It is then too late to initiate proper antibiotic therapy. Serological tests have very low sensitivity and specificity, and no practical value in endemic areas. As early diagnosis of the disease and prompt treatment are essential for optimal management, especially in children, a rapid sensitive detection method for typhoid fever is urgently needed. Although PCR is sensitive and rapid, initial research indicated similar sensitivity to blood culture and lower specificity. We developed a fast and highly sensitive blood culture PCR method for detection of Salmonella Typhi, allowing same-day initiation of treatment after accurate diagnosis of typhoid. Methods An ox bile tryptone soy broth was optimized for blood culture, which allows the complete lysis of blood cells to release intracellular bacteria without inhibiting the growth of Salmonella Typhi. Using the optimised broth Salmonella Typhi bacteria in artificial blood samples were enriched in blood culture and then detected by a PCR targeting the fliC-d gene of Salmonella Typhi. Results Tests demonstrated that 2.4% ox bile in blood culture not only lyzes blood cells completely within 1.5 hours so that the intracellular bacteria could be released, but also has no inhibiting effect on the growth of Salmonella Typhi. Three hour enrichment of Salmonella Typhi in tryptone soya broth containing 2.4% ox bile could increase the bacterial number from 0.75 CFU per millilitre of blood which is similar to clinical typhoid samples to the level which regular PCR can detect. The whole blood culture PCR assay takes less than 8 hours to complete rather than several days for conventional blood culture

  5. Practical Life: The Keystone of Life, Culture, and Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramani, Uma

    2013-01-01

    Uma Ramani's characterization of practical life is philosophical and anthropological, suggesting that "human history is the story of the evolution of our practical life activities." Practical life is a collaborative activity that creates community and culture. One's adaptation to life through the daily work of ordering our environment…

  6. Social Change and Cultural Values in a Small Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanmartín Arce, Ricardo

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This article describes how social change has affected the cultural values in a small community of fishermen in the Albufera Lake of Valencia. Industrial development, tourism, new employment and jobs changed the ecology of the lake, the mutual dependency among neighbours and the efficiency of old cultural values to orient social interaction. Both the new role played by of women and the Spanish Constitution of 1978 lie at the basis of new conflicts which are at once a challenge and an opportunity for the emergence of new horizons.

    El artículo describe cómo ha afectado el cambio social a los valores culturales en una pequeña comunidad de pescadores en el lago de la Albufera de Valencia. El desarrollo industrial, el turismo y el nuevo empleo y trabajos cambiaron la ecología del lago, la mutua dependencia entre los vecinos y la eficiencia de los viejos valores culturales para orientar la interacción social. El nuevo rol de la mujer y la Constitución están en la base de nuevos conflictos como reto y como apertura de nuevos horizontes a la vez.

  7. The Theory of Translation as a Condition of Chance for of Cultures Protection: The Case of Cultural Community Protocols in Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francielle Benini Agne Tybusch

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The work aims to study the theory of translation of Boaventura de Sousa Santos and its application in crop protection. As well as examining the case of Community biocultural protocols in Colombia in search for alternative protection for traditional knowledge. The questions in this study were performed: A Theory of Translation Boaventura de Sousa Santos could be a condition of possibility for the protection of culture and traditional knowledge? And the biocultural community protocols could be an example of the theory of translation? To answer these research questions we used the combination of two methods: deductive and monographic. The first was used to guide the documentary and doctrinal research as it relates to globalization and culture. The monographic method was used for the second part, to address the translation theory of Boaventura de Sousa Santos and the case of bio-cultural Community Protocols in Colombia.

  8. Functional implications of the microbial community structure of undefined mesophilic starter cultures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smid, E.J.; Erkus, O.; Spus, M.; Wolkers-Rooijackers, J.C.M.; Alexeeva, S.V.; Kleerebezem, M.

    2014-01-01

    This review describes the recent advances made in the studies of the microbial community of complex and undefined cheese starter cultures. We report on work related to the composition of the cultures at the level of genetic lineages, on the presence and activity of bacteriophages and on the

  9. The red road to wellness: cultural reclamation in a Native First Nations community treatment center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gone, Joseph P

    2011-03-01

    This article explores how Native American cultural practices were incorporated into the therapeutic activities of a community-controlled substance abuse treatment center on a "First Nations" reserve in the Canadian north. Analysis of open-ended interviews with nineteen staff and clients-as contextualized by participant observation, program records, and existing ethnographic resources-yielded insights concerning local therapeutic practice with outpatients and other community members. Specifically, program staff adopted and promoted a diverse array of both western and Aboriginal approaches that were formally integrated with reference to the Aboriginal symbol of the medicine wheel. Although incorporations of indigenous culture marked Lodge programs as distinctively Aboriginal in character, the subtle but profound influence of western "therapy culture" was centrally evident in healing activities as well. Nuanced explication of these activities illustrated four contributions of cultural analysis for community psychology.

  10. Synthesis strategy: building a culturally sensitive mid-range theory of risk perception using literary, quantitative, and qualitative methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siaki, Leilani A; Loescher, Lois J; Trego, Lori L

    2013-03-01

    This article presents a discussion of development of a mid-range theory of risk perception. Unhealthy behaviours contribute to the development of health inequalities worldwide. The link between perceived risk and successful health behaviour change is inconclusive, particularly in vulnerable populations. This may be attributed to inattention to culture. The synthesis strategy of theory building guided the process using three methods: (1) a systematic review of literature published between 2000-2011 targeting perceived risk in vulnerable populations; (2) qualitative and (3) quantitative data from a study of Samoan Pacific Islanders at high risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Main concepts of this theory include risk attention, appraisal processes, cognition, and affect. Overarching these concepts is health-world view: cultural ways of knowing, beliefs, values, images, and ideas. This theory proposes the following: (1) risk attention varies based on knowledge of the health risk in the context of health-world views; (2) risk appraisals are influenced by affect, health-world views, cultural customs, and protocols that intersect with the health risk; (3) strength of cultural beliefs, values, and images (cultural identity) mediate risk attention and risk appraisal influencing the likelihood that persons will engage in health-promoting behaviours that may contradict cultural customs/protocols. Interventions guided by a culturally sensitive mid-range theory may improve behaviour-related health inequalities in vulnerable populations. The synthesis strategy is an intensive process for developing a culturally sensitive mid-range theory. Testing of the theory will ascertain its usefulness for reducing health inequalities in vulnerable groups. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Evaluation of the organizational cultural competence of a community health center: a multimethod approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherner, Rebecca; Olavarria, Marcela; Young, Marta; Aubry, Tim; Marchant, Christina

    2014-09-01

    Cultural competence is an important component of client-centered care in health promotion and community health services, especially considering the changing demographics of North America. Although a number of tools for evaluating cultural competence have been developed, few studies have reported on the results of organizational cultural competence evaluations in health care or social services settings. This article aims to fill this gap by providing a description of a cultural competence evaluation of a community health center serving a diverse population. Data collection included reviewing documents, and surveying staff, management, and the Board of Directors. The organization fully met 28 of 53 standards of cultural competence, partially met 21 standards, and did not meet 2 standards, and 2 standards could not be assessed due to missing information. The advantages and lessons learned from this organizational cultural competence evaluation are discussed. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

  12. Community-Based Suicide Prevention Research in Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isaak, Corinne A.; Campeau, Mike; Katz, Laurence Y.; Enns, Murray W.; Elias, Brenda; Sareen, Jitender

    2010-01-01

    Suicide is a complex problem linked to genetic, environmental, psychological and community factors. For the Aboriginal population more specifically, loss of culture, history of traumatic events, individual, family and community factors may also play a role in suicidal behaviour. Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Canadian…

  13. Plant Materials are Sustainable Substrates Supporting New Technologies of Plant-Only-Based Culture Media for in vitro Culturing of the Plant Microbiota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mourad, Elhussein F; Sarhan, Mohamed S; Daanaa, Hassan-Sibroe A; Abdou, Mennatullah; Morsi, Ahmed T; Abdelfadeel, Mohamed R; Elsawey, Hend; Nemr, Rahma; El-Tahan, Mahmoud; Hamza, Mervat A; Abbas, Mohamed; Youssef, Hanan H; Abdelhadi, Abdelhadi A; Amer, Wafaa M; Fayez, Mohamed; Ruppel, Silke; Hegazi, Nabil A

    2018-03-29

    In order to improve the culturability and biomass production of rhizobacteria, we previously introduced plant-only-based culture media. We herein attempted to widen the scope of plant materials suitable for the preparation of plant-only-based culture media. We chemically analyzed the refuse of turfgrass, cactus, and clover. They were sufficiently rich to support good in vitro growth by rhizobacteria isolates representing Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. They were also adequate and efficient to produce a cell biomass in liquid batch cultures. These culture media were as sufficient as artificial culture media for the cultivation and recovery of the in situ rhizobacteria of barley (Hordeum murinum L.). Based on culture-dependent (CFU plate counting) and culture-independent analyses (qPCR), mowed turfgrass, in particular, supported the highest culturable population of barley endophytes, representing >16% of the total bacterial number quantified with qPCR. This accurately reflected the endophytic community composition, in terms of diversity indices (S', H', and D') based on PCR-DGGE, and clustered the plant culture media together with the qPCR root populations away from the artificial culture media. Despite the promiscuous nature of the plant materials tested to culture the plant microbiome, our results indicated that plant materials of a homologous nature to the tested host plant, at least at the family level, and/or of the same environment were more likely to be selected. Plant-only-based culture media require further refinements in order to provide selectivity for the in vitro growth of members of the plant microbiome, particularly difficult-to-culture bacteria. This will provide insights into their hidden roles in the environment and support future culturomic studies.

  14. Evaluation of cardiovascular risk-lowering health benefits accruing from laboratory-based, community-based and exercise-referral exercise programmes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, R; Thompson, J E S; Ruffino, J-S; Davies, N A; Watkeys, L; Hooper, S; Jones, P M; Walters, G; Clayton, D; Thomas, A W; Morris, K; Llewellyn, D H; Ward, M; Wyatt-Williams, J; McDonnell, B J

    2016-01-01

    To evaluate the ability of community-based exercise programmes to facilitate public participation in exercise and hence improved cardiovascular health, we assessed the respective impacts of: a continuously monitored exercise programme based within our university (study 1); a Valleys Regional Park-facilitated community-based outdoor exercise programme (study 2); a Wales National Exercise Referral Scheme-delivered exercise-referral programme (study 3). Biomolecular (monocytic PPARγ target gene expression), vascular haemodynamic (central/peripheral blood pressure, arterial stiffness), clinical (insulin sensitivity, blood lipids) and anthropometric (body mass index, waist circumference, heart rate) parameters were investigated using RT-PCR, applanation tonometry, chemical analysis and standard anthropometric techniques. In studies 1-3, 22/28, 32/65 and 11/14 participants adhered to their respective exercise programmes, and underwent significant increases in physical activity levels. Importantly, beneficial effects similar to those seen in our previous studies (eg, modulations in expression of monocytic PPARγ target genes, decreases in blood pressure/arterial stiffness, improvements in blood lipids/insulin sensitivity) were observed (albeit to slightly differing extents) only in participants who adhered to their respective exercise programmes. While study 1 achieved more intense exercise and more pronounced beneficial effects, significant cardiovascular risk-lowering health benefits related to biomolecular markers, blood pressure, arterial stiffness and blood lipids were achieved via community/referral-based delivery modes in studies 2 and 3. Because cardiovascular health benefits were observed in all 3 studies, we conclude that the majority of benefits previously reported in laboratory-based studies can also be achieved in community-based/exercise-referral settings. These findings may be of use in guiding policymakers with regard to introduction and/or continued

  15. Culturally Responsive Literacy Practices in an Early Childhood Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Susan V.; Gunn, AnnMarie Alberton; Gayle-Evans, Guda; Barrera, Estanislado S.; Leung, Cynthia B.

    2018-01-01

    Early childhood educators continue to see an increase in their culturally diverse student population. As our country continues to grow as a multicultural nation, it is imperative that our early childhood classrooms embrace this rich diversity and provide experiences that affirm all students, families and communities. We (teacher educators)…

  16. Narrative and Experience of Community as Philosophy of Culture ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper argues that the distinctive feature of African philosophising is a communitarian outlook expressed through various forms of narrative. The paper first illustrates the close relationship between narrative and community in the African cultural milieu. It then goes on to examine the way in which African academics in ...

  17. Culture dependent and independent analysis of bacterial communities associated with commercial salad leaf vegetables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Colin R; Randolph, Kevin C; Osborn, Shelly L; Tyler, Heather L

    2013-12-01

    Plants harbor a diverse bacterial community, both as epiphytes on the plant surface and as endophytes within plant tissue. While some plant-associated bacteria act as plant pathogens or promote plant growth, others may be human pathogens. The aim of the current study was to determine the bacterial community composition of organic and conventionally grown leafy salad vegetables at the point of consumption using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Total culturable bacteria on salad vegetables ranged from 8.0 × 10(3) to 5.5 × 10(8) CFU g(-1). The number of culturable endophytic bacteria from surface sterilized plants was significantly lower, ranging from 2.2 × 10(3) to 5.8 × 10(5) CFU g(-1). Cultured isolates belonged to six major bacterial phyla, and included representatives of Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Chryseobacterium, and Flavobacterium. Eleven different phyla and subphyla were identified by culture-independent pyrosequencing, with Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes being the most dominant lineages. Other bacterial lineages identified (e.g. Firmicutes, Alphaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria) typically represented less than 1% of sequences obtained. At the genus level, sequences classified as Pseudomonas were identified in all samples and this was often the most prevalent genus. Ralstonia sequences made up a greater portion of the community in surface sterilized than non-surface sterilized samples, indicating that it was largely endophytic, while Acinetobacter sequences appeared to be primarily associated with the leaf surface. Analysis of molecular variance indicated there were no significant differences in bacterial community composition between organic versus conventionally grown, or surface-sterilized versus non-sterilized leaf vegetables. While culture-independent pyrosequencing identified significantly more bacterial taxa, the dominant taxa from pyrosequence data were also detected by traditional

  18. Culture dependent and independent analysis of bacterial communities associated with commercial salad leaf vegetables

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Plants harbor a diverse bacterial community, both as epiphytes on the plant surface and as endophytes within plant tissue. While some plant-associated bacteria act as plant pathogens or promote plant growth, others may be human pathogens. The aim of the current study was to determine the bacterial community composition of organic and conventionally grown leafy salad vegetables at the point of consumption using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Results Total culturable bacteria on salad vegetables ranged from 8.0 × 103 to 5.5 × 108 CFU g-1. The number of culturable endophytic bacteria from surface sterilized plants was significantly lower, ranging from 2.2 × 103 to 5.8 × 105 CFU g-1. Cultured isolates belonged to six major bacterial phyla, and included representatives of Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Chryseobacterium, and Flavobacterium. Eleven different phyla and subphyla were identified by culture-independent pyrosequencing, with Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes being the most dominant lineages. Other bacterial lineages identified (e.g. Firmicutes, Alphaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria) typically represented less than 1% of sequences obtained. At the genus level, sequences classified as Pseudomonas were identified in all samples and this was often the most prevalent genus. Ralstonia sequences made up a greater portion of the community in surface sterilized than non-surface sterilized samples, indicating that it was largely endophytic, while Acinetobacter sequences appeared to be primarily associated with the leaf surface. Analysis of molecular variance indicated there were no significant differences in bacterial community composition between organic versus conventionally grown, or surface-sterilized versus non-sterilized leaf vegetables. While culture-independent pyrosequencing identified significantly more bacterial taxa, the dominant taxa from pyrosequence data were also detected by

  19. Community-based rehabilitation offers cost-effective epilepsy treatment in rural Guinea-Bissau

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Diessen, Eric; van der Maas, Frank; Cabral, Vladimir; Otte, Willem M

    Treatment of epilepsy in low-income countries is a challenge considering the lack of resources, availability of antiepileptic drugs, and cultural beliefs. We used a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) service for the detection, monitoring, and treatment of epilepsy. A local network of trained

  20. Barriers and facilitators to childhood obesity prevention among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Victoria, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cyril, Sheila; Nicholson, Jan M; Agho, Kingsley; Polonsky, Michael; Renzaho, Andre M

    2017-06-01

    Childhood obesity is rising among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups who show poor engagement in obesity prevention initiatives. We examined the barriers and facilitators to the engagement of CALD communities in obesity prevention initiatives. We used the nominal group technique to collect data from 39 participants from Vietnamese, Burmese, African, Afghani and Indian origins living in disadvantaged areas of Victoria, Australia. Data analysis revealed ranked priorities for barriers and facilitators for CALD community engagement in obesity prevention initiatives. CALD parents identified key barriers as being: competing priorities in the post-migration settlement phase; language, cultural and program accessibility barriers; low levels of food and health literacy; junk food advertisement targeting children; and lack of mandatory weight checks for schoolchildren. Key facilitators emerged as: bicultural playgroup leaders; ethnic community groups; and school-based healthy lunch box initiatives. This study has identified several policy recommendations including: the implementation of robust food taxation policies; consistent control of food advertising targeting children; improving CALD health literacy using bicultural workers; and matching health promotional materials with CALD community literacy levels. Implications for Public Health: These recommendations can directly influence public health policy to improve the engagement of CALD communities in obesity prevention services and ultimately reduce the widening obesity disparities in Australia. © 2017 The Authors.

  1. Response to Marie Paz Morales' ``Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement''

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Mikel Walker

    2015-12-01

    This response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement" explores the ideas of culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy to examine some implications for culturally responsive science instruction implicit in the original manuscript.

  2. EFFORTS TO IMPROVE WELFARE BASED ON AQUACULTURE TOWARDS THE COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunikewaty

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to produce a continuous improvement model of river basin community welfare by applying the moral values of the society culture. The subject of research is the community of the river Kahayan River Palangkaraya. Based on the results of research can be concluded that the aquaculture based eco-business activities can be done by applying the moral values of the river society culture, so that all economic activities do not damage the environment. The Kahayan River has a high economic potential for the people living around it. However, the current condition has been greatly reduced due to various obstacles encountered, including environmental damage in the upper river, due to refinery plantation companies (accompanied by high levels of pesticide use and chemical fertilizers and intensive cultivation, illegal gold mining, deforestation, illegal use of poison while fishing, industrial and household waste disposal into the Kahayan river.

  3. Practitioners' Perspectives on Cultural Sensitivity in Latina/o Teen Pregnancy Prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson-Lee, Ada M.; Russell, Stephen T.; Lee, Faye C. H.

    2006-01-01

    This study examined practitioners' understandings of cultural sensitivity in the context of pregnancy prevention programs for Latina teens. Fifty-eight practitioners from teen pregnancy prevention programs in California were interviewed in a guided conversation format. Three themes emerged in our analysis. First, practitioners' definitions of…

  4. Cultural/Community Mentoring with Maori and Pacific Electrical Apprentices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Holland

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available New Zealand government policy documents over the last decade have committed to supporting Maori and Pasifika learners, yet still today there is little real support in place for learners in apprenticeships. There is even less support in place that acknowledges the cultural dimension of learning in the workplace. This paper discusses the establishment and review of a development project which sets out to provide culturally supportive mentoring for Maori and Pasifika apprentices. The project sought to do this by engaging experienced Maori and Pasifika tradesmen who were located in the local communities of their learners.

  5. Creating Qungasvik (a Yup'ik intervention "toolbox"): case examples from a community-developed and culturally-driven intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmus, Stacy M; Charles, Billy; Mohatt, Gerald V

    2014-09-01

    This paper describes the development of a Yup'ik Alaska Native approach to suicide and alcohol abuse prevention that resulted in the creation of the Qungasvik, a toolbox promoting reasons for life and sobriety among youth. The Qungasvik is made up of thirty-six modules that function as cultural scripts for creating experiences in Yup'ik communities that build strengths and protection against suicide and alcohol abuse. The Qungasvik manual represents the results of a community based participatory research intervention development process grounded in culture and local process, and nurtured through a syncretic blending of Indigenous and Western theories and practices. This paper will provide a description of the collaborative steps taken at the community-level to develop the intervention modules. This process involved university researchers and community members coming together and drawing from multiple sources of data and knowledge to inform the development of prevention activities addressing youth suicide and alcohol abuse. We will present case examples describing the development of three keystone modules; Qasgiq (The Men's House), Yup'ik Kinship Terms, and Surviving Your Feelings. These modules each are representative of the process that the community co-researcher team took to develop and implement protective experiences that: (1) create supportive community, (2) strengthen families, and (3) give individuals tools to be healthy and strong.

  6. Physical education and physical culture in the coloured community ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A scienti fic-historical li terature review was undertaken in order to place the history of physical education and physical culture in the Coloured community at the epicenter of research. This review was extracted and adapted from research done in preparation for a doctoral dissertation. A broad range of approaches, from ...

  7. Work characteristics and pesticide exposures among migrant agricultural families: a community-based research approach.

    OpenAIRE

    McCauley, L A; Lasarev, M R; Higgins, G; Rothlein, J; Muniz, J; Ebbert, C; Phillips, J

    2001-01-01

    There are few data on pesticide exposures of migrant Latino farmworker children, and access to this vulnerable population is often difficult. In this paper we describe a community-based approach to implement culturally appropriate research methods with a migrant Latino farmworker community in Oregon. Assessments were conducted in 96 farmworker homes and 24 grower homes in two agricultural communities in Oregon. Measurements included surveys of pesticide use and work protection practices and a...

  8. Functional implications of the microbial community structure of undefined mesophilic starter cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smid, Eddy J; Erkus, Oylum; Spus, Maciej; Wolkers-Rooijackers, Judith C M; Alexeeva, Svetlana; Kleerebezem, Michiel

    2014-08-29

    This review describes the recent advances made in the studies of the microbial community of complex and undefined cheese starter cultures. We report on work related to the composition of the cultures at the level of genetic lineages, on the presence and activity of bacteriophages and on the population dynamics during cheese making and during starter culture propagation. Furthermore, the link between starter composition and starter functionality will be discussed. Finally, recent advances in predictive metabolic modelling of the multi-strain cultures will be discussed in the context of microbe-microbe interactions.

  9. Designing a community-based lay health advisor training curriculum to address cancer health disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gwede, Clement K; Ashley, Atalie A; McGinnis, Kara; Montiel-Ishino, F Alejandro; Standifer, Maisha; Baldwin, Julie; Williams, Coni; Sneed, Kevin B; Wathington, Deanna; Dash-Pitts, Lolita; Green, B Lee

    2013-05-01

    Racial and ethnic minorities have disproportionately higher cancer incidence and mortality than their White counterparts. In response to this inequity in cancer prevention and care, community-based lay health advisors (LHAs) may be suited to deliver effective, culturally relevant, quality cancer education, prevention/screening, and early detection services for underserved populations. APPROACH AND STRATEGIES: Consistent with key tenets of community-based participatory research (CBPR), this project engaged community partners to develop and implement a unique LHA training curriculum to address cancer health disparities among medically underserved communities in a tricounty area. Seven phases of curriculum development went into designing a final seven-module LHA curriculum. In keeping with principles of CBPR and community engagement, academic-community partners and LHAs themselves were involved at all phases to ensure the needs of academic and community partners were mutually addressed in development and implementation of the LHA program. Community-based LHA programs for outreach, education, and promotion of cancer screening and early detection, are ideal for addressing cancer health disparities in access and quality care. When community-based LHAs are appropriately recruited, trained, and located in communities, they provide unique opportunities to link, bridge, and facilitate quality cancer education, services, and research.

  10. Cultural conflicts, dilemmas and disillusionment among the San communities at Platfontein

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G.T. Batha

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the cultural conflicts, dilemmas and disillusionment among the San communities at Platfontein in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. A critical review of written texts, interviews, observations and focus group discussions with the community knowledge-holders shows that the community’s new Westernised lifestyle in the midst of the capitalist society at Platfontein turns the collective spirit, human relations, mutual reverence, sincerity and self-confidence that existed before their contact with Westernised societies into unusual selfishness, individualism, impiety, dishonesty, greed and disregard for others. The conflict between the communal hunter-gatherer culture and the alien individualist mode of existence has created serious dilemmas and moral conflicts in the community. The Westernised mode of existence has alienated the community from their human nature, their natural environment, their productive chores and their communal life. The community has an undefined, unclear and controversial understanding of their own racial identity. The San refer to the black and white races that have historical relationships with them as Others, which in turn has an Othering effect on the San themselves. The causes of moral and psychological conflicts, identity crises, dilemmas and disillusionment are power relations related to ethnic and racial politics, colonial discourse and identity politics. The researcher recommends that to achieve harmonious relationships with other communities and among themselves, the San need to redefine themselves and other societies that have historical ties with them.

  11. The number of cultural traits is correlated with female group size but not with male group size in chimpanzee communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lind, Johan; Lindenfors, Patrik

    2010-03-24

    What determines the number of cultural traits present in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) communities is poorly understood. In humans, theoretical models suggest that the frequency of cultural traits can be predicted by population size. In chimpanzees, however, females seem to have a particularly important role as cultural carriers. Female chimpanzees use tools more frequently than males. They also spend more time with their young, skewing the infants' potential for social learning towards their mothers. In Gombe, termite fishing has been shown to be transmitted from mother to offspring. Lastly, it is female chimpanzees that transfer between communities and thus have the possibility of bringing in novel cultural traits from other communities. From these observations we predicted that females are more important cultural carriers than males. Here we show that the reported number of cultural traits in chimpanzee communities correlates with the number of females in chimpanzee communities, but not with the number of males. Hence, our results suggest that females are the carriers of chimpanzee culture.

  12. Culture-Dependent and -Independent Methods Capture Different Microbial Community Fractions in Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franck O P Stefani

    Full Text Available Bioremediation is a cost-effective and sustainable approach for treating polluted soils, but our ability to improve on current bioremediation strategies depends on our ability to isolate microorganisms from these soils. Although culturing is widely used in bioremediation research and applications, it is unknown whether the composition of cultured isolates closely mirrors the indigenous microbial community from contaminated soils. To assess this, we paired culture-independent (454-pyrosequencing of total soil DNA with culture-dependent (isolation using seven different growth media techniques to analyse the bacterial and fungal communities from hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Although bacterial and fungal rarefaction curves were saturated for both methods, only 2.4% and 8.2% of the bacterial and fungal OTUs, respectively, were shared between datasets. Isolated taxa increased the total recovered species richness by only 2% for bacteria and 5% for fungi. Interestingly, none of the bacteria that we isolated were representative of the major bacterial OTUs recovered by 454-pyrosequencing. Isolation of fungi was moderately more effective at capturing the dominant OTUs observed by culture-independent analysis, as 3 of 31 cultured fungal strains ranked among the 20 most abundant fungal OTUs in the 454-pyrosequencing dataset. This study is one of the most comprehensive comparisons of microbial communities from hydrocarbon-contaminated soils using both isolation and high-throughput sequencing methods.

  13. Culture-Dependent and -Independent Methods Capture Different Microbial Community Fractions in Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefani, Franck O P; Bell, Terrence H; Marchand, Charlotte; de la Providencia, Ivan E; El Yassimi, Abdel; St-Arnaud, Marc; Hijri, Mohamed

    2015-01-01

    Bioremediation is a cost-effective and sustainable approach for treating polluted soils, but our ability to improve on current bioremediation strategies depends on our ability to isolate microorganisms from these soils. Although culturing is widely used in bioremediation research and applications, it is unknown whether the composition of cultured isolates closely mirrors the indigenous microbial community from contaminated soils. To assess this, we paired culture-independent (454-pyrosequencing of total soil DNA) with culture-dependent (isolation using seven different growth media) techniques to analyse the bacterial and fungal communities from hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. Although bacterial and fungal rarefaction curves were saturated for both methods, only 2.4% and 8.2% of the bacterial and fungal OTUs, respectively, were shared between datasets. Isolated taxa increased the total recovered species richness by only 2% for bacteria and 5% for fungi. Interestingly, none of the bacteria that we isolated were representative of the major bacterial OTUs recovered by 454-pyrosequencing. Isolation of fungi was moderately more effective at capturing the dominant OTUs observed by culture-independent analysis, as 3 of 31 cultured fungal strains ranked among the 20 most abundant fungal OTUs in the 454-pyrosequencing dataset. This study is one of the most comprehensive comparisons of microbial communities from hydrocarbon-contaminated soils using both isolation and high-throughput sequencing methods.

  14. Institutional Arrangements in seasonal floodplain management under community-based Aquaculture in Bangladesh

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haque, A.B.M.M.; Visser, L.E.; Dey Madan, M.

    2011-01-01

    Seasonal floodplains under private and public ownership in the Indo-Ganges river basin provide food and income for millions of people in Bangladesh. Floodplain ownership regimes are diverse, covering the whole spectrum from public to private ownership. The paper compares community-based fish culture

  15. Molecular profiling of fungal communities in moisture damaged buildings before and after remediation - a comparison of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Auvinen Petri

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Indoor microbial contamination due to excess moisture is an important contributor to human illness in both residential and occupational settings. However, the census of microorganisms in the indoor environment is limited by the use of selective, culture-based detection techniques. By using clone library sequencing of full-length internal transcribed spacer region combined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR for 69 fungal species or assay groups and cultivation, we have been able to generate a more comprehensive description of the total indoor mycoflora. Using this suite of methods, we assessed the impact of moisture damage on the fungal community composition of settled dust and building material samples (n = 8 and 16, correspondingly. Water-damaged buildings (n = 2 were examined pre- and post- remediation, and compared with undamaged reference buildings (n = 2. Results Culture-dependent and independent methods were consistent in the dominant fungal taxa in dust, but sequencing revealed a five to ten times higher diversity at the genus level than culture or qPCR. Previously unknown, verified fungal phylotypes were detected in dust, accounting for 12% of all diversity. Fungal diversity, especially within classes Dothideomycetes and Agaricomycetes tended to be higher in the water damaged buildings. Fungal phylotypes detected in building materials were present in dust samples, but their proportion of total fungi was similar for damaged and reference buildings. The quantitative correlation between clone library phylotype frequencies and qPCR counts was moderate (r = 0.59, p Conclusions We examined a small number of target buildings and found indications of elevated fungal diversity associated with water damage. Some of the fungi in dust were attributable to building growth, but more information on the material-associated communities is needed in order to understand the dynamics of microbial communities between

  16. Teaching nutrition to medical students: a community-based problem-solving approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharji, S; Joseph, A; Abraham, S; Muliyil, J; John, K R; Ethirajan, N

    1990-01-01

    This paper presents a community-based problem-solving educational programme which aims at teaching medical and other health science students the importance of nutrition and its application. Through community surveys students assess the nutritional status of children under five using different anthropometric methods. They understand the cultural beliefs and customs related to food fads and the reasons for them. They also acquire the skill to educate the community using the information gathered. They use epidemiological methods such as case control study to find associations between malnutrition and other causative factors. Feedback from students has been positive and evaluation of students' knowledge before and after the programme has shown significant improvement.

  17. Response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of Culture and Language Sensitive Physics on Science Attitude Achievement"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Mikel Walker

    2015-01-01

    This response to Marie Paz Morales' "Influence of culture and language sensitive physics on science attitude achievement" explores the ideas of culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy to examine some implications for culturally responsive science instruction implicit in the original manuscript. [For "Influence of…

  18. PERCEPTION OF TOURISTS TOWARD COMMUNITY-BASED FESTIVAL OF KUTA MAJELANGU MARKET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Made Ruki

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research was to identify foreign tourist perception toward service of KutaMajelangu Market as an Attraction of community-based tourism. Foreign tourist’s perception was analyzed by Likert scale. This research used various approaches such as: social and culture, community based tourism, sustainable tourism, and perception theory. Respondents were taken from foreign tourist come from many  countries such as Japan, Australia, China, America, Germany, Austria, Holland, and British, while the informants were taken from districts officers, around Kuta Village: such as the head of traditional village known as bendesa, head od subvillage/kelihan banjar,  and Kuta community leaders. Data were taken from observation, Interview, questionnaire, and some documents. The results of this study revealed that perception of tourists toward the festival Market Majelangu Kuta as community-based tourist attraction for a variety of requirements had been fulfillment where starting from the land use, planning, management, preservation, benefit economically performed independently by local community. While the perception of tourists toward the activities and services of the Market Majelangu Kuta were well perceived by 79% percent of tourists

  19. Describing the organisational culture of a selection of community pharmacies using a tool borrowed from social science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scahill, Shane; Harrison, Jeff; Carswell, Peter

    2010-02-01

    To describe the dimensions of organisational culture within a selection of community pharmacies. Community pharmacy in the New Zealand primary care sector which is partially government funded and currently undergoing major reform. Community pharmacy is under pressure to take on new roles, integrate within the wider primary care team and deliver the expectations of contemporary health policy. The mixed methods approach of concept mapping was undertaken with 10 representatives from six community pharmacies selected as case sites. The process was split into three parts (a) face to face brainstorming to generate statements describing culture, followed by (b) statement reduction, piloting and approval of statement list by participants, followed by (c) sorting the statements into 'like' groups. Multidimensional scaling analysis of participant sorting allows the development of discrete clusters of statements that describe aspects of organizational culture. A set of 105 statements were generated at the brainstorming meeting. Eight clusters of organisational culture resulted from participant sorting: leadership and staff management; valuing each other and the team; free thinking, fun and open to challenge; trusted behaviour; customer relations; focus on external integration; providing systematic advice; embracing innovation. Community pharmacy is under pressure to take on new roles and deliver and there is some evidence organisational culture of pharmacy may be a barrier. Our paper outlines the development of a survey instrument for describing organisational culture through Concept mapping, a tool borrowed from social sciences. This tool can be used for exploration of aspects of culture that may be important in the change management process for improving the effectiveness of community pharmacy as expected by contemporary primary health care policy.

  20. Organizational Barriers to Adopting an Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Community-Based Mental Health Organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, David A; Wolf Adelv Unegv Waya, Silver; Dulmus, Catherine N

    2012-06-01

    This paper examines two factors related to successfully implementing a brief alcohol screening throughout all community-based mental health organizations. The first issue is related to an organization's internal structures, such as culture and climate that can impede evidenced-based practice implementation. There is literature suggesting that organizational culture and climate affect decisions about whether evidence-based practices are adopted and implemented within health care agencies. Following this literature review on organizational barriers, the history and successes of adopting an alcohol screening and brief intervention are reviewed. Studying, identifying, and understanding the organizational factors associated with the successful dissemination and implementation of best practices throughout community-based mental health organizations would contribute to increasing the likelihood that an alcohol screening and brief intervention are implemented throughout mental health organizations.

  1. Bacterial community profiling of milk samples as a means to understand culture-negative bovine clinical mastitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuehn, Joanna S; Gorden, Patrick J; Munro, Daniel; Rong, Ruichen; Dong, Qunfeng; Plummer, Paul J; Wang, Chong; Phillips, Gregory J

    2013-01-01

    Inflammation and infection of bovine mammary glands, commonly known as mastitis, imposes significant losses each year in the dairy industry worldwide. While several different bacterial species have been identified as causative agents of mastitis, many clinical mastitis cases remain culture negative, even after enrichment for bacterial growth. To understand the basis for this increasingly common phenomenon, the composition of bacterial communities from milk samples was analyzed using culture independent pyrosequencing of amplicons of 16S ribosomal RNA genes (16S rDNA). Comparisons were made of the microbial community composition of culture negative milk samples from mastitic quarters with that of non-mastitic quarters from the same animals. Genomic DNA from culture-negative clinical and healthy quarter sample pairs was isolated, and amplicon libraries were prepared using indexed primers specific to the V1-V2 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and sequenced using the Roche 454 GS FLX with titanium chemistry. Evaluation of the taxonomic composition of these samples revealed significant differences in the microbiota in milk from mastitic and healthy quarters. Statistical analysis identified seven bacterial genera that may be mainly responsible for the observed microbial community differences between mastitic and healthy quarters. Collectively, these results provide evidence that cases of culture negative mastitis can be associated with bacterial species that may be present below culture detection thresholds used here. The application of culture-independent bacterial community profiling represents a powerful approach to understand long-standing questions in animal health and disease.

  2. Cultural significance of wild mammals in Mayan and mestizo communities of the Lacandon Rainforest, Chiapas, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Del Valle, Yasminda; Naranjo, Eduardo J; Caballero, Javier; Martorell, Carlos; Ruan-Soto, Felipe; Enríquez, Paula L

    2015-05-07

    Several ethnobiology studies evaluate the cultural significance (CS) of plants and mushrooms. However, this is not the case for mammals. It is important to make studies of CS allowing the comparison of cultural groups because the value given to groups of organisms may be based on different criteria. Such information would be valuable for wildlife preservation plans. In this study, the most culturally significant species of mammals from the Lacandon Rainforest (Chiapas, Mexico) for people from two Mayan-Lacandon and mestizo communities were identified. The reasons behind the CS of the studied species were explored and the existence of differences among the cultural groups was evaluated. One hundred ninety-eight semi-structured and structured interviews were applied to compile socio-demographic information, qualitative data on CS categories, and free listings. Frequency of mention was a relative indicator to evaluate the CS of each species of mammal. Comparison of responses between communities was carried out through multivariate analyses. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the number of mentioned species by Lacandons and mestizos as well as different responses in the qualitative categories. A χ2 test was used to compare frequency of categories. 38 wild mammal species were identified. The classification and Principal Components Analyses show an apparent separation between Lacandon and mestizo sites based on the relative importance of species. All four communities mentioned the lowland paca the most, followed by peccary, white-tailed deer, armadillo, and jaguar. No significant difference was found in the number of mentioned species between the two groups. Eight CS categories were identified. The most important category was "harmful mammals", which included 28 species. Other relevant categories were edible, medicinal, and appearing in narratives. The data obtained in this study demonstrates the existence of differential cultural patterns in the

  3. Engaging Families in Cross-Cultural Connections through a School-Based Literacy Fair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceprano, Maria A.; Chicola, Nancy A.

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes how 20 pre-service teachers enrolled in two social studies methods courses at Buffalo State College worked collaboratively to produce a Cross-cultural Literacy Fair at an urban-based elementary school. The participatory activities created for the event were provided in conjunction with a community after-school program and…

  4. Adoption of community engagement in the corporate culture of Australian forest plantation companies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gordon, M.; Lockwood, M.; Schirmer, Jacki; Vanclay, F.; Hanson, D.

    2013-01-01

    This paper provides practical insight into what can be done to improve the adoption of community engagement (CE) in the corporate culture of two Australian forest plantation companies. Previous research has identified that CE can be limited by corporate cultures that promote a narrow range of CE

  5. Community Business in Scotland: An Alternative Vision of 'Enterprise Culture', 1979-97.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Gillian

    2018-06-09

    The force and coherency with which Margaret Thatcher and her inner circle outlined their vision for 'enterprise culture', like so many aspects of Thatcherism, have masked the complexity of its origins and the histories of alternative responses. This article provides a history of an alternative vision for enterprise culture by examining the community business movement in Scotland, the largest experiment of its kind in the UK in the 1980s and a forerunner of social enterprise. Working across Scotland, but with a hub of activity in the Strathclyde region, practitioners worked with local people to find ways to develop their neighbourhood economy while improving their environment, creating jobs, and developing services needed in their area. This article outlines the origins of the movement, the shared values of its founding members, and how their training in community development informed the community business model. It analyses how practitioners put their ideas into practice and the reasons behind the fragmentation of the movement in the 1990s. It argues that although at face value the concept of community business may appear to chime with the dominant political rhetoric of Thatcher's 'enterprise culture', the history of the movement provides a signpost to an alternative, if unrealised, vision for Scotland's recovery from social and economic depression. Where previous historical research has focused on the political consequences of Thatcher's policies in Scotland, this research connects this discussion to the transformation of Scotland's civic society in the wake of deindustrialization.

  6. Engaging with culturally and linguistically diverse communities to reduce the impact of depression and anxiety: a narrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Amy E Z; Procter, Nicholas G; Ferguson, Monika S

    2016-07-01

    Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia face significant challenges in terms of reducing barriers to information and support for depression and anxiety. Increased stigma surrounding mental ill-health in some cultures and related concerns about trust and confidentiality all impact upon timely access to information, services and support for consumers and carers from CALD backgrounds. For health services, there is a need to understand how to better engage CALD communities in mental healthcare. The objective of this narrative review was to identify examples of evidence-based, best practice for what works effectively for engaging with CALD communities to reduce the impact of depression and anxiety. In January 2014, we searched Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Health-Source Consumer Edition, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO (all databases within the EbscoHost platform) and PubMed for peer-reviewed articles published between 1994 and 2014. The search revealed a total of 706 records contained within the EbscoHost platform and 689 records in PubMed; 15 matched the inclusion criteria. Six key themes were identified: (i) setting the scene for engagement; (ii) cultural values and preferences; (iii) language considerations; (iv) 'engagers' in the therapeutic process; (v) opening out engagement to include others; and (vi) engaging through the use of technology and alternative mediums. The literature obtained provides a small body of evidence regarding approaches to engaging CALD communities, with findings highlighting the importance of processes which are tailored to the CALD community of interest and which take into account different cultural explanatory models of mental ill-health. Review findings are also discussed within the framework of intersectionality, in which broader structural inequalities and power imbalances - in areas such as gender and social class - collectively impact on help-seeking and mental health outcomes. This review supports further

  7. Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zapka, C; Leff, J; Henley, J; Tittl, J; De Nardo, E; Butler, M; Griggs, R; Fierer, N; Edmonds-Wilson, S

    2017-03-28

    Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one's own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples ( P hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. IMPORTANCE The hand microbiome is a critical area of research for diverse fields, such as public health and forensics. The suitability of culture-independent methods for assessing effects of hygiene products on microbiota has not been demonstrated. This is the first controlled laboratory clinical hand study to have compared traditional hand hygiene test methods with newer culture-independent characterization methods typically used by skin microbiologists. This study resulted in recommendations for hand hygiene product testing, development of methods, and future hand skin microbiome research. It also demonstrated the importance of inclusion of skin physiological metadata in

  8. The number of cultural traits is correlated with female group size but not with male group size in chimpanzee communities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan Lind

    Full Text Available What determines the number of cultural traits present in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes communities is poorly understood. In humans, theoretical models suggest that the frequency of cultural traits can be predicted by population size. In chimpanzees, however, females seem to have a particularly important role as cultural carriers. Female chimpanzees use tools more frequently than males. They also spend more time with their young, skewing the infants' potential for social learning towards their mothers. In Gombe, termite fishing has been shown to be transmitted from mother to offspring. Lastly, it is female chimpanzees that transfer between communities and thus have the possibility of bringing in novel cultural traits from other communities. From these observations we predicted that females are more important cultural carriers than males. Here we show that the reported number of cultural traits in chimpanzee communities correlates with the number of females in chimpanzee communities, but not with the number of males. Hence, our results suggest that females are the carriers of chimpanzee culture.

  9. Examining the Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Community-Based Obesity Prevention Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, Elizabeth W.; Bera, Victoria; Elsemore, Johanna; Snelling, Anastasia

    2018-01-01

    Background: Latinos in the United States are at heightened risk for obesity and health disparities, yet community-based interventions to promote health are limited. Purpose: This research examined the feasibility and efficacy of a culturally relevant obesity prevention program (Vivir Sano), which included stress reduction and behavioral lifestyle…

  10. A Community-Based Randomized Trial of Hepatitis B Screening Among High-Risk Vietnamese Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Grace X; Fang, Carolyn Y; Seals, Brenda; Feng, Ziding; Tan, Yin; Siu, Philip; Yeh, Ming Chin; Golub, Sarit A; Nguyen, Minhhuyen T; Tran, Tam; Wang, Minqi

    2017-03-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based liver cancer prevention program on hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening among low-income, underserved Vietnamese Americans at high risk. We conducted a cluster randomized trial involving 36 Vietnamese community-based organizations and 2337 participants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City between 2009 and 2014. We randomly assigned 18 community-based organizations to a community-based multilevel HBV screening intervention (n = 1131). We randomly assigned the remaining 18 community-based organizations to a general cancer education program (n = 1206), which included information about HBV-related liver cancer prevention. We assessed HBV screening rates at 6-month follow-up. Intervention participants were significantly more likely to have undergone HBV screening (88.1%) than were control group participants (4.6%). In a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel analysis, the intervention effect on screening outcomes remained statistically significant after adjustment for demographic and health care access variables, including income, having health insurance, having a regular health provider, and English proficiency. A community-based, culturally appropriate, multilevel HBV screening intervention effectively increases screening rates in a high-risk, hard-to-reach Vietnamese American population.

  11. From Amateur to Framauteur: Art Development of Adolescents and Young Adults within an Interest-Based Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manifold, Marjorie Cohee

    2012-01-01

    In this article, the art developmental progression of adolescents and young adults within the cultural context of an interest-based community is described; the role of narrative and sociocultural community to the art development of adolescents and young adults is highlighted. Artistic development begins in response to an aesthetic phenomenon, is…

  12. [Cross-cultural adaptation of the community-acquired pneumonia score questionnaire in patients with mild-to-moderate pneumonia in Colombia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernal-Vargas, Mónica Alejandra; Cortés, Jorge Alberto; Sánchez, Ricardo

    2017-01-24

    One of the strategies for the rational use of antibiotics is the use of the score for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP Score). This instrument clinically evaluates patients with community-acquired pneumonia, thereby facilitating decision making regarding the early and safe withdrawal of antibiotics. To generate a translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Score questionnaire in Spanish. Authorization for cross-cultural adaptation of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Score questionnaire was obtained; the recommendations of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) were carried out through the following stages: forward translation, reconciliation, backward translation, harmonization, obtaining a provisional questionnaire, and applying the questionnaire in a pilot test. The pilot test was conducted at a second-level public hospital in Bogotá after the study was approved by the ethics and research institutional boards. The changes suggested by the forward translators were applied. There were no discrepancies between the backward and forward translations, consequently, no revisions were necessary. Five items had modifications based on suggestions made by eleven patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia during the pilot test. A Spanish version of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Score was crossculturally adapted and is now available.

  13. Creating Qungasvik (A Yup’ik Intervention “Toolbox”): Case Examples from a Community-Developed and Culturally-Driven Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmus, Stacy M.; Charles, Billy; Mohatt, Gerald V.

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the development of a Yup’ik Alaska Native approach to suicide and alcohol abuse prevention that resulted in the creation of the Qungasvik, a toolbox promoting reasons for life and sobriety among youth. The Qungasvik is made up of thirty-six modules that function as cultural scripts for creating experiences in Yup’ik communities that build strengths and protection against suicide and alcohol abuse. The Qungasvik manual represents the results of a community based participatory research intervention development process grounded in culture and local process, and nurtured through a syncretic blending of Indigenous and Western theories and practices. This paper will provide a description of the collaborative steps taken at the community-level to develop the intervention modules. This process involved university researchers and community members coming together and drawing from multiple sources of data and knowledge to inform the development of prevention activities addressing youth suicide and alcohol abuse. We will present case examples describing the development of three keystone modules; Qasgiq (The Men’s House), Yup’ik Kinship Terms, and Surviving Your Feelings. These modules each are representative of the process that the community co-researcher team took to develop and implement protective experiences that: (1) create supportive community, (2) strengthen families, and (3) give individuals tools to be healthy and strong. PMID:24764018

  14. Tradition over trend: Neighboring chimpanzee communities maintain differences in cultural behavior despite frequent immigration of adult females.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luncz, Lydia V; Boesch, Christophe

    2014-07-01

    The notion of animal culture has been well established mainly through research aiming at uncovering differences between populations. In chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), cultural diversity has even been found in neighboring communities, where differences were observed despite frequent immigration of individuals. Female chimpanzees transfer at the onset of sexual maturity at an age, when the behavioral repertoire is fully formed. With immigrating females, behavioral variety enters the group. Little is known about the diversity and the longevity of cultural traits within a community. This study is building on previous findings of differences in hammer selection when nut cracking between neighboring communities despite similar ecological conditions. We now further investigated the diversity and maintenance of cultural traits within one chimpanzee community and were able to show high levels of uniformity in group-specific behavior. Fidelity to the behavior pattern did not vary between dispersing females and philopatric males. Furthermore, group-specific tool selection remained similar over a period of 25 years. Additionally, we present a study case on how one newly immigrant female progressively behaved more similar to her new group, suggesting that the high level of similarity in behavior is actively adopted by group members possibly even when originally expressing the behavior in another form. Taken together, our data support a cultural transmission process in adult chimpanzees, which leads to persisting cultural behavior of one community over time. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Ethics and community-based participatory research: perspectives from the field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastida, Elena M; Tseng, Tung-Sung; McKeever, Corliss; Jack, Leonard

    2010-01-01

    Exploring the importance of ethical issues in the conduct of community-based participatory research (CBPR) continues to be an important topic for researchers and practitioners. This article uses the Beyond Sabor Project, a CBPR project implemented in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as a case example to discuss ethical issues such as the importance of increasing community involvement in research, ensuring that communities benefit from the research, sharing leadership roles, and sensitive issues regarding data collection and sharing. Thereafter, this article concludes with a brief discussion of six principles that can inform the practice of ethical conduct when implementing CBPR studies. This article also lists additional reading resources on the importance of ethics in the conduct of CBPR.

  16. Space for innovation for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use: Lessons learned for policy from Nhambita community, Mozambique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schut, Marc; Paassen, Annemarie van; Leeuwis, Cees; Bos, Sandra; Leonardo, Wilson; Lerner, Anna

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides insights and recommendations for policy on the opportunities and constrains that influence the space for innovation for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use. Promoted by the Mozambican government, Nhambita community established jatropha trials in 2005. Initial results were promising, but crop failure and the absence of organized markets led to scepticism amongst farmers. We start from the idea that the promotion of community-based biofuel production and use requires taking interactions between social-cultural, biophysical, economic, political and legal subsystems across different scales and levels of analysis through time into account. Our analysis demonstrates that heterogeneous farming strategies and their synergies at community level should be carefully assessed. Furthermore, national and international political and legal developments, such as the development of biofuel sustainability criteria, influence the local space in which community-based biofuel developments take place. We conclude that ex-ante integrated assessment and creating an enabling environment can enhance space for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use. It may provide insights into the opportunities and constraints for different types of smallholders, and promote the development of adequate policy mechanisms to prevent biofuels from becoming a threat rather than an opportunity for smallholders. - Highlights: → This paper explores space for innovation for community-based biofuel production and use. → Heterogeneous farming strategies and their synergies at community level are key. → Farmers have little trust in jatropha due to crop failure and absence of markets. → (Inter)national biofuel policies influence space for local biofuel production and use. → Policies should focus on ex-ante integrated assessment and creating an enabling environment.

  17. Community-centred Networks and Networking among Companies, Educational and Cultural Institutions and Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Konnerup, Ulla; Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Lone

    2010-01-01

    This article presents visions for community-centred networks and networking among companies, educational and cultural institutions and research based on blended on- and off-line collaboration and communication. Our point of departure is the general vision of networking between government, industry...... and research as formulated in the Triple Helix Model (Etzkowitz 2008). The article draws on a case study of NoEL, a network on e-learning among business, educational and cultural institutions and research, all in all 21 partners from all around Denmark. Focus is how networks and networking change character......’ in Networked Learning, Wenger et al. 2009; The analysis concerns the participation structure and how the network activities connect local work practices and research, and how technology and online communication contribute to a change from participation in offline and physical network activities into online...

  18. Assessing participants' perceptions on group-based principles for action in community-based health enhancing physical activity programmes: The APEF tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herens, Marion; Wagemakers, Annemarie

    2017-12-01

    In community-based health enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programmes, group-based principles for action such as active participation, enjoyment, and fostering group processes are widely advocated. However, not much is known about participants' perceptions of these principles as there are no assessment tools available. Therefore, this article describes the development of the APEF (Active Participation, Enjoyment, and Fostering group processes) tool and reports on its implementation in a Dutch CBHEPA programme. Indicators for the principles have been identified from literature research, interviews with professionals, and secondary analysis of three group interviews with 11 practitioners. To address the identified indicators, the APEF tool was developed, pretested, and used in 10 focus groups with 76 participants. The APEF tool consists of eight statements about group-based principles for action, on which CBHEPA participants vote, followed by in-depth discussion. The voting procedure engages participants. Spider diagrams visualise participants' perceptions of group-based principles. The APEF tool addresses the challenge of relating group level outcomes to individual outcomes such as physical activity behaviour. The tool facilitates as well as evaluates group-based principles for action, it stimulates dialogue and is culturally sensitive, but it needs strong facilitating skills to manage group dynamics. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Community health center provider and staff's Spanish language ability and cultural awareness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baig, Arshiya A; Benitez, Amanda; Locklin, Cara A; Campbell, Amanda; Schaefer, Cynthia T; Heuer, Loretta J; Lee, Sang Mee; Solomon, Marla C; Quinn, Michael T; Burnet, Deborah L; Chin, Marshall H

    2014-05-01

    Many community health center providers and staff care for Latinos with diabetes, but their Spanish language ability and awareness of Latino culture are unknown. We surveyed 512 Midwestern health center providers and staff who managed Latino patients with diabetes. Few respondents had high Spanish language (13%) or cultural awareness scores (22%). Of respondents who self-reported 76-100% of their patients were Latino, 48% had moderate/low Spanish language and 49% had moderate/low cultural competency scores. Among these respondents, 3% lacked access to interpreters and 27% had neither received cultural competency training nor had access to training. Among all respondents, Spanish skills and Latino cultural awareness were low. Respondents who saw a significant number of Latinos had good access to interpretation services but not cultural competency training. Improved Spanish-language skills and increased access to cultural competency training and Latino cultural knowledge are needed to provide linguistically and culturally tailored care to Latino patients.

  20. Cultural Competence Training for Healthcare Professionals Working with LGBT Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gendron, Tracey; Maddux, Stu; Krinsky, Lisa; White, Jay; Lockeman, Kelly; Metcalfe, Yohvane; Aggarwal, Sadashiv

    2013-01-01

    The population of the aging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is significant and growing rapidly. As LGBT individuals age and begin to move into healthcare communities, they are fearful of apathy, discrimination, and abuse by healthcare providers and other residents. Person-centered cultural competence and sensitivity among…

  1. Social and cultural features of cholera and shigellosis in peri-urban and rural communities of Zanzibar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hutubessy Raymond

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Responding to the high burden of cholera in developing countries, the WHO now considers vaccination as a supplement to the provision of safe drinking water and improved sanitation in the strategy for cholera control in endemic settings. Cultural concepts of illness affect many aspects of public health. In the first step of a two-step strategy to examine determinants of cholera vaccine acceptance, this study identified social and cultural features of diarrhoeal illness for cholera control in endemic communities. Methods A cultural epidemiological study with locally adapted vignette-based interviews was conducted in two cholera-endemic communities of Zanzibar. A random sample of unaffected peri-urban (n = 179 and rural (n = 177 adults was interviewed to study community ideas of cholera and shigellosis, considering categories of distress, perceived causes, and help-seeking behaviour. Results Cholera was recognised by 88%. Symptoms of dehydration were most prominent in reports at the peri-urban site. Interference with work leading to strain on household finances was frequently emphasised. Dirty environment was the most prominent perceived cause, followed by unsafe drinking water and germ-carrying flies. Causes unrelated to the biomedical basis of cholera were reported more often by rural respondents. Rural women had more difficulty (20% to identify a cause than men (7.1%, p = 0.016. Peri-urban self treatment emphasised rehydration; the rural community preferred herbal treatment and antibiotics. Shigellosis was recognised by 70%. Fewer regarded it as very serious compared with cholera (76% vs. 97%, p Conclusions This study clarified local views of cholera and shigellosis relevant for diarrhoeal disease control in Zanzibar. The finding that rural women were less likely than men to specify causes of cholera suggests more attention to them is required. Better health education is needed for cholera in rural areas and for shigellosis

  2. A Pilot Study: Facilitating Cross-Cultural Understanding with Project-Based Collaborative Learning in an Online Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shadiev, Rustam; Hwang, Wu-Yuin; Huang, Yueh-Min

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated three aspects: how project-based collaborative learning facilitates cross-cultural understanding; how students perceive project-based collaborative learning implementation in a collaborative cyber community (3C) online environment; and what types of communication among students are used. A qualitative case study approach…

  3. Community Participation in Ethnic Minority Cultural Heritage Management in China: A Case Study of Xianrendong Ethnic Cultural and Ecological Village

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judy Xu

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Heritage protection in China has long been considered as the responsibility of the government. However, over the last 20 years, a number of heritage projects, mainly in ethnic minority regions, have attempted to engage with local communities. These seem to be an attractive alternative to top-down approaches. This paper explores the implications of a bottom-up approach for Chinese ethnic minority heritage management through an examination of the Ethnic Cultural and Ecological Village project in Xianrendong in Yunnan province. It is a result of my fascination with the project’s concept and my desire to understand its key characteristics, application and potential for future development in China. After a discussion of cultural performance, modernisation and inside/outside encounters, I conclude by suggesting that well-planned and well-informed community participation, with realistic control, contributes to reconciling tourism and cultural heritage conservation.

  4. Implementation of the national tuberculosis guidelines on culture and drug sensitivity testing in Guatemala, 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samayoa-Peláez, Maritza; Ayala, Nancy; Yadon, Zaida E; Heldal, Einar

    2016-01-01

    Objective To assess whether the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) guidelines for culture and drug sensitivity testing (DST) in Guatemala were successfully implemented, particularly in cases of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) or previously treated TB, by documenting notification rates by department (geographic area), disease type and category, and culture and DST results. Methods This was a cross-sectional, operational research study that merged and linked all patients registered by the NTP and the National Reference Laboratory in 2013, eliminating duplicates. The proportions with culture (for new smear negative pulmonary cases) and culture combined with DST (for previously treated patients) were estimated and analyzed by department. Data were analyzed using EpiData Analysis version 2.2. Results There were 3 074 patients registered with TB (all forms), for a case notification rate of 20/100 000 population. Of these, 2 842 had new TB, of which 2 167 (76%) were smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB), 385 (14%) were smear-negative PTB, and 290 (10%) were extrapulmonary TB. There were 232 (8%) previously treated cases. Case notification rates (all forms) varied by department from 2-68 per 100 000 population, with the highest rates seen in the southwest and northeast part of Guatemala. Of new TB patients, 136 had a culture performed and 55 had DST of which the results were 33 fully sensitive, 9 monoresistant, 3 polyresistant, and 10 multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Only 21 (5%) of new smear-negative PTB patients had cultures. Of 232 previously treated patients, 54 (23%) had a culture and 47 (20%) had DST, of which 29 were fully sensitive, 7 monoresistant, 2 polyresistant, and 9 MDR-TB. Of 22 departments (including the capital), culture and DST was performed in new smear-negative PTB in 7 departments (32%) and in previously treated TB in 13 departments (59%). Conclusions Despite national guidelines, only 5% of smear-negative PTB cases had a culture and only 20% of

  5. Implementation of the national tuberculosis guidelines on culture and drug sensitivity testing in Guatemala, 2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maritza Samayoa-Peláez

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To assess whether the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP guidelines for culture and drug sensitivity testing (DST in Guatemala were successfully implemented, particularly in cases of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB or previously treated TB, by documenting notification rates by department (geographic area, disease type and category, and culture and DST results. Methods This was a cross-sectional, operational research study that merged and linked all patients registered by the NTP and the National Reference Laboratory in 2013, eliminating duplicates. The proportions with culture (for new smear negative pulmonary cases and culture combined with DST (for previously treated patients were estimated and analyzed by department. Data were analyzed using EpiData Analysis version 2.2. Results There were 3 074 patients registered with TB (all forms, for a case notification rate of 20/100 000 population. Of these, 2 842 had new TB, of which 2 167 (76% were smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB, 385 (14% were smear-negative PTB, and 290 (10% were extrapulmonary TB. There were 232 (8% previously treated cases. Case notification rates (all forms varied by department from 2–68 per 100 000 population, with the highest rates seen in the southwest and northeast part of Guatemala. Of new TB patients, 136 had a culture performed and 55 had DST of which the results were 33 fully sensitive, 9 monoresistant, 3 polyresistant, and 10 multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB. Only 21 (5% of new smear-negative PTB patients had cultures. Of 232 previously treated patients, 54 (23% had a culture and 47 (20% had DST, of which 29 were fully sensitive, 7 monoresistant, 2 polyresistant, and 9 MDR-TB. Of 22 departments (including the capital, culture and DST was performed in new smear-negative PTB in 7 departments (32% and in previously treated TB in 13 departments (59%. Conclusions Despite national guidelines, only 5% of smear-negative PTB cases had a culture and

  6. A voltage-sensitive dye-based assay for the identification of differentiated neurons derived from embryonic neural stem cell cultures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richardson N Leão

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Pluripotent and multipotent stem cells hold great therapeutical promise for the replacement of degenerated tissue in neurological diseases. To fulfill that promise we have to understand the mechanisms underlying the differentiation of multipotent cells into specific types of neurons. Embryonic stem cell (ESC and embryonic neural stem cell (NSC cultures provide a valuable tool to study the processes of neural differentiation, which can be assessed using immunohistochemistry, gene expression, Ca(2+-imaging or electrophysiology. However, indirect methods such as protein and gene analysis cannot provide direct evidence of neuronal functionality. In contrast, direct methods such as electrophysiological techniques are well suited to produce direct evidence of neural functionality but are limited to the study of a few cells on a culture plate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study we describe a novel method for the detection of action potential-capable neurons differentiated from embryonic NSC cultures using fast voltage-sensitive dyes (VSD. We found that the use of extracellularly applied VSD resulted in a more detailed labeling of cellular processes compared to calcium indicators. In addition, VSD changes in fluorescence translated precisely to action potential kinetics as assessed by the injection of simulated slow and fast sodium currents using the dynamic clamp technique. We further demonstrate the use of a finite element model of the NSC culture cover slip for optimizing electrical stimulation parameters. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our method allows for a repeatable fast and accurate stimulation of neurons derived from stem cell cultures to assess their differentiation state, which is capable of monitoring large amounts of cells without harming the overall culture.

  7. Sensitivity analysis in the WWTP modelling community – new opportunities and applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sin, Gürkan; Ruano, M.V.; Neumann, Marc B.

    2010-01-01

    design (BSM1 plant layout) using Standardized Regression Coefficients (SRC) and (ii) Applying sensitivity analysis to help fine-tuning a fuzzy controller for a BNPR plant using Morris Screening. The results obtained from each case study are then critically discussed in view of practical applications......A mainstream viewpoint on sensitivity analysis in the wastewater modelling community is that it is a first-order differential analysis of outputs with respect to the parameters – typically obtained by perturbing one parameter at a time with a small factor. An alternative viewpoint on sensitivity...

  8. Using a community-based participatory research approach to develop a faith-based obesity intervention for African American children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Dawnavan S; Goldmon, Moses V; Coker-Appiah, Dionne S

    2011-11-01

    Childhood obesity is a major epidemic, with African American (AA) children aged 6 to 11 years experiencing increased burden. The AA faith community has numerous assets that point to the need for the intersection of faith and health to address obesity-related racial disparities. The purpose of the Our Bodies, God's Temples (OBGT) study was to examine diet, physical activity, and body image behaviors among AA children aged 6 to 11 years; receptivity to a faith-based obesity intervention among AA children, parents, and church leaders; and strengths and barriers of implementing a faith-based obesity curriculum in the Sunday school setting. A community-based participatory research approach was used to develop an obesity intervention to be integrated into the church Sunday school setting for AA children. A Community Advisory Network worked with researchers to develop a 12-week culturally appropriate faith-based obesity intervention. Future work will test the effectiveness of the newly created curriculum on obesity-related outcomes in AA children.

  9. Mediating Effect of School Nurses' Self Efficacy between Multicultural Attitude and Cultural Sensitivity in Korean Elementary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Hyun Suk, PhD, RN

    2015-09-01

    Conclusions: Given the meaningful influence of positive multicultural attitude on cultural sensitivity and significant mediator effect of self efficacy as a school nurse between the two variables, the strategies to cultivate a positive multicultural attitude and enhance school nurses' self efficacy in their unique role should be considered in a training program. School nurses' health care services will benefit from the improvement of cultural sensitivity toward young children from multicultural families.

  10. Detection of Sialic Acid-Utilising Bacteria in a Caecal Community Batch Culture Using RNA-Based Stable Isotope Probing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wayne Young

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Sialic acids are monosaccharides typically found on cell surfaces and attached to soluble proteins, or as essential components of ganglioside structures that play a critical role in brain development and neural transmission. Human milk also contains sialic acid conjugated to oligosaccharides, glycolipids, and glycoproteins. These nutrients can reach the large bowel where they may be metabolised by the microbiota. However, little is known about the members of the microbiota involved in this function. To identify intestinal bacteria that utilise sialic acid within a complex intestinal community, we cultured the caecal microbiota from piglets in the presence of 13C-labelled sialic acid. Using RNA-based stable isotope probing, we identified bacteria that consumed 13C-sialic acid by fractionating total RNA in isopycnic buoyant density gradients followed by 16S rRNA gene analysis. Addition of sialic acid caused significant microbial community changes. A relative rise in Prevotella and Lactobacillus species was accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the genera Escherichia/Shigella, Ruminococcus and Eubacterium. Inspection of isotopically labelled RNA sequences suggests that the labelled sialic acid was consumed by a wide range of bacteria. However, species affiliated with the genus Prevotella were clearly identified as the most prolific users, as solely their RNA showed significantly higher relative shares among the most labelled RNA species. Given the relevance of sialic acid in nutrition, this study contributes to a better understanding of their microbial transformation in the intestinal tract with potential implications for human health.

  11. Bridging Culture On-Line: Strategies for Teaching Cultural Sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendler, M. Cecilia; Struthers, Roxanne

    2002-01-01

    An online cross-cultural health course for nurses sought to provide access to cultural experiences by culturally congruent use of a minority visiting scholar and required participation in cultural enrichment activities. Course and faculty evaluations were designed to be appropriate for the asynchronous environment. (Contains 25 references.) (SK)

  12. Place-Based Dialogics: Adaptive Cultural and Interpersonal Approaches to Environmental Conservation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stacey K. Sowards

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study examines conservation campaigns and how they employ place-based interpersonal communication tactics to better engage local communities in rural locations in Indonesia, Philippines, and Colombia. In collaboration with the non-governmental organization Rare, the authors explore how social marketing campaigns coupled with interpersonal communication can influence communities that are often considered the most marginalized and affected by environmental problems. Field research was conducted in Indonesia since 2008 and Colombia since 2014. Ethnography through participant observation and interviews were primary methods for data collection as well as a thorough analysis of organizational documents, such as websites, blogs, reports, and other written work. Using theories of dialogue and place-based studies of interpersonal communication, three key campaign strategies emerged from our research. First, cooperative engagement through semi-formalized information sharing is an important component of building a campaign in rural areas, which might include key stakeholder meetings, relationship building with local governmental, religious, and community leaders, and training sessions with local farmers or fishers. A second approach is based on critical listening and understanding through word of mouth involvement, such as community activities and improved understanding of the challenges that local people face in their communities. Finally, a third approach relates to the recognition of difference through engaging local culture. Campaign managers have used religious leaders, local languages, traditional customs and activities, and other place-based approaches to create inclusive conservation campaigns. These strategies demonstrate that conservation campaigns require intense interpersonal dialogue, long-term commitment, and place-based understanding.

  13. Negotiating cultures: disclosure of HIV-positive status among people from minority ethnic communities in Sydney.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Körner, Henrike

    2007-01-01

    Because of the multiple stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, disclosure of HIV-positive serostatus is a considerable social risk for those who disclose. While HIV/AIDS-related stigma affects all HIV-positive people, for people from minority cultures additional cultural factors may play a significant role in self-disclosure. This paper draws on data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with HIV-positive people from minority cultures in Sydney. Disclosure decisions were influenced by gender, sexual orientation, as well as cultural background. Gay men drew on both collectivist and individualist notions of interdependence and self-reliance in different socio-cultural contexts. This enabled them to accommodate the imperative to maintain harmony with the family and meet their individual needs for support. Heterosexual men who had disclosed voluntarily or involuntarily experienced discrimination and avoidance, and interdependence with family and ethnic community was disrupted. Heterosexual women disclosed to no one outside the health care system and were anxious to avoid any disclosure in the future. For all participants, voluntary and involuntary disclosure caused potential and actual disruption of relationships with their families and ethnic communities. The paper concludes by arguing for an ecological perspective of health in which decisions are not located in rational decision making alone but in the broader context of family and community.

  14. Organizational culture: an important context for addressing and improving hospital to community patient discharge

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hesselink, G.J.; Vernooij-Dassen, M.J.F.J.; Pijnenborg, L.; Barach, P.; Gademan, P.; Dudzik-Urbaniak, E.; Flink, M.; Orrego, C.; Toccafondi, G.; Johnson, J.K.; Schoonhoven, L.; Wollersheim, H.C.H.; et al.,

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Organizational culture is seen as having a growing impact on quality and safety of health care, but its impact on hospital to community patient discharge is relatively unknown. OBJECTIVES: To explore aspects of organizational culture to develop a deeper understanding of the discharge

  15. Applications of chitosan-based thermo-sensitive copolymers for harvesting living cell sheet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.-P.; Yang, T.-F.

    2008-01-01

    A thermo-sensitive chitosan-based copolymer hydrogel was used for harvesting living cell sheets. The hydrogel was tested for harvesting 3T3 cells after carrying out cell culture at 37 deg. C and incubating the confluent cells at 20 deg. C for spontaneous detachment of cell sheets from hydrogel surface without enzyme treatment. Results from cell viability assay and microscopy observations demonstrated that cells could attach to the hydrogel surface and maintain high viability and proliferation ability. Cell detachment efficiency from the hydrogel was about 80%. The detached cell sheet retained high viability and could proliferate again after transferred to a new culture surface

  16. Stirring up the Mud: Using a Community-Based Participatory Approach to Address Health Disparities through a Faith-Based Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Sue A.; Ruddock, Charmaine; Golub, Maxine; Davis, Joyce; Foley, Robert; Devia, Carlos; Rosen, Rosa; Berry, Carolyn; Barretto, Brenda; Carter, Toni; Irish-Spencer, Evalina; Marchena, Maria; Purcaro, Ellenrita; Calman, Neil

    2011-01-01

    This case study provides a mid-course assessment of the Bronx Health REACH faith-based initiative four years into its implementation. The study uses qualitative methods to identify lessons learned and to reflect on the benefits and challenges of using a community-based participatory approach for the development and evaluation of a faith-based program designed to address health disparities. Key findings concern the role of pastoral leadership, the importance of providing a religious context for health promotion and health equality messages, the challenges of creating a bilingual/bi-cultural program, and the need to provide management support to the lay program coordinators. The study also identifies lessons learned about community-based evaluation and the importance of addressing community concern about the balance between evaluation and program. Finally, the study identifies the challenges that lie ahead, including issues of program institution-alization and sustainability. PMID:20168022

  17. A robust University-NGO partnership: Analysing school efficiencies in Bolivia with community-based management techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joao Neiva de Figueiredo

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Community-based management research is a collaborative effort between management, academics and communities in need with the specific goal of achieving social change to foster social justice. Because it is designed to promote and validate joint methods of discovery and community-based sources of knowledge, community-based management research has several unique characteristics, which may affect its execution. This article describes the process of a community-based management research project which is descriptive in nature and uses quantitative techniques to examine school efficiencies in low-income communities in a developing country – Bolivia. The article describes the partnership between a US-based university and a Bolivian not-for-profit organisation, the research context and the history of the research project, including its various phases. It focuses on the (yet unpublished process of the community-based research as opposed to its content (which has been published elsewhere. The article also makes the case that the robust partnership between the US-based university and the Bolivian NGO has been a determining factor in achieving positive results. Strengths and limitations are examined in the hope that the experience may be helpful to others conducting descriptive quantitative management research using community-engaged frameworks in cross-cultural settings. Keywords: international partnership, community-engaged scholarship, education efficiency, multicultural low-income education.

  18. Perceptions of community participation and health gain in a community project for the South Asian population: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bandesha, G; Litva, A

    2005-09-01

    The new public health rejects old individualist attempts at improving health and embraces community-based approaches in reducing health inequalities. Primary Care Trusts in England face the challenge of converting community participation in health into reality. This study explores differences in perception of participation between lay and professional stakeholders of a community health project for a South Asian population in Greater Manchester. In-depth interviews and focus groups were used to explore the views of professional and lay stakeholders. All data were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed for emerging themes using a qualitative framework. Professionals talked of working in partnership with the community but lay stakeholders did not feel that they had control over the project. There were problems in engaging the community and local health professionals in the project. Lack of cultural awareness hampered participation in the project. There was agreement that the project improved the self-confidence of participants and created a more informed population. However, there was little support for claims of improvements in social cohesion and changes in lifestyle directly as a result of the project. Converting the rhetoric of community participation in health into reality is a greater challenge than was envisaged by policy makers. Marginalized communities may not be willing participants and issues of language and cultural sensitivity are important. Project outcomes need to be agreed to ensure projects are evaluated appropriately. Projects with South Asian communities should not be seen to be dealing with all 'ethnic health' issues without addressing changes in statutory organizations and other wider social determinants of health.

  19. Culturally-Relevant Online Cancer Education Modules Empower Alaska's Community Health Aides/Practitioners to Disseminate Cancer Information and Reduce Cancer Risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cueva, Katie; Revels, Laura; Cueva, Melany; Lanier, Anne P; Dignan, Mark; Viswanath, K; Fung, Teresa T; Geller, Alan C

    2017-04-12

    To address a desire for timely, medically accurate cancer education in rural Alaska, ten culturally relevant online learning modules were developed with, and for, Alaska's Community Health Aides/Practitioners (CHA/Ps). The project was guided by the framework of Community-Based Participatory Action Research, honored Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and was informed by Empowerment Theory. A total of 428 end-of-module evaluation surveys were completed by 89 unique Alaska CHA/Ps between January and December 2016. CHA/Ps shared that as a result of completing the modules, they were empowered to share cancer information with their patients, families, friends, and communities, as well as engage in cancer risk reduction behaviors such as eating healthier, getting cancer screenings, exercising more, and quitting tobacco. CHA/Ps also reported the modules were informative and respectful of their diverse cultures. These results from end-of-module evaluation surveys suggest that the collaboratively developed, culturally relevant, online cancer education modules have empowered CHA/Ps to reduce cancer risk and disseminate cancer information. "brought me to tears couple of times, and I think it will help in destroying the silence that surrounds cancer".

  20. The Role of Culture Theory in Cross-Cultural Training: A Multimethod Study of Culture-Specific, Culture-General, and Culture Theory-Based Assimilators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhawuk, Dharm P. S.

    1998-01-01

    In a multimethod evaluation of cross-cultural training tools involving 102 exchange students at a midwestern university, a theory-based individualism and collectivism assimilator tool had significant advantages over culture-specific and culture-general assimilators and a control condition. Results support theory-based culture assimilators. (SLD)

  1. Development and Validation of Culture-Sensitive Physics Learning Environment Survey (CS-PLES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie Paz E. Morales

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The study combined qualitative approaches with quantitative research design to come up with a survey instrument called Culture-Sensitive Physics Learning Environment Survey (CS-PLES.This survey instrument is intended to extract the learners’ beliefs and expectations on the integration of culture and language in the teaching and learning process of physics concepts. Significant contribution of the instrument can be traced to establishing and defining the constructs and categories on how curriculum localization and context-based science learning can be developed aligned with students’ expectations and beliefs. The development process employed non-conventional processes adopted from literature which included pilot study to identify pre-deterministic constructs and specific categories for the items to be included in the survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and factor analysis to establish the categories or constructs of the survey instruments. Reliability measures of the instrument and its respective constructs were established for standardization. These categories were intended to aid researchers for an in-depth analysis when the instrument is administered for its purpose. The raw statistical categories were qualitatively paralleled with the pre-deterministic constructs to establish congruence of the survey tool to Instructional Congruence Framework (ICF.

  2. DESA WISATA SEBAGAI COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhimas Setyo Nugroho

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The concept of community-based tourism in the dome house tourism village has succeeded in becoming a tool to trigger the development of the dome house resident and its environment. All of the development can be obviously seen from the economic, social, cultural, environmental and political aspects with a very enthusiastic participation of the resident. The rapid development of the resident and their high participation can emerge a strategy to make the tourist village survive from the tourism industry competition. In this case, the author found that there is a connection between the high level of community participation and the rapid development as the result of it. Therefore, the more the resident willing to participate, the more it will affect the development of the resident and its environment. This research uses qualitative method. The data were obtained by conducting interview, observation, and documentation. After those steps, the data were processed by interactive and SWOT analysis. Then, questionnaire was used to validate the data towards 21 residents.

  3. A pH-Sensing Optode for Mapping Spatiotemporal Gradients in 3D Paper-Based Cell Cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenney, Rachael M; Boyce, Matthew W; Whitman, Nathan A; Kromhout, Brenden P; Lockett, Matthew R

    2018-02-06

    Paper-based cultures are an emerging platform for preparing 3D tissue-like structures. Chemical gradients can be imposed upon these cultures, generating microenvironments similar to those found in poorly vascularized tumors. There is increasing evidence that the tumor microenvironment is responsible for promoting drug resistance and increased invasiveness. Acidosis, or the acidification of the extracellular space, is particularly important in promoting these aggressive cancer phenotypes. To better understand how cells respond to acidosis there is a need for 3D culture platforms that not only model relevant disease states but also contain sensors capable of quantifying small molecules in the extracellular environment. In this work, we describe pH-sensing optodes that are capable of generating high spatial and temporal resolution maps of pH gradients in paper-based cultures. This sensor was fabricated by suspending microparticles containing pH-sensitive (fluorescein) and pH-insensitive (diphenylanthracene) dyes in a polyurethane hydrogel, which was then coated onto a transparent film. The pH-sensing films have a fast response time, are reversible, stable in long-term culture environments, have minimal photobleaching, and are not cytotoxic. These films have a pK a of 7.61 ± 0.04 and are sensitive in the pH range corresponding to normal and tumorigenic tissues. With these optodes, we measured the spatiotemporal evolution of pH gradients in paper-based tumor models.

  4. Though This be Madness: Heritage Methods for Working in Culturally Diverse Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Petersen

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In 1998, the NSW Migration Heritage Centre was conceived by the NSW Government as a virtual heritage centre to help ageing former migrants tell their stories. Migration museums and other organisations interested in heritage are grappling with how to identify, record, preserve and interpret the heritage legacy of migration and settlement in their communities. The distinctions between museum and environmental heritage practices have diminished during the past decade in Australia. The Centre’s methodologies are based on historic method and thematic and typology studies, better known for their application to heritage place identification and archaeological artefact studies than for their more recent use by some Australian museum curators for the survey and documentation of collections and community participation in heritage. The ‘virtual museum’ has enabled the Centre to break away from the centralised museum concept, with the associated trappings of venue management, to pioneer a decentralised and dispersed museum model that works almost entirely in collaborative community history research partnerships to document culturally significant collections, and associated migration memories, held by communities and private individuals. The work is centralised on the Centre’s website as a virtual collection of objects, places and associated memories. They are presented in online exhibitions for student research and as a destination for the mass audiences of the worldwide web.

  5. Real-time PCR to supplement gold-standard culture-based detection of Legionella in environmental samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, S; Jorgensen, F; Willis, C; Walker, J

    2015-10-01

    Culture remains the gold-standard for the enumeration of environmental Legionella. However, it has several drawbacks including long incubation and poor sensitivity, causing delays in response times to outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease. This study aimed to validate real-time PCR assays to quantify Legionella species (ssrA gene), Legionella pneumophila (mip gene) and Leg. pneumophila serogroup-1 (wzm gene) to support culture-based detection in a frontline public health laboratory. Each qPCR assay had 100% specificity, excellent sensitivity (5 GU/reaction) and reproducibility. Comparison of the assays to culture-based enumeration of Legionella from 200 environmental samples showed that they had a negative predictive value of 100%. Thirty eight samples were positive for Legionella species by culture and qPCR. One hundred samples were negative by both methods, whereas 62 samples were negative by culture but positive by qPCR. The average log10 increase between culture and qPCR for Legionella spp. and Leg. pneumophila was 0·72 (P = 0·0002) and 0·51 (P = 0·006), respectively. The qPCR assays can be conducted on the same 1 l water sample as culture thus can be used as a supplementary technique to screen out negative samples and allow more rapid indication of positive samples. The assay could prove informative in public health investigations to identify or rule out sources of Legionella as well as to specifically identify Leg. pneumophila serogroup 1 in a timely manner not possible with culture. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  6. A call to improve practice concerning cultural sensitivity in advance directives: a review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zager, B Sue; Yancy, Margaret

    2011-12-01

    The Patient Self Determination Act of 1990 mandates healthcare providers (HCP) to speak with patients about end-of-life preferences and advance directives (AD). HCP work with patients of varying cultures, and standard ADs do not address cultural differences. In order to understand various cultural beliefs, cultural sensitivity is important especially when discussing advance care planning (ACP). Individuals from differing ethnic backgrounds are likely to turn to their traditional norms of practice when ill or treatment choices must be made. An AD that addresses varying cultural values and beliefs was sought. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted. Articles selected for review included qualitative and quantitative studies. The evidence was evaluated and synthesized for information related to cultural sensitivity and ADs. Three common themes emerged related to ACP discussions and culture. Healthcare provider awareness, communication, and education concerning cultural differences and ACP assisted in meeting the needs for end-of-life planning in the current era of increased globalization. Education for HCP on cultural differences and how to lead discussions promoted ACP. ADs are an essential part of health care and promote patient-centered care. (HCP) should be able to recognize differing cultural values and beliefs in order to initiate conversations about end of life. Initiating conversations about ACP can be facilitated by using open-ended questions that respect the values and beliefs of various cultures. Copyright ©2011 Sigma Theta Tau International.

  7. Laboratory Workflow Analysis of Culture of Periprosthetic Tissues in Blood Culture Bottles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peel, Trisha N; Sedarski, John A; Dylla, Brenda L; Shannon, Samantha K; Amirahmadi, Fazlollaah; Hughes, John G; Cheng, Allen C; Patel, Robin

    2017-09-01

    Culture of periprosthetic tissue specimens in blood culture bottles is more sensitive than conventional techniques, but the impact on laboratory workflow has yet to be addressed. Herein, we examined the impact of culture of periprosthetic tissues in blood culture bottles on laboratory workflow and cost. The workflow was process mapped, decision tree models were constructed using probabilities of positive and negative cultures drawn from our published study (T. N. Peel, B. L. Dylla, J. G. Hughes, D. T. Lynch, K. E. Greenwood-Quaintance, A. C. Cheng, J. N. Mandrekar, and R. Patel, mBio 7:e01776-15, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01776-15), and the processing times and resource costs from the laboratory staff time viewpoint were used to compare periprosthetic tissues culture processes using conventional techniques with culture in blood culture bottles. Sensitivity analysis was performed using various rates of positive cultures. Annualized labor savings were estimated based on salary costs from the U.S. Labor Bureau for Laboratory staff. The model demonstrated a 60.1% reduction in mean total staff time with the adoption of tissue inoculation into blood culture bottles compared to conventional techniques (mean ± standard deviation, 30.7 ± 27.6 versus 77.0 ± 35.3 h per month, respectively; P < 0.001). The estimated annualized labor cost savings of culture using blood culture bottles was $10,876.83 (±$337.16). Sensitivity analysis was performed using various rates of culture positivity (5 to 50%). Culture in blood culture bottles was cost-effective, based on the estimated labor cost savings of $2,132.71 for each percent increase in test accuracy. In conclusion, culture of periprosthetic tissue in blood culture bottles is not only more accurate than but is also cost-saving compared to conventional culture methods. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  8. Developing written information for cancer survivors from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: Lessons learnt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgina Wiley

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Australia is a multicultural nation with a large migrant population. Migrants with cancer report inferior quality of life and the need for more information in their own language. This paper describes lessons learnt from developing culturally appropriate written information resources with and for Arabic, Italian, and Vietnamese cancer survivors and carers. The information needs of survivors from these language groups as well as guidelines for the development of written resources for culturally diverse populations were identified through literature review. Community consultation was undertaken with focus groups. The content was developed and tested with health professionals who spoke the appropriate language and focus group participants, ensuring relevance and appropriateness. Resource design and dissemination were informed through community consultation. A number of key tasks for developing resources were identified as follows: (1 community engagement and consultation; (2 culturally sensitive data collection; (3 focus group facilitators (recruitment and training; (4 content development; (5 translation and review process; (6 design; and (7 sustainability. This project reinforced literature review findings on the importance of cultural sensitivity in the development of resources. Engaging with community groups and incorporating culturally appropriate recruitment strategies optimises recruitment to focus groups and facilitates content development. Stakeholders and lay persons from the intended ethnic-minority communities should be involved in the development and formative evaluation of resources to ensure appropriateness and relevance and in the dissemination strategy to optimize penetration. We believe the lessons we have learnt will be relevant to any group intending to develop health information for culturally and linguistic diverse groups.

  9. Disseminating research in rural Yup’ik communities: challenges and ethical considerations in moving from discovery to intervention development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inna Rivkin

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Background. The native people of Alaska have experienced historical trauma and rapid changes in culture and lifestyle patterns. As a consequence, these populations shoulder a disproportionately high burden of psychological stress. The Yup’ik Experiences of Stress and Coping project originated from rural Yup’ik communities’ concerns about stress and its effects on health. It aimed to understand the stressful experiences that affect Yup’ik communities, to identify coping strategies used to deal with these stressors and to inform culturally responsive interventions. Objectives. Here, we examine the process of moving from research (gaining understanding to disseminating project findings to translation into intervention priorities. We highlight the importance of community participation and discuss challenges encountered, strategies to address these challenges and ethical considerations for responsible intervention research with indigenous communities that reflect their unique historical and current socio-cultural realities. Design. Community-wide presentations and discussions of research findings on stress and coping were followed by smaller Community Planning Group meetings. During these meetings, community members contextualized project findings and discussed implications for interventions. This process placed priority on community expertise in interpreting findings and translating results and community priorities into grant applications focused on intervention development and evaluation. Results. Challenges included translation between English and Yup’ik, funding limitations and uncertainties, and the long timelines involved in moving from formative research to intervention in the face of urgent and evolving community needs. The lack of congruence between institutional and community worldviews in the intervention research enterprise highlights the need for “principled cultural sensitivity”. Conclusions. Cultural sensitivity requires

  10. Serving an Indigenous community: Exploring the cultural competence of medical students in a rural setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chin Hoong Wong

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Since 2013, medical students from the International Medical University (IMU in Malaysia have been providing primary healthcare services, under the supervision of faculty members, to the indigenous people living in Kampung Sebir. The project has allowed the students to learn experientially within a rural setting. This study aims to examine the cultural competence of IMU medical students through an examination of their perspective of the indigenous people who they serve and the role of this community service in their personal and professional development. Students who participated in the project were required to complete a questionnaire after each community engagement activity to help them reflect on the above areas. We analysed the responses of students from January to December 2015 using a thematic analysis approach to identify overarching themes in the students’ responses. Students had differing perceptions of culture and worldviews when compared to the indigenous people. However, they lacked the self-reflection skills necessary to understand how such differences can affect their relationship with the indigenous people. Because of this, the basis of their engagement with the indigenous community (as demonstrated by their views of community service is focused on their agenda of promoting health from a student’s perspective rather than connecting and building relationships first. Students also lacked the appreciation that building cultural competency is a continuous process. The results show that the medical students have a developing cultural competence. The project in Kampung Sebir is an experiential learning platform of great value to provide insights into and develop the cultural competency of participating students. This study also reflects on the project itself, and how the relationship with stakeholders, the competence and diversity of academic staff, and the support of the university can contribute toward training in cultural

  11. Continous application of bioorganic fertilizer induced resilient culturable bacteria community associated with banana Fusarium wilt suppression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Lin; Ruan, Yunze; Tao, Chengyuan; Li, Rong; Shen, Qirong

    2016-06-01

    Fusarium wilt of banana always drives farmers to find new land for banana cultivation due to the comeback of the disease after a few cropping years. A novel idea for solving this problem is the continuous application of bioorganic fertilizer (BIO), which should be practiced from the beginning of banana planting. In this study, BIO was applied in newly reclaimed fields to pre-control banana Fusarium wilt and the culturable rhizobacteria community were evaluated using Biolog Ecoplates and culture-dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (CD-DGGE). The results showed that BIO application significantly reduced disease incidences and increased crop yields, respectivly. And the stabilized general bacterial metabolic potential, especially for the utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds, was induced by BIO application. DGGE profiles demonstrated that resilient community structure of culturable rhizobacteria with higher richness and diversity were observed in BIO treated soils. Morever, enriched culturable bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes, Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were also detected. In total, continuous application of BIO effectively suppressed Fusarium wilt disease by stabilizing culturable bacterial metabolic potential and community structure. This study revealed a new method to control Fusarium wilt of banana for long term banana cultivation.

  12. Organizational culture: an important context for addressing and improving hospital to community patient discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hesselink, Gijs; Vernooij-Dassen, Myrra; Pijnenborg, Loes; Barach, Paul; Gademan, Petra; Dudzik-Urbaniak, Ewa; Flink, Maria; Orrego, Carola; Toccafondi, Giulio; Johnson, Julie K; Schoonhoven, Lisette; Wollersheim, Hub

    2013-01-01

    Organizational culture is seen as having a growing impact on quality and safety of health care, but its impact on hospital to community patient discharge is relatively unknown. To explore aspects of organizational culture to develop a deeper understanding of the discharge process. A qualitative study of stakeholders in the discharge process. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. In 5 European Union countries, 192 individual and 25 focus group interviews were conducted with patients and relatives, hospital physicians, hospital nurses, general practitioners, and community nurses. Three themes emerged representing aspects of organizational culture: a fragmented hospital to primary care interface, undervaluing administrative tasks relative to clinical tasks in the discharge process, and lack of reflection on the discharge process or process improvement. Nine categories were identified: inward focus of hospital care providers, lack of awareness to needs, skills, and work patterns of the professional counterpart, lack of a collaborative attitude, relationship between hospital and primary care providers, providing care in a "here and now" situation, administrative work considered to be burdensome, negative attitude toward feedback, handovers at discharge ruled by habits, and appreciating and integrating new practices. On the basis of the data, we hypothesize that the extent to which hospital care providers value handovers and the outreach to community care providers is critical to effective hospital discharge. Community care providers often are insufficiently informed about patient outcomes. Ongoing challenges with patient discharge often remain unspoken with opportunities for improvement overlooked. Interventions that address organizational culture as a key factor in discharge improvement efforts are needed.

  13. Reconsidering Community-based Retailing

    OpenAIRE

    Maughan, Rebecca; O'Driscoll, Aidan

    2012-01-01

    One of the areas with great potential for economic, social and environmental benefit is community-based retailing. The concept of community based retailing can incorporate a number of different tenets. We suggest that it is retailing that is based close to the community it serves, usually within the town or village centre rather than out-of-town locations, and which is composed of a diverse range of small and medium sized business that are often independently or co-operatively owned. These co...

  14. Effectiveness of an Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Approach to Cultural Competence Training: The Veterans Affairs' "Caring for Women Veterans" Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Annie B; Hamilton, Alison B; Frayne, Susan M; Wiltsey-Stirman, Shannon; Bean-Mayberry, Bevanne; Carney, Diane; Di Leone, Brooke A L; Gierisch, Jennifer M; Goldstein, Karen M; Romodan, Yasmin; Sadler, Anne G; Yano, Elizabeth M; Yee, Ellen F; Vogt, Dawne

    2016-01-01

    Although providing culturally sensitive health care is vitally important, there is little consensus regarding the most effective strategy for implementing cultural competence trainings in the health care setting. Evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI), which involves adapting evidence-based practices to meet local needs, may improve uptake and effectiveness of a variety of health care innovations. Yet, to our knowledge, EBQI has not yet been applied to cultural competence training. To evaluate whether EBQI could enhance the impact of an evidence-based training intended to improve veterans affairs health care staff gender sensitivity and knowledge (Caring for Women Veterans; CWV), we compared the reach and effectiveness of EBQI delivery versus standard web-based implementation strategies of CWV and assessed barriers and facilitators to EBQI implementation. Workgroups at four diverse veterans affairs health care sites were randomized to either an EBQI or standard web-based implementation condition (SI). All EBQI sites selected a group-based implementation strategy. Employees (N = 84) completed pretraining and posttraining assessments of gender sensitivity and knowledge, and focus groups/interviews were conducted with leadership and staff before and after implementation. Reach of CWV was greater in the EBQI condition versus the SI condition. Whereas both gender sensitivity and knowledge improved in the EBQI condition, only gender sensitivity improved in the SI condition. Qualitative analyses revealed that the EBQI approach was well received, although a number of barriers were identified. Findings suggest that EBQI can enhance the uptake and effectiveness of employee trainings. However, the decision to pursue EBQI must be informed by a consideration of available resources.

  15. Harvesting energy: Place and local entrepreneurship in community-based renewable energy transition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Süsser, Diana; Döring, Martin; Ratter, Beate M.W.

    2017-01-01

    Transition towards a renewable energy supply initiates a physical (re)shaping of places and a social transformation of communities into renewable energy communities. Although socio-cultural challenges of energy transition have been recognised (), understandings about socio-geographic places of energy transition and their underlying social processes and structures are insufficiently studied and often remain underestimated. To close this gap, we theoretically and empirically analysed the multifaceted interplay between place, local entrepreneurship and ‘community renewable energy’. Our study is based on an analysis of regional documents and policy reports, and on qualitative interviews undertaken with inhabitants in the case-study municipality of Reußenköge (Germany). Our findings reveal two important aspects: Firstly, people's individual and shared place meanings which materialised in social, physical, historical and climate-related place-attachments and meanings of contested and innovative place are important ingredients bearing an impact on processes of adopting or rejecting renewables. Secondly, differentiated characteristics of entrepreneurs, namely grounded, collaborative, innovative, change-making, economic, communicating, networking and political aspects, appeared to be relevant for the acceptance and support in community-based renewable energy projects. Our findings reveal that energy policies, funding schemes and administrative structures should recognise local socio-geographic important elements in the context of a sustained and decentralised energy transition. - Highlights: • Places are resources of experiences, creativity and innovation for community renewables. • Energy policies should recognise place-based approaches to grassroots community energy actions. • A located view of multifaceted entrepreneurship is relevant to support community renewable energy. • Supportive funding schemes should empower community-based concepts.

  16. Culture-Dependent and -Independent Methods Capture Different Microbial Community Fractions in Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils

    OpenAIRE

    Stefani, Franck O. P.; Bell, Terrence H.; Marchand, Charlotte; de la Providencia, Ivan E.; El Yassimi, Abdel; St-Arnaud, Marc; Hijri, Mohamed

    2015-01-01

    Bioremediation is a cost-effective and sustainable approach for treating polluted soils, but our ability to improve on current bioremediation strategies depends on our ability to isolate microorganisms from these soils. Although culturing is widely used in bioremediation research and applications, it is unknown whether the composition of cultured isolates closely mirrors the indigenous microbial community from contaminated soils. To assess this, we paired culture-independent (454-pyrosequenci...

  17. The Effects of the Japan Bridge Project on Third Graders' Cultural Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Lindsay; Sherman, Lilian; MaKinster, James

    2006-01-01

    This study examines the effects of the Japan BRIDGE Project, a global education program, on its third grade participants. Characterization of lessons and analysis of student interviews were used to investigate the nature of the curriculum and whether or not student participants were more culturally sensitive due to participation. Results indicate…

  18. Celebrating indigenous communities compassionate traditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Holly

    2018-01-01

    Living in a compassionate community is not a new practice in First Nations communities; they have always recognized dying as a social experience. First Nations hold extensive traditional knowledge and have community-based practices to support the personal, familial, and community experiences surrounding end-of-life. However, western health systems were imposed and typically did not support these social and cultural practices at end of life. In fact, the different expectations of western medicine and the community related to end of life care has created stress and misunderstanding for both. One solution is for First Nations communities to develop palliative care programs so that people can receive care at home amongst their family, community and culture. Our research project "Improving End-of-Life Care in First Nations Communities" (EOLFN) was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [2010-2015] and was conducted in partnership with four First Nations communities in Canada (see www.eolfn.lakeheadu.ca). Results included a community capacity development approach to support Indigenous models of care at end-of-life. The workshop will describe the community capacity development process used to develop palliative care programs in First Nations communities. It will highlight the foundation to this approach, namely, grounding the program in community values and principles, rooted in individual, family, community and culture. Two First Nations communities will share stories about their experiences developing their own palliative care programs, which celebrated cultural capacity in their communities while enhancing medical palliative care services in a way that respected and integrated with their community cultural practices. This workshop shares the experiences of two First Nations communities who developed palliative care programs by building upon community culture, values and principles. The underlying model guiding development is shared.

  19. Cross-Cultural “Allies” in Immigrant Community Practice: Roles of foreign-trained former Montagnard health professionals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Xin

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This pilot case study describes foreign-trained former Montagnard refugee physicians’ practice experiences in Vietnam and their current community health worker and “ally” roles within the Montagnard refugee community. It highlights key features that facilitate cross-culturally responsive health care. We interviewed five Vietnam-trained former Montagnard refugee physicians using an open-ended interview format during March, 2012. We used content analysis procedures to identify key themes characterizing Montagnard physicians’ former and current practice experiences and emphasizing the roles they currently play in their new homeland. Montagnard physicians were fighting infectious diseases in homeland Vietnamese communities. Since coming to the U.S., Montagnard physicians have reoriented their competencies to fit within a community health workers model, and have shifted practice to fighting chronic disease in this refugee community. Tasks now include describing and contextualizing unique characteristics of the Montagnard languages and cultures to outside constituents. They become cross-cultural allies to the U.S. health care and facilitate individuals’ medical adherence with mainstream physicians’ orders. They ensure accuracy of interpretation of Montagnard patients’ medical complaints during a medical visit. Our findings reveal the potential roles that can be ascribed to a cross-cultural ally and can be built into practice to fulfill the Montagnard community’s unmet health needs: oral historian, mediator, facilitator/negotiator, quality assurer, psychosocial confidant, and health advocate. Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE

  20. The Development of Cross-Cultural Relations with a Canadian Aboriginal Community through Sport Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schinke, Robert J.; Hanrahan, Stephanie J.; Eys, Mark A.; Blodgett, Amy; Peltier, Duke; Ritchie, Stephen Douglas; Pheasant, Chris; Enosse, Lawrence

    2008-01-01

    When sport psychology researchers from the mainstream work with people from marginalized cultures, they can be challenged by cultural differences as well as mistrust. For this article, researchers born in mainstream North America partnered with Canadian Aboriginal community members. The coauthors have worked together for 5 years. What follows is…

  1. Microbial community analysis of perchlorate-reducing cultures growing on zero-valent iron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, Ahjeong; Schmidt, Carl J.; Shin, Hyejin; Cha, Daniel K.

    2011-01-01

    Anaerobic microbial mixed cultures demonstrated its ability to completely remove perchlorate in the presence of zero-valent iron. In order to understand the major microbial reaction in the iron-supported culture, community analysis comprising of microbial fatty acids and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) techniques was performed for perchlorate reducing cultures. Analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and subsequent principal component analysis (PCA) showed clear distinctions not only between iron-supported perchlorate reducing culture and seed bacteria, but also among perchlorate-reducing cultures receiving different electron donors. The DGGE pattern targeting the chlorite dismutase (cld) gene showed that iron-supported perchlorate reducing culture is similar to hydrogen-fed cultures as compared to acetate-fed culture. The phylogenetic tree suggested that the dominant microbial reaction may be a combination of the autotrophic and heterotrophic reduction of perchlorate. Both molecular and chemotaxonomic experimental results support further understanding in the function of zero-valent iron as an adequate electron source for enhancing the microbial perchlorate reduction in natural and engineered systems.

  2. Microbial community analysis of perchlorate-reducing cultures growing on zero-valent iron

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Son, Ahjeong, E-mail: ason@auburn.edu [Department of Civil Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 (United States); Schmidt, Carl J. [Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States); Shin, Hyejin [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 (United States); Cha, Daniel K. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)

    2011-01-30

    Anaerobic microbial mixed cultures demonstrated its ability to completely remove perchlorate in the presence of zero-valent iron. In order to understand the major microbial reaction in the iron-supported culture, community analysis comprising of microbial fatty acids and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) techniques was performed for perchlorate reducing cultures. Analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and subsequent principal component analysis (PCA) showed clear distinctions not only between iron-supported perchlorate reducing culture and seed bacteria, but also among perchlorate-reducing cultures receiving different electron donors. The DGGE pattern targeting the chlorite dismutase (cld) gene showed that iron-supported perchlorate reducing culture is similar to hydrogen-fed cultures as compared to acetate-fed culture. The phylogenetic tree suggested that the dominant microbial reaction may be a combination of the autotrophic and heterotrophic reduction of perchlorate. Both molecular and chemotaxonomic experimental results support further understanding in the function of zero-valent iron as an adequate electron source for enhancing the microbial perchlorate reduction in natural and engineered systems.

  3. Culture-dependent and culture-independent characterization of potentially functional biphenyl-degrading bacterial community in response to extracellular organic matter from Micrococcus luteus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Xiao-Mei; Liu, Yin-Dong; Hashmi, Muhammad Zaffar; Ding, Lin-Xian; Shen, Chao-Feng

    2015-05-01

    Biphenyl (BP)-degrading bacteria were identified to degrade various polychlorinated BP (PCB) congers in long-term PCB-contaminated sites. Exploring BP-degrading capability of potentially useful bacteria was performed for enhancing PCB bioremediation. In the present study, the bacterial composition of the PCB-contaminated sediment sample was first investigated. Then extracellular organic matter (EOM) from Micrococcus luteus was used to enhance BP biodegradation. The effect of the EOM on the composition of bacterial community was investigated by combining with culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. The obtained results indicate that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were predominant community in the PCB-contaminated sediment. EOM from M. luteus could stimulate the activity of some potentially difficult-to-culture BP degraders, which contribute to significant enhancement of BP biodegradation. The potentially difficult-to-culture bacteria in response to EOM addition were mainly Rhodococcus and Pseudomonas belonging to Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria respectively. This study provides new insights into exploration of functional difficult-to-culture bacteria with EOM addition and points out broader BP/PCB degrading, which could be employed for enhancing PCB-bioremediation processes. © 2015 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

  4. Integrating Medication Therapy Management (MTM Services Provided by Community Pharmacists into a Community-Based Accountable Care Organization (ACO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian Isetts

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available (1 Background: As the U.S. healthcare system evolves from fee-for-service financing to global population-based payments designed to be accountable for both quality and total cost of care, the effective and safe use of medications is gaining increased importance. The purpose of this project was to determine the feasibility of integrating medication therapy management (MTM services provided by community pharmacists into the clinical care teams and the health information technology (HIT infrastructure for Minnesota Medicaid recipients of a 12-county community-based accountable care organization (ACO. (2 Methods: The continuous quality improvement evaluation methodology employed in this project was the context + mechanism = outcome (CMO model to account for the fact that programs only work insofar as they introduce promising ideas, solutions and opportunities in the appropriate social and cultural contexts. Collaborations between a 12-county ACO and 15 community pharmacies in Southwest Minnesota served as the social context for this feasibility study of MTM referrals to community pharmacists. (3 Results: All 15 community pharmacy sites were integrated into the HIT infrastructure through Direct Secure Messaging, and there were 32 recipients who received MTM services subsequent to referrals from the ACO at 5 of the 15 community pharmacies over a 1-year implementation phase. (4 Conclusion: At the conclusion of this project, an effective electronic communication and MTM referral system was activated, and consideration was given to community pharmacists providing MTM in future ACO shared savings agreements.

  5. Bioimpedance monitoring of 3D cell culturing-Complementary electrode configurations for enhanced spatial sensitivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Canali, Chiara; Heiskanen, Arto; Muhammad, Haseena Bashir

    2015-01-01

    A bioimpedance platform is presented as a promising tool for non-invasive real-time monitoring of the entire process of three-dimensional (3D) cell culturing in a hydrogel scaffold. In this study, the dynamics involved in the whole process of 3D cell culturing, starting from polymerisation...... spectroscopic (EIS) characterisation were used to determine the configurations' sensitivity field localisation. The 2T setup gives insight into the interfacial phenomena at both electrode surfaces and covers the central part of the 3D cell culture volume, while the four 3T modes provide focus on the dynamics...... the tested biomimetic environment, paving the way to further developments in bioimpedance tracking of 3D cell cultures and tissue engineering....

  6. UV sensitivity of planktonic net community production in ocean surface waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regaudie-de-Gioux, Aurore; Agustí, Susana; Duarte, Carlos M.

    2014-05-01

    The net plankton community metabolism of oceanic surface waters is particularly important as it more directly affects the partial pressure of CO2 in surface waters and thus the air-sea fluxes of CO2. Plankton communities in surface waters are exposed to high irradiance that includes significant ultraviolet blue (UVB, 280-315 nm) radiation. UVB radiation affects both photosynthetic and respiration rates, increase plankton mortality rates, and other metabolic and chemical processes. Here we test the sensitivity of net community production (NCP) to UVB of planktonic communities in surface waters across contrasting regions of the ocean. We observed here that UVB radiation affects net plankton community production at the ocean surface, imposing a shift in NCP by, on average, 50% relative to the values measured when excluding partly UVB. Our results show that under full solar radiation, the metabolic balance shows the prevalence of net heterotrophic community production. The demonstration of an important effect of UVB radiation on NCP in surface waters presented here is of particular relevance in relation to the increased UVB radiation derived from the erosion of the stratospheric ozone layer. Our results encourage design future research to further our understanding of UVB effects on the metabolic balance of plankton communities.

  7. Community Health Center Provider and Staff’s Spanish Language Ability and Cultural Awareness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baig, Arshiya A.; Benitez, Amanda; Locklin, Cara A.; Campbell, Amanda; Schaefer, Cynthia T.; Heuer, Loretta J.; Mee Lee, Sang; Solomon, Marla C.; Quinn, Michael T.; Burnet, Deborah L.; Chin, Marshall H.

    2014-01-01

    Many community health center providers and staff care for Latinos with diabetes, but their Spanish language ability and awareness of Latino culture are unknown. We surveyed 512 Midwestern health center providers and staff who managed Latino patients with diabetes. Few respondents had high Spanish language (13%) or cultural awareness scores (22%). Of respondents who self-reported 76–100% of their patients were Latino, 48% had moderate/low Spanish language and 49% had moderate/low cultural competency scores. Among these respondents, 3% lacked access to interpreters and 27% had neither received cultural competency training nor had access to training. Among all respondents, Spanish skills and Latino cultural awareness were low. Respondents who saw a significant number of Latinos had good access to interpretation services but not cultural competency training. Improved Spanish-language skills and increased access to cultural competency training and Latino cultural knowledge are needed to provide linguistically and culturally tailored care to Latino patients. PMID:24858866

  8. Community-Based Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... our e-newsletter! Aging & Health A to Z Community-Based Care Basic Facts & Information A variety of healthcare options ... day care centers are either in churches or community centers. Adult day care is commonly used to care for people who ...

  9. Development of a Cross-Cultural HPV Community Engagement Model within Scotland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnegie, Elaine; Whittaker, Anne; Gray Brunton, Carol; Hogg, Rhona; Kennedy, Catriona; Hilton, Shona; Harding, Seeromanie; Pollock, Kevin G.; Pow, Janette

    2017-01-01

    Objective: To examine cultural barriers and participant solutions regarding acceptance and uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine from the perspective of Black African, White-Caribbean, Arab, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani young people. Methods: In total, 40 young people from minority ethnic communities in Scotland took part in a…

  10. Experience of using an interdisciplinary task force to develop a culturally sensitive multipronged tool to improve stroke outcomes in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oyedunni S. Arulogun

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The burden of stroke is on the rise in Nigeria. A multi-faceted strategy is essential for reducing this growing burden and includes promoting medication adherence, optimizing traditional biomarker risk targets (blood pressure, cholesterol and encouraging beneficial lifestyle practices. Successful implementation of this strategy is challenged by inadequate patient health literacy, limited patient/medical system resources, and lack of a coordinated interdisciplinary treatment approach. Moreover, the few interventions developed to improve medical care in Nigeria have generally been aimed at physicians (primarily and nurses (secondarily with minimal input from other key health care providers, and limited contributions from patients, caregivers, and the community itself. The Tailored Hospital-based Risk Reduction to Impede Vascular Events after Stroke (THRIVES study is assessing the efficacy of a culturally sensitive multidimensional intervention for controlling blood pressure in recent stroke survivors. A key component of the intervention development process was the constitution of a project task force comprising various healthcare providers and administrators. This paper describes the unique experience in Sub-Saharan Africa of utilizing of an interdisciplinary Task force to facilitate the development of the multipronged behavioral intervention aimed at enhancing stroke outcomes in a low-middle income country.

  11. Sensitivity of PCR IS6110 in relation to culture and staining in Pott′s disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manoj Kumar

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Rapid diagnosis is essential to decrease the morbidity and mortality of Pott′s disease. The bacteriological methods are time-consuming or insensitive. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR provides a rapid diagnostic tool and hope for early diagnosis of this disease. The aim of this study was to compare and assess of a rapid and effective method among diagnostic battery (Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN microscopy, BACTEC culture and PCR of Pott′s disease. Materials and Methods: Sixty-five specimens from clinico-radiological suspected cases of Pott′s disease were included in this study. They were processed for ZN microscopy, BACTEC culture, and PCR IS6110. The tests tool′s efficiency, positive agreement Kc (Kappa coefficient, and significance level (P value were calculated for correlation between PCR and performed tests. Results: The PCR sensitivity reached to 96% and 46.3% among positive and negative specimens on ZN microscopy. Further, 94% and 36.4% sensitivity were found among positive and negative specimens by BACTEC culture. The total 38 (58.5% specimens were detected either ZN microscopy or by BACTEC culture. Thus, the overall sensitivity and specificity of PCR were 95% and 74.1%. The kappa coefficient and P value, calculated for PCR against BACTEC culture and combined results of performed bacteriological tests were (Kc=0.60, (P<0.001 and (Kc=0.70, (P<0.001, respectively. Above statistical relations showed a fair agreement with significant differences. Conclusion: The PCR IS6110 may be useful in rapid detection of clinico-radiological suspected cases of Pott′s disease and those that are negative with bacteriological methods.

  12. Optical Fiber Sensors Based on Polymeric Sensitive Coatings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro J. Rivero

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Polymer technology is one of the fastest growing fields of contemporary research due to the possibility of using a wide variety of synthetic chemical routes for obtaining a polymeric network with a well-defined structure, resulting in materials with outstanding macroscopic properties. Surface engineering techniques based on the implementation of polymeric structures can be used as an interesting tool for the design of materials with functional properties. In this sense, the use of fabrication techniques for the design of nanostructured polymeric coatings is showing an important growth due to the intrinsic advantages of controlling the structure at a nanoscale level because physical, chemical, or optical properties can be considerably improved in comparison with the bulk materials. In addition, the presence of these sensitive polymeric coatings on optical fiber is a hot topic in the scientific community for its implementation in different market niches because a wide variety of parameters can be perfectly measured with a high selectivity, sensitivity, and fast response time. In this work, the two main roles that a polymeric sensitive matrix can play on an optical fiber for sensing applications are evaluated. In a first section, the polymers are used as a solid support for the immobilization of specific sensitive element, whereas in the second section the polymeric matrix is used as the chemical transducer itself. Additionally, potential applications of the optical fiber sensors in fields as diverse as biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental, industry or medicine will be presented in concordance with these two main roles of the polymeric sensitive matrices.

  13. Black Americans' Perspectives of Barriers and Facilitators of Community Screening for Kidney Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Umeukeje, Ebele M; Wild, Marcus G; Maripuri, Saugar; Davidson, Teresa; Rutherford, Margaret; Abdel-Kader, Khaled; Lewis, Julia; Wilkins, Consuelo H; Cavanaugh, Kerri

    2018-04-06

    Incidence of ESKD is three times higher in black Americans than in whites, and CKD prevalence continues to rise among black Americans. Community-based kidney disease screening may increase early identification and awareness of black Americans at risk, but it is challenging to implement. This study aimed to identify participants' perspectives of community kidney disease screening. The Health Belief Model provides a theoretic framework for conceptualization of these perspectives and optimization of community kidney disease screening activities. Researchers in collaboration with the Tennessee Kidney Foundation conducted three focus groups of adults in black American churches in Nashville, Tennessee. Questions examined views on CKD information, access to care, and priorities of kidney disease health. Content analysis was used. Guided by the Health Belief Model, a priori themes were generated, and additional themes were derived from the data using an inductive approach. Thirty-two black Americans completed the study in 2014. Participants were mostly women (79%) with a mean age of 56 years old (range, 24-78). Two major categories of barriers to kidney disease screening were identified: ( 1 ) participant factors, including limited kidney disease knowledge, spiritual/religious beliefs, emotions, and culture of the individual; and ( 2 ) logistic factors, including lack of convenience and incentives and poor advertisement. Potential facilitators of CKD screening included provision of CKD education, convenience of screening activities, and use of culturally sensitive and enhanced communication strategies. Program recommendations included partnering with trusted community members, selecting convenient locations, tailored advertising, and provision of compensation. Findings of this study suggest that provider-delivered culturally sensitive education and stakeholder engagement are critical to increase trust, decrease fear, and maximize participation and early identification of

  14. Culture and drug sensitivity testing among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Mexico: national data for 2009-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orejel, Ivonne; Castellanos, Martin; Marín, Diana; Mendoza, Alberto; Harries, Anthony D

    2016-01-01

    This study documented the number and results of mycobacterial culture and drug sensitivity testing (CDST) in Mexico from 2009-2013 and assessed whether states with a higher risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) performed more CDST and had more cultures showing MDR-TB. Data for this longitudinal, descriptive, operational research study came from the electronic records of 31 state public health laboratories in Mexico. The total number of CDSTs was 6 470, increasing from 2 143 in the first 2 years to 4 327 in the latter 3 years. There was a significant increase in the proportion of cultures showing sensitivity to all drugs, from 53.1% to 60.9% in 2011-2013 (P tuberculosis were Mexico, particularly in high-risk MDR-TB states where a higher proportion of cultures showed MDR-TB. Scale up and wider coverage of CDST should continue.

  15. Transgressing the norm: Transformative agency in community-based learning for sustainability in southern African contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lotz-Sisitka, Heila; Mukute, Mutizwa; Chikunda, Charles; Baloi, Aristides; Pesanayi, Tichaona

    2017-12-01

    Environment and sustainability education processes are often oriented to change and transformation, and frequently involve the emergence of new forms of human activity. However, not much is known about how such change emerges from the learning process, or how it contributes to the development of transformative agency in community contexts. The authors of this article present four cross-case perspectives of expansive learning and transformative agency development in community-based education in southern Africa, studying communities pursuing new activities that are more socially just and sustainable. The four cases of community learning and transformative agency focus on the following activities: (1) sustainable agriculture in Lesotho; (2) seed saving and rainwater harvesting in Zimbabwe; (3) community-based irrigation scheme management in Mozambique; and (4) biodiversity conservation co-management in South Africa. The case studies all draw on cultural-historical activity theory to guide learning and change processes, especially third-generation cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), which emphasises expansive learning in collectives across interacting activity systems. CHAT researchers, such as the authors of this article, argue that expansive learning can lead to the emergence of transformative agency. The authors extend their transformative agency analysis to probe if and how expansive learning might also facilitate instances of transgressing norms - viewed here as embedded practices which need to be reframed and changed in order for sustainability to emerge.

  16. Implementing health promotion activities using community-engaged approaches in Asian American faith-based organizations in New York City and New Jersey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, S C; Patel, S; Choy, C; Zanowiak, J; Rideout, C; Yi, S; Wyatt, L; Taher, M D; Garcia-Dia, M J; Kim, S S; Denholm, T K; Kavathe, R; Islam, N S

    2017-09-01

    Faith-based organizations (FBOs) (e.g., churches, mosques, and gurdwaras) can play a vital role in health promotion. The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Asian Americans (REACH FAR) Project is implementing a multi-level and evidence-based health promotion and hypertension (HTN) control program in faith-based organizations serving Asian American (AA) communities (Bangladeshi, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian) across multiple denominations (Christian, Muslim, and Sikh) in New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ). This paper presents baseline results and describes the cultural adaptation and implementation process of the REACH FAR program across diverse FBOs and religious denominations serving AA subgroups. Working with 12 FBOs, informed by implementation research and guided by a cultural adaptation framework and community-engaged approaches, REACH FAR strategies included (1) implementing healthy food policies for communal meals and (2) delivering a culturally-linguistically adapted HTN management coaching program. Using the Ecological Validity Model (EVM), the program was culturally adapted across congregation and faith settings. Baseline measures include (i) Congregant surveys assessing social norms and diet (n = 946), (ii) HTN participant program surveys (n = 725), (iii) FBO environmental strategy checklists (n = 13), and (iv) community partner in-depth interviews assessing project feasibility (n = 5). We describe the adaptation process and baseline assessments of FBOs. In year 1, we reached 3790 (nutritional strategies) and 725 (HTN program) via AA FBO sites. Most AA FBOs lack nutrition policies and present prime opportunities for evidence-based multi-level interventions. REACH FAR presents a promising health promotion implementation program that may result in significant community reach.

  17. Cultural diversity and the mistreatment of older people in black and minority ethnic communities: some implications for service provision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowes, Alison; Avan, Ghizala; Macintosh, Sherry Bien

    2012-07-01

    Previous research on mistreatment of older people in black and minority ethnic communities has identified limited service responses and the need to consider mistreatment as an issue not only for individuals but also for families, communities, and institutions. The impact of cultural factors on understandings, experiences, and remedies for mistreatment has been debated. Drawing on empirical research in the United Kingdom involving service providers and ethnically-diverse community members, the article explores implications of cultural variation for service provision. Clear gaps exist between service provision and people experiencing mistreatment due to structural and contextual factors; cultural factors have a relatively minor impact.

  18. American Indian Community Colleges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    One Feather, Gerald

    With the emergence of reservation based community colleges (th Navajo Community College and the Dakota Community Colleges), the American Indian people, as decision makers in these institutions, are providing Indians with the technical skills and cultural knowledge necessary for self-determination. Confronted with limited numbers of accredited…

  19. Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Investigate Meaningful Prenatal Care Among African American Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nypaver, Cynthia F; Shambley-Ebron, Donna

    2016-11-01

    In the United States, African American babies die more than twice as often as White babies. The cause for this difference remains elusive, yet is likely complex with one factor being inadequate cultural care of pregnant African American women. The purpose of this study was to explore African American women's perspectives of meaningful prenatal care. Community-based participatory research was employed for this study using photovoice. The sample included 11 African American mothers in an urban community in Midwestern United States. Five themes were abstracted from the data: (1) Access to Care; (2) Soul Nourishment; (3) Companionship; (4) Help Me, Teach Me; and (5) The Future. Meaningful prenatal care is influenced by culture. African American women need physical, social, and soulful support to enhance meaningfulness of care during pregnancy. The findings support that meaningfulness of prenatal care for African American women may be enhanced by accessible and uniquely designed, culturally congruent models of prenatal care. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. Network-Based Community Brings forth Sustainable Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Toshiko

    It has already been shown that an artificial society based on the three relations of social configuration (market, communal, and obligatory relations) functioning in balance with each other formed a sustainable society which the social reproduction is possible. In this artificial society model, communal relations exist in a network-based community with alternating members rather than a conventional community with cooperative mutual assistance practiced in some agricultural communities. In this paper, using the comparison between network-based communities with alternating members and conventional communities with fixed members, the significance of a network-based community is considered. In concrete terms, the difference in appearance rate for sustainable society, economic activity and asset inequality between network-based communities and conventional communities is analyzed. The appearance rate for a sustainable society of network-based community is higher than that of conventional community. Moreover, most of network-based communities had a larger total number of trade volume than conventional communities. But, the value of Gini coefficient in conventional community is smaller than that of network-based community. These results show that communal relations based on a network-based community is significant for the social reproduction and economic efficiency. However, in such an artificial society, the inequality is sacrificed.

  1. Cultural relativism and cultural diversity: implications for nursing practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, C

    1997-09-01

    This article examines the doctrine of cultural relativism in nursing practice. To introduce the issue, an overview of the intellectual history of cultural relativism is presented. The academic themes of the debate surrounding cultural relativism are illustrated with an example of the social controversy in France involving cultural relativism as used to defend the practice of female genital excision among immigrant communities. The dilemma faced by nursing in making cross-cultural judgments is then examined in the light of the academic and social debates. The article concludes with a theoretical resolution of the issue of cultural relativism for nursing practice that is based on hermeneutic philosophy.

  2. Microbial community analysis of a coastal hot spring in Kagoshima, Japan, using molecular- and culture-based approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishiyama, Minako; Yamamoto, Shuichi; Kurosawa, Norio

    2013-08-01

    Ibusuki hot spring is located on the coastline of Kagoshima Bay, Japan. The hot spring water is characterized by high salinity, high temperature, and neutral pH. The hot spring is covered by the sea during high tide, which leads to severe fluctuations in several environmental variables. A combination of molecular- and culture-based techniques was used to determine the bacterial and archaeal diversity of the hot spring. A total of 48 thermophilic bacterial strains were isolated from two sites (Site 1: 55.6°C; Site 2: 83.1°C) and they were categorized into six groups based on their 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Two groups (including 32 isolates) demonstrated low sequence similarity with published species, suggesting that they might represent novel taxa. The 148 clones from the Site 1 bacterial library included 76 operational taxonomy units (OTUs; 97% threshold), while 132 clones from the Site 2 bacterial library included 31 OTUs. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were frequently detected in both clone libraries. The clones were related to thermophilic, mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria. Approximately half of the sequences in bacterial clone libraries shared <92% sequence similarity with their closest sequences in a public database, suggesting that the Ibusuki hot spring may harbor a unique and novel bacterial community. By contrast, 77 clones from the Site 2 archaeal library contained only three OTUs, most of which were affiliated with Thaumarchaeota.

  3. Cultures of engagement: The organizational foundations of advancing health in immigrant and low-income communities of color.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloemraad, Irene; Terriquez, Veronica

    2016-09-01

    A rich civic infrastructure of community-based organizations (CBOs) can help generate, diffuse and maintain a culture of engagement and health that benefits marginalized populations most at risk for illness, disability, and poor health. Attention to CBOs advances "meso-level" frameworks for understanding health cultures and outcomes by going beyond attention to social networks and social identities. We focus on three mechanisms: CBOs can (1) empower individuals by developing civic capacity and personal efficacy; (2) foster solidarity by building networks, social identities and a shared commitment to collective well-being; and (3) mobilize people to have a voice in health-related policies and programming, thereby affecting community well-being. We draw on theory and research in sociology, political science and psychology, and we illustrate the utility of a CBO approach by examining survey and semi-structured interview data from participants in youth civic groups in 13 low-income, predominantly immigrant communities in California. Interview data illustrate the ways in which CBOs enhance members' civic capacities, provide a sense of empowerment and efficacy to engage in healthy behaviors, develop solidarity among diverse participants, and elaborate networks among those committed to community well-being. We also discuss CBO-led campaigns in which youth mobilized for change in policies and practices of local institutions to illustrate possible community-wide health consequences of CBO engagement. CBOs can thus generate individual-level well-being effects, and reduce structural barriers to good health through changes in the broader environment. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. Community-based research as a mechanism to reduce ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Racial and ethnic minority communities, including American Indian and Alaska Natives, have been disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution and contamination. This includes siting and location of point sources of pollution, legacies of contamination of drinking and recreational water, and mining, military and agricultural impacts. As a result, both quantity and quality of culturally important subsistence resources are diminished, contributing to poor nutrition and obesity, and overall reductions in quality of life and life expectancy. Climate change is adding to these impacts on Native American communities (Wildcat 2013), variably causing drought, increased flooding and forced relocation (Maldonado et al. 2013), affecting Tribal water resources (Cozzetto et al. 2013), traditional foods (Lynn et al. 2013; Gautam et al. 2013), forests and forest resources (Voggesser et al. 2013) and Tribal health (Donatuto et al 2014; Doyle et al. 2013). This article will highlight several extramural research projects supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Tribal environmental research grants as a mechanism to address the environmental health inequities and disparities faced by Tribal communities (USEPA, 2014a, www.epa.gov/ncer/tribalresearch). The Tribal Research portfolio has focused on addressing tribal environmental health risks through community based participatory research. Specifically, the STA

  5. A bacterial community-based index to assess the ecological status of estuarine and coastal environments

    KAUST Repository

    Aylagas, Eva; Borja, Á ngel; Tangherlini, Michael; Dell'Anno, Antonio; Corinaldesi, Cinzia; Michell, Craig; Irigoien, Xabier; Danovaro, Roberto; Rodrí guez-Ezpeleta, Naiara

    2016-01-01

    Biotic indices for monitoring marine ecosystems are mostly based on the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Due to their high sensitivity to pollution and fast response to environmental changes, bacterial assemblages could complement

  6. Successful Community-Based Conservation: The Story of Millbank and Pterourus (Papilio) homerus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garraway, Eric; Parnell, John; Lewis, Delano S

    2017-07-14

    The literature on community-based environmental management is very extensive and the discussion of the pros and cons is continuing. Presented here is an example of a successful interaction between university-based entomologists and a local rural community, detailing the change in the attitude of the town of Millbank, Jamaica, from a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly collecting site to a model for community protection of a species and its environment. A review of some of the research work on community-based conservation efforts is included. These linkages take a considerable time to establish and the efforts spent by scientific personnel, governmental representatives and eco-tourists are itemized to emphasize how specific conservation activities have inspired confidence in the local community, thus engendering trust and mutual respect between the two groups. Reviews of the developed legislative support from both international and state entities also must be in place, and these are included in chronological detail as much as possible. Finally, a review of the long-term funding of educational and other local programs providing a level of stability to the conservation effort, until the local community can take over the protection of the species and/or habitat, is provided. Of utmost importance is a comprehensive educational campaign to not only sensitize the community, but the larger society, so that there can be buy-in from all stakeholders.

  7. Community-Based Programming: An Opportunity and Imperative for the Community College.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boone, Edgar J.

    1992-01-01

    Defines community-based programing as a cooperative process in which the community college serves as leader and catalyst in effecting collaboration among community members, leaders, and groups. Recommends 15 tasks for community college leaders involved in community-based programing, including environmental scanning and coalition building. (DMM)

  8. Three-dimensional spheroid culture targeting versatile tissue bioassays using a PDMS-based hanging drop array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, Ching-Te; Wang, Jong-Yueh; Lin, Yu-Fen; Wo, Andrew M; Chen, Benjamin P C; Lee, Hsinyu

    2017-06-29

    Biomaterial-based tissue culture platforms have emerged as useful tools to mimic in vivo physiological microenvironments in experimental cell biology and clinical studies. We describe herein a three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture platform using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based hanging drop array (PDMS-HDA) methodology. Multicellular spheroids can be achieved within 24 h and further boosted by incorporating collagen fibrils in PDMS-HDA. In addition, the spheroids generated from different human tumor cells exhibited distinct sensitivities toward drug chemotherapeutic agents and radiation as compared with two-dimensional (2D) cultures that often lack in vivo-like biological insights. We also demonstrated that multicellular spheroids may enable key hallmarks of tissue-based bioassays, including drug screening, tumor dissemination, cell co-culture, and tumor invasion. Taken together, these results offer new opportunities not only to achieve the active control of 3D multicellular spheroids on demand, but also to establish a rapid and cost-effective platform to study anti-cancer therapeutics and tumor microenvironments.

  9. Maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security in Korea: cross-cultural validation of the Strange Situation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Mi Kyoung; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen, Nancy; Jung, Sung Hoon

    2012-01-01

    The present study sought to analyze infant and maternal behavior both during the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) and a free play session in a Korean sample (N = 87) to help understand whether mother-infant attachment relationships are universal or culture-specific. Distributions of attachment classifications in the Korean sample were compared with a cross-national sample. Behavior of mothers and infants following the two separation episodes in the SSP, including mothers' proximity to their infants and infants' approach to the caregiver, was also observed, as was the association between maternal sensitivity observed during free play session and infant security. The percentage of Korean infants classified as secure versus insecure mirrored the global distribution, however, only one Korean baby was classified as avoidant. Following the separation episodes in the Strange Situation, Korean mothers were more likely than mothers in Ainsworth's Baltimore sample to approach their babies immediately and sit beside them throughout the reunion episodes, even when their babies were no longer distressed. Also, Korean babies less often approached their mothers during reunions than did infants in the Baltimore sample. Finally, the link between maternal sensitivity and infant security was significant. The findings support the idea that the basic secure base function of attachment is universal and the SSP is a valid measure of secure attachment, but cultural differences in caregiving may result in variations in how this function is manifested.

  10. A randomized waitlist-controlled trial of culturally sensitive relationship education for male same-sex couples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitton, Sarah W; Weitbrecht, Eliza M; Kuryluk, Amanda D; Hutsell, David W

    2016-09-01

    Relationship education, effective in improving relationship quality among different-sex couples, represents a promising and nonstigmatizing approach to promoting the health and stability of same-sex couples. A new culturally sensitive relationship education program was developed specifically for male same-sex couples, which includes adaptations of evidence-based strategies to build core relationship skills (e.g., communication skills training) and newly developed content to address unique challenges faced by this group (e.g., discrimination; low social support). A small randomized waitlist-control trial (N = 20 couples) was conducted to evaluate the program. To assess program efficacy, dyadic longitudinal data (collected at pre- and postprogram and 3-month follow-up) were analyzed using multilevel models that accounted for nonindependence in data from indistinguishable dyads. Results indicated significant program effects in comparison to waitlist controls on couple constructive and destructive communication, perceived stress, and relationship satisfaction. Gains in each of these areas were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Although there was no evidence of within-person program effects on social support, satisfaction, or relationship instability immediately postprogram, all 3 showed within-person improvements by follow-up. Ratings of program satisfaction were high. In summary, study findings support the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of the program and highlight the potential value of culturally sensitive adaptations of relationship education for same-sex couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Global software development: Commitment, trust, and cultural sensitivity in strategic partnerships

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Søderberg, Anne-marie; Krishna, S; Bjørn, Pernille

    2013-01-01

    as through conscious relationship management with the clients. Three major themes describe important aspects of the strategic partnerships: 1) senior management commitment and employee identification with the projects, 2) mutual trust and transparency, and 3) cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity....... The article draws attention to the important collaborative work done by people who are able to span boundaries in the complex organizational set-up of global IT development projects....

  12. Intercultural communication between patients and health care providers: an exploration of intercultural communication effectiveness, cultural sensitivity, stress, and anxiety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulrey, K L; Amason, P

    2001-01-01

    Cultural diversity is becoming increasingly more important in the workplace. This is particularly true in health care organizations facing demographic shifts in the patients served and their families. This study serves to aid the development of intercultural communication training programs for health care providers by examining how cultural sensitivity and effective intercultural communication, besides helping patients, personally benefit health care providers by reducing their stress. Effective intercultural communication and cultural sensitivity were found to be related. Health care providers' levels of intercultural anxiety also were found to correlate with effective intercultural communication.

  13. Ghanaian migrant women's involvement in microlevel community ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    When migrants remit, there is no expectation to receive a gift but such reciprocity is based on cultural norms, obligations and loyalty to one's kin and community. These cultural norms and obligations override selfinterest in reciprocal arrangements. Keywords: Solidarity, community projects, remittance, Ghanaian migrant ...

  14. Perceptions of Organizational Culture of a Multi-Campus Community College District: Mixed Methods in Concert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuster Dale, Kimberly

    2012-01-01

    This concurrent, mixed-methods case study analyzed perceptions of current and preferred organizational culture within a rural, multi-campus community college district. This phenomenon was examined by analyzing and comparing data collected by surveying all full-time employees utilizing the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and…

  15. Utilizing Science to Ensure Safe Access to Cultural Resources on Public Lands: The Portland Native American Community and Traditional Gathering of Camas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, C.

    2017-12-01

    Native Americans have been conducting and contributing to science for millenia. We have observed nature and passed on evidence-based Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from generation to generation. Prior to colonization, this knowledge enabled our people to live with ample nutritional resources. Our long-standing relationship to nature continues today in tribal, rural, and urban communities, yet access to cultural resources (traditional food and medicines) proves challenging due to modern land management practices. The Native American community and public land managers in Portland, Oregon are addressing this challenge through the restoration of cultural resources across the landscape. One focus in these efforts is the camas plant (Camssia quamash), which grows in wetland and prairie ecosystems. The harvested bulbs are traditionally pit roasted, converting the indigestible inulin into carbohydrates of high nutritional value. Access to local natural areas has been granted for Native American community members to gather camas, yet pesticide and herbicide application as land management practices have created uncertainty regarding the safety of ingesting the camas bulbs. The Native American community gathered camas bulbs in November 2015 for analysis, which resulted in glyphosate (pesticide) and triclopyr (herbicide). There are various factors which may influence the uptake of pesticide and herbicide residuals in camas which need further investigation, including pesticide/herbicide application details (date, location), preferential uptake of pesticide/herbicides in camas among the present plant community, the impact of pit roasting bulbs on residuals, and traditional land management practices like prescribed burning. Utilizing TEK and science to ensure safe access to cultural resources is paramount in preserving our cultures and enhancing the value of indigenous perspectives on land management practices and policies.

  16. A rapid and sensitive method for measuring N-acetylglucosaminidase activity in cultured cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Mauri

    Full Text Available A rapid and sensitive method to quantitatively assess N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG activity in cultured cells is highly desirable for both basic research and clinical studies. NAG activity is deficient in cells from patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB (MPS IIIB due to mutations in NAGLU, the gene that encodes NAG. Currently available techniques for measuring NAG activity in patient-derived cell lines include chromogenic and fluorogenic assays and provide a biochemical method for the diagnosis of MPS IIIB. However, standard protocols require large amounts of cells, cell disruption by sonication or freeze-thawing, and normalization to the cellular protein content, resulting in an error-prone procedure that is material- and time-consuming and that produces highly variable results. Here we report a new procedure for measuring NAG activity in cultured cells. This procedure is based on the use of the fluorogenic NAG substrate, 4-Methylumbelliferyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (MUG, in a one-step cell assay that does not require cell disruption or post-assay normalization and that employs a low number of cells in 96-well plate format. We show that the NAG one-step cell assay greatly discriminates between wild-type and MPS IIIB patient-derived fibroblasts, thus providing a rapid method for the detection of deficiencies in NAG activity. We also show that the assay is sensitive to changes in NAG activity due to increases in NAGLU expression achieved by either overexpressing the transcription factor EB (TFEB, a master regulator of lysosomal function, or by inducing TFEB activation chemically. Because of its small format, rapidity, sensitivity and reproducibility, the NAG one-step cell assay is suitable for multiple procedures, including the high-throughput screening of chemical libraries to identify modulators of NAG expression, folding and activity, and the investigation of candidate molecules and constructs for applications in

  17. Engaging community to support HIV prevention research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahay, Seema; Mehendale, Sanjay

    2011-01-01

    Actively engaging communities in effective partnerships is considered critical for ethically robust and locally relevant HIV prevention research. This can be challenging in developing countries that have little prior experience in this area. This paper summarizes processes and lessons learnt while setting up the Community Involvement Plan of National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, India. Formal partnerships were established with voluntary agencies. The focus was on using strategies adapted from participatory learning and action techniques. The community program was implemented through peer educators specifically identified from the communities where partner non-governmental organizations function. At the grass root level, peer educators imparted education to the common people about research studies and helped to implement community based recruitment and retention activities. The focus was on facilitating periodic interaction between the outreach workers of the research team and the peers and modifying the strategies till they were found locally implementable and appropriate. Through adequate time investment, mutually beneficial and respectful partnerships with community based organizations and grass root level workers, the community became actively involved in clinical research. The program helped in developing a sense of partnership among the peers for the research conducted by the research organization, widening the net of community education and identification of research participants. By building trust in the community and implementing research within an ethical framework, culturally sensitive matters were appropriately addressed. The community involvement process is long, laborious and ever-evolving. Effective community engagement requires institutional leadership support, adequate funding and commitment by researchers. It is possible to sustain such a model in a resource limited setting.

  18. Modeling Acequia Irrigation Systems Using System Dynamics: Model Development, Evaluation, and Sensitivity Analyses to Investigate Effects of Socio-Economic and Biophysical Feedbacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin L. Turner

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Agriculture-based irrigation communities of northern New Mexico have survived for centuries despite the arid environment in which they reside. These irrigation communities are threatened by regional population growth, urbanization, a changing demographic profile, economic development, climate change, and other factors. Within this context, we investigated the extent to which community resource management practices centering on shared resources (e.g., water for agricultural in the floodplains and grazing resources in the uplands and mutualism (i.e., shared responsibility of local residents to maintaining traditional irrigation policies and upholding cultural and spiritual observances embedded within the community structure influence acequia function. We used a system dynamics modeling approach as an interdisciplinary platform to integrate these systems, specifically the relationship between community structure and resource management. In this paper we describe the background and context of acequia communities in northern New Mexico and the challenges they face. We formulate a Dynamic Hypothesis capturing the endogenous feedbacks driving acequia community vitality. Development of the model centered on major stock-and-flow components, including linkages for hydrology, ecology, community, and economics. Calibration metrics were used for model evaluation, including statistical correlation of observed and predicted values and Theil inequality statistics. Results indicated that the model reproduced trends exhibited by the observed system. Sensitivity analyses of socio-cultural processes identified absentee decisions, cumulative income effect on time in agriculture, and land use preference due to time allocation, community demographic effect, effect of employment on participation, and farm size effect as key determinants of system behavior and response. Sensitivity analyses of biophysical parameters revealed that several key parameters (e.g., acres per

  19. Effects of Community Service-Learning on Heritage Language Learners' Attitudes toward Their Language and Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pascual y Cabo, Diego; Prada, Josh; Lowther Pereira, Kelly

    2017-01-01

    This study examined the effects of participation in a community service-learning experience on Spanish heritage language learners' attitudes toward their heritage language and culture. Quantitative and qualitative data from heritage language learners demonstrated that engagement in community service-learning activities as part of the Spanish…

  20. "Symptoms of something all around us": Mental health, Inuit culture, and criminal justice in Arctic communities in Nunavut, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrazzi, Priscilla; Krupa, Terry

    2016-09-01

    Rehabilitation-oriented criminal court mental health initiatives to reduce the number of people with mental illness caught in the criminal justice system exist in many North American cities and elsewhere but not in the mainly Inuit Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. This study explores whether the therapeutic aims of these resource-intensive, mainly urban initiatives can be achieved in criminal courts in Nunavut's resource constrained, culturally distinct and geographically remote communities. A qualitative multiple-case study in the communities of Iqaluit, Arviat and Qikiqtarjuaq involved 55 semi-structured interviews and three focus groups with participants representing four sectors essential to these initiatives: justice, health, community organizations and community members. These interviews explored whether the therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) principles that guide criminal court mental health initiatives and the component objectives of these principles could be used to improve the criminal court response to people with mental illness in Nunavut. Interviews revealed 13 themes reflecting perceptions of Inuit culture's influence on the identification of people with mental illness, treatment, and collaboration between the court and others. These themes include cultural differences in defining mental illness, differences in traditional and contemporary treatment models, and the importance of mutual cultural respect. The findings suggest Inuit culture, including its recent history of cultural disruption and change, affects the vulnerability of Nunavut communities to the potential moral and legal pitfalls associated with TJ and criminal court mental health initiatives. These pitfalls include the dominance of biomedical approaches when identifying a target population, the medicalization of behaviour and culture, the risk of "paternalism" in therapeutic interventions, and shortcomings in interdisciplinary collaboration that limit considerations of Inuit culture. The

  1. Developing community-based preventive interventions in Hong Kong: a description of the first phase of the family project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Sunita M; Fabrizio, Cecilia S; Hirschmann, Malia R; Lam, Tai Hing

    2012-02-07

    This paper describes the development of culturally-appropriate family-based interventions and their relevant measures, to promote family health, happiness and harmony in Hong Kong. Programs were developed in the community, using a collaborative approach with community partners. The development process, challenges, and the lessons learned are described. This experience may be of interest to the scientific community as there is little information currently available about community-based development of brief interventions with local validity in cultures outside the West. The academic-community collaborative team each brought strengths to the development process and determined the targets for intervention (parent-child relationships). Information from expert advisors and stakeholder discussion groups was collected and utilized to define the sources of stress in parent-child relationships. Themes emerged from the literature and discussion groups that guided the content of the intervention. Projects emphasized features that were appropriate for this cultural group and promoted potential for sustainability, so that the programs might eventually be implemented at a population-wide level. Challenges included ensuring local direction, relevance and acceptability for the intervention content, engaging participants and enhancing motivation to make behavior changes after a brief program, measurement of behavior changes, and developing an equal partner relationship between academic and community staff. This work has public health significance because of the global importance of parent-child relationships as a risk-factor for many outcomes in adulthood, the need to develop interventions with strong evidence of effectiveness to populations outside the West, the potential application of our interventions to universal populations, and characteristics of the interventions that promote dissemination, including minimal additional costs for delivery by community agencies, and high

  2. Community-based child health nurses: an exploration of current practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borrow, Stephanie; Munns, Ailsa; Henderson, Saras

    2011-12-01

    community development and capacity building, often through a multidisciplinary partnership, which requires them to have sound brokerage and facilitation skills to enable community inclusion and inter-agency collaboration at the local level. The study has highlighted the importance and multifaceted nature of the role of the community-based child health nurse. To enable them to function optimally, the following suggestions/recommendations are offered. These being: More physical resources be allocated to community-based child health nursing More resources allocated to assist community-based child health nurses to support culturally and linguistically diverse families Mapping of child health nurses' workloads The development of community health client dependency rating criteria reflecting the social determinants of health in order for health service refinement of staffing allocations based on an acuity scale Specific staff development opportunities to reflect the increased workload complexity Managerial support for the implementation of formal clinical (reflective) supervision Additional clerical assistance with non-nursing duties.

  3. Identifying Effective and Sustainable Measures for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKay, Ariana J.; Johnson, Chris J.

    2017-09-01

    Resource development projects typically result in monitoring programs that fail to fully consider the values and participation of surrounding communities. Also, monitoring protocols for single environmental values can be insufficient for addressing the cumulative impacts of resource development. Community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) has emerged as a way to meaningfully include local citizens in the decision-making process and assessment of the development of natural resources. Our research explored how to develop effective and sustainable CBEM. Interviews were conducted with staff from 15 CBEM programs established across Canada to identify criteria of what constitutes effective CBEM. Results demonstrate that CBEM offers an effective, locally adapted, and culturally applicable approach to facilitate community participation in natural resource management and to track environmental change. Benefits of CBEM include: locally relevant monitoring protocols, inclusion of cumulative impacts, better informed decision-making, and increased awareness and collaboration amongst community, governments, and proponents. Challenges associated with CBEM are cost, capacity, longevity, distribution of results, and establishing credibility. This research validates the use of CBEM for improving resource management.

  4. Effectiveness of a Multifaceted Community-Based Promotion Strategy on Use of GetHealthyHarlem.org, a Local Community Health Education Website.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Michelle; Mateo, Katrina F; Morita, Haruka; Hutchinson, Carly; Cohall, Alwyn T

    2015-07-01

    The use of health communication extends beyond simply promoting or disseminating a particular product or proposed behavior change; it involves the systematic and strategic integration and execution of evidence-based, theory-driven, and community engagement strategies. Much like in public health intervention design based on health behavior theory, health communication seeks to encourage the target audience to make a positive behavior change through core concepts such as understanding and specifying the target audience, tailoring messages based on audience segmentation, and continually conducting evaluation of specific and overarching goals. While our first article "Development of a Culturally Relevant Consumer Health Information Website for Harlem, New York" focused on the design, development, and initial implementation of GetHealthyHarlem.org between 2004 and 2009, this article delves into the process of promoting the website to increase its use and then evaluating use among website visitors. Just as for the development of the website, we used community-based participatory research methods, health behavior theory, and health communication strategies to systemically develop and execute a health communication plan with the goals of increasing awareness of GetHealthyHarlem.org in Harlem, driving online traffic, and having the community recognize it as a respected community resource dedicated to improving health in Harlem. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

  5. Differential sensitivity of total and active soil microbial communities to drought and forest management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastida, Felipe; Torres, Irene F; Andrés-Abellán, Manuela; Baldrian, Petr; López-Mondéjar, Rubén; Větrovský, Tomáš; Richnow, Hans H; Starke, Robert; Ondoño, Sara; García, Carlos; López-Serrano, Francisco R; Jehmlich, Nico

    2017-10-01

    Climate change will affect semiarid ecosystems through severe droughts that increase the competition for resources in plant and microbial communities. In these habitats, adaptations to climate change may consist of thinning-that reduces competition for resources through a decrease in tree density and the promotion of plant survival. We deciphered the functional and phylogenetic responses of the microbial community to 6 years of drought induced by rainfall exclusion and how forest management affects its resistance to drought, in a semiarid forest ecosystem dominated by Pinus halepensis Mill. A multiOMIC approach was applied to reveal novel, community-based strategies in the face of climate change. The diversity and the composition of the total and active soil microbiome were evaluated by 16S rRNA gene (bacteria) and ITS (fungal) sequencing, and by metaproteomics. The microbial biomass was analyzed by phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), and the microbially mediated ecosystem multifunctionality was studied by the integration of soil enzyme activities related to the cycles of C, N, and P. The microbial biomass and ecosystem multifunctionality decreased in drought-plots, as a consequence of the lower soil moisture and poorer plant development, but this decrease was more notable in unthinned plots. The structure and diversity of the total bacterial community was unaffected by drought at phylum and order level, but did so at genus level, and was influenced by seasonality. However, the total fungal community and the active microbial community were more sensitive to drought and were related to ecosystem multifunctionality. Thinning in plots without drought increased the active diversity while the total diversity was not affected. Thinning promoted the resistance of ecosystem multifunctionality to drought through changes in the active microbial community. The integration of total and active microbiome analyses avoids misinterpretations of the links between the soil microbial

  6. A simple, versatile and sensitive cell-based assay for prions from various species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaira E Arellano-Anaya

    Full Text Available Detection and quantification of prion infectivity is a crucial step for various fundamental and applied aspects of prion research. Identification of cell lines highly sensitive to prion infection led to the development of cell-based titration procedures aiming at replacing animal bioassays, usually performed in mice or hamsters. However, most of these cell lines are only permissive to mouse-adapted prions strains and do not allow titration of prions from other species. In this study, we show that epithelial RK13, a cell line permissive to mouse and bank vole prion strains and to natural prion agents from sheep and cervids, enables a robust and sensitive detection of mouse and ovine-derived prions. Importantly, the cell culture work is strongly reduced as the RK13 cell assay procedure designed here does not require subcultivation of the inoculated cultures. We also show that prions effectively bind to culture plastic vessel and are quantitatively detected by the cell assay. The possibility to easily quantify a wider range of prions, including rodent experimental strains but also natural agents from sheep and cervids, should prompt the spread of cell assays for routine prion titration and lead to valuable information in fundamental and applied studies.

  7. The Cultural Missions Programme: An Early Attempt at Community Development in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubio, Alfredo

    1978-01-01

    The author reviews the "Cultural Missions Programme" of Mexico's educational reform after 1920, in which groups of teachers using Catholic missionary methods fought poverty and ignorance in rural Mexico. These mission programs embody most of the community development principles and are still needed. (MF)

  8. Development of an instrument to measure organisational culture in community pharmacies in Great Britain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques, Iuri; Willis, Sarah Caroline; Schafheutle, Ellen Ingrid; Hassell, Karen

    2018-04-09

    Purpose Organisational culture (OC) shapes individuals' perceptions and experiences of work. However, no instrument capable of measuring specific aspects of OC in community pharmacy exists. The purpose of this paper is to report the development and validation of an instrument to measure OC in community pharmacy in Great Britain (GB), and conduct a preliminary analysis of data collected using it. Design/methodology/approach Instrument development comprised three stages: Stage I: 12 qualitative interviews and relevant literature informed instrument design; Stage II: 30 cognitive interviews assessed content validity; and Stage III: a cross-sectional survey mailed to 1,000 community pharmacists in GB, with factor analysis for instrument validation. Statistical analysis investigated how community pharmacists perceived OC in their place of work. Findings Factor analysis produced an instrument containing 60 items across five OC dimensions - business and work configuration, social relationships, personal and professional development, skills utilisation, and environment and structures. Internal reliability for the dimensions was high (0.84 to 0.95); item-total correlations were adequate ( r=0.46 to r=0.76). Based on 209 responses, analysis suggests different OCs in community pharmacy, with some community pharmacists viewing the environment in which they worked as having a higher frequency of aspects related to patient contact and safety than others. Since these aspects are important for providing high healthcare standards, it is likely that differences in OC may be linked to different healthcare outcomes. Originality/value This newly developed and validated instrument to measure OC in community pharmacy can be used to benchmark existing OC across different pharmacies and design interventions for triggering change to improve outcomes for community pharmacists and patients.

  9. Advance care planning, culture and religion: an environmental scan of Australian-based online resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira-Salgado, Amanda; Mader, Patrick; Boyd, Leanne M

    2017-04-20

    Objectives Culture and religion are important in advance care planning (ACP), yet it is not well understood how this is represented in ACP online resources. The aim of the present study was to identify the availability of Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets containing cultural and religious information. Methods An environmental scanning framework was used with a Google search conducted from 30 June 2015 to 5 July 2015. Eligible Australian-based ACP websites and online informational booklets were reviewed by two analysts (APS & PM) for information pertaining to at least one culture or religion. Common characteristics were agreed upon and tabulated with narrative description. Results Seven Australian-based ACP websites were identified with varying degrees of cultural and religious information. Seven Australian-based ACP informational booklets were identified addressing culture or religion, namely of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (n=5), Sikh (n=1) and Italian (n=1) communities. Twenty-one other online resources with cultural and religious information were identified, developed within the context of health and palliative care. Conclusions There is no comprehensive Australian-based ACP website or informational booklet supporting ACP across several cultural and religious contexts. Considering Australia's multicultural and multifaith population, such a resource may be beneficial in increasing awareness and uptake of ACP. What is known about the topic? Health professionals and consumers frequently use the Internet to find information. Non-regulation has resulted in the proliferation of ACP online resources (i.e. ACP websites and online informational booklets). Although this has contributed to raising awareness of ACP, the availability of Australian-based ACP online resources with cultural and religious information is not well known. What does this paper add? This paper is the first to use an environmental scanning methodology to identify

  10. The role of values-based leadership in sustaining a culture of caring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faith, Karen E

    2013-01-01

    At the heart of healthcare are fundamental values like caring and compassion as well as the duty shared by healthcare organizations to address the care needs of those in their communities who are vulnerable, injured, or ill. A concern being raised by some political analysts in Canada is that fundamental values are being challenged by current economic and political influences that are reshaping the landscape of healthcare in this country. Influences from industry, technology, and business have significantly shifted healthcare from its moral foundations. A culture of caring is also challenged by the values and behaviours of individuals that negatively impact staff morale and inter-professional collaboration in many work settings. If a "culture of caring" is to survive the canons of cost containment, the impact of recurrent political wrangling, and other substantive influences, then healthcare must be guided by committed values-based leadership. Using case illustrations, this article attempts to explain the characteristics and role of values-based leaders in promoting those values that inspire a culture of caring.

  11. Culture Media and Individual Hosts Affect the Recovery of Culturable Bacterial Diversity from Amphibian Skin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medina, Daniel; Walke, Jenifer B; Gajewski, Zachary; Becker, Matthew H; Swartwout, Meredith C; Belden, Lisa K

    2017-01-01

    that swabbing more individuals in a population is the best way to maximize culture collections, regardless of media type. Lastly, the function of the plated communities against Bd did not vary across culture media type or between high and low nutrient media. These results inform current efforts for developing a probiotic-based approach for amphibian conservation and help to ensure that culture collections are capturing the majority of the important diversity in these systems.

  12. On Approaches to Analyze the Sensitivity of Simulated Hydrologic Fluxes to Model Parameters in the Community Land Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Bao

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Effective sensitivity analysis approaches are needed to identify important parameters or factors and their uncertainties in complex Earth system models composed of multi-phase multi-component phenomena and multiple biogeophysical-biogeochemical processes. In this study, the impacts of 10 hydrologic parameters in the Community Land Model on simulations of runoff and latent heat flux are evaluated using data from a watershed. Different metrics, including residual statistics, the Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient, and log mean square error, are used as alternative measures of the deviations between the simulated and field observed values. Four sensitivity analysis (SA approaches, including analysis of variance based on the generalized linear model, generalized cross validation based on the multivariate adaptive regression splines model, standardized regression coefficients based on a linear regression model, and analysis of variance based on support vector machine, are investigated. Results suggest that these approaches show consistent measurement of the impacts of major hydrologic parameters on response variables, but with differences in the relative contributions, particularly for the secondary parameters. The convergence behaviors of the SA with respect to the number of sampling points are also examined with different combinations of input parameter sets and output response variables and their alternative metrics. This study helps identify the optimal SA approach, provides guidance for the calibration of the Community Land Model parameters to improve the model simulations of land surface fluxes, and approximates the magnitudes to be adjusted in the parameter values during parametric model optimization.

  13. Bacterial community from gut of white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, cultured in earthen ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Supamattaya, K.

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH technique and conventional method were used to analyse the bacterial community in the gut of white shrimp cultured in earthen ponds. Samples were collectedfrom three parts, hepatopancreas, anterior intestine and posterior intestine. Gut bacterial community was enumerated by 15 probes in FISH and 3 bacterial culture technique media. The results showed that bacteriaspecific probes determined bacterial community and Eubacteria as the dominant group of microbial community in the studied gut portions. β-Proteobacteria group (29.53±5.39% and γ-Proteobacteria group (26.18±6.88% were major groups of bacterial flora in the hepatopancreas. In contrast, low G+C gram positive bacteria group (LGC was the most abundant group detected in anterior intestine (36.40±3.53% andposterior intestine (30.32±4.63%. Vibrio spp. were detected very less in hepatopancreas (0.25±0.43% and were present in 3 of 9 samples. In the case of bacterial detection using cultivation method, the number ofbacterial groups verified by TSA, TCBS and MRS showed high variation in every part of the studied digestive tract portions; however, no vibrio or lactic acid bacteria were present in the hepatopancreas ofhealthy shrimp. This study reveals the proportion of bacterial community in the digestive tract of white shrimp which can be used as important database for studying the change of the bacterial community in an abnormal condition including the efficiency of probiotics in the gut (in vivo of white shrimp.

  14. Collaboration in Visual Culture Learning Communities: Towards a Synergy of Individual and Collective Creative Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karpati, Andrea; Freedman, Kerry; Castro, Juan Carlos; Kallio-Tavin, Mira; Heijnen, Emiel

    2017-01-01

    A visual culture learning community (VCLC) is an adolescent or young adult group engaged in expression and creation outside of formal institutions and without adult supervision. In the framework of an international, comparative research project executed between 2010 and 2014, members of a variety of eight self-initiated visual culture groups…

  15. Cultural stereotypes of women from South Asian communities: mental health care professionals' explanations for patterns of suicide and depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burr, J

    2002-09-01

    Low rates of treated depression and high rates of suicide in women from some South Asian communities are evident in epidemiological studies in the UK. It is argued here that explanations for these apparent differences are likely to be located in stereotypes of repressive South Asian cultures. This small scale study, utilising focus groups and individual interviews, sought to explore the construction of cultural stereotypes within mental health discourse with specific reference to stereotypes of women from South Asian communities. Mental health carers from a UK inner city area of relatively high social deprivation were targeted. Focus groups were conducted with a range of mental health care professionals who worked in both inpatient and outpatient mental health care services. In addition, individual interviews were conducted with consultant psychiatrists and General Practitioners. Extensive reference is made in this paper to the content of focus groups and interviews and how health carer's knowledge about and experience of South Asian cultures and caring for women from these communities was contextualised. Mental health care professionals constructed cultural difference in terms of fixed and immutable categories which operated to inferiorise Britain's South Asian communities. It is argued that their knowledge is constructed upon stereotypes of western culture as superior to a construction of eastern cultures as repressive, patriarchal and inferior to a western cultural ideal. Ultimately, it is argued that these stereotypes become incorporated as 'fact' and have the potential to misdirect diagnosis and therefore, also misdirect treatment pathways.

  16. Indigenous Respiratory Outreach Care: the first 18 months of a specialist respiratory outreach service to rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medlin, Linda G; Chang, Anne B; Fong, Kwun; Jackson, Rebecca; Bishop, Penny; Dent, Annette; Hill, Deb C; Vincent, Stephen; O'Grady, Kerry-Ann F

    2014-09-01

    Respiratory diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Indigenous Australians. However, there are limited approaches to specialist respiratory care in rural and remote communities that are culturally appropriate. A specialist Indigenous Respiratory Outreach Care (IROC) program, developed to address this gap, is described. The aim of the present study was to implement, pilot and evaluate multidisciplinary specialist respiratory outreach medical teams in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia. Sites were identified based on a perception of unmet need, burden of respiratory disease and/or capacity to use the clinical service and capacity building for support offered. IROC commenced in March 2011 and, to date, has been implemented in 13 communities servicing a population of approximately 43000 Indigenous people. Clinical service delivery has been possible through community engagement and capacity building initiatives directed by community protocols. IROC is a culturally sensitive and sustainable model for adult and paediatric specialist outreach respiratory services that may be transferrable to Indigenous communities across Queensland and Australia.

  17. The sensitivity and specificity of potassium hydroxide smear and fungal culture relative to clinical assessment in the evaluation of tinea pedis: a pooled analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levitt, Jacob Oren; Levitt, Barrie H; Akhavan, Arash; Yanofsky, Howard

    2010-01-01

    Background. There are relatively few studies published examining the sensitivity and specificity of potassium hydroxide (KOH) smear and fungal culture examination of tinea pedis. Objective. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of KOH smear and fungal culture for diagnosing tinea pedis. Methods. A pooled analysis of data from five similarly conducted bioequivalence trials for antifungal drugs was performed. Data from 460 patients enrolled in the vehicle arms of these studies with clinical diagnosis of tinea pedis supported by positive fungal culture were analyzed 6 weeks after initiation of the study to determine the sensitivity and specificity of KOH smear and fungal culture. Results. Using clinical assessment as the gold standard, the sensitivities for KOH smear and culture were 73.3% (95% CI: 66.3 to 79.5%) and 41.7% (34.6 to 49.1%), respectively. The respective specificities for culture and KOH smear were 77.7% (72.2 to 82.5%) and 42.5% (36.6 to 48.6%). Conclusion. KOH smear and fungal culture are complementary diagnostic tests for tinea pedis, with the former being the more sensitive test of the two, and the latter being more specific.

  18. The Sensitivity and Specificity of Potassium Hydroxide Smear and Fungal Culture Relative to Clinical Assessment in the Evaluation of Tinea Pedis: A Pooled Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob Oren Levitt

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. There are relatively few studies published examining the sensitivity and specificity of potassium hydroxide (KOH smear and fungal culture examination of tinea pedis. Objective. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of KOH smear and fungal culture for diagnosing tinea pedis. Methods. A pooled analysis of data from five similarly conducted bioequivalence trials for antifungal drugs was performed. Data from 460 patients enrolled in the vehicle arms of these studies with clinical diagnosis of tinea pedis supported by positive fungal culture were analyzed 6 weeks after initiation of the study to determine the sensitivity and specificity of KOH smear and fungal culture. Results. Using clinical assessment as the gold standard, the sensitivities for KOH smear and culture were 73.3% (95% CI: 66.3 to 79.5% and 41.7% (34.6 to 49.1%, respectively. The respective specificities for culture and KOH smear were 77.7% (72.2 to 82.5% and 42.5% (36.6 to 48.6%. Conclusion. KOH smear and fungal culture are complementary diagnostic tests for tinea pedis, with the former being the more sensitive test of the two, and the latter being more specific.

  19. The Physical Rehabilitation: a therapeutically field that links the Faculty of Physical Culture with the community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deisy Milhet Cruz

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The research project stands for a new glance to the integration school-community, this one is aimed at providing the theoretical-practical contents to the rehabilitation of individuals in the territory called Capitán San Luis based on a therapeutically field, it also contributes to the academic process in the faculty by facilitating the unit theory-practice. On behalf of the subjects comprising the discipline physical Culture and prophylactic taught by the members of the project. In this field are duly attended students, professors of the faculty, also members of the community nearby, by using equipment and means showed and validated in some scientific events. In brief this rehabilitation resource improves the quality of life of everyone who undergoes any of the treatments put into practice. Different methods were carried out just as observation, surveys and interviews. The expert criterion based on Delphi method, the pre experiment which means served for the diagnosis and the feasibility confirmation of the research.

  20. Factors affecting the cultural competence of visiting nurses for rural multicultural family support in South Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suk, Min Hyun; Oh, Won-Oak; Im, YeoJin

    2018-01-01

    With the recent growth of multicultural families in the Korean society, the importance of the role of qualified visiting nurses in the delivery of culturally sensitive health care has grown dramatically. As the primary health care provider for multicultural families enrolled in public community-based health care centers, the cultural competence of visiting nurses is an essential qualification for the provision of quality health care for multicultural families, especially in rural areas. Cultural competence of visiting nurses is based on their cultural awareness and empathetic attitude toward multicultural families. This study aimed to examine the levels of cultural competence, empowerment, and empathy in visiting nurses, and to verify the factors that affect the cultural competence of visiting nurses working with rural multicultural families in South Korea. Employing a cross-sectional descriptive study design, data from 143 visiting nurses working in rural areas were obtained. Data collection took place between November 2011 and August 2012. The measurement tools included the modified Korean version of the Cultural Awareness Scale, the Text of Items Measuring Empowerment, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to measure the level of empathy of visiting nurses. Analyses included descriptive statistics, a t-test, an ANOVA, a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and a multiple linear regression analysis. The cultural competence score of the visiting nurses was 3.07 on a 5-point Likert scale (SD = 0.30). The multiple regression analysis revealed that the cultural competence of visiting nurses was significantly influenced by experience of cultural education, empathy, and scores on the meaning subscale of the empowerment tool (R 2  = 10.2%). Institutional support to enhance visiting nurses' empowerment by assuring the significance of their job and specific strategies to enhance their empathy would be helpful to improve the cultural competence of visiting

  1. assessment of socio-economic characteristics of community based

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    GRACE

    Keywords: Socio-cultural, Characteristics, Neighbours, Festivals, Community, ... diffusion of power through a wider circle of population (Claudia, 2003; Nallari .... growth to conquer material poverty; the corrupt theory, which recognizes that ...

  2. Tobacco control recommendations identified by LGBT Atlantans in a community-based participatory research project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryant, Lawrence; Damarin, Amanda K; Marshall, Zack

    2014-01-01

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are increasingly aware that disproportionately high smoking rates severely impact the health of their communities. Motivated to make a change, a group of LGBT community members, policymakers, and researchers from Atlanta carried out a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project. This formative research study sought to identify recommendations for culturally relevant smoking prevention and cessation interventions that could improve the health of Atlanta's LGBT communities. Data presented here come from four focus groups with 36 participants and a community meeting with 30 participants. Among study participants, the most favored interventions were providing LGBT-specific cessation programs, raising awareness about LGBT smoking rates, and getting community venues to go smoke-free. Participants also suggested providing reduced-cost cessation products for low-income individuals, using LGBT "role models" to promote cessation, and ensuring that interventions reach all parts of the community. Findings reinforce insights from community-based research with other marginalized groups. Similarities include the importance of tailoring cessation programs for specific communities, the need to acknowledge differences within communities, and the significance of community spaces in shaping discussions of cessation. Further, this study highlights the need for heightened awareness. The Atlanta LGBT community is largely unaware that high smoking rates affect its health, and is unlikely to take collective action to address this problem until it is understood.

  3. Drug and radiation sensitivity measurements of successful primary monolayer culturing of human tumor cells using cell-adhesive matrix and supplemented medium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, F.L.; Spitzer, G.; Ajani, J.A.

    1986-01-01

    The limitations of the agar suspension culture method for primary culturing of human tumor cells prompted development of a monolayer system optimized for cell adhesion and growth. This method grew 83% of fresh human tumor cell biopsy specimens, cultured and not contaminated, from a heterogeneous group of 396 tumors including lung cancer (93 of 114, 82%); melanoma (54 of 72, 75%); sarcoma (46 of 59, 78%); breast cancer (35 of 39, 90%); ovarian cancer (16 of 21, 76%); and a miscellaneous group consisting of gastrointestinal, genitourinary, mesothelioma, and unknown primaries (78 of 91, 86%). Cell growth was characterized morphologically with Papanicolaoustained coverslip cultures and cytogenetically with Giemsastained metaphase spreads. Morphological features such as nuclear pleomorphism, chromatin condensation, basophilic cytoplasm, and melanin pigmentation were routinely seen. Aneuploid metaphases were seen in 90% of evaluable cultures, with 15 of 28 showing 70% or more aneuploid metaphases. Colony-forming efficiency ranged between 0.01 and 1% of viable tumor cells, with a median efficiency of 0.2%. This culture system uses a low inoculum of 25,000 viable cells per well which permitted chemosensitivity testing of nine drugs at four doses in duplicate from 2.2 X 10(6) viable tumor cells and radiation sensitivity testing at five doses in quadruplicate from 0.6 X 10(6) cells. Cultures were analyzed for survival by computerized image analysis of crystal violet-stained cells. Drug sensitivity studies showed variability in sensitivity and in survival curve shape with exponential cell killing for cisplatin, Adriamycin, and etoposide, and shouldered survival curves for 5-fluorouracil frequently seen. Radiation sensitivity studies also showed variability in both sensitivity and survival curve shape. Many cultures showed exponential cell killing, although others had shouldered survival curves

  4. The brand, culture & stakeholder-based brand management phenomenon: an international Delphi study

    OpenAIRE

    Wilson, Jonathan

    2012-01-01

    This thesis was submitted for the degree of Docter of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University. Most recently in academic literature, over the past decade, it has been observed that the cultural approach to brand management represents a new school of thought. This has emerged from relational and community based brand perspectives: which chart the rising role, significance and influence in brand management of connected and savvy consumers. Furthermore, the researcher has identified that ...

  5. Developing resources to facilitate culturally-sensitive service planning and delivery - doing research inclusively with people with learning disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unwin, Gemma; Larkin, Michael; Rose, John; Kroese, Biza Stenfert; Malcolm, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    (Please see www.Toolsfortalking.co.uk for an easy read summary of the project.) The Tools for Talking are a set of resources that were developed through collaboration between Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities and researchers at the University of Birmingham. The resources were designed to be used by people with learning disabilities and service providers to facilitate culturally-sensitive communication and information sharing, service planning and delivery. They comprise illustrative videos and exploratory activities relating to five topics, namely, culture, activities, support from staff, important people, choices and independence. These topics emerged as important to people with learning disabilities during the 'Access to Social Care-Learning Disabilities' (ASC-LD) study which involved interviews with 32 adults with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. The results of the ASC-LD study were used to develop a set of draft resources which were then co-developed through collaboration with people with learning disabilities and service providers. A 'Partnership event' was convened to involve stakeholders in the development of the resources. This paper describes the refinement of these materials by people with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in cooperation with a range of other stakeholders. Background Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities face inequities in health and social care provision. Lower levels of service uptake and satisfaction with services have been reported, however, this is largely based on the views of carers. The 'Access to Social Care: Learning Disabilities (ASC-LD)' study sought to explore the views and experiences of social support services among adults with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Interviews with 32 Black, Asian and minority ethnic adults with learning disabilities

  6. Ethno-cultural duality and, ethnic, stereotypes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Žikić Bojan P.

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available A construction of an individual identity, in dual ethno-cultural environments, is often based on a premise that an ethnic identity is a primary human determinant. In such dual ethno-cultural communities, a basic ethnic stereotype could be called „relational“: it is founded on the concept of „Others/We-group“ distinction, where the Others appear as a main reason for the existence of the We-group members who use the distinction. This stereotype is based on the following premises: the first one says that a local socio-cultural reality contains two solid ethno-cultural groups, whereas the other suggests that in a local context, there exist just „They“ as a solid ethno-cultural group while among „Us“ the solidity is in fact, limited to ethnic affiliation. The consequence of the attitude is pervasive presentation of intra-ethnic differences, more than mere stereotyping of the Others. These stereotypes are based on the so-called „homeland“ classifications and appear to represent a small ethnography of ideas and images on what constitutes and makes a local ethnic community. The stereotypes of this particular kind are more often seen among members of Serbian ethnic group, at least based on a research in two local communities - Bečej and Seleuš. In the two communities, the prevailing attitudes on intra-ethnic differences and the stereotypes developed out of the differences are more numerous and elaborated, based on the „homeland“ classification. This cultural, cognitive process is a consequence of intertwining of two perspectives in understanding of the We-group. The first perspective narrates about the We-group ethnic background, and the second emphasizes the group domicile, that is, it defines the We-group in space. The first perspective is founded, more or less, on indispensable experience of an ethnic identity, while the other perspective is more based on empirical experience; the second perspective is also a creation of a

  7. Cultural competence and perceptions of community health workers' effectiveness for reducing health care disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mobula, Linda M; Okoye, Mekam T; Boulware, L Ebony; Carson, Kathryn A; Marsteller, Jill A; Cooper, Lisa A

    2015-01-01

    Community health worker (CHW) interventions improve health outcomes of patients from underserved communities, but health professionals' perceptions of their effectiveness may impede integration of CHWs into health care delivery systems. Whether health professionals' attitudes and skills, such as those related to cultural competence, influence perceptions of CHWs, is unknown. A questionnaire was administered to providers and clinical staff from 6 primary care practices in Maryland from April to December 2011. We quantified the associations of self-reported cultural competence and preparedness with attitudes toward the effectiveness of CHWs using logistic regression adjusting for respondent age, race, gender, provider/staff status, and years at the practice. We contacted 200 providers and staff, and 119 (60%) participated. Those reporting more cultural motivation had higher odds of perceiving CHWs as helpful for reducing health care disparities (odds ratio [OR] = 9.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.48-28.80). Those reporting more frequent culturally competent behaviors also had higher odds of believing CHWs would help reduce health disparities (OR = 3.58, 95% CI = 1.61-7.92). Attitudes toward power and assimilation were not associated with perceptions of CHWs. Cultural preparedness was associated with perceived utility of CHWs in reducing health care disparities (OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.21-4.51). Providers and staff with greater cultural competence and preparedness have more positive expectations of CHW interventions to reduce healthcare disparities. Cultural competency training may complement the use of CHWs and support their effective integration into primary care clinics that are seeking to reduce disparities. © The Author(s) 2014.

  8. Barriers and Facilitators to Engaging Communities in Gender-Based Violence Prevention following a Natural Disaster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sloand, Elizabeth; Killion, Cheryl; Gary, Faye A; Dennis, Betty; Glass, Nancy; Hassan, Mona; Campbell, Doris W; Callwood, Gloria B

    2015-11-01

    Humanitarian workers in disaster settings report a dramatic increase in gender-based violence (GBV). This was true after the 2010 Haiti earthquake when women and girls lost the relative security of their homes and families. Researchers from the United States Virgin Islands and the United States mainland responded by collaborating with Haitian colleagues to develop GBV-focused strategies. To start, the research team performed a situational analysis to insure that the project was culturally, ethically, and logistically appropriate. The aim of this paper is to describe how the situational analysis framework helped the researchers effectively approach this community. Using post-earthquake Haiti as an exemplar, we identify key steps, barriers, and facilitators to undertaking a situational analysis. Barriers included logistics, infrastructure, language and community factors. Facilitators included established experts, organizations and agencies. Researchers in such circumstances need to be respectful of community members as experts and patient with local environmental and cultural conditions.

  9. Interface of culture, insecurity and HIV and AIDS: Lessons from displaced communities in Pader District, Northern Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rujumba, Joseph; Kwiringira, Japheth

    2010-11-22

    Northern Uganda unlike other rural regions has registered high HIV prevalence rates comparable to those of urbanized Kampala and the central region. This could be due to the linkages of culture, insecurity and HIV. We explored community perceptions of HIV and AIDS as a problem and its inter-linkage with culture and insecurity in Pader District. A cross sectional qualitative study was conducted in four sub-counties of Pader District, Uganda between May and June 2008. Data for the study were collected through 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) held separately; 2 FGDs with men, 6 FGDs with women, and 4 FGDs with the youth (2 for each sex). In addition we conducted 15 key informant interviews with; 3 health workers, 4 community leaders at village and parish levels, 3 persons living with HIV and 5 district officials. Data were analysed using the content thematic approach. This process involved identification of the study themes and sub-themes following multiple reading of interview and discussion transcripts. Relevant quotations per thematic area were identified and have been used in the presentation of study findings. The struggles to meet the basic and survival needs by individuals and households overshadowed HIV as a major community problem. Conflict and risky sexual related cultural practices were perceived by communities as major drivers of HIV and AIDS in the district. Insecurity had led to congestion in the camps leading to moral decadence, rape and defilement, prostitution and poverty which increased vulnerability to HIV infection. The cultural drivers of HIV and AIDS were; widow inheritance, polygamy, early marriages, family expectations, silence about sex and alcoholism. Development partners including civil society organisations, central government, district administration, religious and cultural leaders as well as other stakeholders should mainstream HIV in all community development and livelihood interventions in the post conflict Pader district to curtail

  10. Community-based knowledge translation: unexplored opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armstrong Rebecca

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Knowledge translation is an interactive process of knowledge exchange between health researchers and knowledge users. Given that the health system is broad in scope, it is important to reflect on how definitions and applications of knowledge translation might differ by setting and focus. Community-based organizations and their practitioners share common characteristics related to their setting, the evidence used in this setting, and anticipated outcomes that are not, in our experience, satisfactorily reflected in current knowledge translation approaches, frameworks, or tools. Discussion Community-based organizations face a distinctive set of challenges and concerns related to engaging in the knowledge translation process, suggesting a unique perspective on knowledge translation in these settings. Specifically, community-based organizations tend to value the process of working in collaboration with multi-sector stakeholders in order to achieve an outcome. A feature of such community-based collaborations is the way in which 'evidence' is conceptualized or defined by these partners, which may in turn influence the degree to which generalizable research evidence in particular is relevant and useful when balanced against more contextually-informed knowledge, such as tacit knowledge. Related to the issues of evidence and context is the desire for local information. For knowledge translation researchers, developing processes to assist community-based organizations to adapt research findings to local circumstances may be the most helpful way to advance decision making in this area. A final characteristic shared by community-based organizations is involvement in advocacy activities, a function that has been virtually ignored in traditional knowledge translation approaches. Summary This commentary is intended to stimulate further discussion in the area of community-based knowledge translation. Knowledge translation, and exchange

  11. Temperament trait of sensory processing sensitivity moderates cultural differences in neural response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aron, Arthur; Ketay, Sarah; Hedden, Trey; Aron, Elaine N; Rose Markus, Hazel; Gabrieli, John D E

    2010-06-01

    This study focused on a possible temperament-by-culture interaction. Specifically, it explored whether a basic temperament/personality trait (sensory processing sensitivity; SPS), perhaps having a genetic component, might moderate a previously established cultural difference in neural responses when making context-dependent vs context-independent judgments of simple visual stimuli. SPS has been hypothesized to underlie what has been called inhibitedness or reactivity in infants, introversion in adults, and reactivity or responsivness in diverse animal species. Some biologists view the trait as one of two innate strategies-observing carefully before acting vs being first to act. Thus the central characteristic of SPS is hypothesized to be a deep processing of information. Here, 10 European-Americans and 10 East Asians underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing simple visuospatial tasks emphasizing judgments that were either context independent (typically easier for Americans) or context dependent (typically easier for Asians). As reported elsewhere, each group exhibited greater activation for the culturally non-preferred task in frontal and parietal regions associated with greater effort in attention and working memory. However, further analyses, reported here for the first time, provided preliminary support for moderation by SPS. Consistent with the careful-processing theory, high-SPS individuals showed little cultural difference; low-SPS, strong culture differences.

  12. Community-Based Tourism in the Citizens 'Territory of the Jalapão (TO: the Experience of Silver Quilombolas Communities e Mumbuca

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Antônia Valadares de Souza

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: this article aims to describe the experience lived by the quilombola communities of Prata and Mumbuca in the implementation of a community based tourism project, both communities belong to the Territory of Jalapão Citizenship in the state of Tocantins. The methodology used in the construction of the work was a talk round, carried out with the actors of the communities involved in the project and participant observation. The operationalization of the tourist routes in the molds that were elaborated was active for a short time. Soon, the community returned to receive tourists of the form that received previously, exploring only the natural beauties. The recognition by the communities themselves of the richness of their cultural identity and natural potential seems to be the most valuable in this experience. O Turismo de Base Comunitária no Território da Cidadania do Jalapão (TO: a Experiência das Comunidades Quilombolas Prata e Mumbuca Resumo: este artigo tem como objetivo descrever a experiência vivida pelas comunidades quilombolas do Prata e do Mumbuca na implantação de um projeto de turismo de base comunitária, ambas as comunidades pertencem ao Território da Cidadania do Jalapão no estado do Tocantins. A metodologia utilizada na construção do trabalho foi roda de conversa, realizada com os atores das comunidades envolvidas no projeto e a observação participante. A operacionalização dos roteiros turísticos nos moldes que foram elaborados ficou ativa por pouco tempo. Logo, a comunidade voltou a receber turistas da forma que recebia anteriormente, explorando apenas as belezas naturais. O reconhecimento pelas próprias comunidades da riqueza da sua identidade cultural e do potencial natural parece ser o que ficou de maior valor nessa experiência. El Turismo de Base Comunitaria en el Territorio De La Ciudadanía del Jalapão - TO: la Experiencia de las Comunidades Quilombolas Plata y Mumbuca Resumen: este art

  13. Shared Knowledge and Mutual Respect: Enhancing Culturally Competent Practice through Collaboration with Families and Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdon, Sarah; Wong, Sandie; McLeod, Sharynne

    2016-01-01

    Collaboration with families and communities has been identified as one of six overarching principles to speech and language therapists' (SLTs') engagement in culturally competent practice (Verdon et al., 2015a). The aim of this study was to describe SLTs' collaboration with families and communities when engaging in practice to support the speech,…

  14. Examining Enabling Conditions for Community-Based Fisheries Comanagement: Comparing Efforts in Hawai'i and American Samoa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arielle S. Levine

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Much attention in global fisheries management has been directed toward increasing the involvement of local communities in managing marine resources. Although community-based fisheries comanagement has the potential to address resource conservation and societal needs, the success of these programs is by no means guaranteed, and many comanagement regimes have struggled. Although promising in theory, comanagement programs meet a variety of political, social, economic, ecological, and logistical challenges upon implementation. We have provided an analysis of two community-based fisheries comanagement initiatives: Hawai'i's Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA legislation and American Samoa's Community-Based Fisheries Management Program (CFMP. Although Hawai'i's initiative has struggled with only two CBSFAs designated, neither of which has an approved management plan, American Samoa's program has successfully established a functioning network of 12 villages. We have explored the factors contributing to the divergent outcomes of these initiatives, including cultural and ethnic diversity, the intactness of traditional tenure systems and community organizing structures, local leadership, and government support. Differences in program design, including processes for program implementation and community involvement, supportive government institutions, adequate enforcement, and adaptive capacity, have also played important roles in the implementation of comanagement regimes on the two island groups. The different outcomes manifested in these case studies provide insight regarding the conditions necessary to enable successful community-based comanagement, particularly within U.S.-affiliated jurisdictions.

  15. Development of a Culturally-Adapted Graphic Novella about Emergency Communication: Collaborations with a Limited English Speaking Chinese Immigrant Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenberg, Devora; Seino, Lena; Meischke, Hendrika; Tu, Shin-Ping; Turner, Anne M; Ike, Brooke; Painter, Ian; Yip, Mei-Po

    2016-01-01

    Bystander CPR doubles survival from cardiac arrest but limited English proficient (LEP) individuals face barriers calling 911 and performing CPR. Previous training increases the chance that an individual will perform CPR, yet access to classes in non-English speaking populations is limited. We used a cultural adaptation approach to develop a graphic novella for Chinese LEP immigrants about how to call 911 and perform bystander CPR. Collaboration with members of this community occurred through all stages of novella development. One hundred and thirty-two LEP Chinese adults read the novella and answered a survey measuring behavioral intentions. All respondents stated they would call 911 after witnessing a person's collapse, but those previously trained in CPR were more likely to say that they would perform CPR. All participants indicated that they would recommend this novella to others. Developing culturally-responsive evidence-based interventions is necessary to reduce disproportionate death and disability from cardiac arrest in LEP communities.

  16. Building Learning Communities for Research Collaboration and Cross-Cultural Enrichment in Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparrow, E. B.

    2003-12-01

    classes of students have engaged in and contributed data to science investigations. In Alaska, classes and individual students have conducted their own inquiry studies and have successfully presented their investigations and competed at science fairs and statewide high school science symposium and international conferences. Two students presented their research investigations at the GLOBE Learning Expedition in Croatia and four students presented their study at the GLOBE Arctic POPs Conference in Sweden. These students increased not only their understanding and knowledge of science but also in appreciation of people in other countries and their cultures. Friendships have also bloomed. The learning community in Alaska has expanded to include family and community members including Native elders (using OLCG), teachers, scientists and students from other countries. The following challenges remain: 1) getting funds to be able to provide GLOBE equipment and continuous support to GLOBE teachers and students throughout the year, 2) reaching teachers and students in remote areas, 3) rapid teacher turn-over rate in rural areas, 4) using inquiry-based pedagogies during GLOBE professional development workshops including the opportunity for teacher participants to conduct their own inquiries during the workshop, 5) time, school curriculum and national education requirement constraints, 6) involving school administrators, and more local scientists and community members, and 7) providing culturally relevant and responsive science education programs and life-long learning communities.

  17. Microbial community composition of the ileum and cecum of broiler chickens as revealed by molecular and culture-based techniques

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friis-Holm, Lotte Bjerrum; Engberg, R.M.; Leser, T.D.

    2006-01-01

    The microbial communities of the ileum and cecum of broiler chickens from a conventional and an organic farm were investigated using conventional culture techniques as well as cloning and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Eighty-five percent of the 557 cloned sequences were ...% of the cecal clones belonged to this cluster in conventional and organic broiler chickens, respectively. We were, however, able to recover a number of these phylotypes by cultivation, and the isolates were shown to be butyric acid producers. The investigation was a descriptive rather than a comparative study...

  18. The Biofuels Revolution: Understanding the Social, Cultural and Economic Impacts of Biofuels Development on Rural Communities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Selfa, Theresa L; Goe, Richard; Kulcsar, Laszlo; Middendorf, Gerad; Bain, Carmen

    2013-02-11

    The aim of this research was an in-depth analysis of the impacts of biofuels industry and ethanol plants on six rural communities in the Midwestern states of Kansas and Iowa. The goal was to provide a better understanding of the social, cultural, and economic implications of biofuels development, and to contribute to more informed policy development regarding bioenergy.Specific project objectives were: 1. To understand how the growth of biofuel production has affected and will affect Midwestern farmers and rural communities in terms of economic, demographic, and socio-cultural impacts; 2. To determine how state agencies, groundwater management districts, local governments and policy makers evaluate or manage bioenergy development in relation to competing demands for economic growth, diminishing water resources, and social considerations; 3. To determine the factors that influence the water management practices of agricultural producers in Kansas and Iowa (e.g. geographic setting, water management institutions, competing water-use demands as well as producers attitudes, beliefs, and values) and how these influences relate to bioenergy feedstock production and biofuel processing; 4. To determine the relative importance of social-cultural, environmental and/or economic factors in the promotion of biofuels development and expansion in rural communities; The research objectives were met through the completion of six detailed case studies of rural communities that are current or planned locations for ethanol biorefineries. Of the six case studies, two will be conducted on rural communities in Iowa and four will be conducted on rural communities in Kansas. A multi-method or mixed method research methodology was employed for each case study.

  19. Culture shock and healthcare workers in remote Indigenous communities of Australia: what do we know and how can we measure it?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muecke, A; Lenthall, S; Lindeman, M

    2011-01-01

    Culture shock or cultural adaptation is a significant issue confronting non-Indigenous health professionals working in remote Indigenous communities in Australia. This article is presented in two parts. The first part provides a thorough background in the theory of culture shock and cultural adaptation, and a comprehensive analysis of the consequences, causes, and current issues around the phenomenon in the remote Australian healthcare context. Second, the article presents the results of a comprehensive literature review undertaken to determine if existing studies provide tools which may measure the cultural adaptation of remote health professionals. A comprehensive literature review was conducted utilising the meta-databases CINAHL and Ovid Medline. While there is a plethora of descriptive literature about culture shock and cultural adaptation, empirical evidence is lacking. In particular, no empirical evidence was found relating to the cultural adaptation of non-Indigenous health professionals working in Indigenous communities in Australia. In all, 15 international articles were found that provided empirical evidence to support the concept of culture shock. Of these, only 2 articles contained tools that met the pre-determined selection criteria to measure the stages of culture shock. The 2 instruments identified were the Culture Shock Profile (CSP) by Zapf and the Culture Shock Adaptation Inventory (CSAI) by Juffer. There is sufficient evidence to determine that culture shock is a significant issue for non-Indigenous health professionals working in Indigenous communities in Australia. However, further research in this area is needed. The available empirical evidence indicates that a measurement tool is possible but needs further development to be suitable for use in remote Indigenous communities in Australia.

  20. Theoretical Communities of Praxis: The University Writing Center as Cultural Contact Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monty, Randall William

    2013-01-01

    The fundamental purpose of "Theoretical Communities of Praxis: The University Writing Center as Cultural Contact Zone" is to investigate the situatedness of Writing Center Studies, defining it as an autonomous (sub)discipline and interdisciplinary contact zone within the larger discipline of Rhetoric and Composition. In order to meet…