7 CFR 210.12 - Student, parent and community involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM Requirements for School Food Authority Participation § 210.12 Student, parent and community involvement. (a) General... general community in activities to enhance the Program. (b) Food service management companies. School food...

U.S. EPA Superfund Program's Policy for Community Involvement at Radioactively Contaminated Sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, K.; Walker, St.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the EPA Superfund program's statutory requirements for community involvement. It also discusses the efforts the Superfund program has made that go beyond these statutory requirements to involve communities, and what lessons have been learned by EPA when trying to conduct meaningful community involvement at sites. In addition, it discusses tools that EPA has designed to specifically enhance community involvement at radioactively contaminated Superfund sites. In summary, the Superfund program devotes substantial resources to involving the local community in the site cleanup decision making process. We believe community involvement provides us with highly valuable information that must be available to carefully consider remedial alternatives at a site. We also find our employees enjoy their jobs more. Rather than fighting with an angry public they can work collaboratively to solve the problems created by the hazardous waste sites. We have learned the time and resources we devote at the beginning of a project to developing relationships with the local community, and learning about their issues and concerns is time and resources well spent. We believe the evidence shows this up-front investment helps us make better cleanup decisions, and avoids last minute efforts to work with a hostile community who feels left out of the decision-making process. (authors)

Involving Communities in Deciding What Benefits They Receive in Multinational Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wendler, David; Shah, Seema

2015-10-01

There is wide agreement that communities in lower-income countries should benefit when they participate in multinational research. Debate now focuses on how and to what extent these communities should benefit. This debate has identified compelling reasons to reject the claim that whatever benefits a community agrees to accept are necessarily fair. Yet, those who conduct clinical research may conclude from this rejection that there is no reason to involve communities in the process of deciding how they benefit. Against this possibility, the present manuscript argues that involving host communities in this process helps to promote four important goals: (1) protecting host communities, (2) respecting host communities, (3) promoting transparency, and (4) enhancing social value. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Inc. 2015.

U.S. EPA Superfund Program's Policy for Community Involvement at Radioactively Contaminated Sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carey, Pat; Walker, Stuart

2008-01-01

This paper describes the Superfund program's statutory requirements for community involvement. It also discusses the efforts the Superfund program has made that go beyond these statutory requirements to involve communities. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implements the Superfund program under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). From the beginning of the Superfund program, Congress envisioned a role for communities. This role has evolved and expanded during the implementation of the Superfund program. Initially, the CERCLA statute had community involvement requirements designed to inform surrounding communities of the work being done at a site. CERCLA's provisions required 1) development of a community relations plan for each site, 2) establishment of information repositories near each site where all publicly available materials related to the site would be accessible for public inspection, 3) opportunities for the public to comment on the proposed remedy for each site and 4) development of a responsiveness summary responding to all significant comments received on the proposed remedy. In recognition of the need for people living near Superfund sites to be well-informed and involved with decisions concerning sites in their communities, SARA expanded Superfund's community involvement activities in 1986. SARA provided the authority to award Technical Assistance Grants (TAGs) to local communities enabling them to hire independent technical advisors to assist them in understanding technical issues and data about the site. The Superfund Community Involvement Program has sought to effectively implement the statutory community involvement requirements, and to go beyond those requirements to find meaningful ways to involve citizens in the cleanup of sites in their communities. We've structured our program around

School Violence: The Role of Parental and Community Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Lesneskie, Eric; Block, Steven

2017-01-01

This study utilizes the School Survey on Crime and Safety to identify variables that predict lower levels of violence from four domains: school security, school climate, parental involvement, and community involvement. Negative binomial regression was performed and the findings indicate that statistically significant results come from all four…

Involving the Community

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

Step 3: Identifying the different community groups and other stakeholders concerned .... How can two-way communication enhance community participation in ...... for maintenance and the rights of specific community groups to drinkable water.

Community Involvement in School Management in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Veloso, Luísa; Craveiro, Daniela; Rufino, Isabel

2013-01-01

This article discusses the ways in which the community is involved in Portuguese school management. It is based on an analysis of the external evaluation reports of 298 Portuguese schools for the academic years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. The corpus analysed allowed the identification of two main aspects of the participation processes: (1) local…

Roles, responsibilities and characteristics of lay community health workers involved in diabetes prevention programmes: A systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Oldenburg, Brian

2017-01-01

Aim To examine the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) involved in diabetes prevention programmes (DPPs) and their contributions to expected outcomes. Methods Electronic databases including PubMed-MEDLINE, EBSCOHost, and SCOPUS/EMBASE were searched for studies published between January 2000 and March 2016. All studies that used CHWs to implement DPP in ≥18-year-old participants without diabetes but at high risk for developing the condition, irrespective of the study design, setting or outcomes measured, were included. Results were synthesized narratively. Results Forty papers of 30 studies were identified. Studies were mainly community-based and conducted in minority populations in USA. Sample sizes ranged from 20 participants in a single community to 2369 participants in 46 communities. Although CHWs were generally from the local community, their qualifications, work experience and training received differed across studies. Overall the training was culturally sensitive and/or appropriate, covering topics such as the importance of good nutrition and the benefits of increased physical activity, communication and leadership. CHWs delivered a variety of interventions and also screened or recruited participants. The shared culture and language between CHWs and participants likely contributed to better programme implementation and successful outcomes. Conclusions The complexity of DPPs and the diverse CHW roles preclude attributing specific outcomes to CHW involvement. Nevertheless, documenting potential CHW roles and the relevant training required may optimise CHW contributions and facilitate their involvement in DPPs in the future. PMID:29216263

Roles, responsibilities and characteristics of lay community health workers involved in diabetes prevention programmes: A systematic review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jillian Hill

Full Text Available To examine the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs involved in diabetes prevention programmes (DPPs and their contributions to expected outcomes.Electronic databases including PubMed-MEDLINE, EBSCOHost, and SCOPUS/EMBASE were searched for studies published between January 2000 and March 2016. All studies that used CHWs to implement DPP in ≥18-year-old participants without diabetes but at high risk for developing the condition, irrespective of the study design, setting or outcomes measured, were included. Results were synthesized narratively.Forty papers of 30 studies were identified. Studies were mainly community-based and conducted in minority populations in USA. Sample sizes ranged from 20 participants in a single community to 2369 participants in 46 communities. Although CHWs were generally from the local community, their qualifications, work experience and training received differed across studies. Overall the training was culturally sensitive and/or appropriate, covering topics such as the importance of good nutrition and the benefits of increased physical activity, communication and leadership. CHWs delivered a variety of interventions and also screened or recruited participants. The shared culture and language between CHWs and participants likely contributed to better programme implementation and successful outcomes.The complexity of DPPs and the diverse CHW roles preclude attributing specific outcomes to CHW involvement. Nevertheless, documenting potential CHW roles and the relevant training required may optimise CHW contributions and facilitate their involvement in DPPs in the future.

Community Involvement of Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Their Experiences and Perspectives on Inclusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Sarah A

2017-09-01

Inclusion in the community is essential to enhancing a person's quality of life. Although people with intellectual disabilities have a desire to be more involved in activities, they experience barriers that limit their inclusion. The purpose of this study was to describe the community involvement of young adults with intellectual disability. I interviewed fourteen young adults with intellectual disability to explore their involvement in work, recreation and leisure activities. Four themes emerged from the data: vocational endeavours, leisure pursuits, social inclusion and supports. The contexts of their experiences either facilitated or hindered their community involvement. The community involvement of young adults with intellectual disability varies depending on the opportunities and supports available to them. Their inclusion in the community may be enhanced by additional transportation options, continuing education in vocational and social skills, personalized guidance from group members and environments that are welcoming to people with disabilities. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Being useful: achieving indigenous youth involvement in a community-based participatory research project in Alaska

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara Ford

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Objectives. To report on a participatory research process in southwest Alaska focusing on youth involvement as a means to facilitate health promotion. We propose youth-guided community-based participatory research (CBPR as way to involve young people in health promotion and prevention strategizing as part of translational science practice at the community-level. Study design. We utilized a CBPR approach that allowed youth to contribute at all stages. Methods. Implementation of the CBPR approach involved the advancement of three key strategies including: (a the local steering committee made up of youth, tribal leaders, and elders, (b youth-researcher partnerships, and (c youth action-groups to translate findings. Results. The addition of a local youth-action and translation group to the CBPR process in the southwest Alaska site represents an innovative strategy for disseminating findings to youth from a research project that focuses on youth resilience and wellbeing. This strategy drew from two community-based action activities: (a being useful by helping elders and (b being proud of our village. Conclusions. In our study, youth informed the research process at every stage, but most significantly youth guided the translation and application of the research findings at the community level. Findings from the research project were translated by youth into serviceable action in the community where they live. The research created an experience for youth to spend time engaged in activities that, from their perspectives, are important and contribute to their wellbeing and healthy living. Youth-guided CBPR meant involving youth in the process of not only understanding the research process but living through it as well.

Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital and community involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Humphrey, M M

1973-07-01

Community involvement is not just one facet of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital's existence. It is the mainstream from which all other activities flow. In addition to meeting the conventional needs of a conventional hospital staff with the core collection of texts and journals, this library goes one step further. It acts as a resource for its community health workers, dietitians, and nurses in their various outreach programs. It serves as a stimulus for the high school or community college student who may be curious about a health career. It also finds time to provide reading material for its patients.

Community (in) Colleges: The Relationship Between Online Network Involvement and Academic Outcomes at a Community College

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Eliza D.; McFarland, Daniel A.; Rios-Aguilar, Cecilia; Deil-Amen, Regina

2016-01-01

Objective: This study explores the relationship between online social network involvement and academic outcomes among community college students. Prior theory hypothesizes that socio-academic moments are especially important for the integration of students into community colleges and that integration is related to academic outcomes. Online social…

Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laliberté Marie-Claude

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An increased interest is observed in broadening community pharmacists' role in public health. To date, little information has been gathered in Canada on community pharmacists' perceptions of their role in health promotion and prevention; however, such data are essential to the development of public-health programs in community pharmacy. A cross-sectional study was therefore conducted to explore the perceptions of community pharmacists in urban and semi-urban areas regarding their ideal and actual levels of involvement in providing health-promotion and prevention services and the barriers to such involvement. Methods Using a five-step modified Dillman's tailored design method, a questionnaire with 28 multiple-choice or open-ended questions (11 pages plus a cover letter was mailed to a random sample of 1,250 pharmacists out of 1,887 community pharmacists practicing in Montreal (Quebec, Canada and surrounding areas. It included questions on pharmacists' ideal level of involvement in providing health-promotion and preventive services; which services were actually offered in their pharmacy, the employees involved, the frequency, and duration of the services; the barriers to the provision of these services in community pharmacy; their opinion regarding the most appropriate health professionals to provide them; and the characteristics of pharmacists, pharmacies and their clientele. Results In all, 571 out of 1,234 (46.3% eligible community pharmacists completed and returned the questionnaire. Most believed they should be very involved in health promotion and prevention, particularly in smoking cessation (84.3%; screening for hypertension (81.8%, diabetes (76.0% and dyslipidemia (56.9%; and sexual health (61.7% to 89.1%; however, fewer respondents reported actually being very involved in providing such services (5.7% [lifestyle, including smoking cessation], 44.5%, 34.8%, 6.5% and 19.3%, respectively. The main barriers to the

The levels of Community Involvement in Health (CIH: a case of rural and urban communities in KwaZulu-Natal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.G. Mchunu

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to describe the practice of community involvement in health programmes.The study therefore explored the nature and practice of community involvementin health programmes in the two communities in KwaZulu Natal. Thestudy was guided by the conceptual framework adapted from Amstein’s,( 1969 Ladderof Citizen Participation. This framework shows different levels and steps in communityparticipation. A case study method was used to conduct the study. The twocases were one urban based and one rural based community health centers in theIlembe health district, in Kwa Zulu Natal. A sample of 31 persons participated in thestudy. The sample comprised 8 registered nurses, 2 enrolled nurses 13 communitymembers and 8 community health workers. Data was collected using structured individualinterviews and focus group interviews, and was guided by the case protocol.Community involvement in health largely depended on the type of community, withrural community members being in charge of their health projects and urban communitymembers helping each other as neighbours in times of need.

Meaningful community involvement in protected area issues: a dialogue session

Science.gov (United States)

Laurie Yung

2000-01-01

The current effort to rethink public involvement in decision-making processes for federal lands is gaining momentum. Advocates of alternative decision-making processes seek to involve communities in more meaningful ways than traditional NEPA-style public participation. These new processes take the form of citizen monitoring, partnerships, and most often, collaboration...

Community Involvement - Outreach / Development

OpenAIRE

2004-01-01

Tonya Aiken: Horse Program Success. Kyle Cecil: Natural Resources and the Extension Educator. Karol Dyson: Building Strong Communities through Empowerment. Lisa Dennis: "Food Smart". Theresa M. Ferrari: Community Service Experiences & 4-H Teens. t. Stacey Harper: Connecting the Youth with the Community. Joseph G. Hiller: Extension Work in Indian Country. Alice P. Kersey: Outreach to the NR Community. Carla M. Sousa: Learning from Latino Community Efforts.

Consumer-Involved Participatory Research to Address General Medical Health and Wellness in a Community Mental Health Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Iyer, Sharat P; Pancake, Laura S; Dandino, Elizabeth S; Wells, Kenneth B

2015-12-01

Barriers to sustainably implementing general medical interventions in community mental health (CMH) settings include role uncertainty, consumer engagement, workforce limitations, and sustainable reimbursement. To address these barriers, this project used a community-partnered participatory research framework to create a stakeholder-based general medical and wellness intervention in a large CMH organization, with consumers involved in all decision-making processes. Consumers faced practical barriers to participating in organizational decision making, but their narratives were critical in establishing priorities and ensuring sustainability. Addressing baseline knowledge and readiness of stakeholders and functional challenges to consumer involvement can aid stakeholder-based approaches to implementing general medical interventions in CMH settings.

Pharmacy technician involvement in community pharmacy medication therapy management.

Science.gov (United States)

Lengel, Matthew; Kuhn, Catherine H; Worley, Marcia; Wehr, Allison M; McAuley, James W

To assess the impact of technician involvement on the completion of medication therapy management (MTM) services in a community pharmacy setting and to describe pharmacists' and technicians' perceptions of technician involvement in MTM-related tasks and their satisfaction with the technician's role in MTM. Prospective observational study. In the fall of 2015, pharmacists and selected technicians from 32 grocery store-based community pharmacies were trained to use technicians within MTM services. Completed MTM claims were evaluated at all pharmacies for 3 months before training and 3 months after training. An electronic survey, developed with the use of competencies taught in the training and relevant published literature, was distributed via e-mail to trained employees 3 months after training. The total number of completed MTM claims at the 32 pharmacy sites was higher during the posttraining time period (2687 claims) versus the pretraining period (1735 claims). Of the 182 trained participants, 112 (61.5%) completed the survey. Overall, perceived technician involvement was lower than expected. However, identifying MTM opportunities was the most commonly reported technician MTM task, with 62.5% of technicians and 47.2% of pharmacists reporting technician involvement. Nearly one-half of technicians (42.5%) and pharmacists (44.0%) agreed or strongly agreed they were satisfied with the technician's role in MTM services, and 40.0% of technicians agreed that they were more satisfied with their work in the pharmacy after involvement in MTM. Three months after initial training of technicians in MTM, participation of technicians was lower than expected. However, the technicians involved most often reported identifying MTM opportunities for pharmacists, which may be a focus for future technician trainings. In addition, technician involvement in MTM services may increase satisfaction with many aspects of work for actively involved technicians. Copyright © 2018 American

Environmental Management Model for Road Maintenance Operation Involving Community Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Triyono, A. R. H.; Setyawan, A.; Sobriyah; Setiono, P.

2017-07-01

Public expectations of Central Java, which is very high on demand fulfillment, especially road infrastructure as outlined in the number of complaints and community expectations tweeter, Short Mail Massage (SMS), e-mail and public reports from various media, Highways Department of Central Java province requires development model of environmental management in the implementation of a routine way by involving the community in order to fulfill the conditions of a representative, may serve road users safely and comfortably. This study used survey method with SEM analysis and SWOT with Latent Independent Variable (X), namely; Public Participation in the regulation, development, construction and supervision of road (PSM); Public behavior in the utilization of the road (PMJ) Provincial Road Service (PJP); Safety in the Provincial Road (KJP); Integrated Management System (SMT) and latent dependent variable (Y) routine maintenance of the provincial road that is integrated with the environmental management system and involve the participation of the community (MML). The result showed the implementation of routine maintenance of road conditions in Central Java province has yet to implement an environmental management by involving the community; Therefore developed environmental management model with the results of H1: Community Participation (PSM) has positive influence on the Model of Environmental Management (MML); H2: Behavior Society in Jalan Utilization (PMJ) positive effect on Model Environmental Management (MML); H3: Provincial Road Service (PJP) positive effect on Model Environmental Management (MML); H4: Safety in the Provincial Road (KJP) positive effect on Model Environmental Management (MML); H5: Integrated Management System (SMT) has positive influence on the Model of Environmental Management (MML). From the analysis obtained formulation model describing the relationship / influence of the independent variables PSM, PMJ, PJP, KJP, and SMT on the dependent variable

Community Assessment Tool for Public Health Emergencies Including Pandemic Influenza

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ORAU' s Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (HCTT-CHE)

2011-04-14

The Community Assessment Tool (CAT) for Public Health Emergencies Including Pandemic Influenza (hereafter referred to as the CAT) was developed as a result of feedback received from several communities. These communities participated in workshops focused on influenza pandemic planning and response. The 2008 through 2011 workshops were sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Feedback during those workshops indicated the need for a tool that a community can use to assess its readiness for a disaster - readiness from a total healthcare perspective, not just hospitals, but the whole healthcare system. The CAT intends to do just that - help strengthen existing preparedness plans by allowing the healthcare system and other agencies to work together during an influenza pandemic. It helps reveal each core agency partners (sectors) capabilities and resources, and highlights cases of the same vendors being used for resource supplies (e.g., personal protective equipment [PPE] and oxygen) by the partners (e.g., public health departments, clinics, or hospitals). The CAT also addresses gaps in the community's capabilities or potential shortages in resources. This tool has been reviewed by a variety of key subject matter experts from federal, state, and local agencies and organizations. It also has been piloted with various communities that consist of different population sizes, to include large urban to small rural communities.

Underrepresented communities: including the Portuguese ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research article emanates from a doctoral study which investigated the potential inclusion of the records generated by South African Portuguese community-based organisations into a workable archival collecting initiative of the community. The specific purpose of this article is to report on the current status of ...

Interdependent Self-Construal, Self-Efficacy, and Community Involvement as Predictors of Perceived Knowledge Gain Among MMORPG Players.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopp, Toby; Barker, Valerie; Schmitz Weiss, Amy

2015-08-01

This study explored the relationship between interdependent self-construal, video game self-efficacy, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) community involvement, and self-reported learning outcomes. The results suggested that self-efficacy and interdependent self-construal were positive and significant predictors of MMORPG community involvement. For its part, MMORPG community involvement was a positive predictor of self-reported learning in both focused and incidental forms. Supplementary analyses suggested that self-efficacy was a comparatively more robust predictor of MMORPG community involvement when compared to self-construal. Moreover, the present data suggest that community involvement significantly facilitated indirect relationships between self-construal, game-relevant self-efficacy, and both focused and incidental learning.

Strategies for Involving Communities in the Funding of Computer ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Toshiba

An International Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia. Vol. 8 (1), Serial ... This is a survey design which investigated the strategies for involving communities in ... logical operations on the data and finally gives the result in the form of information. .... Adesina. (1981) observed that the major constraints of educational financing in.

Effects of participation in and connectedness to the LGBT community on substance use involvement of sexual minority young people.

Science.gov (United States)

Demant, Daniel; Hides, Leanne; White, Katherine M; Kavanagh, David J

2018-06-01

Research shows disproportionate levels of substance use among sexual minority young people. A range of reasons for these disparities have been suggested, including connectedness to and participation in the LGBT community. Little is known about how these constructs are related to substance use involvement in sexual minority (sub)groups or how these relationships are affected by other factors. 1266 young sexual minority Australians completed a cross-sectional online survey. Multiple regressions were conducted to assess associations between connectedness to and participation in the LGBT community on substance use involvement, before and after controlling for other factors such as substance use motives, psychological distress, wellbeing, resilience, minority stress, and age. Most participants identified as homosexual (57%, n=726) and male (54%, n=683). In the overall sample, participation in and connectedness the LGBT community were significantly associated with increased substance use involvement before (F(2,1263)=35.930, p≤0.001, R 2 =0.052) and after controlling for other variables (F(8,1095)=33.538, p≤0.001, R 2 =0.191), with meaningfully higher effect sizes for participation than for connectedness. After controlling for other variables, connectedness only remained significant for homosexuals. Effect sizes for participation were higher for females than males, and bisexuals than homosexuals. However, participation in the LGBT Community was not associated with substance use in participants identifying with a non-binary gender identity. In conclusion, substance use involvement was associated with participation in the LGBT community, but connectedness to the LGBT community only had a weak association with substance use involvement in the homosexual subgroup. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Being Involved in the Country: Productive Ageing in Different Types of Rural Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Sandra; Crothers, Natalie; Grant, Jeanette; Young, Sari; Smith, Karly

2012-01-01

Productive ageing recognises the contribution of older people to economic, social and cultural growth and helps build a sustainable community. Being involved in community life is good for individuals and good for society. However, we know very little about the participation of and contribution by people aged 50 and over in rural communities. This…

Social justice and the university community: does campus involvement make a difference?

Science.gov (United States)

McAuliff, Kathleen E; Williams, Shannon M; Ferrari, Joseph R

2013-01-01

We examined perceptions on school sense of community and social justice attitudes among undergraduates (N = 427; 308 women, 115 men; M age = 19.72, SD = 1.91), and how year in school and club membership affected these constructs. Results demonstrated that involvement with a greater number of clubs was associated with having a stronger school sense of community and more positive social justice attitudes. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that year in school did not significantly predict social justice attitudes. Results suggested that greater involvement and sense of school belonging might be linked to social justice attitudes.

The involvement of young people in school- and community-based noncommunicable disease prevention interventions: a scoping review of designs and outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Didier Jourdan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since stakeholders’ active engagement is essential for public health strategies to be effective, this review is focused on intervention designs and outcomes of school- and community-based noncommunicable disease (NCD prevention interventions involving children and young people. Methods The review process was based on the principles of scoping reviews. A systematic search was conducted in eight major databases in October 2015. Empirical studies published in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish were considered. Five selection criteria were applied. Included in the review were (1 empirical studies describing (2 a health intervention focused on diet and/or physical activity, (3 based on children’s and young people’s involvement that included (4 a relationship between school and local community while (5 providing explicit information about the outcomes of the intervention. The search provided 3995 hits, of which 3253 were screened by title and abstract, leading to the full-text screening of 24 papers. Ultimately, 12 papers were included in the review. The included papers were analysed independently by at least two reviewers. Results Few relevant papers were identified because interventions are often either based on children’s involvement or are multi-setting, but rarely both. Children were involved through participation in needs assessments, health committees and advocacy. School-community collaboration ranged from shared activities, to joint interventions with common goals and activities. Most often, collaboration was school-initiated. Most papers provided a limited description of the outcomes. Positive effects were identified at the organisational level (policy, action plans, and healthy environments, in adult stakeholders (empowerment, healthy eating and in children (knowledge, social norms, critical thinking, and health behaviour. Limitations related to the search and analytical methods are discussed. Conclusion

Who Is for Community Participation? Who Is Community Participation for? Exploring the Well-Being Potential for Involvement in Regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Melvyn

2008-01-01

Commencing from the identification of an emerging discourse in government circles expounding the benefits of community participation, this article examines critically the claims that community participation enhances involvement in decision making, builds social capital, reduces social exclusion, improves public service delivery and enhances local…

Consumer and community involvement in health and medical research: evaluation by online survey of Australian training workshops for researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Anne; Alpers, Kirsten; Heyworth, Jane; Phuong, Cindy; Hanley, Bec

2016-01-01

In Australia, since 2009, the Consumer and Community Involvement Program (formerly the Consumer and Community Participation Program) has developed and run workshops to help people working in health and medical research involve more consumers (patients) and community members (the public) in their research. In 2012, workshop attendees were invited to do an online survey to find out the effect, if any, that attending a workshop had on their awareness of and attitudes to consumer and community involvement. They were also asked about changes in their behaviour when it came to the involvement of consumers and the community in their work. The study found that, for people who answered the survey, more than double the number found consumer and community involvement very relevant after attending a workshop, compared with the number who thought that before attending one. Also, amongst those who answered the survey, 94 % thought that the workshop increased their understanding about involvement. Background There is limited evidence of the benefits of providing training workshops for researchers on how to involve consumers (patients) and the community (public) in health and medical research. Australian training workshops were evaluated to contribute to the evidence base. The key objective was to evaluate the impact of the workshops in increasing awareness of consumer and community involvement; changing attitudes to future implementation of involvement activities and influencing behaviour in the methods of involvement used. A secondary objective was to use a formal evaluation survey to build on the anecdotal feedback received from researchers about changes in awareness, attitudes and behaviours. Methods The study used a cross-sectional, online survey of researchers, students, clinicians, administrators and members of non-government organisations who attended Consumer and Community Involvement Program training workshops between 2009 and 2012 to ascertain changes to awareness

Original article School personnel’s perceptions of their schools’ involvement in culturally and linguistically diverse school-family-community partnerships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jolanta Jonak

2014-05-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND The achievement gap between White and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD students is a chronic issue in many U.S. schools that stakeholders endeavor to eliminate through best practices involving curriculum, instruction, and early interventions; however, disparities often persist. In addition to all educational efforts provided by schools and implementation of best practices when students begin to struggle academically or behaviorally in schools, family involvement cannot be disregarded. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE School personnel from one Midwestern school district in the United States educating over 8,000 students was surveyed to obtain their perceptions about school-family-community partnerships. A total of 117 informants, including teachers, student support personnel, and administrators, provided their opinions through an online survey measuring responses to questions related to current best practices in their schools with regard to culturally and linguistically diverse students, their families and their communities. RESULTS In a research study focused on school practices relating to parent involvement, it was found that strategies intended to encourage and incorporate parent involvement were implemented in just one-third to one-half of the schools surveyed, indicating the need for increased and concerted effort on the part of school professionals to recognize and address obstacles to a pivotal school-parent-community relationship. CONCLUSIONS Although schools can be credited with endeavoring to provide best practices for their CLD students, in keeping with state and federal mandates and assumedly in keeping with best intentions, there is in fact much work to be done to better facilitate the success of these students. School psychologists can provide the impetus for this effort by formally recommending parent involvement and participation in their assessments of CLD students in particular. This recommendation should

Associations between successful palliative cancer pathways and community nurse involvement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neergaard, Mette Asbjoern; Vedsted, Peter; Olesen, Frede

2009-01-01

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Most terminally ill cancer patients and their relatives wish that the patient dies at home. Community nurses (CNs) are often frontline workers in the patients' homes and CN involvement may be important in attaining successful palliative pathways at home.The aim of the present...

Perceived community environment and physical activity involvement in a northern-rural Aboriginal community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lévesque Lucie

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes disproportionately affects Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Ample evidence shows that regular physical activity (PA plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Evidence is beginning to emerge linking PA to the physical environment but little is known about the relationship between remote rural environments and PA involvement in Aboriginal peoples. This study's purpose was to investigate the relationship between perceptions of the environment and PA and walking patterns in Aboriginal adults in order to inform the planning and implementation of community-relevant PA interventions. Methods Two hundred and sixty three residents (133 women, mean age = 35.6 years, SD = 12.3 and 130 men, mean age = 37.2 years, SD = 13.1 from Moose Factory, Ontario were asked about environmental factors related to walking and PA involvement. Survey items were drawn from standardized, validated questionnaires. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, percentages were calculated. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to determine associations between walking and overall PA with perceived environmental variables. Results Hierarchical multiple regression to predict walking revealed significant associations between walking and perceived safety and aesthetics. Owning home exercise equipment predicted strenuous PA. Different aspects of the physical environment appear to influence different types of physical activities. The significant amount of variance in behaviour accounted for by perceived environmental variables (5.3% walking included safety, aesthetics, convenience, owning home exercise equipment and comfortable shoes for walking. Conclusion Results suggest that a supportive physical environment is important for PA involvement and that walking and activities of different intensity appear to be mediated by different perceived environmental variables. Implications for PA

The Community Environmental Monitoring Program: Reducing Public Perception of Risk through Stakeholder Involvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

William T. Hartwell

2007-01-01

The Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) has promoted stakeholder involvement, awareness, and understanding of radiological surveillance in communities surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS) since 1981. It involves stakeholders in the operation, data collection, and dissemination of information obtained from a network of 29 stations across a wide area of Nevada, Utah and California. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration's Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) and administered by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Integration of a near real-time communications system, a public web site, training workshops for involved stakeholders, and educational programs all help to alleviate public perception of risk of health effects from past activities conducted at the NTS

The Community Environmental Monitoring Program: Reducing Public Perception of Risk Through Stakeholder Involvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

T. Hartwell

2007-01-01

Between 1951 and 1992, 928 nuclear tests were conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), including 100 atmospheric and 828 underground tests. Initial public reaction to the tests was largely supportive, but by the late 1950s this began to change, largely as a result of fear of the potential for adverse health effects to be caused by exposure to ionizing radiation resulting from the tests. The nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 served to heighten these fears, as well as foster a general distrust of the federal agencies involved and low public confidence in monitoring results. Modeled after a similar program that involved the public in monitoring activities around the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) has promoted stakeholder involvement, awareness, and understanding of radiological surveillance in communities surrounding the NTS since 1981. It involves stakeholders in the operation, data collection, and dissemination of information obtained from a network of 29 stations across a wide area of Nevada, Utah, and California. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) and administered by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Since assuming administration of the program in 2000, DRI has accomplished significant enhancements to the network's data collection and transmission capabilities. A robust datalogging and communications system allows for the near real-time transmission of data to a platform maintained by DRI's Western Regional Climate Center, where the data are uploaded and displayed on a publicly accessible web site (http://cemp.dri.edu/). Additionally, the CEMP can serve as part of an emergency response network in the event of an unplanned radiological release from the NTS, and also provides an excellent platform for testing new environmental sensor technologies

Community Participation in Health Systems Research: A Systematic Review Assessing the State of Research, the Nature of Interventions Involved and the Features of Engagement with Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Asha S; Mehra, Vrinda; Scott, Kerry; Sriram, Veena

2015-01-01

Community participation is a major principle of people centered health systems, with considerable research highlighting its intrinsic value and strategic importance. Existing reviews largely focus on the effectiveness of community participation with less attention to how community participation is supported in health systems intervention research. To explore the extent, nature and quality of community participation in health systems intervention research in low- and middle-income countries. We searched for peer-reviewed, English language literature published between January 2000 and May 2012 through four electronic databases. Search terms combined the concepts of community, capability/participation, health systems research and low- and middle-income countries. The initial search yielded 3,092 articles, of which 260 articles with more than nominal community participation were identified and included. We further excluded 104 articles due to lower levels of community participation across the research cycle and poor description of the process of community participation. Out of the remaining 160 articles with rich community participation, we further examined 64 articles focused on service delivery and governance within health systems research. Most articles were led by authors in high income countries and many did not consistently list critical aspects of study quality. Articles were most likely to describe community participation in health promotion interventions (78%, 202/260), even though they were less participatory than other health systems areas. Community involvement in governance and supply chain management was less common (12%, 30/260 and 9%, 24/260 respectively), but more participatory. Articles cut across all health conditions and varied by scale and duration, with those that were implemented at national scale or over more than five years being mainstreamed by government. Most articles detailed improvements in service availability, accessibility and

Community Involvement in Tourism Development: A Case Study of Lenggong Valley World Heritage Site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Khadar Nur Zafirah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the empirical relationship between the economic impact and community involvement in the Lenggong Valley. Recommendations for improvement in development effectiveness through the development of a community centre for economic and social activities, with specific attention given to types of activity and community involvement stimulating the economic development in the Lenggong Valley. Heritage tourism development is a tourism in which arts, culture and heritage form a key attraction for visitors and it can be represented as an area of significant economic benefit to heritage sites. The tourism industry in Hulu Perak became more widespread after Lenggong Valley is recognized as a World Heritage Site. There is shown a positive effect on the development and economic prosperity.

Are Outness and Community Involvement Risk or Protective Factors for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Among Sexual Minority Women?

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Feinstein, Brian A; Dyar, Christina; London, Bonita

2017-07-01

Sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk for substance abuse compared to heterosexual women. Two psychosocial factors that have been implicated in SMW's substance abuse are outness and LGBT community involvement, but findings have been mixed as to whether these are risk or protective factors. One possible explanation is that they may have different consequences for subgroups of SMW (lesbians, bisexual women, and queer women). While being open about one's sexual orientation and involved in the community may be protective for lesbians, discrimination against bisexual women may lead these same factors to contribute to substance abuse for bisexual women. It is unclear how these associations will operate for queer women, given limited research on this subpopulation. The current study examined whether sexual identity moderated the associations between outness and community involvement with alcohol and drug abuse. We also examined whether perceived discrimination would help explain why these associations may be different for subgroups of SMW. A sample of 288 self-identified SMW (113 lesbians, 106 bisexual women, and 69 queer women) completed an online survey. Higher outness was associated with higher alcohol and drug abuse for bisexual women, but not for lesbians or queer women. Similarly, higher community involvement was associated with higher drug abuse for bisexual women, but not for lesbians or queer women. Among bisexual women, the association between community involvement and drug abuse was mediated by perceived discrimination. Further, the association between outness and drug abuse was mediated by both community involvement and perceived discrimination. Findings demonstrate that outness and community involvement function as risk factors for substance abuse for bisexual women, in part due to their associations with discrimination.

The Impact of Community Service Involvement on Three Measures of Undergraduate Self-Concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Joseph B.; Milem, Jeff F.

2002-01-01

The central purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of how community service involvement affects the development of undergraduate self-concept. The findings from this study suggest that the quality of service involvement is more important than the amount of service performed by students. (Contains 23 references and 2 tables.)…

Community empowerment and involvement of female sex workers in targeted sexual and reproductive health interventions in Africa: a systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Female sex workers (FSWs) experience high levels of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) morbidity, violence and discrimination. Successful SRH interventions for FSWs in India and elsewhere have long prioritised community mobilisation and structural interventions, yet little is known about similar approaches in African settings. We systematically reviewed community empowerment processes within FSW SRH projects in Africa, and assessed them using a framework developed by Ashodaya, an Indian sex worker organisation. Methods In November 2012 we searched Medline and Web of Science for studies of FSW health services in Africa, and consulted experts and websites of international organisations. Titles and abstracts were screened to identify studies describing relevant services, using a broad definition of empowerment. Data were extracted on service-delivery models and degree of FSW involvement, and analysed with reference to a four-stage framework developed by Ashodaya. This conceptualises community empowerment as progressing from (1) initial engagement with the sex worker community, to (2) community involvement in targeted activities, to (3) ownership, and finally, (4) sustainability of action beyond the community. Results Of 5413 articles screened, 129 were included, describing 42 projects. Targeted services in FSW ‘hotspots’ were generally isolated and limited in coverage and scope, mostly offering only free condoms and STI treatment. Many services were provided as part of research activities and offered via a clinic with associated community outreach. Empowerment processes were usually limited to peer-education (stage 2 of framework). Community mobilisation as an activity in its own right was rarely documented and while most projects successfully engaged communities, few progressed to involvement, community ownership or sustainability. Only a few interventions had evolved to facilitate collective action through formal democratic structures (stage 3

Community as Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Cummins, Jim; Chow, Patricia; Schechter, Sandra R.

2006-01-01

This article describes a project involving teachers, parents, and university researchers in collaborations to support multilingual children's development and use of language. Strategies for fostering an inclusive climate included building on the interests and resources of the local community, involving community members in curriculum development,…

The Greater Involvement of People Living with AIDS principle: theory versus practice in Ontario's HIV/AIDS community-based research sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Travers, R; Wilson, M G; Flicker, S; Guta, A; Bereket, T; McKay, C; van der Meulen, A; Cleverly, S; Dickie, M; Globerman, J; Rourke, S B

2008-07-01

Drawing on the Greater Involvement of People with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) principle, the HIV/AIDS movement began to "democratize" research in Canada in the mid-1990s. To date, there is little evidence about the success of the community-based research (CBR) movement in relation to the implementation of GIPA. We draw on findings from a larger study examining barriers and facilitating factors in relation to HIV-related CBR in Ontario, Canada. An online survey was completed by 39 senior managers in Ontario AIDS service organizations (ASOs). Twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were then conducted to further explore the survey findings. Survey respondents reported that, compared to researchers and frontline service providers, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) tended to be the least involved in all stages (input, process and outcome) of CBR projects. AIDS service organizations with a mandate that included serving rural and urban communities reported even lower levels of PLWHA involvement in CBR. Qualitative data reveal complex barriers that make meaningful PLWHA engagement in CBR difficult, including: HIV-related stigma; health-related challenges; "credentialism"; lack of capacity to engage in research; other issues taking priority; and mistrust of researchers. Facilitating factors included valuing lived experience; training and mentoring opportunities; financial compensation; trust building; and accommodating PLWHA's needs. While there is strong support for the GIPA principles in theory, practice lags far behind.

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)

Involving Your Child or Teen with ASD in Integrated Community Activities

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Rebecca

2011-01-01

Participating in outside activities and community-based endeavors can be tricky for people with special needs, like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Families meet more than a few obstacles attempting to integrate their children or teens who have special needs like ASD. Most typical children are highly involved in sports, clubs and camps. If a…

The community environmental monitoring program: a model for stakeholder involvement in environmental monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartwell, William T.; Shafer, David S.

2007-01-01

Since 1981, the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) has involved stakeholders directly in its daily operation and data collection, as well as in dissemination of information on radiological surveillance in communities surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS), the primary location where the United States (US) conducted nuclear testing until 1992. The CEMP is funded by the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and is administered by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The CEMP provides training workshops for stakeholders involved in the program, and educational outreach to address public concerns about health risk and environmental impacts from past and ongoing NTS activities. The network includes 29 monitoring stations located across an approximately 160,000 km 2 area of Nevada, Utah and California in the southwestern US. The principal radiological instruments are pressurized ion chambers for measuring gamma radiation, and particulate air samplers, primarily for alpha/beta detection. Stations also employ a full suite of meteorological instruments, allowing for improved interpretation of the effects of meteorological events on background radiation levels. Station sensors are wired to state-of-the-art data-loggers that are capable of several weeks of on-site data storage, and that work in tandem with a communications system that integrates DSL and wireless internet, land line and cellular phone, and satellite technologies for data transfer. Data are managed through a platform maintained by the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) that DRI operates for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The WRCC platform allows for near real-time upload and display of current monitoring information in tabular and graphical formats on a public web site. Archival data for each station are also available on-line, providing the ability to perform trending analyses or calculate site

Evaluating public participation in environmental decision-making: EPA's superfund community involvement program.

Science.gov (United States)

Susan Charnley; Bruce. Engelbert

2005-01-01

This article discusses an 8-year, ongoing project that evaluates the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund community involvement program. The project originated as a response to the Government Performance and Results Act, which requires federal agencies to articulate program goals, and evaluate and report their progress in meeting those goals. The evaluation...

Effects of forest management practices in temperate beech forests on bacterial and fungal communities involved in leaf litter degradation.

Science.gov (United States)

Purahong, Witoon; Kapturska, Danuta; Pecyna, Marek J; Jariyavidyanont, Katalee; Kaunzner, Jennifer; Juncheed, Kantida; Uengwetwanit, Tanaporn; Rudloff, Renate; Schulz, Elke; Hofrichter, Martin; Schloter, Michael; Krüger, Dirk; Buscot, François

2015-05-01

Forest management practices (FMPs) significantly influence important ecological processes and services in Central European forests, such as leaf litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Changes in leaf litter diversity, and thus, its quality as well as microbial community structure and function induced by different FMPs were hypothesized to be the main drivers causing shifts in decomposition rates and nutrient release in managed forests. In a litterbag experiment lasting 473 days, we aimed to investigate the effects of FMPs (even-aged timber management, selective logging and unmanaged) on bacterial and fungal communities involved in leaf litter degradation over time. Our results showed that microbial communities in leaf litter were strongly influenced by both FMPs and sampling date. The results from nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed distinct patterns of bacterial and fungal successions over time in leaf litter. We demonstrated that FMPs and sampling dates can influence a range of factors, including leaf litter quality, microbial macronutrients, and pH, which significantly correlate with microbial community successions.

Male involvement in maternal healthcare through Community- based Health Planning and Services: the views of the men in rural Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Bougangue, Bassoumah; Ling, How Kee

2017-09-06

The need to promote maternal health in Ghana has committed the government to extend maternal healthcare services to the door steps of rural families through the community-based Health Planning and Services. Based on the concerns raised in previous studies that male spouses were indifferent towards maternal healthcare, this study sought the views of men on their involvement in maternal healthcare in their respective communities and at the household levels in the various Community-based Health Planning and Services zones in Awutu-Senya West District in the Central Region of Ghana. A qualitative method was employed. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with married men, community health officers, community health volunteers and community leaders. The participants were selected using purposive, quota and snowball sampling techniques. The study used thematic analysis for analysing the data. The study shows varying involvement of men, some were directly involved in feminine gender roles; others used their female relatives and co-wives to perform the women's roles that did not have space for them. They were not necessarily indifferent towards maternal healthcare, rather, they were involved in the spaces provided by the traditional gender division of labour. Amongst other things, the perpetuation and reinforcement of traditional gender norms around pregnancy and childbirth influenced the nature and level of male involvement. Sustenance of male involvement especially, husbands and CHVs is required at the household and community levels for positive maternal outcomes. Ghana Health Service, health professionals and policy makers should take traditional gender role expectations into consideration in the planning and implementation of maternal health promotion programmes.

Consumer and community involvement in health and medical research: evaluation by online survey of Australian training workshops for researchers

OpenAIRE

McKenzie, Anne; Alpers, Kirsten; Heyworth, Jane; Phuong, Cindy; Hanley, Bec

2016-01-01

Plain English Summary In Australia, since 2009, the Consumer and Community Involvement Program (formerly the Consumer and Community Participation Program) has developed and run workshops to help people working in health and medical research involve more consumers (patients) and community members (the public) in their research. In 2012, workshop attendees were invited to do an online survey to find out the effect, if any, that attending a workshop had on their awareness of and attitudes to con...

Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as potential agents in promoting male involvement in maternity preparedness: insights from a rural community in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Turinawe, Emmanueil Benon; Rwemisisi, Jude T; Musinguzi, Laban K; de Groot, Marije; Muhangi, Denis; de Vries, Daniel H; Mafigiri, David K; Katamba, Achilles; Parker, Nadine; Pool, Robert

2016-03-12

Since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, male involvement in reproductive health issues has been advocated as a means to improve maternal and child health outcomes, but to date, health providers have failed to achieve successful male involvement in pregnancy care especially in rural and remote areas where majority of the underserved populations live. In an effort to enhance community participation in maternity care, TBAs were trained and equipped to ensure better care and quick referral. In 1997, after the advent of the World Health Organization's Safe Motherhood initiative, the enthusiasm turned away from traditional birth attendants (TBAs). However, in many developing countries, and especially in rural areas, TBAs continue to play a significant role. This study explored the interaction between men and TBAs in shaping maternal healthcare in a rural Ugandan context. This study employed ethnographic methods including participant observation, which took place in the process of everyday life activities of the respondents within the community; 12 focus group discussions, and 12 in-depth interviews with community members and key informants. Participants in this study were purposively selected to include TBAs, men, opinion leaders like village chairmen, and other key informants who had knowledge about the configuration of maternity services in the community. Data analysis was done inductively through an iterative process in which transcribed data was read to identify themes and codes were assigned to those themes. Contrary to the thinking that TBA services are utilized by women only, we found that men actively seek the services of TBAs and utilize them for their wives' healthcare within the community. TBAs in turn sensitize men using both cultural and biomedical health knowledge, and become allies with women in influencing men to provide resources needed for maternity care. In this study area, men trust and have confidence in TBAs; closer

Portraiture of constructivist parental involvement: A model to develop a community of practice

Science.gov (United States)

Dignam, Christopher Anthony

This qualitative research study addressed the problem of the lack of parental involvement in secondary school science. Increasing parental involvement is vital in supporting student academic achievement and social growth. The purpose of this emergent phenomenological study was to identify conditions required to successfully construct a supportive learning environment to form partnerships between students, parents, and educators. The overall research question in this study investigated the conditions necessary to successfully enlist parental participation with students during science inquiry investigations at the secondary school level. One hundred thirteen pairs of parents and students engaged in a 6-week scientific inquiry activity and recorded attitudinal data in dialogue journals, questionnaires, open-ended surveys, and during one-one-one interviews conducted by the researcher between individual parents and students. Comparisons and cross-interpretations of inter-rater, codified, triangulated data were utilized for identifying emergent themes. Data analysis revealed the active involvement of parents in researching with their child during inquiry investigations, engaging in journaling, and assessing student performance fostered partnerships among students, parents, and educators and supported students' social skills development. The resulting model, employing constructivist leadership and enlisting parent involvement, provides conditions and strategies required to develop a community of practice that can help effect social change. The active involvement of parents fostered improved efficacy and a holistic mindset to develop in parents, students, and teachers. Based on these findings, the interactive collaboration of parents in science learning activities can proactively facilitate a community of practice that will assist educators in facilitating social change.

Community Health Nurses' Knowledge of, Attitudes toward, and Involvement with Adolescent Contraceptive Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Swenson, Ingrid; And Others

1991-01-01

Surveyed national sample of 844 community health nurses to assess their knowledge of, attitudes toward, involvement with reproductive health services. Slightly more than 50 percent of nurses provided or administered contraceptive services to adolescents. Ninety-five percent agreed that contraceptives should be available to adolescents; 90 percent…

Involvement in Community Extension Program of Business Administration Students in one Higher Education Institution in the Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jo-Anne May A. Rubio

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Conducting community service is about relationship on building communities. It is designed for personal and social development. The researchers conduct this investigation to assess the Community Extension program of the College of Business Administration (CBA in one Private Higher Education Institution in the Philippines. The descriptive method of research utilizing the normative survey technique was employed in the study. The results of the study revealed that majority of the respondents are first year level and from Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. It also shows that there are students who are not involve in any organization of the college. This study further shows that community extension program of the college was well implemented. Students were well involved in the said activities. The students can expect benefits that will help them grow to a more productive and efficient students and member of the community. Moreover, there are also some expected problems in joining this kind of activity like funds, location and the logistics. The extension programs may continue to move on and reach out for the sustainable development of the students and community.

Community participation of persons with disabilities: volunteering, donations and involvement in groups and organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rak, Eniko C; Spencer, Lauren

2016-08-01

This study examined similarities and differences between persons with and without disabilities on volunteering, donations and group participation. A sample of 1548 individuals participated and 60% of the sample were persons with disabilities. Data for this research was drawn from a major statewide survey in a Midwestern state in the United States. Community participation was measured through involvement with civic, religious and other community-based groups, volunteering activities and donations. Logistic regression was pursued to test the effect of disability on community participation. Findings support different trends in participation between persons with and without disabilities. Individuals without disabilities are more likely to volunteer, donate money and participate in civic organisations (e.g. clubs) and other groups. Employment and household income have a significant contribution in explaining these differences. This study found significant differences in community participation between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities. Regression analysis outcomes underscore the importance of employment and income in eliminating disparities in community involvement between persons with and without disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Policy change in rehabilitation agencies to fund supported volunteering services. Improve the representation of persons with disabilities in volunteering pursuits by making volunteering positions accessible to them (educate persons with disabilities to be more aware of these opportunities, provide reasonable accommodations at work sites, etc.). Educate stakeholders about the benefits of volunteering and being part of civic, and other community based groups in improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Identification of barriers for persons with disabilities in these pursuits (physical and attitudinal barriers, lack of resources). Identifying and utilising natural supports in the work site

Community involvement in out of hospital cardiac arrest

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Ali; Raad, Mohamad; Chams, Nour; Chams, Sana; Bachir, Rana; El Sayed, Mazen J.

2016-01-01

Abstract Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Developing countries including Lebanon report low survival rates and poor neurologic outcomes in affected victims. Community involvement through early recognition and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can improve OHCA survival. This study assesses knowledge and attitude of university students in Lebanon and identifies potential barriers and facilitators to learning and performing CPR. A cross-sectional survey was administered to university students. The questionnaire included questions regarding the following data elements: demographics, knowledge, and awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, CPR, automated external defibrillator (AED) use, prior CPR and AED training, ability to perform CPR or use AED, barriers to performing/learning CPR/AED, and preferred location for attending CPR/AED courses. Descriptive analysis followed by multivariate analysis was carried out to identify predictors and barriers to learning and performing CPR. A total of 948 students completed the survey. Participants’ mean age was 20.1 (±2.1) years with 53.1% women. Less than half of participants (42.9%) were able to identify all the presenting signs of cardiac arrest. Only 33.7% of participants felt able to perform CPR when witnessing a cardiac arrest. Fewer participants (20.3%) reported receiving previous CPR training. Several perceived barriers to learning and performing CPR were also reported. Significant predictors of willingness to perform CPR when faced with a cardiac arrest were: earning higher income, previous CPR training and feeling confident in one's ability to apply an AED, or perform CPR. Lacking enough expertise in performing CPR was a significant barrier to willingness to perform CPR. University students in Lebanon are familiar with the symptoms of cardiac arrest, however, they are not well trained in CPR and lack confidence to perform it. The attitude towards the importance of

Building Communities of Learners. A Collaboration among Teachers, Students, Families, and Community.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaleb, Sudia Paloma

This book suggests an approach to education that includes students' family members as valuable citizens in a community of learners which also includes students, teachers, and other members of the community at large. Part 1 examines current trends in parental involvement and the hidden assumptions on which many such programs are based. It is argued…

Factors involved in social mobilization and empowerment of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Many community mobilizers in Uganda do not recognize that psychological empowerment is central in social mobilization, and that social mobilization involves an interplay among several social psychological variables including; social capital, psychological sense of community and group member satisfaction to produce ...

Development of Clinical Pharmacy in Switzerland: Involvement of Community Pharmacists in Care for Older Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hersberger, Kurt E; Messerli, Markus

2016-03-01

The role of the community pharmacist in primary care has been undergoing change in Switzerland in parallel to international developments: it has become more clinically and patient oriented. Special services of community pharmacists to older patients taking long-term or multiple medications, discharged from hospitals or experiencing cognitive impairment or disability have been developed. These services require more clinical knowledge and skills from community pharmacists and are based on, for example, 'simple or intermediate medication reviews' focused primarily to improve medication adherence and rational drug use by a patient. Reflecting the new role of community pharmacies, this article describes the current services provided by community pharmacies in Switzerland, e.g., 'polymedication check', 'weekly pill organizer', and 'services for chronic patients', as well as new Swiss educational and reimbursement systems supporting development of these services. In the international context, involvement of community pharmacists in patient-oriented care is growing. This review summarizes positive and negative experiences from implementation of community pharmacy services in Switzerland and provides examples for the development of such services in other countries.

'Team up against TB': promoting involvement in Thibela TB, a trial of community-wide tuberculosis preventive therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Alison D; Coetzee, Leonie; Fielding, Katherine L; Lewis, James J; Ntshele, Smanga; Luttig, Mariëtha M; Mngadi, Kathryn T; Muller, Dorothy; Popane, Flora; Mdluli, John; Mngadi, Nkosinathi; Sefuthi, Clement; Clark, David A; Churchyard, Gavin

2010-11-01

To describe a programme of community education and mobilization to promote uptake in a cluster-randomized trial of tuberculosis preventive therapy offered to all members of intervention clusters. Gold mines in South Africa, where tuberculosis incidence is extremely high, despite conventional control measures. All employees in intervention clusters (mine shaft and associated hostel) were invited to enrol. Cumulative enrolment in the study in intervention clusters. Key steps in communicating information relevant to the study included extensive consultation with key stakeholders; working with a communication company to develop a project 'brand'; developing a communication strategy tailored to each intervention site; and involving actors from a popular television comedy series to help inform communities about the study. One-to-one communications used peer educators along with study staff, and participant advisory groups facilitated two-way communication between study staff and participants. By contrast, treatment 'buddies' and text messaging to promote adherence proved less successful. Mean cumulative enrolment in the first four intervention clusters was 61.9%, increasing to 83.0% in the final four clusters. A tailored communication strategy can facilitate a high level of enrolment in a community health intervention.

Community Involvement and Victimization at School: An Analysis through Family, Personal and Social Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Jimenez, Teresa Isabel; Musitu, Gonzalo; Ramos, Manuel Jesus; Murgui, Sergio

2009-01-01

The present study analyzes the impact of adolescents' community involvement on victimization by peers at school through various indicators of family, personal and social adjustment (openness of communication with mother and father, life satisfaction, social self-esteem, and loneliness). Participating in the project were 565 adolescents aged 11 to…

Involving technical professionals in community relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, K.A.; Meyer, L.

1994-01-01

The Weldon Spring site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) environmental restoration project, has developed a successful community relations program that differs from the traditional approach and has built a general consensus about the DOE's work at the Weldon Spring site. The WSSRAP has a small, dedicated Community Relations Department that is heavily supported by technical professionals who receive intensive training in preparatory and presentation skills, role-playing, and critiquing of performances. This training allows the public to speak directly with the individuals responsible for remediation activities. The media, in turn, has access to technical individuals with good presentation skills, and WSSRAP managers can be confident that interactions are handled professionally. This approach results in a satisfied client. The WSSRAP's community relations program is a high-quality, cost-effective program that could be easily implemented by other facilities

Transforming primary healthcare by including the stakeholders involved in delivering care to people living in poverty: EQUIhealThY study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Loignon, Christine; Hudon, Catherine; Boudreault-Fournier, Alexandrine; Dupéré, Sophie; Macaulay, Ann C; Pluye, Pierre; Gaboury, Isabelle; Haggerty, Jeannie L; Fortin, Martin; Goulet, Émilie; Lambert, Mireille; Pelissier-Simard, Luce; Boyer, Sophie; de Laat, Marianne; Lemire, Francine; Champagne, Louise; Lemieux, Martin

2013-03-11

Ensuring access to timely and appropriate primary healthcare for people living in poverty is an issue facing all countries, even those with universal healthcare systems. The transformation of healthcare practices and organization could be improved by involving key stakeholders from the community and the healthcare system in the development of research interventions. The aim of this project is to stimulate changes in healthcare organizations and practices by encouraging collaboration between care teams and people living in poverty. Our objectives are twofold: 1) to identify actions required to promote the adoption of professional practices oriented toward social competence in primary care teams; and 2) to examine factors that would encourage the inclusion of people living in poverty in the process of developing social competence in healthcare organizations. This study will use a participatory action research design applied in healthcare organizations. Participatory research is an increasingly recognized approach that is helpful for involving the people for whom the research results are intended. Our research team consists of 19 non-academic researchers, 11 academic researchers and six partners. A steering committee composed of academic researchers and stakeholders will have a decision-making role at each step, including knowledge dissemination and recommendations for new interventions. In this project we will adopt a multiphase approach and will use a variety of methods, including photovoice, group discussions and interviews. The proposed study will be one of only a few using participatory research in primary care to foster changes aimed at enhancing quality and access to care for people living in poverty. To our knowledge this will be the first study to use photovoice in healthcare organizations to promote new interventions. Our project includes partners who are targeted for practice changes and improvements in delivering primary care to persons living in poverty

Social Work with Religious Volunteers: Activating and Sustaining Community Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Garland, Diana R.; Myers, Dennis M.; Wolfer, Terry A.

2008-01-01

Social workers in diverse community practice settings recruit and work with volunteers from religious congregations. This article reports findings from two surveys: 7,405 congregants in 35 Protestant congregations, including 2,570 who were actively volunteering, and a follow-up survey of 946 volunteers. It compares characteristics of congregation…

US Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Environmental Management Public Involvement Plan for the Oak Ridge Reservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-03-01

This document was prepared in accordance with CERCLA requirements for writing community relations plans. It includes information on how the DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office prepares and executes Environmental Management Community relations activities. It is divided into three sections: the public involvement plan, public involvement in Oak Ridge, and public involvement in 1995. Four appendices are also included: environmental management in Oak Ridge; community and regional overview; key laws, agreements, and policy; and principal contacts

Community Involvement in Enhancing the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Controlled Vocabularies (Keywords)

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, T.; Ritz, S.; Aleman, A.; Genazzio, M.; Morahan, M.; Wharton, S.

2016-01-01

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) develops and expands a hierarchical set of controlled vocabularies (keywords) covering the Earth sciences and associated information (data centers, projects, platforms, instruments, etc.). The purpose of the keywords is to describe Earth science data and services in a consistent and comprehensive manner, allowing for the precise searching of metadata and subsequent retrieval of data and services. The keywords are accessible in a standardized SKOSRDFOWL representation and are used as an authoritative taxonomy, as a source for developing ontologies, and to search and access Earth Science data within online metadata catalogues. The keyword development approach involves: (1) receiving community suggestions, (2) triaging community suggestions, (3) evaluating the keywords against a set of criteria coordinated by the NASA ESDIS Standards Office, and (4) publication/notification of the keyword changes. This approach emphasizes community input, which helps ensure a high quality, normalized, and relevant keyword structure that will evolve with users changing needs. The Keyword Community Forum, which promotes a responsive, open, and transparent processes, is an area where users can discuss keyword topics and make suggestions for new keywords. The formalized approach could potentially be used as a model for keyword development.

Community development planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, S.I.

1983-01-01

The focus of this paper will be methods of local community involvement in the community development planning efforts which will be required at the recommended sites. Community development planning will include capital improvement plans, housing plans, zoning changes, business development plans and other community service and fiscal plans required to meet the projected needs of new residents as a result of the repository construction and operation. This paper will present, (1) the need for community planning, (2) methods of responding to community planning needs, (3) current community planning issues to be addressed. 2 references, 1 figure

Involving patients in setting priorities for healthcare improvement: a cluster randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Boivin, Antoine; Lehoux, Pascale; Lacombe, Réal; Burgers, Jako; Grol, Richard

2014-02-20

Patients are increasingly seen as active partners in healthcare. While patient involvement in individual clinical decisions has been extensively studied, no trial has assessed how patients can effectively be involved in collective healthcare decisions affecting the population. The goal of this study was to test the impact of involving patients in setting healthcare improvement priorities for chronic care at the community level. Cluster randomized controlled trial. Local communities were randomized in intervention (priority setting with patient involvement) and control sites (no patient involvement). Communities in a canadian region were required to set priorities for improving chronic disease management in primary care, from a list of 37 validated quality indicators. Patients were consulted in writing, before participating in face-to-face deliberation with professionals. Professionals established priorities among themselves, without patient involvement. A total of 172 individuals from six communities participated in the study, including 83 chronic disease patients, and 89 health professionals. The primary outcome was the level of agreement between patients' and professionals' priorities. Secondary outcomes included professionals' intention to use the selected quality indicators, and the costs of patient involvement. Priorities established with patients were more aligned with core generic components of the Medical Home and Chronic Care Model, including: access to primary care, self-care support, patient participation in clinical decisions, and partnership with community organizations (p Priorities established by professionals alone placed more emphasis on the technical quality of single disease management. The involvement intervention fostered mutual influence between patients and professionals, which resulted in a 41% increase in agreement on common priorities (95%CI: +12% to +58%, p priorities. Patient involvement can change priorities driving healthcare

75 FR 71426 - North Community Turbines, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-23

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER11-2107-000] North Community Turbines, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes Request for... proceeding, of North Community Turbines, LLC's application for market-based rate authority, with an...

The Relationship between Faculty Involvement in Governance and Faculty Vitality: The Case of North Carolina Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Madray, Van

2009-01-01

This study examines the effects of governance involvement on the vitality of community college faculty members. This study explores the degree to which involvement in the governance of a college through a faculty senate fosters the vitality of elected faculty members. While faculty vitality is a difficult concept to measure directly, faculty…

Local Community Involvement and Quality of Life in Tourism Destination Development: Case of Coastal Tourism in West Java, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fitri Abdillah

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The community in the tourism destination is one of the key elements to ensure the sustainability of the tourism destination itself. The objective of this study was to determine if the development of tourism contributes to the involvement and the level of quality of life of the local community in Pangandaran and Palabuhanratu. A total of 279 samples were obtained from two locations. Data were analyzed by using descriptive methods to determine the phase of the development of destinations, the community involvement, and the level of quality of life  The results showed that (1 Pangandaran has a better destination performance than Palabuhanratu, (2 Pangandaran is in the growth phase and Palabuhanratu is in the consolidation phase, (3 Increase in the number of tourist arrivals in destinations within the growth phase is more influential than that in the consolidation phase, and (4 Among the four components of quality of life, the material aspect has the highest value, followed by the spiritual, social and personal aspects. The development of tourism destinations significantly affected the level of community involvement and the level of quality of life.

A rural community's involvement in the design and usability testing of a computer-based informed consent process for the Personalized Medicine Research Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahnke, Andrea N; Plasek, Joseph M; Hoffman, David G; Partridge, Nathan S; Foth, Wendy S; Waudby, Carol J; Rasmussen, Luke V; McManus, Valerie D; McCarty, Catherine A

2014-01-01

Many informed consent studies demonstrate that research subjects poorly retain and understand information in written consent documents. Previous research in multimedia consent is mixed in terms of success for improving participants' understanding, satisfaction, and retention. This failure may be due to a lack of a community-centered design approach to building the interventions. The goal of this study was to gather information from the community to determine the best way to undertake the consent process. Community perceptions regarding different computer-based consenting approaches were evaluated, and a computer-based consent was developed and tested. A second goal was to evaluate whether participants make truly informed decisions to participate in research. Simulations of an informed consent process were videotaped to document the process. Focus groups were conducted to determine community attitudes towards a computer-based informed consent process. Hybrid focus groups were conducted to determine the most acceptable hardware device. Usability testing was conducted on a computer-based consent prototype using a touch-screen kiosk. Based on feedback, a computer-based consent was developed. Representative study participants were able to easily complete the consent, and all were able to correctly answer the comprehension check questions. Community involvement in developing a computer-based consent proved valuable for a population-based genetic study. These findings may translate to other types of informed consents, including those for trials involving treatment of genetic disorders. A computer-based consent may serve to better communicate consistent, clear, accurate, and complete information regarding the risks and benefits of study participation. Additional analysis is necessary to measure the level of comprehension of the check-question answers by larger numbers of participants. The next step will involve contacting participants to measure whether understanding of

LOCAL COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN TOURISM DEVEOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria TĂTĂRUȘANU

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The issue of community participation in tourism development has been brought in front of the sector decision makers and researchers mostly during the last period of time. It could be a source of benefits and it could also create a better relationship between the tourism companies and the community groups. In this paper the author writes a literature review on this subject in order to draw attention on this issue in the Romanian tourism literature and to create an analysis framework for specific cases of tourism development plans.

Organization and staffing barriers to parent involvement in teen pregnancy prevention programs: challenges for community partnerships.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Janet E; Montgomery, Susanne; Lee, Jerry W

2005-09-01

To evaluate parent involvement in a Southern California teen pregnancy prevention community partnership project. Researchers expected to find parent and family-related participation barriers similar to those described in the family support literature, which they could address with program modifications. Three phases of qualitative evaluation occurred: key informant interviews and focus groups with youth and parents; focus groups with service providers; and key informant interviews with service providers, their supervisor, and the collaborative coordinator. Theory-based, open-ended question guides directed the interviews and focus groups, and transcriptions were coded and themed using grounded theory methods. Parents and youth sought ways to improve connections and communication with each other, and parents welcomed parenting education from the project. Unexpectedly, the major obstacles to parent participation identified in this project were largely organizational, and included the assignment of parent involvement tasks to agencies lacking capacities to work effectively with parents, inadequate administrative support for staff, and the absence of an effective system for communicating concerns and resolving conflicts among collaborative partners. Youth serving agencies may not be the best partners to implement effective parent involvement or family support interventions. Collaborative leadership must identify appropriate partners, engender their cooperation, and support their staff to further the overall goals of the collaborative.

Efficacy of a group-based multimedia HIV prevention intervention for drug-involved women under community supervision: project WORTH.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Bassel, Nabila; Gilbert, Louisa; Goddard-Eckrich, Dawn; Chang, Mingway; Wu, Elwin; Hunt, Tim; Epperson, Matt; Shaw, Stacey A; Rowe, Jessica; Almonte, Maria; Witte, Susan

2014-01-01

This study is designed to address the need for evidence-based HIV/STI prevention approaches for drug-involved women under criminal justice community supervision. We tested the efficacy of a group-based traditional and multimedia HIV/STI prevention intervention (Project WORTH: Women on the Road to Health) among drug-involved women under community supervision. We randomized 306 women recruited from community supervision settings to receive either: (1) a four-session traditional group-based HIV/STI prevention intervention (traditional WORTH); (2) a four-session multimedia group-based HIV/STI prevention intervention that covered the same content as traditional WORTH but was delivered in a computerized format; or (3) a four-session group-based Wellness Promotion intervention that served as an attention control condition. The study examined whether the traditional or multimedia WORTH intervention was more efficacious in reducing risks when compared to Wellness Promotion; and whether multimedia WORTH was more efficacious in reducing risks when compared to traditional WORTH. Primary outcomes were assessed over the 12-month post-intervention period and included the number of unprotected sex acts, the proportion of protected sex acts, and consistent condom use. At baseline, 77% of participants reported unprotected vaginal or anal sex (n = 237) and 63% (n = 194) had multiple sex partners. Women assigned to traditional or multimedia WORTH were significantly more likely than women assigned to the control condition to report an increase in the proportion of protected sex acts (β = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.02-0.18) and a decrease in the number of unprotected sex acts (IRR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.57-0.90). The promising effects of traditional and multimedia WORTH on increasing condom use and high participation rates suggest that WORTH may be scaled up to redress the concentrated epidemics of HIV/STIs among drug-involved women in the criminal justice system. Clinical

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 ...

Using the critical incident technique in community-based participatory research: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Belkora, Jeffrey; Stupar, Lauren; O'Donnell, Sara

2011-01-01

Successful community-based participatory research involves the community partner in every step of the research process. The primary study for this paper took place in rural, Northern California. Collaborative partners included an academic researcher and two community based resource centers that provide supportive services to people diagnosed with cancer. This paper describes our use of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to conduct Community-based Participatory Research. We ask: Did the CIT facilitate or impede the active engagement of the community in all steps of the study process? We identified factors about the Critical Incident Technique that were either barriers or facilitators to involving the community partner in every step of the research process. Facilitators included the CIT's ability to accommodate involvement from a large spectrum of the community, its flexible design, and its personal approach. Barriers to community engagement included training required to conduct interviews, depth of interview probes, and time required. Overall, our academic-community partners felt that our use of the CIT facilitated community involvement in our Community-Based Participatory Research Project, where we used it to formally document the forces promoting and inhibiting successful achievement of community aims.

Parental Involvement in Norwegian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Paulsen, Jan Merok

2012-01-01

This article examines findings on key challenges of school-parent relations in Norway. The review is based on recent large-scale studies on several issues, including formalized school-parent cooperation, parental involvement in the pedagogical discourse, and teacher perspectives on the parents' role in the school community. Findings suggest a…

Involving forest communities in identifying and constructing ecosystems services: millennium assessment and place specificity

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley T. Asah; Dale J. Blahna; Clare M. Ryan

2012-01-01

The ecosystem services (ES) approach entails integrating people into public forest management and managing to meet their needs and wants. Managers must find ways to understand what these needs are and how they are met. In this study, we used small group discussions, in a case study of the Deschutes National Forest, to involve community members and forest staff in...

Communities defining environmental health: examples from the Colorado (U.S.A.) Healthy Communities Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Conner, R F; Tanjasiri, S P

2000-01-01

Communities are increasingly defining 'health' for themselves, then becoming the main actors in actions to improve their health and well being. These community members work from a broad and inclusive definition of 'health' that often incorporates environmental health as a key aspect. They also assume an ecological, or systems, viewpoint that integrates many aspects of the community that affect health and well being, including housing, health, economy, education, transportation, youth and family issues, as well as health and illness care. This paper describes a program that involves 28 large and small, urban and rural communities in the United States state of Colorado that undertook this type of community-based health improvement project. The Colorado Healthy Communities Initiative (CHCI) was designed to bring together citizens in Colorado to work collaboratively to make their communities healthier. This paper describes the program's background, including its principles, processes, and participants, then focuses on the particular aspects of environmental health that communities included in their definitions of a 'healthy community'.

Analysis of the Involvement and Impressions of the Local Community on the Tourism Development of Ilocos Norte

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orpia Cherie B.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Tourism development is not possible without the involvement of the local community in various development stage and tourism activities. They can be involved right from planning, construction, operation, and promotion activities. It generates investment, foreign exchange and employment to the locals. This study sought how the local community is involved and what are their impressions in Ilocos Norte’s Tourism developments. It also sought to determine the demographic qualities differentiates against tourism development involvement and their impressions. The study used non-probability convenience sampling in various towns in Ilocos Norte. Questionnaire type of survey and unstructured interviews were employed to the locals and to the local government units. Local residents perceive the tourism activities to provide employment opportunities, income, foreign exchange, and promote cultural heritage. Very few perceive to be a contributor to pollution and depletion of natural resources.. Most people have an impression that it has improved their way of life thru more access to their town, business opportunities, and more infrastructure. However, most of them has an impression that cleanliness and safety has gotten worse. Most people like to participate in tourism activities thru investment, employment and planning.

Involving women.

Science.gov (United States)

Agbo, J

1994-01-01

I am a primary health care (PHC) coordinator working with the May Day Rural project, a local NGO involved in integrated approaches and programs with rural communities in the Ga District of the Greater-Accra region in Ghana. When we talk about the community development approach we must first and foremost recognize that we are talking about women, because in the developing world frequent childbirths mean that her burden of mortality is higher than a man's; her workload is extremely heavy--whether in gardening, farming, other household duties, caring for the sick, or the rearing of children; she has a key role in PHC and community development, because men are always looking for greener pastures elsewhere, leaving the women behind. Women's concerns are critical in most health care projects and women and children are their main beneficiaries. Why not include women in the management team, project design, implementation and evaluation processes? That is what the May Day Rural project is practicing, encouraging women's participation and creating a relationship of trust. full text

Community pharmacists' involvement in smoking cessation: familiarity and implementation of the National smoking cessation guideline in Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandström Patrick

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Guidelines on smoking cessation (SC emphasize healthcare cooperation and community pharmacists' involvement. This study explored the familiarity and implementation of the National SC Guideline in Finnish community pharmacies, factors relating to Guideline familiarity, implementation and provision of SC services. Methods A nationwide mail survey was sent to a systematic, sample of community pharmacy owners and staff pharmacists (total n = 2291. Response rate was 54% (n = 1190. Factors related to the SC Guideline familiarity were assessed by bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results Almost half (47% of the respondents (n = 1190 were familiar with the SC Guideline and familiarity enhanced Guideline implementation. The familiarity was associated with the respondents' perceptions of their personal SC skills and knowledge (OR 3.8; of customers' value of counseling on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT (OR 3.3; and regular use of a pocket card supporting SC counseling (OR 3.0. Pharmacists' workplaces' characteristics, such as size and geographical location were not associated with familiarity. In addition to recommending NRT, the pharmacists familiar with the Guideline used more frequently other Guideline-based SC methods, such as recommended non-pharmacological SC aids, compared to unfamiliar respondents. Conclusions SC Guideline familiarity and implementation is crucial for community pharmacists' involvement in SC actions in addition to selling NRT products. Pharmacists can constitute a potential public health resource in SC easily accessible throughout the country.

Promoting the inclusion of Afghan women and men in research: reflections from research and community partners involved in implementing a 'proof of concept' project.

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, Elisha; Yelland, Jane; Szwarc, Josef; Casey, Sue; Chesters, Donna; Duell-Piening, Philippa; Wahidi, Sayed; Fouladi, Fatema; Brown, Stephanie

2015-01-31

With mounting evidence that poor maternal and child health outcomes are related to the social determinants of health, researchers need to engage with vulnerable and isolated communities to gather the evidence that is essential to determine appropriate solutions. Conventional research methods may not ensure the degree and quality of participation that is necessary for meaningful study findings. Participatory methods provide reciprocal opportunities for often excluded communities to both take part in, and guide the conduct of research. The Having a baby in a new country research project was undertaken to provide evidence about how women and men of refugee background experience health services at the time of having a baby. This two year, multifaceted proof of concept study comprised: 1) an organisational partnership to oversee the project; 2) a community engagement framework including: female and male Afghan community researchers, community and sector stakeholder advisory groups and community consultation and engagement. Inclusive research strategies that address power imbalances in research, and diversity of and within communities, are necessary to obtain the evidence required to address health inequalities in vulnerable populations. Such an approach involves mindfully adapting research processes to ensure that studies have regard for the advice of community members about the issues that affect them. Researchers have much to gain by committing time and resources to engaging communities in reciprocal ways in research processes.

Tsunami Early Warning System in Italy and involvement of local communities

Science.gov (United States)

Tinti, Stefano; Armigliato, Alberto; Zaniboni, Filippo

2010-05-01

performance of the tsunami predictors. The role of the local communities in defining the strategies in case of uncertain data is essential: only involvement of such communities since the beginning of the planning and implementation phase of the TEWS as well as in the definition of a decision making matrix can ensure appropriate response in case of emergency, and most importantly, the acceptance of the system in the long run. The efforts to implement the Tsunami Warning System in Italy should take into proper account the above mentioned aspects. Involvement of local communities should be primarily realized through the involvement of the local components of the Civil Protection Agency that is responsible for the implementation of the system over the Italian territory. A pilot project is being conducted in cooperation between the Civil Protection Service of Sicily and the University of Bologna (UNIBO) that contemplates the empowering of the local sea-level monitoring system (TSUNET) and specific vulnerability and risk analyses, also exploiting results of national and European research projects (e.g. TRANSFER and SCHEMA) where UNIBO had a primary role.

Understanding the motivation and performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of health programmes in Kampala, Uganda: a realist evaluation

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Vareilles, Gaëlle; Marchal, Bruno; Kane, Sumit; Petrič, Taja; Pictet, Gabriel; Pommier, Jeanine

2015-01-01

Objectives This paper presents the results of a realist evaluation that aimed to understand how, why and under what circumstances a Red Cross (RC) capacity-building intervention influences the motivation and the performance of RC community health volunteers involved in the delivery of an immunisation programme in Kampala, Uganda. Method Given the complexity of the intervention, we adopted realist evaluation as our methodological approach and the case study as our study design. Data collection included document review, participant observation and interviews. The constant comparative method was used for the analysis. Two contrasted cases were selected within the five Kampala districts. Each case covers the management of the immunisation programme implemented at a RC branch. In each case, a programme manager and 15 RC volunteers were interviewed. The selection of the volunteers was purposive. Results We found that a capacity-building programme including supervision supportive of autonomy, skills and knowledge enhancement, and adapted to the different subgroups of volunteers, leads to satisfaction of the three key drivers of volunteer motivation: feelings of autonomy, competence and connectedness. This contributes to higher retention, and better task performance and well-being among the volunteers. Enabling contextual conditions include the responsiveness of the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) to community needs, and recognition of the work of the volunteers, from the URCS and the community. Conclusions A management approach that caters for the different motivational states and changing needs of the volunteers will lead to better performance. The findings will inform not only the management of community health volunteers, but also the management of all kinds of health workers. PMID:26525721

Saving the Commons: Community Involvement in the Management ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... full participation of local communities in resource management be set up to help avert further decline of the mangroves and fisheries of Chwaka Bay. Keywords: common property resources, mangroves, fisheries, overexploitation, community management. West Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science Vol. 3 (2) 2004: pp.

The influence of social involvement, neighborhood aesthetics, and community garden participation on fruit and vegetable consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Litt, Jill S; Soobader, Mah-J; Turbin, Mark S; Hale, James W; Buchenau, Michael; Marshall, Julie A

2011-08-01

We considered the relationship between an urban adult population's fruit and vegetable consumption and several selected social and psychological processes, beneficial aesthetic experiences, and garden participation. We conducted a population-based survey representing 436 residents across 58 block groups in Denver, Colorado, from 2006 to 2007. We used multilevel statistical models to evaluate the survey data. Neighborhood aesthetics, social involvement, and community garden participation were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables 5.7 times per day, compared with home gardeners (4.6 times per day) and nongardeners (3.9 times per day). Moreover, 56% of community gardeners met national recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of nongardeners. Our study results shed light on neighborhood processes that affect food-related behaviors and provides insights about the potential of community gardens to affect these behaviors. The qualities intrinsic to community gardens make them a unique intervention that can narrow the divide between people and the places where food is grown and increase local opportunities to eat better.

The Influence of Social Involvement, Neighborhood Aesthetics, and Community Garden Participation on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Soobader, Mah-J.; Turbin, Mark S.; Hale, James W.; Buchenau, Michael; Marshall, Julie A.

2011-01-01

Objectives. We considered the relationship between an urban adult population's fruit and vegetable consumption and several selected social and psychological processes, beneficial aesthetic experiences, and garden participation. Methods. We conducted a population-based survey representing 436 residents across 58 block groups in Denver, Colorado, from 2006 to 2007. We used multilevel statistical models to evaluate the survey data. Results. Neighborhood aesthetics, social involvement, and community garden participation were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables 5.7 times per day, compared with home gardeners (4.6 times per day) and nongardeners (3.9 times per day). Moreover, 56% of community gardeners met national recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of nongardeners. Conclusions. Our study results shed light on neighborhood processes that affect food-related behaviors and provides insights about the potential of community gardens to affect these behaviors. The qualities intrinsic to community gardens make them a unique intervention that can narrow the divide between people and the places where food is grown and increase local opportunities to eat better. PMID:21680931

Impact of a District-Wide Diabetes Prevention Programme Involving Health Education for Children and the Community

Science.gov (United States)

Sheeladevi, Sethu; Sagar, Jayanthi; Pujari, Siddharth; Rani, Padmaja Kumari

2014-01-01

Objective: To present results from a district-wide diabetes prevention programme involving health education for school children and the local community. Method: The model of health education that was utilized aimed to secure lifestyle changes and the identification of diabetes risk by school children (aged 9-12 years). The children acted as health…

Romance, recovery & community re-entry for criminal justice involved women: Conceptualizing and measuring intimate relationship factors and power.

Science.gov (United States)

Walt, Lisa C; Hunter, Bronwyn; Salina, Doreen; Jason, Leonard

Researchers have suggested that interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic relationships, may influence women's attempts at substance abuse recovery and community re-entry after criminal justice system involvement. The present paper evaluates relational and power theories to conceptualize the influence of romantic partner and romantic relationship qualities on pathways in and out of substance abuse and crime. The paper then combines these conceptualizations with a complementary empirical analysis to describe an ongoing research project that longitudinally investigates these relational and power driven factors on women's substance abuse recovery and community re-entry success among former substance abusing, recently criminally involved women. This paper is designed to encourage the integration of theory and empirical analysis by detailing how each of these concepts are operationalized and measured. Future research and clinical implications are also discussed.

Experience and meaning of user involvement: some explorations from a community mental health project.

Science.gov (United States)

Truman, Carole; Raine, Pamela

2002-05-01

With an increased interest in and policy commitment to involving service users in the planning and delivery of health service provision, there is a clear need to explore both the rhetoric and realities of what user involvement entails. In the present paper, by drawing upon an evaluation of a community-based exercise facility for people with mental health problems, the authors explore ways in which the reality of user involvement is subject to a range of configurations within health services. The paper describes a piece of qualitative research that was undertaken within a participatory framework to explore the nature of user involvement within the facility. The data have been analysed using a grounded theory approach to provide insights into: the organisational context in which user involvement takes place; factors which encourage meaningful participation on the part of service users; perceived barriers to user involvement; and issues of sustainability and continuity. This research approach has enabled the authors to explore the views and experiences of users, service providers and referral agencies in relation to the nature and potential for user involvement. The findings illustrate ways in which user involvement may take place under both flexible and formal arrangements across a variety of activities. The present paper provides an account of some of the meanings and experiences of what 'successful' user participation may involve and the conditions which underpin 'success'. The authors conclude that successful and meaningful user involvement should enable and support users to recognise their existing skills, and to develop new ones, at a pace that suits their particular circumstances and personal resources. This process may require adaptation not only by organisations, but also by service providers and non-involved users.

Volunteer stream monitoring: Do the data quality and monitoring experience support increased community involvement in freshwater decision making?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Storey

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Recent freshwater policy reforms in New Zealand promote increased community involvement in freshwater decision making and management. Involving community members in scientific monitoring increases both their knowledge and their ability to discuss this knowledge with professionals, potentially increasing their influence in decision-making processes. However, these interactions rarely occur because, in particular, of perceptions that volunteer-collected data are unreliable. We assessed the agreement between volunteer (community group and local government (regional council data at nine stream sites across New Zealand. Over 18 months, community groups and regional council staff monitored, in parallel, a common set of water quality variables, physical habitat, periphyton and benthic macroinvertebrates that are routinely used by regional councils for statutory state of environment reporting. Community groups achieved close agreement (correlations ≥ 0.89, bias < 1% with regional councils for temperature, electrical conductivity, visual water clarity, and Escherichia coli. For dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and pH, correlations were weaker (0.2, 0.53, and 0.4, respectively. Volunteer assessments of physical habitat were as consistent over time as those of councils. For visual assessments of thick periphyton growths (% streambed cover, volunteers achieved a correlation of 0.93 and bias of 0.1% relative to councils. And for a macroinvertebrate biotic index that indicates water and habitat quality, correlation was 0.88, bias was < 5%, and the average difference was 12% of the index score. Volunteers showed increased awareness of local freshwaters, understanding of stream ecosystems, and attentiveness to local and national freshwater issues. Most volunteers had shared their knowledge and interest with others in their community. Most groups had developed relationships with their regional council, and some volunteers became more interested in engaging in

US DoE's Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board 15 Years of Community Involvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielson, M.; Brennan, C.A.

2009-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) from its roots in the early 1990's at the Keystone Center to its current activities. The EM SSAB has a unique mandate to provide input regarding the cleanup of nuclear legacy sites in the United States. Chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the EM SSAB today comprises eight local boards. The Office of Environmental Management has made public participation a fundamental component of its cleanup mission and has found that the EM SSAB has contributed greatly to bringing community values and priorities to the cleanup decision-making processes. Public participation that involves ongoing community engagement has inherent challenges; the EM SSAB has additional challenges that reflect the political and technical nature of the Agency's work. (authors)

Family and Community Involvement: Reaching Out to Diverse Populations = La participacion de la familia y la comunidad: El acercamiento a las diversas poblaciones.

Science.gov (United States)

Southwest Educational Development Lab., Austin, TX.

This handbook, in English and Spanish, is designed for educators who want to develop meaningful parent and community involvement in public education in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The advice of leaders of Hispanic, African American, Native American, and Asian communities is incorporated into five strategies to help develop…

Microorganisms involved in MIC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorensen, K. [Danish Technological Institute (Denmark)

2011-07-01

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a widespread problem that is difficult to detect and assess because of its complex mechanism. This paper presents the involvement of microorganisms in MIC. Some of the mechanisms that cause MIC include hydrogen consumption, production of acids, anode-cathode formation and electron shuttling. A classic bio-corrosive microorganism in the oil and gas industry is sulphate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP). Methanogens also increase corrosion rates in metals. Some of the phylogenetic orders detected while studying SRP and methanogens are archaeoglobales, clostridiales, methanosarcinales and methanothermococcus. There were some implications, such as growth of SRP not being correlated with growth of methanogens; methanogens were included in MIC risk assessment. A few examples are used to display how microorganisms are involved in topside corrosion and microbial community in producing wells. From the study, it can be concluded that, MIC risk assessment includes system data and empirical knowledge of the distribution and number of microorganisms in the system.

Microbial communities involved in methane production from hydrocarbons in oil sands tailings.

Science.gov (United States)

Siddique, Tariq; Penner, Tara; Klassen, Jonathan; Nesbø, Camilla; Foght, Julia M

2012-09-04

Microbial metabolism of residual hydrocarbons, primarily short-chain n-alkanes and certain monoaromatic hydrocarbons, in oil sands tailings ponds produces large volumes of CH(4) in situ. We characterized the microbial communities involved in methanogenic biodegradation of whole naphtha (a bitumen extraction solvent) and its short-chain n-alkane (C(6)-C(10)) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) components using primary enrichment cultures derived from oil sands tailings. Clone libraries of bacterial 16S rRNA genes amplified from these enrichments showed increased proportions of two orders of Bacteria: Clostridiales and Syntrophobacterales, with Desulfotomaculum and Syntrophus/Smithella as the closest named relatives, respectively. In parallel archaeal clone libraries, sequences affiliated with cultivated acetoclastic methanogens (Methanosaetaceae) were enriched in cultures amended with n-alkanes, whereas hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanomicrobiales) were enriched with BTEX. Naphtha-amended cultures harbored a blend of these two archaeal communities. The results imply syntrophic oxidation of hydrocarbons in oil sands tailings, with the activities of different carbon flow pathways to CH(4) being influenced by the primary hydrocarbon substrate. These results have implications for predicting greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands tailings repositories.

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....

Community Psychology and Community Mental Health: A Call for Reengagement.

Science.gov (United States)

Townley, Greg; Brown, Molly; Sylvestre, John

2018-03-01

Community psychology is rooted in community mental health research and practice and has made important contributions to this field. Yet, in the decades since its inception, community psychology has reduced its focus on promoting mental health, well-being, and liberation of individuals with serious mental illnesses. This special issue endeavors to highlight current efforts in community mental health from our field and related disciplines and point to future directions for reengagement in this area. The issue includes 12 articles authored by diverse stakeholder groups. Following a review of the state of community mental health scholarship in the field's two primary journals since 1973, the remaining articles center on four thematic areas: (a) the community experience of individuals with serious mental illness; (b) the utility of a participatory and cross-cultural lens in our engagement with community mental health; (c) Housing First implementation, evaluation, and dissemination; and (d) emerging or under-examined topics. In reflection, we conclude with a series of challenges for community psychologists involved in future, transformative, movements in community mental health. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

Enhancing Community Service Learning Via Practical Learning Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilana Ronen

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The advantages of learning communities focused on analyzing social issues and educational repercussions in the field are presented in this study. The research examines the contribution of a learning community to enhancing student teachers' responsibility and their social involvement. The assumption was that participating in learning community would further implement student teachers' community social involvement while enhancing responsibility in their field of action. A questionnaire aimed to present the student teachers' attitudes involving all aspects of studying in the learning community and their social activity in the community was conducted. The findings pinpointed that there were positive contributions of the learning communities from a personal aspect such as developing self-learning, and learning about “me”, as well as broaden their teaching skills, through methodology for teacher training, and developing reflective thought. These insights can also be implemented in various educational frameworks and during service learning as part of teacher training.

Bacterial communities potentially involved in iron-cycling in Baltic Sea and North Sea sediments revealed by pyrosequencing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reyes, Carlen; Dellwig, Olaf; Dähnke, K.

2016-01-01

To gain insight into the bacterial communities involved in iron-(Fe) cycling under marine conditions, we analysed sediments with Fe-contents (0.5-1.5 wt %) from the suboxic zone at a marine site in the Skagerrak (SK) and a brackish site in the Bothnian Bay (BB) using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing....

Monitoring of the microbial communities involved in the soy sauce manufacturing process by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Yasushi; Watanabe, Jun; Mogi, Yoshinobu

2012-08-01

Soy sauce is a traditional seasoning produced through the fermentation of soybeans and wheat using microbes. In this study, the microbial communities involved in the soy sauce manufacturing process were analyzed by PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). The bacterial DGGE profile indicated that the bacterial microbes in the koji were Weissella cibaria (Weissella confusa, Weissella kimchii, Weissella salipiscis, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus iners, or Streptococcus thermophilus), Staphylococcus gallinarum (or Staphylococcus xylosus), and Staphylococcus kloosii. In addition to these bacteria, Tetragenococcus halophilus was also detected in the mash during lactic acid fermentation. The fungal DGGE profile indicated that the fungal microbes in the koji were not only Aspergillus oryzae but also several yeasts. In the mash, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii appeared in the early fermentation stage, Candida etchellsii (or Candida nodaensis) and Candida versatilis were detected at the middle fermentation stage, and Candida etchellsii was detected at the mature fermentation stage. These results suggest that the microbial communities present during the soy sauce manufacturing process change drastically throughout its production. This is the first report to reveal the microbial communities involved in the soy sauce manufacturing process using a culture-independent method. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

School-Community Partnership Models: Implications for Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Valli, Linda; Stefanski, Amanda; Jacobson, Reuben

2018-01-01

School-community partnerships have shown promise as an educational reform effort. In these partnerships, schools expand their traditional educational mission to include health and social services for children and families and to involve the broader community. Such partnerships have been found to enhance student learning, strengthen schools and…

Local Community Involvement and Quality of Life in Tourism Destination Development: Case of Coastal Tourism in West Java, Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Fitri Abdillah

2016-01-01

The community in the tourism destination is one of the key elements to ensure the sustainability of the tourism destination itself. The objective of this study was to determine if the development of tourism contributes to the involvement and the level of quality of life of the local community in Pangandaran and Palabuhanratu. A total of 279 samples were obtained from two locations. Data were analyzed by using descriptive methods to determine the phase of the development of destinations, the c...

Joint Community Health Needs Assessments as a Path for Coordinating Community-Wide Health Improvement Efforts Between Hospitals and Local Health Departments.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlton, Erik L; Singh, Simone Rauscher

2018-05-01

To examine the association between hospital-local health department (LHD) collaboration around community health needs assessments (CHNAs) and hospital investment in community health. We combined 2015 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Forces of Change, 2013 NACCHO Profile, and 2014-2015 Area Health Resource File data to identify a sample of LHDs (n = 439) across the United States. We included data on hospitals' community benefit from their 2014 tax filings (Internal Revenue Service Form 990, Schedule H). We used bivariate and multivariate regression analyses to examine LHDs' involvement in hospitals' CHNAs and implementation strategies and the relationship with hospital investment in community health. The LHDs that collaborated with hospitals around CHNAs were significantly more likely to be involved in joint implementation planning activities than were those that did not. Importantly, LHD involvement in hospitals' implementation strategies was associated with greater hospital investment in community health improvement initiatives. Joint CHNAs may improve coordination of community-wide health improvement efforts between hospitals and LHDs and encourage hospital investment in community health improvement activities. Public Health Implications. Policies that strengthen LHD-hospital collaboration around the CHNA may enhance hospital investments in community health.

Data governance and data sharing agreements for community-wide health information exchange: lessons from the beacon communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Claudia; Des Jardins, Terrisca R; Heider, Arvela; Lyman, Kristin A; McWilliams, Lee; Rein, Alison L; Schachter, Abigail A; Singh, Ranjit; Sorondo, Barbara; Topper, Joan; Turske, Scott A

2014-01-01

Unprecedented efforts are underway across the United States to electronically capture and exchange health information to improve health care and population health, and reduce costs. This increased collection and sharing of electronic patient data raises several governance issues, including privacy, security, liability, and market competition. Those engaged in such efforts have had to develop data sharing agreements (DSAs) among entities involved in information exchange, many of whom are "nontraditional" health care entities and/or new partners. This paper shares lessons learned based on the experiences of six federally funded communities participating in the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program, and offers guidance for navigating data governance issues and developing DSAs to facilitate community-wide health information exchange. While all entities involved in electronic data sharing must address governance issues and create DSAs accordingly, until recently little formal guidance existed for doing so - particularly for community-based initiatives. Despite this lack of guidance, together the Beacon Communities' experiences highlight promising strategies for navigating complex governance issues, which may be useful to other entities or communities initiating information exchange efforts to support delivery system transformation. For the past three years, AcademyHealth has provided technical assistance to most of the 17 Beacon Communities, 6 of whom contributed to this collaborative writing effort. Though these communities varied widely in terms of their demographics, resources, and Beacon-driven priorities, common themes emerged as they described their approaches to data governance and DSA development. The 6 Beacon Communities confirmed that DSAs are necessary to satisfy legal and market-based concerns, and they identified several specific issues, many of which have been noted by others involved in network data sharing initiatives. More importantly, these

Involving Youth in Community Emergency Preparedness: Impacts of a Multistate Initiative

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pamela Powell

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The National Preparedness Guidelines (2007 state, “as uniformed responders account for less than 1% of the total U.S. population, it is clear that citizens must be better prepared, trained, and practiced on how best to take care of themselves and assist others in those first crucial hours during and after a catastrophic incident.” This is increasingly more evident due to recent disasters such as hurricane Katrina. The Alert, Evacuate and Shelter (AES program identified and trained youth/adult teams to use geospatial technology to map shelter locations and evacuation routes. Training began with team building activities to strengthen and build youth/adult preparedness partnerships. Program evaluations revealed a major shift in thinking about the positive potential level of involvement of youth in emergencies. Survey results immediately following trainings revealed statistically significant increases in participant knowledge gain regarding emergency preparedness. Follow-up evaluations indicate the success of this project in meeting community preparedness goals.

Alpena Community College Workplace Partnership Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Alpena Community Coll., MI.

These materials include a report, evaluation, and book written about a workplace literacy project involving education (Alpena Community College), business and industry (Besser Company and Alpena Power Company), and labor (Thunder Bay Labor Council). The report specifies objectives; accomplishments, including development of eight courses in math,…

[Analysis on funds application of community based organizations involved in HIV/AIDS response and government financial investment in China, 2014].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G; Zhu, Y X; Wang, P; Liu, P; Li, J F; Sha, S; Yang, W Z; Li, H

2017-03-06

Objective: To understand the government financial investments to community based organizations (CBO) involved in HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention of China and its influencing factors. Methods: Questionnaire of the situation of CBO involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention were designed, and filled by the staff of Provincial Health Administrative Departments of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). The research focused on the fields of CBO involved in HIV/AIDS response in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), including intervention on HIV/AIDS high risk population (female sex worker (FSW), man who sex with man (MSM), drug user (DU) and case management and care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH)). 29 valid questionnaires were collecting, with Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions not filled. Questionnaire included financial supports from local governments, transfer payment from central government for CBO involved in HIV/AIDS response in 2014, and unit cost for CBO involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention. Multivariate analysis was conducted on the project application and financial investment of community based organizations involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention in 2014. Results: The total amount of CBO to apply for participation in AIDS prevention and control was 64 482 828 Yuan in 2014. The actual total amount of investment was 50 616 367 Yuan, The investment came from the central government funding, the provincial level government funding, the prefecture and county level government funding investment and other sources of funding. 22 of 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) received the funds from the central government finance, and median of investment funds 500 000 Yuan. 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) gained the funds from the provincial government finance, and median of investment funds 350 000 Yuan. 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) got the funds

Involving other communities through challenges and cooperation

CERN Document Server

Nellist, Clara; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

The ATLAS collaboration has recently setup three projects targeting citizen science or specific communities : The goal of the HiggsML project was to bring particle physicists and data scientists together through a challenge: compete online to obtain the best Higgs to tau tau signal significance on a set of ATLAS fully simulated signal and background. The challenge ran from May to September 2014, drawing considerable attention. In total, there were 1785 teams that participated, making it the most popular challenge at the time on the Kaggle platform. The ATLAS@home project allows volunteers to run simulations of collisions in the ATLAS detector. During the first year the community mostly consisted of software fans, who were attracted by the technical challenge and contributed greatly to the debugging through the message boards on the website. With the start of LHC, the number of people attracted for outreach reasons grew. Higgs Hunters is the first Particle Physics project hosted on the web-based citizen scienc...

Creating Learning Communities: An Introduction to Community Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, Larry E.; Boo, Mary Richardson

Schools cannot succeed without collaboration with parents and the community. Defining community education as active community involvement in the education of children, this booklet describes aspects of community education. Community education, the booklet points out, can take place at physical locations such as formal school buildings, which lie…

Youths as partners in a community participatory project for substance use prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulbok, Pamela A; Meszaros, Peggy S; Bond, Donna C; Thatcher, Esther; Park, Eunhee; Kimbrell, Monica; Smith-Gregory, Tracey

2015-01-01

This community-based participatory research project aimed to develop strategies to prevent youth substance use in a rural county. This article (1) describes the project phases, (2) examines unique contributions and considerations of youth involvement, and (3) explores the youths' perspective. Twelve youths, aged 16 to 18 years, joined parents, community leaders, and research specialists on the community-based participatory research team. The youths were integrally involved in all phases including the community assessment, community leader interviews, selection of a substance use prevention program, and program implementation. Youths reported sustained enthusiasm, experiences of authentic leadership, development of research skills, and greater awareness of their community.

Building global learning communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Averill Gordon

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Within the background where education is increasingly driven by the economies of scale and research funding, we propose an alternative online open and connected framework (OOC for building global learning communities using mobile social media. We critique a three year action research case study involving building collaborative global learning communities around a community of practice of learning researchers and practitioners. The results include the development of a framework for utilising mobile social media to support collaborative curriculum development across international boundaries. We conclude that this framework is potentially transferrable to a range of educational contexts where the focus is upon student-generated mobile social media projects.

Community interaction and child maltreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bomi; Maguire-Jack, Kathryn

2015-03-01

The way in which parents interact with their environment may have implications for their likelihood of abuse and neglect. This study examines the parent-environment relationship through community involvement and perception, using social disorganization theory. We hypothesize mothers who participate in their communities and have positive perceptions of them may be less likely to maltreat their children because of the potential protective capacity of neighborhood supports. Using information from the 5 year Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=2991), the mother's self-reported acts of psychological and physical maltreatment and neglect are measured. A mother's community involvement index is the number of community activities a mother was involved in, and community perception is measured by two five-item Likert scales assessing perception of community collective efficacy. We analyze the relationship between community variables and each of mother's maltreatment behaviors as well as the interaction between community factors using a series of nested logistic regressions. Higher levels of community involvement are associated with lower levels of psychological aggression. More positive perception of community social control is associated with lower levels of physical assault. A moderation effect of community perception suggests that a mother's perception of her community changes the relationship between community involvement and psychological child abuse. The results provide important policy and empirical implications to build positive and supportive communities as a protective factor in child maltreatment. Getting parents involved in their communities can improve the environment in which children and families develop, and decrease the likelihood that maltreatment will occur. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parental involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ezra S Simon

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Parent-Teacher Associations and other community groups can play a significant role in helping to establish and run refugee schools; their involvement can also help refugee adults adjust to their changed circumstances.

Public health impact of community-based nutrition and lifestyle interventions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verheijden, M.W.; Kok, F.J.

2005-01-01

Community-based interventions have increasingly received attention since researchers and public health professionals have come to acknowledge the importance of an environment that makes the healthy choice the easy choice. All stakeholders including the target community are involved to achieve

Change from within. How communities can be involved in preventing children from dropping out of school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myrna Derksen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Change from within. How communities can be involved in preventing children from dropping out of schoolIn this article, based on a social work graduation project carried out at a primary school in Douglas, Northern Cape, South Africa, the issue of young children dropping out of primary education is outlined, as well as its causes. Solutions that address the direct causes seem hard to find. Such solutions should address deep-rooted assumptions and a lack of awareness of the importance of education on the part of many individuals, it is suggested. The author proposes that social workers seek to involve the community in solving their own problems, such as drop-outs. A bottom-up approach should be used to change incorrect assumptions about education and the importance of education should be emphasized. An example is given of how empowering and educating the right people to take responsibly for their community can benefit that community and also help relieve social workers of their massive workloads, which is a significant problem in South Africa.Verandering van binnenuit. Hoe de gemeenschap betrokken kan worden in het voorkomen van schooluitval bij kinderenIn dit artikel, gebaseerd op een Social work afstudeeronderzoek op een basisschool in Douglas, Noord Kaap, Zuid Afrika, wordt uitleg geven over (de oorzaken van het probleem van kinderen die het primaire onderwijs vroegtijdig verlaten. Eventuele directe oplossingen voor dit probleem lijken moeilijk te vinden. Diepgewortelde aannames en onwetendheid wat betreft het belang van educatie zullen moeten worden aangepakt. De auteur vindt dat Social workers meer moeten proberen de gemeenschap te betrekken bij het oplossen van problemen die de hele gemeenschap aangaan, zoals de schooluitval. Een “bottom-up” aanpak kan nuttig zijn in het veranderen van verkeerde aannames en onwetendheid over (het belang van educatie. Er wordt een voorbeeld gegeven waarin duidelijk wordt hoe je door “empowerment” en

Campaign 9 of the K2 Mission: Observational Parameters, Scientific Drivers, and Community Involvement for a Simultaneous Space- and Ground-based Microlensing Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Calen B.; Poleski, Radoslaw; Penny, Matthew; Street, Rachel A.; Bennett, David P.; Hogg, David W.; Gaudi, B. Scott; Zhu, W.; Barclay, T.; Barentsen, G.;

Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development ...

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

2004-01-01

Jan 1, 2004 ... Download PDF ... How can researchers and practitioners improve communication with local communities and other stakeholders? ... He holds a doctorate in educational technology and has authored two other books on ...

Decommissioning: guiding principles and best practices for involving local stakeholders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keyes, D.

2005-01-01

Full text: A wide range of nuclear facilities covering the entire nuclear fuel cycle have been constructed and operated for many years worldwide. For communities where the facilities are located, concerns about safety and environmental contamination are paramount. Working together with elected officials, local community leaders and the public at large during the earliest planning stages will help alleviate concerns about facility operation and ultimate disposition, and will result in better decisions about facility design, location, construction, operation and, ultimately, decommissioning. Such comprehensive community involvement has been the exception rather than the norm. Now that older facilities are being considered for decommissioning, efforts to involve local stakeholders and alleviate their concerns face major challenges. This is particularly true where some residual radioactive contamination will remain onsite and future use of the site may need to be restricted. Plans for stakeholder involvement at the decommissioning stage should be carefully designed and provide for honest, authentic and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders affected by decommissioning decisions. A set of principles and best practices is proposed to help guide the design and implementation of effective community involvement programs. The principles and best practices are drawn from the experiences of public involvement practitioners in a variety of environmental contamination applications. Successful community involvement is the result of a carefully crafted set of coordinated activities conducted over the long term. Ideally, facility decommissioning is simply the end stage of the involvement process, or the beginning of a site stewardship process in those cases where decommissioning does not produce an uncontaminated site. In either case, decommissioning will not be a new, unexpected event, and stakeholders could be involved just as they have been over the life of the facility. In

Water protection measures and community involvement increase sustainability of uranium mining in Tanzania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaspar, Miklos

2015-01-01

The stage is set for uranium mining in the United Republic of Tanzania, following recent changes to the country’s regulatory framework that brought it in line with IAEA recommendations. Environmental considerations and the involvement of the local community in monitoring the licensing process and future operations will contribute to the sustainability of the project, said Tanzanian officials and IAEA experts. Tanzania, which has identified uranium resources of about 60 000 tonnes, looks to begin mining in 2016 in order to exploit its uranium deposits as part of the country’s plans to increase the contribution of the mining sector from 3.3% of the gross domestic product in 2013 to 10% by the end of the decade. With its gold and diamond reserves nearing depletion, the country is shifting its focus to uranium.

The Importance of Documenting and Including Traditional Wisdom in Community-Based Ecotourism Planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesna Đukić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article accords to the theory of community-based tourism, which represents a concept that respects natural and cultural resources of a particular community and encourages participation of its members in the process of tourist product creation. The article operates in the planning phase and aims to give insights into the process of establishing the groundwork for community-based tourism. The key element is documenting and illustrating everything that could be a part of what is known as “traditional wisdom,” namely, the skills and knowledge of traditional life practices. The methods of case study, content analysis, and observation of the village of Omoljica, Serbia, were used. The positive aspect of this locality is reflected in the existing short-term initiatives of organizations and individuals engaging in preserving traditional practices, but without systematic, long-term planning and management of community-based tourism, these individual efforts to revalue traditional life practices would stay unrecognizable and invisible for visitors and stakeholders. Thus, the main goal of this article is to understand the relation between short-term bottom-up initiatives and long-term top-down strategic planning of specific ecotourism destinations, one that would embrace the traditional ways of rural community life. The contribution of this study, in addition to documenting and illustrating “traditional wisdom” of the specific rural community placed in the protected area which encompasses a particular local social system, will be reflected in the creation of a set of guidelines for sustainable, rural, community-based ecotourism as a soft-driver development of protected areas near big cities of the postsocialist countries.

Experiences of community pharmacists involved in the delivery of a specialist asthma service in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmerton, Lynne M; Smith, Lorraine; LeMay, Kate S; Krass, Ines; Saini, Bandana; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z; Reddel, Helen K; Burton, Deborah L; Stewart, Kay; Armour, Carol L

2012-06-18

The role of community pharmacists in disease state management has been mooted for some years. Despite a number of trials of disease state management services, there is scant literature into the engagement of, and with, pharmacists in such trials. This paper reports pharmacists' feedback as providers of a Pharmacy Asthma Management Service (PAMS), a trial coordinated across four academic research centres in Australia in 2009. We also propose recommendations for optimal involvement of pharmacists in academic research. Feedback about the pharmacists' experiences was sought via their participation in either a focus group or telephone interview (for those unable to attend their scheduled focus group) at one of three time points. A semi-structured interview guide focused discussion on the pharmacists' training to provide the asthma service, their interactions with health professionals and patients as per the service protocol, and the future for this type of service. Focus groups were facilitated by two researchers, and the individual interviews were shared between three researchers, with data transcribed verbatim and analysed manually. Of 93 pharmacists who provided the PAMS, 25 were involved in a focus group and seven via telephone interview. All pharmacists approached agreed to provide feedback. In general, the pharmacists engaged with both the service and research components, and embraced their roles as innovators in the trial of a new service. Some experienced challenges in the recruitment of patients into the service and the amount of research-related documentation, and collaborative patient-centred relationships with GPs require further attention. Specific service components, such as the spirometry, were well received by the pharmacists and their patients. Professional rewards included satisfaction from their enhanced practice, and pharmacists largely envisaged a future for the service. The PAMS provided pharmacists an opportunity to become involved in an

Experiences of community pharmacists involved in the delivery of a specialist asthma service in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmerton Lynne M

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The role of community pharmacists in disease state management has been mooted for some years. Despite a number of trials of disease state management services, there is scant literature into the engagement of, and with, pharmacists in such trials. This paper reports pharmacists’ feedback as providers of a Pharmacy Asthma Management Service (PAMS, a trial coordinated across four academic research centres in Australia in 2009. We also propose recommendations for optimal involvement of pharmacists in academic research. Methods Feedback about the pharmacists’ experiences was sought via their participation in either a focus group or telephone interview (for those unable to attend their scheduled focus group at one of three time points. A semi-structured interview guide focused discussion on the pharmacists’ training to provide the asthma service, their interactions with health professionals and patients as per the service protocol, and the future for this type of service. Focus groups were facilitated by two researchers, and the individual interviews were shared between three researchers, with data transcribed verbatim and analysed manually. Results Of 93 pharmacists who provided the PAMS, 25 were involved in a focus group and seven via telephone interview. All pharmacists approached agreed to provide feedback. In general, the pharmacists engaged with both the service and research components, and embraced their roles as innovators in the trial of a new service. Some experienced challenges in the recruitment of patients into the service and the amount of research-related documentation, and collaborative patient-centred relationships with GPs require further attention. Specific service components, such as the spirometry, were well received by the pharmacists and their patients. Professional rewards included satisfaction from their enhanced practice, and pharmacists largely envisaged a future for the service. Conclusions The

Levels of Leadership: Effects of District and School Leaders on the Quality of School Programs of Family and Community Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Joyce L.; Galindo, Claudia L.; Sheldon, Steven B.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study tests key constructs of sociocultural and organizational learning theories with quantitative methods to better understand the nature and impact of district and school leadership and actions on the quality of programs of family and community involvement. Research Design: Survey data from a "nested" sample of 24 districts and 407…

75 FR 54044 - Fisheries in the Western Pacific; Community Development Program Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-03

... western Pacific); (2) Consist of community residents descended from aboriginal people indigenous to the... not had harvesting, processing or marketing capability sufficient to support substantial participation... involvement by the indigenous community members, including the name, address, telephone and other contact...

Training community health students to develop community-requested social marketing campaigns: an innovative partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsey, Billie J; Hawk, Carol Wetherill

2013-01-01

This paper describes a sustained partnership between a university community health program and local and regional community health agencies. As a key component of the Health Communication and Social Marketing course, the partnership involves undergraduate community health students working for and with community agencies and community members to design social marketing campaigns based on community-identified health needs. The goals of the course are to (1) provide students with the opportunity to work within the community to apply their skills in program planning, evaluation, and communication and (2) provide community agencies with a tailored campaign that can be implemented in their communities. Throughout the 10-week quarter, teams of students follow the principles of community participation in planning a social marketing campaign. These include (1) audience segmentation and formative assessment with the intended audience to determine campaign content and strategies and (2) pretesting and revisions of campaign messages and materials based on community feedback. This partnership contributes to the promotion of health in the local community and it builds the skills and competencies of future health educators. It demonstrates a successful and sustainable combination of community-based participatory research and experiential learning. From 2005 to 2011, 35 campaigns have been developed, many which have been implemented.

75 FR 34088 - Fisheries in the Western Pacific; Community Development Program Process

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-16

.... Consist of community residents descended from aboriginal people indigenous to the western Pacific area who... marketing capability sufficient to support substantial participation in fisheries in the area; and 7... involvement by the indigenous community members including the name, address, telephone and other contact...

Measurement and visualization of face-to-face interaction among community-dwelling older adults using wearable sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Masumoto, Kouhei; Yaguchi, Takaharu; Matsuda, Hiroshi; Tani, Hideaki; Tozuka, Keisuke; Kondo, Narihiko; Okada, Shuichi

2017-10-01

A number of interventions have been undertaken to develop and promote social networks among community-dwelling older adults. However, it has been difficult to examine the effects of these interventions, because of problems in assessing interactions. The present study was designed to quantitatively measure and visualize face-to-face interactions among elderly participants in an exercise program. We also examined relationships among interactional variables, personality and interest in community involvement, including interactions with the local community. Older adults living in the same community were recruited to participate in an exercise program that consisted of four sessions. We collected data on face-to-face interactions of the participants by using a wearable sensor technology device. Network analysis identified the communication networks of participants in the exercise program, as well as changes in these networks. Additionally, there were significant correlations between the number of people involved in face-to-face interactions and changes in both interest in community involvement and interactions with local community residents, as well as personality traits, including agreeableness. Social networks in the community are essential for solving problems caused by the aging society. We showed the possible applications of face-to-face interactional data for identifying core participants having many interactions, and isolated participants having only a few interactions within the community. Such data would be useful for carrying out efficient interventions for increasing participants' involvement with their community. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1752-1758. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.

The Art of Community Building the New Age of Participation

CERN Document Server

Bacon, Jono

2009-01-01

Online communities offer a wide range of opportunities today, whether you're supporting a cause, marketing a product or service, or developing open source software. The Art of Community will help you develop the broad range of talents you need to recruit members to your community, motivate and manage them, and help them become active participants. Author Jono Bacon offers a collection of experiences and observations from his decade-long involvement in building and managing communities, including his current position as manager for Ubuntu, arguably the largest community in open source softwa

Ethical genetic research in Indigenous communities: challenges and successful approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

McWhirter, Rebekah E; Mununggirritj, Djapirri; Marika, Dipililnga; Dickinson, Joanne L; Condon, John R

2012-12-01

Indigenous populations, in common with all populations, stand to benefit from the potential of genetic research to lead to improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic tools for a wide range of complex diseases. However, many Indigenous communities, especially ones that are isolated, are not included in genetic research efforts. This situation is largely a consequence of the challenges of ethically conducting genetic research in Indigenous communities and compounded by Indigenous peoples' negative past experiences with genetic issues. To examine ways of addressing these challenges, we review one investigation of a cancer cluster in remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Australia. Our experiences demonstrate that genetic research can be both ethically and successfully conducted with Indigenous communities by respecting the authority of the community, involving community members, and including regular community review throughout the research process. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevention of Dengue Fever: An Exploratory School-Community Intervention Involving Students Empowered as Change Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Jayawardene, Wasantha P.; Lohrmann, David K.; YoussefAgha, Ahmed H.; Nilwala, Dayani C.

2011-01-01

Background: Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) are epidemic and endemic in tropical and subtropical countries including Sri Lanka. Numerous structural and community interventions have been shown to be effective in interrupting the life cycle of mosquitoes that transmit DF/DHF; however, these interventions are not always implemented…

Collaboration Strategies in Nontraditional Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: Lessons From an Academic–Community Partnership With Autistic Self-Advocates

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolaidis, Christina; Raymaker, Dora; McDonald, Katherine; Dern, Sebastian; Ashkenazy, Elesia; Boisclair, Cody; Robertson, Scott; Baggs, Amanda

2012-01-01

Background Most community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects involve local communities defined by race, ethnicity, geography, or occupation. Autistic self-advocates, a geographically dispersed community defined by disability, experience issues in research similar to those expressed by more traditional minorities. Objectives We sought to build an academic–community partnership that uses CBPR to improve the lives of people on the autistic spectrum. Methods The Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) includes representatives from academic, self-advocate, family, and professional communities. We are currently conducting several studies about the health care experiences and well-being of autistic adults. Lessons Learned We have learned a number of strategies that integrate technology and process to successfully equalize power and accommodate diverse communication and collaboration needs. Conclusions CBPR can be conducted successfully with autistic self-advocates. Our strategies may be useful to other CBPR partnerships, especially ones that cannot meet in person or that include people with diverse communication needs. PMID:21623016

On Community Education and Community Development

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Dušana Findeisen

1996-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper Dušana Findeisen introduces community education and development. She particularly insists upon the fact that in the future our life will not be organised around a paid full time job and that we will be forced into searching other ways of getting involved into society and to acquire our social identity. Community education is one of the ways we could eventually choose. Since community development education in Slovenia has not developed yet the author begins by describing some basic concepts like community and history of community education and community development movement. Further on, she introduces the Andragogical Summer School based in a small Slovenian town, its aim being to encourage Slovenian adult educators to encourage community development projects.

Pediatric obesity community programs: barriers & facilitators toward sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Po'e, Eli K; Gesell, Sabina B; Lynne Caples, T; Escarfuller, Juan; Barkin, Shari L

2010-08-01

Our current generation of young people could become the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents. Families need resources in their community to address this issue. Identifying barriers and facilitators of community organizations to offer obesity-related services is a first step in understanding sustainable community programs. The objective of this study is to identify common barriers and facilitators in community organizational programs designed to prevent or reduce pediatric obesity. We conducted an exploratory qualitative research study based on grounded theory. Thirty-six community organizations were identified based on self-descriptions of goals involving pediatric obesity. Semi-structured, systematic, face-to-face interviews among program directors (n = 24) were recorded, transcribed, and coded for recurrent themes. Relevant themes were abstracted from interviews by a standardized iterative process by two independent reviewers between December 2007 and November 2008. Theme discordance was reconciled by a third reviewer. Seventy percent of organizations indicated that obesity prevention/treatment was their explicit goal with remaining groups indicating healthy lifestyles as a more general goal. Facilitators to provision of these programs included: programmatic enhancements such as improved curriculums (73%), community involvement such as volunteers (62.5%), and partnerships with other programs (54.2%). Barriers that threatened sustainability included lack of consistent funding (43.8%), lack of consistent participation from the target population (41.7%) and lack of support staff (20.8%). New approaches in fostering partnerships between organizations need to be developed. Building coalitions and engaging community members in developing community based programs may be a helpful strategy to strengthen community-based programs to address the pediatric obesity epidemic.

Lean Customer Involvement : A Multiple Case Study on the Effects of Kanban on Customer Involvement

OpenAIRE

Lundheim, Henning

2012-01-01

Customer involvement is an important, but challenging part of software development. Delays and failures can often be attributed to a lack of customer involvement. Different development methodologies provide different strategies for customer involvement, all with their own challenges. Kanban is a new development methodology quickly gaining popularity in the software development community. This thesis aims to answer the question: How does Kanban influence customer involvement? The main prob...

Community Mobilization and Readiness: Planning Flaws which Challenge Effective Implementation of 'Communities that Care' (CTC) Prevention System.

Science.gov (United States)

Basic, Josipa

2015-01-01

This article reviews the experience of implementing a community approach to drug use and youth delinquency prevention based on the 'Communities that Care' (CTC) system implemented in one Croatian county consisting of 12 communities, 2002 to 2013 (Hawkins, 1999; Hawkins & Catalano, 2004). This overview explores selected critical issues which are often not considered in substance use(r) community intervention planning, implementation as well as in associated process and outcome assessments. These issues include, among others, the mobilization process of adequate representation of people; the involvement of relevant key individual and organizational stakeholders and being aware of the stakeholders' willingness to participate in the prevention process. In addition, it is important to be aware of the stakeholders' knowledge and perceptions about the 'problems' of drug use and youth delinquency in their communities as well as the characteristics of the targeted population(s). Sometimes there are community members and stakeholders who block needed change and therefore prevention process enablers and 'bridges' should be involved in moving prevention programming forward. Another barrier that is often overlooked in prevention planning is community readiness to change and a realistic assessment of available and accessible resources for initiating the planned change(s) and sustaining them. All of these issues have been found to be potentially related to intervention success. At the end of this article, I summarize perspectives from prevention scientists and practitioners and lessons learned from communities' readiness research and practice in Croatian that has international relevance.

Common and Critical Components Among Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Planning Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Pennel, Cara L; Burdine, James N; Prochaska, John D; McLeroy, Kenneth R

Community health assessment and community health improvement planning are continuous, systematic processes for assessing and addressing health needs in a community. Since there are different models to guide assessment and planning, as well as a variety of organizations and agencies that carry out these activities, there may be confusion in choosing among approaches. By examining the various components of the different assessment and planning models, we are able to identify areas for coordination, ways to maximize collaboration, and strategies to further improve community health. We identified 11 common assessment and planning components across 18 models and requirements, with a particular focus on health department, health system, and hospital models and requirements. These common components included preplanning; developing partnerships; developing vision and scope; collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data; identifying community assets; identifying priorities; developing and implementing an intervention plan; developing and implementing an evaluation plan; communicating and receiving feedback on the assessment findings and/or the plan; planning for sustainability; and celebrating success. Within several of these components, we discuss characteristics that are critical to improving community health. Practice implications include better understanding of different models and requirements by health departments, hospitals, and others involved in assessment and planning to improve cross-sector collaboration, collective impact, and community health. In addition, federal and state policy and accreditation requirements may be revised or implemented to better facilitate assessment and planning collaboration between health departments, hospitals, and others for the purpose of improving community health.

The ‘community’ in community case management of childhood illnesses in Malawi

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Wanga Z. Zembe-Mkabile

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Malawi has achieved a remarkable feat in reducing its under-5 mortality in time to meet its MDG 4 target despite high levels of poverty, low female literacy rates, recurrent economic crises, a severe shortage of human resources for health, and poor health infrastructure. The country's community-based delivery platform (largely headed by Health Surveillance Assistants, or HSAs has been well established since the 1960s, although their tasks and responsibilities have evolved from surveillance to health promotion and prevention, and more recently to include curative services. However, the role of and the form that community involvement takes in community-based service delivery in Malawi is unclear. Design: A qualitative rapid appraisal approach was utilised to explore the role of community involvement in the HSA programme in Malawi to better understand how the various community providers intersect to support the delivery of integrated community case management by HSAs. Twelve focus group discussions and 10 individual interviews were conducted with HSAs, HSA supervisors, mothers, members of village health committees (VHCs, senior Ministry of Health officials, district health teams, and implementing partners. Results: Our findings reveal that HSAs are often deployed to areas outside of their village of residence as communities are not involved in selecting their own HSAs in Malawi. Despite this lack of involvement in selection, the high acceptance of the HSAs by community members and community accountability structures such as VHCs provide the programme with legitimacy and credibility. Conclusions: This study provides insight into how community involvement plays out in the context of a government-managed professionalised community service delivery platform. It points to the need for further research to look at the impact of removing the role of HSA selection and deployment from the community and placing it at the central level.

Participatory public health systems research: value of community involvement in a study series in mental health emergency preparedness.

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, O Lee; Marum, Felicity; Semon, Natalie; Mosley, Adrian; Gwon, Howard; Perry, Charlene; Moore, Suzanne Straub; Links, Jonathan M

2012-01-01

Concerns have arisen over recent years about the absence of empirically derived evidence on which to base policy and practice in the public health system, in general, and to meet the challenge of public health emergency preparedness, in particular. Related issues include the challenge of disaster-caused, behavioral health surge, and the frequent exclusion of populations from studies that the research is meant to aid. To characterize the contributions of nonacademic collaborators to a series of projects validating a set of interventions to enhance capacity and competency of public mental health preparedness planning and response. Urban, suburban, and rural communities of the state of Maryland and rural communities of the state of Iowa. Study partners and participants (both of this project and the studies examined) were representatives of academic health centers (AHCs), local health departments (LHDs), and faith-based organizations (FBOs) and their communities. A multiple-project, case study analysis was conducted, that is, four research projects implemented by the authors from 2005 through 2011 to determine the types and impact of contributions made by nonacademic collaborators to those projects. The analysis involved reviewing research records, conceptualizing contributions (and providing examples) for government, faith, and (nonacademic) institutional collaborators. Ten areas were identified where partners made valuable contributions to the study series; these "value-areas" were as follows: 1) leadership and management of the projects; 2) formulation and refinement of research topics, aims, etc; 3) recruitment and retention of participants; 4) design and enhancement of interventions; 5) delivery of interventions; 6) collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; 7) dissemination of findings; 8) ensuring sustainability of faith/government preparedness planning relationships; 9) optimizing scalability and portability of the model; and 10) facilitating

The Community-Conservation Conundrum: Is Citizen Science the Answer?

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Mel Galbraith

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Public participation theory assumes that empowering communities leads to enduring support for new initiatives. The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, approved in 2000, embraces this assumption and includes goals for community involvement in resolving threats to native flora and fauna. Over the last 20 years, community-based ecological restoration groups have proliferated, with between 600 and 4000 identified. Many of these groups control invasive mammals, and often include protection of native species and species reintroductions as goals. Such activities involve the groups in “wicked” problems with uncertain biological and social outcomes, plus technical challenges for implementing and measuring results. The solution might be to develop a citizen science approach, although this requires institutional support. We conducted a web-based audit of 50 community groups participating in ecological restoration projects in northern New Zealand. We found great variation in the quality of information provided by the groups, with none identifying strategic milestones and progress towards them. We concluded that, at best, many group members are accidental scientists rather than citizen scientists. Furthermore, the way community efforts are reflected in biodiversity responses is often unclear. The situation may be improved with a new approach to data gathering, training, and analyses.

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

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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.

Understanding the motivation and performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of health programmes in Kampala, Uganda: a realist evaluation protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Vareilles, Gaëlle; Pommier, Jeanine; Kane, Sumit; Pictet, Gabriel; Marchal, Bruno

2015-01-01

Introduction The recruitment of community health volunteers to support the delivery of health programmes is a well-established approach in many countries, particularly where health services are not readily available. However, studies on management of volunteers are scarce and current research on human resource management of volunteers faces methodological challenges. This paper presents the protocol of a realist evaluation that aims at identifying the factors influencing the performance of community health volunteers involved in the delivery of a Red Cross immunisation programme in Kampala (Uganda) with a specific focus on motivation. Methods and analysis The realist evaluation cycle structures the protocol. To develop the theoretical basis for the evaluation, the authors conducted interviews and reviewed the literature on community health volunteers’ performance, management and organisational behaviour. This led to the formulation of the initial programme theory, which links the intervention inputs (capacity-building strategies) to the expected outcomes (positive work behaviour) with mechanisms that point in the direction of drivers of motivation. The contextual elements include components such as organisational culture, resource availability, etc. A case study design will be adopted. We define a case as a Red Cross branch, run by a programme manager, and will select two cases at the district level in Kampala. Mixed methods will be used in data collection, including individual interviews of volunteers, participant observation and document review. The thematic analysis will be based on the initial programme theory and will seek for context-mechanism-outcome configurations. Findings from the two cases will be compared. Discussion We discuss the scope for applying realist evaluation and the methodological challenges we encountered in developing this protocol. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the Ethical Committee at Rennes University Hospital

Community Pharmacists' Views and Practices Regarding Natural Health Products Sold in Community Pharmacies.

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Ubaka Ogbogu

Full Text Available Reports of regulatory and evidentiary gaps have raised concerns about the marketing and use of natural health products (NHPs. The majority of NHPs offered for sale are purchased at a community pharmacy and pharmacists are "front-line" health professionals involved in the marketing and provision of NHPs. To date, the involvement of pharmacists in pharmacy care involving NHPs and the degree to which concerns over the safety, efficacy, marketing and regulation of NHPs are addressed in pharmacy care in Canada have not been studied.Using Qualtrics, a web-based data collection and analysis software, and a study instrument made up of fifteen (15 open-ended, closed and rating scale questions, we surveyed the attitudes and practices of 403 community pharmacists in the Canadian province of Alberta regarding NHPs offered for sale in community pharmacies.The majority of pharmacists surveyed (276; 68% recommend NHPs to clients sometimes to very often. Vitamin D, calcium, multivitamins, prenatal vitamins, probiotics and fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids were the most frequently recommended NHPs. The most common indications for which NHPs are recommended include bone and musculoskeletal disorders, maintenance of general health, gastrointestinal disorders and pregnancy. Review articles published in the Pharmacist's Letter and Canadian Pharmacists Journal were the primary basis for recommending NHPs. The majority of pharmacists surveyed (339; 84% recommend the use of NHPs concurrently with conventional drugs, while a significant number and proportion (125; 31% recommend alternative use. Pharmacists in the study overwhelmingly reported providing counselling on NHPs to clients based on information obtained mainly from the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.The study findings indicate a high prevalence of pharmacy care relating to NHPs among study participants. Although pharmacists' practices around NHPs are consistent with the existing licensing framework, we

Community Pharmacists' Views and Practices Regarding Natural Health Products Sold in Community Pharmacies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogbogu, Ubaka; Necyk, Candace

Reports of regulatory and evidentiary gaps have raised concerns about the marketing and use of natural health products (NHPs). The majority of NHPs offered for sale are purchased at a community pharmacy and pharmacists are "front-line" health professionals involved in the marketing and provision of NHPs. To date, the involvement of pharmacists in pharmacy care involving NHPs and the degree to which concerns over the safety, efficacy, marketing and regulation of NHPs are addressed in pharmacy care in Canada have not been studied. Using Qualtrics, a web-based data collection and analysis software, and a study instrument made up of fifteen (15) open-ended, closed and rating scale questions, we surveyed the attitudes and practices of 403 community pharmacists in the Canadian province of Alberta regarding NHPs offered for sale in community pharmacies. The majority of pharmacists surveyed (276; 68%) recommend NHPs to clients sometimes to very often. Vitamin D, calcium, multivitamins, prenatal vitamins, probiotics and fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids were the most frequently recommended NHPs. The most common indications for which NHPs are recommended include bone and musculoskeletal disorders, maintenance of general health, gastrointestinal disorders and pregnancy. Review articles published in the Pharmacist's Letter and Canadian Pharmacists Journal were the primary basis for recommending NHPs. The majority of pharmacists surveyed (339; 84%) recommend the use of NHPs concurrently with conventional drugs, while a significant number and proportion (125; 31%) recommend alternative use. Pharmacists in the study overwhelmingly reported providing counselling on NHPs to clients based on information obtained mainly from the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. The study findings indicate a high prevalence of pharmacy care relating to NHPs among study participants. Although pharmacists' practices around NHPs are consistent with the existing licensing framework, we found some

IBF: An Integrated Business Framework for Virtual Communities

OpenAIRE

Fernando Ferri; Alessia D’Andrea; Patrizia Grifoni

2012-01-01

The paper provides an integrated business framework for Business-to-Business, Business-to-Consumer and Consumer-to-Consumer Virtual Communities. The framework involves internal and external factors. Internal factors that include: market analysis; products/services promotion; development of trust; social influence and Knowledge sharing, differ from the different orientations of the framework, while the external factors involve competitors and technological aspects that, while differing from th...

Accidents involving off-road motor vehicles in a northern community.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasselback, P; Wilding, H R

1987-01-01

The increasing number of accidents associated with off-road motor vehicles used for recreational purposes prompted this prospective study. During 1985 the records of victims of all motor vehicle accidents who were seen at the Hudson Bay Union Hospital, Hudson Bay, Sask., were studied; patients involved in on-road vehicle accidents were included for comparison. Emphasis was placed on age, vehicle type, mechanism of accident, injury severity and the use of safety features. Almost half of the victims of off-road vehicle accidents were under 16 years of age. The poor adherence to government legislation and manufacturer recommendations was evident in the number of people who did not wear helmets or use headlights. PMID:3651929

Community-based tourism in practice: evidence from three coastal communities in Bohuslän, Sweden

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Lindström Kristina N.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Local involvement in tourism development is defined as a key issue for sustainable tourism, however it is often questioned and less seldom implemented in reality. Reasons behind this condition are lack of knowledge and practical experience on community-based tourism as a bottom-up approach. In this paper it is argued that local involvement in tourism development is both a democratic right and a strategic destination management tool. The paper scrutinizes a process of collaboration and local participation in a tourism development project within three coastal communities on the Swedish West Coast. A mixed-methods approach was employed in the project with the specific aim of investigating attitudes to the community and tourism development and of involving community stakeholders in exploring alternative avenues of tourism development. The article describes four phases of the process of local involvement in a tourism development project: step 1, formation of a representative project group and negotiation of community-based approach; step 2, consulting local stakeholders and employing a mixed-methods approach; step 3, elaborating results with local stakeholders; step 4, increased community collaboration.

Lived experiences of HIV community workers participating in a community empowerment programme

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Juliana Horn

2014-08-01

Objectives: The researcher explored the lived experiences of HIV community workers participating in two CEPs in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal in order to develop recommendations for CEPs. Method: Data were explored using a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Ten participants who had been involved in HIV CEPs for more than six months were identified and individual interviews were held. Results: Three themes emerged, namely, giving of yourself, maintaining sustainability and assisting the CEPs and community workers. Each of these themes also contained a number of subthemes. Exploring the lived experience of the community workers revealed that there are a number of ways in which to promote the sustainability of CEPs. Conclusion: The community should be involved in all aspects of the CEP and community workers must respect the community and their knowledge, experience and value systems.

Relations with local communities: 'a lot of happy faces and a lot of hard work'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, B.

1995-01-01

The public relations programme of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is described. It includes: involvement in the economic regeneration of the regions in which its sites are located; providing resource materials to schools; funding of university posts, contract research and studentships; community involvement through such things as support of organisations/charities concerned with community and welfare, health issues, renewal and cultural activities, sponsorship. Branding and attribution in its community and sponsorship programmes is aimed at achieving recognition for BNFL as a quality, caring and responsible company. (UK)

Community involvement: stake holder learning in the UK and in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hetherington, J.

2003-01-01

Copeland District in west Cumbria in the North-West Region of England, is 'home' to the major UK (Sellafield) reprocessing plants (including THORP). The Sellafield site includes major stores for Intermediate (ILW) and High Level Waste (HLW), while the nearby Drigg national site provides a facility for the managed surface disposal of Low Level Waste (LLW). Together these facilities dominate the local economy, proving some 10 000 jobs and making a key contribution to the local economy. In the 1990's the area was also highlighted as the potential location for a national ILW deep waste repository. This paper offers a reflection from a UK community perspective on the deliberations of the FSC Canadian Workshop. It provides, as background, an initial introductory account of: the development of radioactive waste and liabilities management policy in the UK, the significance of the failure of the Nirex RCF proposals, the success of new dialogue approaches, and the new wide ranging UK radioactive waste management consultation process. It then compares the economic and social issues arising at Sellafield with issues identified in the Canadian programmes and experiences as presented at the Workshop. (author)

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.

Community centrality and social science research.

Science.gov (United States)

Allman, Dan

2015-12-01

Community centrality is a growing requirement of social science. The field's research practices are increasingly expected to conform to prescribed relationships with the people studied. Expectations about community centrality influence scholarly activities. These expectations can pressure social scientists to adhere to models of community involvement that are immediate and that include community-based co-investigators, advisory boards, and liaisons. In this context, disregarding community centrality can be interpreted as failure. This paper considers evolving norms about the centrality of community in social science. It problematises community inclusion and discusses concerns about the impact of community centrality on incremental theory development, academic integrity, freedom of speech, and the value of liberal versus communitarian knowledge. Through the application of a constructivist approach, this paper argues that social science in which community is omitted or on the periphery is not failed science, because not all social science requires a community base to make a genuine and valuable contribution. The utility of community centrality is not necessarily universal across all social science pursuits. The practices of knowing within social science disciplines may be difficult to transfer to a community. These practices of knowing require degrees of specialisation and interest that not all communities may want or have.

Insights into microbial communities involved in mercury methylation in the San Francisco Bay estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Machak, C.; Francis, C. A.

2013-12-01

San Francisco Bay (SFB) estuary is the largest estuary on the western coast of the United States, draining a watershed covering more than one third of the state of California. Mercury (Hg) contamination in SFB, as a result of gold and mercury mining in the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada region, has been observed for at least 150 years. Additional sources of Hg contamination to SFB come from active oil refineries, manufacturing, and wastewater treatment plants in the area. Concentrations of methylmercury in the sediment at the time of sample collection for the present study ranged from 0.011-3.88 μg/kg (dry weight). At some sites, the concentration exceeds wetland toxicity limits, posing a threat to the health of the ecosystem and potentially endangering humans that use the estuary for food and recreation. This study attempts to understand the factors that control the transformation of Hg to methylmercury by microorganisms in aquatic sediments, where the majority of Hg methylation is known to occur. Under anoxic conditions, some sulfate- and iron-reducing bacteria have the capacity to transform Hg into methylmercury. To better understand the microbial communities involved in Hg methylation, an extensive library of 16S rRNA sequences was generated (via Illumina sequencing) from sediment samples at 20 sites throughout the SFB estuary. In addition to genomic data, we have access to a massive database of geochemical measurements made by the SFB Regional Monitoring Program at the sampling locations. These measurements show that our sediment samples have varying methylmercury concentrations and span gradients in porewater sulfate and Fe(III), which are the two known alternative electron acceptors for mercury-methylating anaerobic bacteria. The sampling sites also span gradients in other geochemical factors known to influence microbial community composition (and potentially Hg mercury methylation), such as available organic carbon, pH, and salinity. We will present the

Bacterial community involved in the nitrogen cycle in a down-flow sponge-based trickling filter treating UASB effluent.

Science.gov (United States)

Mac Conell, E F A; Almeida, P G S; Martins, K E L; Araújo, J C; Chernicharo, C A L

2015-01-01

The bacterial community composition of a down-flow sponge-based trickling filter treating upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) effluent was investigated by pyrosequencing. Bacterial community composition considerably changed along the reactor and over the operational period. The dominant phyla detected were Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Planctomycetes. The abundance of denitrifiers decreased from the top to the bottom and it was consistent with the organic matter concentration gradients. At lower loadings (organic and nitrogen loading rates), the abundance of anammox bacteria was higher than that of the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria in the upper portion of the reactor, suggesting that aerobic and anaerobic ammonium oxidation occurred. Nitrification occurred in all the compartments, while anammox bacteria prominently appeared even in the presence of high organic carbon to ammonia ratios (around 1.0-2.0 gCOD gN(-1)). The results suggest that denitrifiers, nitrifiers, and anammox bacteria coexisted in the reactor; thus, different metabolic pathways were involved in ammonium removal in the post-UASB reactor sponge-based.

Improving Hawaiian and Filipino involvement in clinical research opportunities: qualitative findings from Hawai'i.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollin, Lisa X; Harrigan, Rosanne C; Calderón, José L; Perez, John; Easa, David

2005-01-01

Investigate the barriers to participation in medical research that involves Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations in Hawai'i. Fifty people (27 Filipinos, 23 Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders) in five different communities on Oahu. Nine focus groups with an ethnically matched moderator were held to explore people's feelings, problems, and recommendations regarding medical research. Sessions were audiotaped, transcribed, and qualitatively analyzed with the constant comparison method. Only 12% of study participants said that they absolutely would not participate in a clinical study. Most agreed that research is vital. Filipino participants were more optimistic about the safety and value of joining in medical research. Hawaiian groups were more hesitant and fearful. Reasons for nonparticipation included negative feelings about the purpose and intent of clinical trials and language and cultural barriers. Suggestions on how to encourage API populations to participate in research investigations included improving peoples' understanding of the benefits to family and community. Hawaiian and Filipino groups differed only slightly in their assessments of the type of research needed in their communities. Recruitment campaigns must improve people's awareness of the process of informed consent, research safeguards, and benefits to family and community. Attention should focus on K-12 health education to use members of the younger generations to access and educate elders, involving persons with medical research experience as a recruitment resource, returning results to study participants, and increasing the number of healthcare professionals and researchers that are culturally and linguistically matched to the community.

The use of Goal Attainment Scaling in a community health promotion initiative with seniors

OpenAIRE

Kloseck Marita

2007-01-01

Abstract Background Evaluating collaborative community health promotion initiatives presents unique challenges, including engaging community members and other stakeholders in the evaluation process, and measuring the attainment of goals at the collective community level. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a versatile, under-utilized evaluation tool adaptable to a wide range of situations. GAS actively involves all partners in the evaluation process and has many benefits when used in community h...

Optimizing care transitions: the role of the community pharmacist

Science.gov (United States)

Melody, Karleen T; McCartney, Elizabeth; Sen, Sanchita; Duenas, Gladys

2016-01-01

Transitions of care (TOC) refer to the movement of patients across institutions, among providers, between different levels of care, and to and from home. Medication errors that occur during TOC have the potential to result in medical complications that are serious for the patient and costly to the health care system. Positive outcomes have been demonstrated when pharmacists are involved in providing TOC services, including reducing preventable adverse drug reactions, medication-related problems, and rehospitalizations, as well as improving the discharge process. This review explores TOC models involving community pharmacy practice, the current impact of pharmacist interventions in TOC, and patient satisfaction with TOC services provided by community pharmacists. Common barriers and potential solutions to TOC services provided in the community pharmacy, such as patient identification, information gathering, standardization of services, administrative support, reimbursement, and time restraints, are also discussed. PMID:29354539

The Learning Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Boo, Mary Richardson; Decker, Larry E.

This guide to community education offers strategies and suggestions for responding to the call for more community involvement in partnership efforts that will benefit education and society. First, a brief introduction summarizes the philosophy of community education, defining it as a belief that learning is lifelong and that self-help efforts…

Five-year follow-up of Community Pediatrics Training Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Minkovitz, Cynthia S; Goldshore, Matt; Solomon, Barry S; Guyer, Bernard; Grason, Holly

2014-07-01

To compare community involvement of pediatricians exposed to enhanced residency training as part of the Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative (CPTI) with involvement reported by a national sample of pediatricians. A cross-sectional analyses compared 2008-2010 mailed surveys of CPTI graduates 5 years after residency graduation with comparably aged respondents in a 2010 mailed national American Academy of Pediatrics survey of US pediatricians (CPTI: n = 234, response = 56.0%; national sample: n = 243; response = 59.9%). Respondents reported demographic characteristics, practice characteristics (setting, time spent in general pediatrics), involvement in community child health activities in past 12 months, use of ≥1 strategies to influence community child health (eg, educate legislators), and being moderately/very versus not at all/minimally skilled in 6 such activities (eg, identify community needs). χ(2) statistics assessed differences between groups; logistic regression modeled the independent association of CPTI with community involvement adjusting for personal and practice characteristics and perspectives regarding involvement. Compared with the national sample, more CPTI graduates reported involvement in community pediatrics (43.6% vs 31.1%, P .05). Differences in involvement remained in adjusted analyses with greater involvement by CPTI graduates (adjusted odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.5-3.7). Five years after residency, compared with their peers, more CPTI graduates report having skills and greater community pediatrics involvement. Enhanced residency training in community pediatrics may lead to a more engaged pediatrician workforce. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Community Education for Family Planning in the U.S.: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Marion W; Tregear, Michelle L; Moskosky, Susan B

2015-08-01

Community education may involve activities that seek to raise awareness and promote behavior change, using mass media, social media, and other media or interpersonal methods in community settings. This systematic review evaluated the evidence of the effects of community education on select short- and medium-term family planning outcomes. Using an analytic approach drawn from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, multiple databases were searched for articles published from January 1985 through February 2011 describing studies of community education related to family planning in the U.S. Included articles were reviewed and assessed for potential bias using a standardized process in 2011. An updated, targeted review for the 2011-2014 period was conducted in early 2015. Seventeen papers were identified. Most (nine) related to mass media interventions; three involved targeted print media, two involved text messaging or e-mail, two described outcome workers conducting community education, and one involved community theater. Study designs, strength of evidence, and levels of possible bias varied widely. Twelve of 15 studies that addressed outcomes such as increased awareness found positive associations with those outcomes, with six also reporting null findings. Seven of eight studies that addressed use of services reported positive associations, with two also reporting null findings. The targeted, additional review identified two other studies. Evidence related to community education for family planning purposes is limited and highly variable. As goals of community education are usually limited to shorter-term outcomes, the evidence suggests that a range of approaches may be effective. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Get Involved in Education and Public Outreach! The Science Mission Directorate Science E/PO Forums Are Here to Help

Science.gov (United States)

Shipp, S. S.; Buxner, S.; Schwerin, T. G.; Hsu, B. C.; Peticolas, L. M.; Smith, D.; Meinke, B. K.

2013-12-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums help to engage, extend, support, and coordinate the efforts of the community of E/PO professionals and scientists involved in Earth and space science education activities. This work is undertaken to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the overall national NASA science education and outreach effort made up of individual efforts run by these education professionals. This includes facilitating scientist engagement in education and outreach. The Forums have been developing toolkits and pathways to support planetary, Earth, astrophysics, and heliophysics scientists who are - or who are interested in becoming - involved in E/PO. These tools include: 1) Pathways to learn about SMD and E/PO community announcements and opportunities, share news about E/PO programs, let the E/PO community know you are interested in becoming involved, and discover education programs needing scientist input and/or support. These pathways include weekly e-news, the SMD E/PO online community workspace, monthly community calls, conferences and meetings of opportunity. 2) Portals to help you find out what education resources already exist, obtain resources to share with students of all levels - from K-12 to graduate students, - and disseminate your materials. These include E/PO samplers and toolkits (sampling of resources selected for scientists who work with students, teachers, and the public), the one-stop shop of reviewed resources from the NASA Earth and space science education portfolio NASAWavelength.org, and the online clearinghouse of Earth and space science higher education materials EarthSpace (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace). 3) Connections to education specialists who can help you design and implement meaningful E/PO programs - small to large. Education specialists can help you understand what research says about how people learn and effective practices for achieving your goals, place your

The Hayden House Program: Community Involvement in the Arts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hampton, Grace

1979-01-01

Describes an arts and crafts program initiated at Hayden House, a low-income, racially integrated housing development in Phoenix, Arizona. The program, designed to promote pride and community cohesion, presented workshops and cultural events for both children and adults. This article is part of a theme issue on multicultural art. (SJL)

Promoting HIV Vaccine Research in African American Communities: Does the Theory of Reasoned Action Explain Potential Outcomes of Involvement?

Science.gov (United States)

Frew, Paula M; Archibald, Matthew; Martinez, Nina; del Rio, Carlos; Mulligan, Mark J

2007-01-01

The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to challenge the African American community with disproportionate rates of infection, particularly among young women ages 25 to 34 years. Development of a preventive HIV vaccine may bring a substantial turning point in this health crisis. Engagement of the African American community is necessary to improve awareness of the effort and favorably influence attitudes and referent norms. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) may be a useful framework for exploration of community engagement outcomes including future attendance, community mobilization, and study participation. Within the context of HIV vaccine outreach, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in early 2007 with 175 African-American adults (>/= 18 years). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed and the findings support the potential of the model in understanding behavioral intentions toward HIV vaccine research.

Large cryoconite aggregates on a Svalbard glacier support a diverse microbial community including ammonia-oxidizing archaea

Science.gov (United States)

Zarsky, Jakub D.; Stibal, Marek; Hodson, Andy; Sattler, Birgit; Schostag, Morten; Hansen, Lars H.; Jacobsen, Carsten S.; Psenner, Roland

2013-09-01

The aggregation of surface debris particles on melting glaciers into larger units (cryoconite) provides microenvironments for various microorganisms and metabolic processes. Here we investigate the microbial community on the surface of Aldegondabreen, a valley glacier in Svalbard which is supplied with carbon and nutrients from different sources across its surface, including colonies of seabirds. We used a combination of geochemical analysis (of surface debris, ice and meltwater), quantitative polymerase chain reactions (targeting the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid and amoA genes), pyrosequencing and multivariate statistical analysis to suggest possible factors driving the ecology of prokaryotic microbes on the surface of Aldegondabreen and their potential role in nitrogen cycling. The combination of high nutrient input with subsidy from the bird colonies, supraglacial meltwater flow and the presence of fine, clay-like particles supports the formation of centimetre-scale cryoconite aggregates in some areas of the glacier surface. We show that a diverse microbial community is present, dominated by the cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, that are well-known in supraglacial environments. Importantly, ammonia-oxidizing archaea were detected in the aggregates for the first time on an Arctic glacier.

Large cryoconite aggregates on a Svalbard glacier support a diverse microbial community including ammonia-oxidizing archaea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zarsky, Jakub D; Sattler, Birgit; Psenner, Roland; Stibal, Marek; Schostag, Morten; Jacobsen, Carsten S; Hodson, Andy; Hansen, Lars H

2013-01-01

The aggregation of surface debris particles on melting glaciers into larger units (cryoconite) provides microenvironments for various microorganisms and metabolic processes. Here we investigate the microbial community on the surface of Aldegondabreen, a valley glacier in Svalbard which is supplied with carbon and nutrients from different sources across its surface, including colonies of seabirds. We used a combination of geochemical analysis (of surface debris, ice and meltwater), quantitative polymerase chain reactions (targeting the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid and amoA genes), pyrosequencing and multivariate statistical analysis to suggest possible factors driving the ecology of prokaryotic microbes on the surface of Aldegondabreen and their potential role in nitrogen cycling. The combination of high nutrient input with subsidy from the bird colonies, supraglacial meltwater flow and the presence of fine, clay-like particles supports the formation of centimetre-scale cryoconite aggregates in some areas of the glacier surface. We show that a diverse microbial community is present, dominated by the cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, that are well-known in supraglacial environments. Importantly, ammonia-oxidizing archaea were detected in the aggregates for the first time on an Arctic glacier. (letter)

Large cryoconite aggregates on a Svalbard glacier support a diverse microbial community including ammonia-oxidizing archaea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zarsky, Jakub D; Sattler, Birgit; Psenner, Roland [Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck (Austria); Stibal, Marek; Schostag, Morten; Jacobsen, Carsten S [Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Copenhagen (Denmark); Hodson, Andy [Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Hansen, Lars H, E-mail: j.zarsky@gmail.com [Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen (Denmark)

2013-09-15

The aggregation of surface debris particles on melting glaciers into larger units (cryoconite) provides microenvironments for various microorganisms and metabolic processes. Here we investigate the microbial community on the surface of Aldegondabreen, a valley glacier in Svalbard which is supplied with carbon and nutrients from different sources across its surface, including colonies of seabirds. We used a combination of geochemical analysis (of surface debris, ice and meltwater), quantitative polymerase chain reactions (targeting the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid and amoA genes), pyrosequencing and multivariate statistical analysis to suggest possible factors driving the ecology of prokaryotic microbes on the surface of Aldegondabreen and their potential role in nitrogen cycling. The combination of high nutrient input with subsidy from the bird colonies, supraglacial meltwater flow and the presence of fine, clay-like particles supports the formation of centimetre-scale cryoconite aggregates in some areas of the glacier surface. We show that a diverse microbial community is present, dominated by the cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, that are well-known in supraglacial environments. Importantly, ammonia-oxidizing archaea were detected in the aggregates for the first time on an Arctic glacier. (letter)

Radicalisation of Young Adults in the Balkan States: Counter-Measures, Healthcare Provision, and Community Involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cara Richardson

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Decreasing the rise of extremism remains a priority for governments worldwide. Motives behind joining an extremist organisation are complex and often unique to the individual, making prevention strategies difficult to design and implement. This article explores several facets of this complex problem, particularly in relation to young adults, including links between extremism, criminality and incarceration, mental health, socioeconomic status and the rise of radicalisation ‘hotspots’ in Muslim majority states in the Western Balkans, where lack of government leadership allows extremist organisations to flourish. Potential counter radicalisation measures are also discussed in various contexts, including healthcare systems, the community, internationally and within the Balkan region.

Opening the Black Box: Conceptualizing Community Engagement From 109 Community-Academic Partnership Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Syed M; Maurana, Cheryl; Nelson, David; Meister, Tim; Young, Sharon Neu; Lucey, Paula

2016-01-01

This research effort includes a large scale study of 109 community-academic partnership projects funded by the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program (HWPP), a component of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The study provides an analysis unlike other studies, which have been smaller, and/or more narrowly focused in the type of community-academic partnership projects analyzed. To extract themes and insights for the benefit of future community-academic partnerships and the field of community-engaged research (CEnR). Content analysis of the final reports submitted by 109 community-academic partnership projects awards within the time frame of March 2005 to August 2011. Thirteen themes emerged from the report analysis: community involvement, health accomplishments, capacity building, sustainability, collaboration, communication, best practices, administration, relationship building, clarity, adjustment of plan, strategic planning, and time. Data supported previous studies in the importance of some themes, and provided insights regarding how these themes are impactful. The case analysis revealed new insights into the characteristics of these themes, which the authors then grouped into three categories: foundational attributes of successful community-academic partnership, potential challenges of community-academic partnerships, and outcomes of community-academic partnerships. The insights gained from these reports further supports previous research extolling the benefits of community-academic partnerships and provides valuable direction for future partners, funders and evaluators in how to deal with challenges and what they can anticipate and plan for in developing and managing community-academic partnership projects.

Library Automation at a Multi-Campus Community College.

Science.gov (United States)

Farris, Deirdre A.

1987-01-01

Describes the planning and implementation of a library automation system which encompasses four campus locations of a community college, and includes automation of technical processes and full access to holdings and circulation records of all the libraries involved. Software and hardware considerations are discussed, and guidelines to automation…

Service user involvement in mental health system strengthening in a rural African setting: qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Abayneh, Sisay; Lempp, Heidi; Alem, Atalay; Alemayehu, Daniel; Eshetu, Tigist; Lund, Crick; Semrau, Maya; Thornicroft, Graham; Hanlon, Charlotte

2017-05-18

It is essential to involve service users in efforts to expand access to mental health care in integrated primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there is little evidence from LMICs to guide this process. The aim of this study was to explore barriers to, and facilitators of, service user/caregiver involvement in rural Ethiopia to inform the development of a scalable approach. Thirty nine semi-structured interviews were carried out with purposively selected mental health service users (n = 13), caregivers (n = 10), heads of primary care facilities (n = 8) and policy makers/planners/service developers (n = 8). The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed in Amharic, and translated into English. Thematic analysis was applied. All groups of participants supported service user and caregiver involvement in mental health system strengthening. Potential benefits were identified as (i) improved appropriateness and quality of services, and (ii) greater protection against mistreatment and promotion of respect for service users. However, hardly any respondents had prior experience of service user involvement. Stigma was considered to be a pervasive barrier, operating within the health system, the local community and individuals. Competing priorities of service users included the need to obtain adequate individual care and to work for survival. Low recognition of the potential contribution of service users seemed linked to limited empowerment and mobilization of service users. Potential health system facilitators included a culture of community oversight of primary care services. All groups of respondents identified a need for awareness-raising and training to equip service users, caregivers, service providers and local community for involvement. Empowerment at the level of individual service users (information about mental health conditions, care and rights) and the group level (for advocacy and representation) were considered

Community-based natural resource management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Treue, Thorsten; Nathan, Iben

that deliver credible and easily accessible information. Checks and balances can be supported through civil society as well as the media. Finally, the private sector plays a key and potentially beneficial role in the harvest, transport and marketing of CBNRM products. Thus, dialogue partners should include......This technical note is the product of a long process of consultation with a wide range of resource persons who have over the years been involved in the Danish support to Community Based Natural Resource Management. It gives a brief introduction to community-based natural resource management (CBNRM...... from CBNRM will be useful when designing community-based climate adaptation strategies. Thus, this note is a contribution to an ongoing debate as well as a product of the long-standing experiences of Danida's environmental portfolio. CBNRM is not a stand-alone solution to secure poverty reduction...

Community Engagement in a Graduate-Level Community Literacy Course

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall Bowen, Lauren; Arko, Kirsti; Beatty, Joel; Delaney, Cindy; Dorpenyo, Isidore; Moeller, Laura; Roberts, Elsa; Velat, John

2014-01-01

A case study of a graduate-level community literacy seminar that involved a tutoring project with adult digital literacy learners, this essay illustrates the value of community outreach and service-learning for graduate students in writing studies. Presenting multiple perspectives through critical reflection, student authors describe how their…

Communication and Stakeholder Involvement in Environmental Remediation Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

The way in which members of the public perceive a contamination situation and an approach to the remediation of contaminated land will influence the decision making process in a variety of ways. Through communication between experts, decision makers and members of stakeholder communities, participatory processes and negotiation between different interest groups can sometimes be used effectively as mechanisms for improving the overall decision making process. The intention is to ensure a technically sound and socially acceptable decision that meets norms of adequacy or satisfactory performance in relation to a whole range of different concerns. Good communication strategies will encourage cooperation and understanding between different interested parties in remediation projects. Involvement of affected or interested persons can prevent fear driven reactions, which potentially damage public response and create undue expectations or unnecessary anxiety. For all environmental remediation (ER) cases, there is a risk that the process will fail if it does not respect social, environmental, political and economic dimensions. This requires open, clear and mutually agreed lines of communication among stakeholders within a well defined legal framework. A general recommendation is to involve them from a very early point in the process. This publication presents ER in plain language in such a way that implementers and regulators can communicate the motives and objectives of remediation projects to a variety of stakeholder communities in order to improve mutual understanding and facilitate dialogue between interested parties. ER is considered from two perspectives: technical and non-technical. A section that gives general ideas on the strategies to deal with stakeholder involvement and which discusses different aspects of the communication approaches in ER is then included. It is recognized that social, cultural and political situations are very diverse in different countries in

Communication and Stakeholder Involvement in Environmental Remediation Projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2014-05-15

The way in which members of the public perceive a contamination situation and an approach to the remediation of contaminated land will influence the decision making process in a variety of ways. Through communication between experts, decision makers and members of stakeholder communities, participatory processes and negotiation between different interest groups can sometimes be used effectively as mechanisms for improving the overall decision making process. The intention is to ensure a technically sound and socially acceptable decision that meets norms of adequacy or satisfactory performance in relation to a whole range of different concerns. Good communication strategies will encourage cooperation and understanding between different interested parties in remediation projects. Involvement of affected or interested persons can prevent fear driven reactions, which potentially damage public response and create undue expectations or unnecessary anxiety. For all environmental remediation (ER) cases, there is a risk that the process will fail if it does not respect social, environmental, political and economic dimensions. This requires open, clear and mutually agreed lines of communication among stakeholders within a well defined legal framework. A general recommendation is to involve them from a very early point in the process. This publication presents ER in plain language in such a way that implementers and regulators can communicate the motives and objectives of remediation projects to a variety of stakeholder communities in order to improve mutual understanding and facilitate dialogue between interested parties. ER is considered from two perspectives: technical and non-technical. A section that gives general ideas on the strategies to deal with stakeholder involvement and which discusses different aspects of the communication approaches in ER is then included. It is recognized that social, cultural and political situations are very diverse in different countries in

Teacher Training in Family Involvement: An Interpersonal Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Mick; Wallinga, Charlotte

2000-01-01

Discusses ways to develop family-school-community involvement, based on an early childhood teacher training course in family involvement. Discusses strategies for using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to facilitate family involvement interactions, and using student teachers' experiences for structuring reflective thought about family involvement…

Active patient involvement in the education of health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Towle, Angela; Bainbridge, Lesley; Godolphin, William; Katz, Arlene; Kline, Cathy; Lown, Beth; Madularu, Ioana; Solomon, Patricia; Thistlethwaite, Jill

2010-01-01

Patients as educators (teaching intimate physical examination) first appeared in the 1960s. Since then, rationales for the active involvement of patients as educators have been well articulated. There is great potential to promote the learning of patient-centred practice, interprofessional collaboration, community involvement, shared decision making and how to support self-care. We reviewed and summarised the literature on active patient involvement in health professional education. A synthesis of the literature reveals increasing diversity in the ways in which patients are involved in education, but also the movement's weaknesses. Most initiatives are 'one-off' events and are reported as basic descriptions. There is little rigorous research or theory of practice or investigation of behavioural outcomes. The literature is scattered and uses terms (such as 'patient'!) that are contentious and confusing. We propose future directions for research and development, including a taxonomy to facilitate dialogue, an outline of a research strategy and reference to a comprehensive bibliography covering all health and human services.

Community-Based Learning. Adding Value to Programs Involving Service Agencies and Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Cumming, Jim

Community-based learning (CBL) is a structured approach to learning and teaching that connects meaningful community experience with intellectual development, personal growth, and active citizenship. Enthusiasm for CBL is emerging in Australia and elsewhere because it is seen as the following: strategy for whole-school reform, especially in…

Community Assessment: A Current Essential Need

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Hassan Lotfi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Health; as a basic right of the people and essential demand; should be considered as a joint responsibility of the government and people of a community. As much as the people of a community aware and involved in the individual health promotion and problem solving of their community in all dimensions, the probability of reaching to favorable health measurements is also increased. Community assessment is considered as a foundation for health improving and promoting the community members. The main objectives of community assessment are; to identify factors that affect the health of a population and determine the availability of resources within the community to adequately address these factors. In this Vera, community leaders, public health agencies, businesses, hospitals, private practitioners, and academic centers have each one a defined role. These groups can begin to answer key questions such as (a “What are the strengths in our community?” (b “What health concerns do community members have?” and (c “What resources are available and what do we need in the community to address these concerns? An important use of a community health assessment is to create Community Health Action to develop effective community health strategies. The health reform plan of Islamic Republic of Iran, started at the earlier months of the current year (2014, with establishing of the family physician program begun firstly at the level of rural regions, then will developed to cities with population 20000 to 500000 also borderlines of metropolitans cities and finally in the future, covering all urban eras of cities in the country aimed to executive the referral system with all its attributes. Being a full time physician along with a comprehensive teamwork including different prestigious health workers prepare a gold opportunity for implementation of community assessment in these regions. Although, some efforts have been accomplished in some parts of country by

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.

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.

The Effect of Coaching on a Faith Community Volunteer's Use of Effective Teaching Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Baggerman, Melanie A.; Ault, Melinda Jones; Collins, Belva C.; Spriggs, Amy D.; Slocum, Victoria

2015-01-01

An important part of quality of life for people with moderate and severe disabilities (MSDs) is being involved in extracurricular and community activities. However, volunteers, who may not have experience with including people with MSDs, lead most community activities. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of teacher…

Prokaryotic community composition involved production of nitrogen in sediments of Mejillones Bay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moraga, Ruben; Galan, Alexander; Rosello-Mora, Ramon; Araya, Ruben; Valdes, Jorge

2014-01-01

Conventional denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) contributes to nitrogen loss in oxygen-deficient systems, thereby influencing many aspects of ecosystem function and global biogeochemistry. Mejillones Bay, northern Chile, presents ideal conditions to study nitrogen removal processes, because it is inserted in a coastal upwelling system, its sediments have anoxia and hypoxia conditions and under the influence of the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ), unknown processes that occur there and what are the microbial communities responsible for their removal. Microbial communities associated with coastal sediments of Mejillones Bay were studied by denaturing gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), by incubation experiments with 15 N isotope tracers were studied nitrogen loss processes operating in these sediments. DGGE analysis showed high bacterial diversity, certain redundant phylotypes and differences in community structure given by the depth; this reflects the microbial community adaptations to environmental conditions. A large fraction (up to 70%) of DAPI-stained cells hybridized with the bacterial probes. Nearly 52-90% of the cell could be further identified to know phyla. Members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium cluster were most abundant in the sediments (13-26%), followed by Proteobacteria. Isotopic tracer experiments for the sediments studied indicated that nitrogen loss processes that predominated were performed by denitrifying communities (43.31-111.20 μMd -1 ) was not possible to detect anammox in the area and not anammox bacteria were detected

Pioneering partnerships: Resident involvement from multiple perspectives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baur, V.E.; Abma, T.A.; Boelsma, F.; Woelders, S.

2013-01-01

Resident involvement in residential care homes is a challenge due to shortcomings of consumerist and formal approaches such as resident councils. The PARTNER approach aims to involve residents through collective action to improve their community life and wellbeing. The purpose of this article is to

Whole Community Resilience: Engaging Multiple Sectors with the Coastal Community Resilience Index and the Climate and Resilience Community of Practice in the Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Sempier, T.

2017-12-01

Communicating risk due to flooding, sea level rise, storm surge, and other natural hazards is a complex task when attempting to build resilience in coastal communities. There are a number of challenges related to preparing for, responding to, and recovering from coastal storms. Successful resilience planning must include a wide range of sectors including, but not limited to local government, business, non-profit, religious, academia, and healthcare. Years of experience working with communities in the Gulf of Mexico has helped create a process that is both inclusive and effective at bringing the right people to the table and gaining momentum towards resilience efforts. The Coastal Community Resilience Index (CRI), a self-assessment for community leaders, has been implemented in 54 Gulf communities with funding that provides small grant awards to help communities take action to address gaps and vulnerabilities identified in the assessment process. To maintain momentum with resilience actions, the Gulf Climate and Resilience Community of Practice (CoP) encourages local municipality participants to share lessons learned and best practices from their implementation projects in an annual symposium. Recently, both graduate and undergraduate students have been exposed to the CRI and CoP as avenues to work through solutions to complex problems at the local level. In addition, a new generation of high school students has been introduced to the CRI. Their engagement in the process is building a more informed citizenry that will take on the leadership and decision-making roles in the future. Investing in multiple age groups and sectors through the CRI and CoP is building capacity for whole community resilience in the Gulf of Mexico. This presentation will focus on methods that have been successful in the Gulf of Mexico for creating effective change in local municipalities towards resilience actions. Discussion will include decision support tools for engaging local

Coping with a community stressor: a proposed hazardous waste disposal facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bachrach, K.M.

1983-01-01

This study examined a number of factors believed to influence community involvement. Residents of a rural community near Phoenix, Arizona, where a hazardous waste facility had been proposed to built, were interviewed at home in August 1982. Most residents were chosen at random (n = 70) while a smaller number (n = 29) were selected because of known involvement in activities regarding the hazardous waste facility. Residents who perceived the facility as a threat to their health, safety, and general well-being employed a number of coping strategies. Strategies to change or alter the source of stress, problem-focused coping, were associated with greater community involvement. Strategies to regulate one's emotional response to stress, emotion-focused coping, were associated with less community involvement. Increased self-efficacy and sense of community led to increased community involvement. Both measures indirectly influenced community involvement through different modes of coping. Self-efficacy was negatively related to emotion-focused coping while sense of community was positively related to problem-focused coping. Increased demoralization was associated with decreased self-efficacy, increased emotion-focused coping, and decreased community involvement. The results suggest that the psychologically most fragile residents are underrepresented in community activities, and that the use of high levels of emotion-focused coping may have been maladaptive.

Relating Anaerobic Digestion Microbial Community and Process Function.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkiteshwaran, Kaushik; Bocher, Benjamin; Maki, James; Zitomer, Daniel

2015-01-01

Anaerobic digestion (AD) involves a consortium of microorganisms that convert substrates into biogas containing methane for renewable energy. The technology has suffered from the perception of being periodically unstable due to limited understanding of the relationship between microbial community structure and function. The emphasis of this review is to describe microbial communities in digesters and quantitative and qualitative relationships between community structure and digester function. Progress has been made in the past few decades to identify key microorganisms influencing AD. Yet, more work is required to realize robust, quantitative relationships between microbial community structure and functions such as methane production rate and resilience after perturbations. Other promising areas of research for improved AD may include methods to increase/control (1) hydrolysis rate, (2) direct interspecies electron transfer to methanogens, (3) community structure-function relationships of methanogens, (4) methanogenesis via acetate oxidation, and (5) bioaugmentation to study community-activity relationships or improve engineered bioprocesses.

Black parental involvement in education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Erna Kinsey

The South African Schools Act of 1996 (SASA) provides formal power in education to parents as well as communities. ... Review of selected studies on parental involvement in ..... Anna, a Grade 11 teacher, summed up the feelings of the.

Growing partners: building a community-academic partnership to address health disparities in rural North Carolina.

Science.gov (United States)

De Marco, Molly; Kearney, William; Smith, Tosha; Jones, Carson; Kearney-Powell, Arconstar; Ammerman, Alice

2014-01-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) holds tremendous promise for addressing public health disparities. As such, there is a need for academic institutions to build lasting partnerships with community organizations. Herein we have described the process of establishing a relationship between a research university and a Black church in rural North Carolina. We then discuss Harvest of Hope, the church-based pilot garden project that emerged from that partnership. The partnership began with a third-party effort to connect research universities with Black churches to address health disparities. Building this academic-community partnership included collaborating to determine research questions and programming priorities. Other aspects of the partnership included applying for funding together and building consensus on study budget and aims. The academic partners were responsible for administrative details and the community partners led programming and were largely responsible for participant recruitment. The community and academic partners collaborated to design and implement Harvest of Hope, a church-based pilot garden project involving 44 youth and adults. Community and academic partners shared responsibility for study design, recruitment, programming, and reporting of results. The successful operation of the Harvest of Hope project gave rise to a larger National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study, Faith, Farming and the Future (F3) involving 4 churches and 60 youth. Both projects were CBPR efforts to improve healthy food access and reducing chronic disease. This partnership continues to expand as we develop additional CBPR projects targeting physical activity, healthy eating, and environmental justice, among others. Benefits of the partnership include increased community ownership and cultural appropriateness of interventions. Challenges include managing expectations of diverse parties and adequate communication. Lessons learned and strategies for building

Techniques for overcoming community resistance to family planning programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Palley, H A

1968-01-01

Methods of overcoming resistance to publicly subsidized family planning programs are discussed. The main sources of opposition include groups that oppose family planning for moral reasons, and those who object to the spending of government funds to provide services and information. Such opposition can be weakened by indicating that family planning clinics fulf: 11 important medical needs. Presenting social justification for family planning can help to lower oppostion. In order to secure participation in the programs by low income groups it is essential to have community leaders involved in policy decisions and to use indigenous community paraprofessionals in the clinics. A coalition of representatives of the poor community and the health and welfare system, aided by the community organization, can lead to an effective family planning program.

'Setting the guinea pigs free': towards a new model of community-led social marketing.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, A J; Henry, L

2009-09-01

To offer the opportunity to discuss the positive contribution of co-production approaches in the field of social marketing. Recognizing the ever-evolving theoretical base for social marketing, this article offers a brief commentary on the positive contribution of co-production approaches in this field. The authors outline their own move towards conceptualizing a community-led social marketing approach and describe some key features. This developing framework has been influenced by, and tested through, the Early Presentation of Cancer Symptoms Programme, a community-led social marketing approach to tackle health inequalities across priority neighbourhoods in North East Lincolnshire, UK. A blend of social marketing, community involvement and rapid improvement science methodologies are drawn upon. The approach involves not just a strong focus on involving communities in insight and consultation, but also adopts methods where they are in charge of the process of generating solutions. A series of monthly and pre/post measures have demonstrated improvements in awareness of symptoms, reported willingness to act and increases in presentation measured through service referrals. Key features of the approach involve shared ownership and a shift away from service-instigated change by enabling communities 'to do' through developing skills and confidence and the conditions to 'try out'. The approach highlights the contribution that co-production approaches have to offer social marketing activity. In order to maximize potential, it is important to consider ways of engaging communities effectively. Successful approaches include translating social marketing methodology into easy-to-use frameworks, involving communities in gathering and interpreting local data, and supporting communities to act as change agents by planning and carrying out activity. The range of impacts across organisational, health and social capital measures demonstrates that multiple and longer

Associations Among Depressive Symptoms, Wellness, Patient Involvement, Provider Cultural Competency, and Treatment Nonadherence: A Pilot Study Among Community Patients Seen at a University Medical Center.

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, Lisa M; Huffman, Lauren E; Higginbotham, John C; Mugoya, George C T; Smith, Annie K; Dumas, Tia N

2018-02-01

Treatment nonadherence is a pernicious problem associated with increasing rates of chronic diseases, escalating healthcare costs, and rising mortality in some patients. Although researchers have suggested numerous factors related to treatment nonadherence, several understudied aspects warrant attention, such as primary-care settings, provider cultural competence, and patient involvement. Adding to the research base, the present pilot study examined 88 primarily Black American and White American community patients from a large university medical center in the southern part of the United States. The study explored two research questions: (a) To what extent are there associations among depressive symptoms, wellness, patient involvement, cultural competency, and treatment nonadherence in a racially diverse community patient population? And (b) to what extent do the study exploratory variables and background characteristics predict treatment nonadherence, both separately and jointly? Depressive symptoms, the patient's perception of a provider's cultural competence, and marital/partnered status were found to be statistically significantly associated with treatment nonadherence, but not entirely in the directions expected.

Lessons learnt from promising practices in community engagement for the elimination of new HIV infections in children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive: summary of a desk review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman Gulaid, Laurie; Kiragu, Karusa

2012-07-11

Through the Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections Among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive, leaders have called for broader action to strengthen the involvement of communities. The Global Plan aspires to reduce new HIV infections among children by 90 percent, and to reduce AIDS-related maternal mortality by half. This article summarizes the results of a review commissioned by UNAIDS to help inform stakeholders on promising practices in community engagement to accelerate progress towards these ambitious goals. This research involved extensive literature review and key informant interviews. Community engagement was defined to include participation, mobilization and empowerment while excluding activities that involve communities solely as service recipients. A promising practice was defined as one for which there is documented evidence of its effectiveness in achieving intended results and some indication of replicability, scale up and/or sustainability. Promising practices that increased the supply of preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services included extending community cadres, strengthening linkages with community- and faith-based organizations and civic participation in programme monitoring. Practices to improve demand for PMTCT included community-led social and behaviour change communication, peer support and participative approaches to generate local solutions. Practices to create an enabling environment included community activism and government leadership for greater involvement of communities. Committed leadership at all levels, facility, community, district and national, is crucial to success. Genuine community engagement requires a rights-based, capacity-building approach and sustained financial and technical investment. Participative formative research is a first step in building community capacity and helps to ensure programme relevance. Building on existing structures, rather than working in parallel to

Avenues for Scientist Involvement in Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Shipp, S. S.; Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Dalton, H.; Bleacher, L.; Scalice, D.

2012-12-01

The Planetary Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forum is charged by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) with engaging, extending, and supporting the community of E/PO professionals and scientists involved in planetary science education activities in order to help them more effectively and efficiently share NASA science with all learners. A number of resources and opportunities for involvement are available for planetary scientists involved in - or interested in being involved in - E/PO. The Forum provides opportunities for community members to stay informed, communicate, collaborate, leverage existing programs and partnerships, and become more skilled education practitioners. Interested planetary scientists can receive newsletters, participate in monthly calls, interact through an online community workspace, and attend annual E/PO community meetings and meetings of opportunity at science and education conferences. The Forum also provides professional development opportunities on a myriad of topics, from common pre-conceptions in planetary science to program evaluation, to delivering effective workshops. Thematic approaches, such as the Year of the Solar System (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss), are coordinated by the Forum; through these efforts resources are presented topically, in a manner that can be easily ported into diverse learning environments. Information about the needs of audiences with which scientists interact - higher education, K-12 education, informal education, and public - currently is being researched by SMD's Audience-Based Working Groups. Their findings and recommendations will be made available to inform the activities and products of E/PO providers so they are able to better serve these audiences. Also in production is a "one-stop-shop" of SMD E/PO products and resources that can be used in conjunction with E/PO activities. Further supporting higher-education efforts, the Forum coordinates a network of planetary science

Is knowledge translation without patient or community engagement flawed?

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsden, Vivian R; Rabbitskin, Norma; Westfall, John M; Felzien, Maret; Braden, Janice; Sand, Jessica

2017-06-01

The engagement of patients/individuals and/or communities has become increasingly important in all aspects of the research process. The aim of this manuscript is to begin the discussion about the use and implementation of authentic engagement in the development of presentations and manuscripts which evolve from research that has engaged patients/individuals and/or communities. Community-Based Participatory Research; Transformative Action Research. In Canada, the framework for engaging patients/individuals and/or communities is clearly outlined in Chapter 9 of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans which indicates that when research projects involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, the peoples in these communities are to have a role in shaping/co-creating the research that affects them. It is increasingly important that presentations and manuscripts that evolve from results/findings which have engaged patients/individuals and/or communities be co-presented/co-published. Presentations are often done without patients/individuals and/or communities and manuscripts published with only academic authors. Frequently, grants submitted and subsequently funded do not consider this aspect of the process in the budget which makes integrated and outcome knowledge translation, dissemination and distribution by and with patients/individuals and/or communities difficult to facilitate. This manuscript was designed to begin the discussion at various levels related to authentic engagement in the development of presentations and manuscripts which evolve from research that has engaged patients/individuals and/or communities. How will you include patients/individuals and/or communities in your presentations and publications? © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Threat Assessment and Targeted Violence at Institutions of Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice Including Unique Considerations for Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Laura; Bates, Michael

2015-01-01

This article provides an overview of the research on targeted violence, including campus violence, and the implications for policy and practice at institutions of higher education. Unique challenges of threat assessment in the community college setting are explored, and an overview of an effective threat assessment policy and team at William…

Different land use intensities in grassland ecosystems drive ecology of microbial communities involved in nitrogen turnover in soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Annabel; Focks, Andreas; Radl, Viviane; Keil, Daniel; Welzl, Gerhard; Schöning, Ingo; Boch, Steffen; Marhan, Sven; Kandeler, Ellen; Schloter, Michael

2013-01-01

Understanding factors driving the ecology of N cycling microbial communities is of central importance for sustainable land use. In this study we report changes of abundance of denitrifiers, nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (based on qPCR data for selected functional genes) in response to different land use intensity levels and the consequences for potential turnover rates. We investigated selected grassland sites being comparable with respect to soil type and climatic conditions, which have been continuously treated for many years as intensely used meadows (IM), intensely used mown pastures (IP) and extensively used pastures (EP), respectively. The obtained data were linked to above ground biodiversity pattern as well as water extractable fractions of nitrogen and carbon in soil. Shifts in land use intensity changed plant community composition from systems dominated by s-strategists in extensive managed grasslands to c-strategist dominated communities in intensive managed grasslands. Along the different types of land use intensity, the availability of inorganic nitrogen regulated the abundance of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. In contrast, the amount of dissolved organic nitrogen determined the abundance of denitrifiers (nirS and nirK). The high abundance of nifH carrying bacteria at intensive managed sites gave evidence that the amounts of substrates as energy source outcompete the high availability of inorganic nitrogen in these sites. Overall, we revealed that abundance and function of microorganisms involved in key processes of inorganic N cycling (nitrification, denitrification and N fixation) might be independently regulated by different abiotic and biotic factors in response to land use intensity.

Different land use intensities in grassland ecosystems drive ecology of microbial communities involved in nitrogen turnover in soil.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annabel Meyer

Full Text Available Understanding factors driving the ecology of N cycling microbial communities is of central importance for sustainable land use. In this study we report changes of abundance of denitrifiers, nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (based on qPCR data for selected functional genes in response to different land use intensity levels and the consequences for potential turnover rates. We investigated selected grassland sites being comparable with respect to soil type and climatic conditions, which have been continuously treated for many years as intensely used meadows (IM, intensely used mown pastures (IP and extensively used pastures (EP, respectively. The obtained data were linked to above ground biodiversity pattern as well as water extractable fractions of nitrogen and carbon in soil. Shifts in land use intensity changed plant community composition from systems dominated by s-strategists in extensive managed grasslands to c-strategist dominated communities in intensive managed grasslands. Along the different types of land use intensity, the availability of inorganic nitrogen regulated the abundance of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. In contrast, the amount of dissolved organic nitrogen determined the abundance of denitrifiers (nirS and nirK. The high abundance of nifH carrying bacteria at intensive managed sites gave evidence that the amounts of substrates as energy source outcompete the high availability of inorganic nitrogen in these sites. Overall, we revealed that abundance and function of microorganisms involved in key processes of inorganic N cycling (nitrification, denitrification and N fixation might be independently regulated by different abiotic and biotic factors in response to land use intensity.

Different Land Use Intensities in Grassland Ecosystems Drive Ecology of Microbial Communities Involved in Nitrogen Turnover in Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Annabel; Focks, Andreas; Radl, Viviane; Keil, Daniel; Welzl, Gerhard; Schöning, Ingo; Boch, Steffen; Marhan, Sven; Kandeler, Ellen; Schloter, Michael

2013-01-01

Understanding factors driving the ecology of N cycling microbial communities is of central importance for sustainable land use. In this study we report changes of abundance of denitrifiers, nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (based on qPCR data for selected functional genes) in response to different land use intensity levels and the consequences for potential turnover rates. We investigated selected grassland sites being comparable with respect to soil type and climatic conditions, which have been continuously treated for many years as intensely used meadows (IM), intensely used mown pastures (IP) and extensively used pastures (EP), respectively. The obtained data were linked to above ground biodiversity pattern as well as water extractable fractions of nitrogen and carbon in soil. Shifts in land use intensity changed plant community composition from systems dominated by s-strategists in extensive managed grasslands to c-strategist dominated communities in intensive managed grasslands. Along the different types of land use intensity, the availability of inorganic nitrogen regulated the abundance of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. In contrast, the amount of dissolved organic nitrogen determined the abundance of denitrifiers (nirS and nirK). The high abundance of nifH carrying bacteria at intensive managed sites gave evidence that the amounts of substrates as energy source outcompete the high availability of inorganic nitrogen in these sites. Overall, we revealed that abundance and function of microorganisms involved in key processes of inorganic N cycling (nitrification, denitrification and N fixation) might be independently regulated by different abiotic and biotic factors in response to land use intensity. PMID:24039974

Community Radiation Monitoring Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucas, R.P. Jr.; Cooper, E.N.; McArthur, R.D.

1990-05-01

The Community Radiation Monitoring Program began its ninth year in the summer of 1989, continuing as an essential portion of the Environmental Protection Agency's long-standing off-site monitoring effort. It is a cooperative venture between the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the University of Utah (U of U), and the Desert Research Institute (DRI) of the University of Nevada System. The objectives of the program include enhancing and augmenting the collection of environmental radiation data at selected sites around the Nevada Test Site (NTS), increasing public awareness of that effort, and involving, in as many ways as possible, the residents of the off-site area in these and other areas related to testing nuclear weapons. This understanding and improved communication is fostered by hiring residents of the communities where the monitoring stations are located as program representatives, presenting public education forums in those and other communities, disseminating information on radiation monitoring and related subjects, and developing and maintaining contacts with local citizens and elected officials in the off-site areas. 8 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs

Developing Learning Communities: Using Communities of Practice within Community Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Lawthom, Rebecca

2011-01-01

The idea that communities need to be inclusive is almost axiomatic. The process, whereby, community members engage in inclusive practices is far less understood. Similarly, UK universities are being encouraged to include the wider community and extent campus boundaries. Here, I suggest a particular theoretical lens which sheds light on engagement…

First Nations Women in Northern Ontario: Health, Social, and Community Priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Simard

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This article reports on data from women dwelling in First Nations communities regarding (1 baseline statistics about women’s circumstances, needs, interests, and opportunities for community engagement, and 2 information about women’s present status, experience, interest, and other questions of social, economic,and health status. Two hundred twenty-six women from 35 First Nations communities completed the survey. This paper focuses on the main findings from the survey, which fall into 4 thematic areas. Theme 1 consists of demographic information as provided by participants. Theme 2 consists of social information such as housingand education. Theme 3 includes information about participants’ top community health concerns. Theme 4 examines participants’ community involvement. Use of the survey in directing women's social policy isdiscussed.

Pharmacists' views on involvement in pharmacy practice research: Strategies for facilitating participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Carol; Brillant, Martha; Krass, Ines

2007-01-01

In order for community pharmacy practice to continue to evolve, pharmacy practice research on potential new services is essential. This requires the active participation of community pharmacists. At present the level of involvement of community pharmacists in pharmacy practice research is minimal. To ascertain the attitudes of a group of research-experienced community pharmacists towards participating in research; to investigate the barriers and facilitators to participation; to identify potential strategies to increase the involvement of community pharmacists in research. A focus group was conducted with a purposive sample of 11 research-experienced community pharmacists. A pharmacist academic moderated the focus group using a semi-structured interview guide. The participants were asked about their attitudes towards research, previous involvement in research, barriers to their involvement and strategies to overcome these barriers. The session was audio-taped and notes were taken by an observer. Thematic analysis of the notes and audio-tape transcripts was conducted. Three themes emerged around pharmacists' attitudes towards research: pharmacists' perception of the purpose of research, pharmacists' motivation for involvement in research, and pharmacists' desired role in research. Barriers to research participation were grouped into four themes: pharmacists' mindset, communication, infrastructure (time, money and staff), and skills/knowledge. Strategies to address each of these barriers were suggested. Participants recognised the importance of research towards advancing their profession and this was a motivating factor for involvement in research. They perceived their role in research primarily as data collection. A series of practical strategies to overcome the barriers to participation were offered that researchers may wish to consider when promoting research outcomes and designing research projects.

Pharmacists’ views on involvement in pharmacy practice research: Strategies for facilitating participation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armour C

2007-06-01

Full Text Available In order for community pharmacy practice to continue to evolve, pharmacy practice research on potential new services is essential. This requires the active participation of community pharmacists. At present the level of involvement of community pharmacists in pharmacy practice research is minimal. Objectives: To ascertain the attitudes of a group of research-experienced community pharmacists towards participating in research; to investigate the barriers and facilitators to participation; to identify potential strategies to increase the involvement of community pharmacists in research. Methods: A focus group was conducted with a purposive sample of 11 research-experienced community pharmacists. A pharmacist academic moderated the focus group using a semi-structured interview guide. The participants were asked about their attitudes towards research, previous involvement in research, barriers to their involvement and strategies to overcome these barriers. The session was audio-taped and notes were taken by an observer. Thematic analysis of the notes and audio-tape transcripts was conducted.Results: Three themes emerged around pharmacists’ attitudes towards research: pharmacists’ perception of the purpose of research, pharmacists’ motivation for involvement in research, and pharmacists’ desired role in research. Barriers to research participation were grouped into four themes: pharmacists’ mindset, communication, infrastructure (time, money and staff, and skills/knowledge. Strategies to address each of these barriers were suggested.Conclusions: Participants recognised the importance of research towards advancing their profession and this was a motivating factor for involvement in research. They perceived their role in research primarily as data collection. A series of practical strategies to overcome the barriers to participation were offered that researchers may wish to consider when promoting research outcomes and designing research

Stake holder involvement in Posiva's environmental impact assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vira, J.

2002-01-01

The application for the Decision in Principle must include the report from a completed environmental impact assessment (EIA). In general, the purpose of the EIA legislation is to bring more transparency and interaction among potential stakeholders into the planning of projects that may have a significant impact on their physical or social environment. In addition, the EIA should look at different alternatives of the project implementation and also consider the impact of not implementing the project at all, i.e., the so-called zero-alternative. For Posiva the EIA was an important consultation process for determining the basis for the continuation of the disposal project. Because of the strong vetoes that the Finnish legislation gives to several stakeholders Posiva's EIA work was focused on subjects that the public found of greatest concern. In this respect important stakeholder groups included the local people of the investigation communities and their representatives in the municipality councils, the regulators, the public administrators dealing with environmental and energy policy issues, the scientific community involved in related research as well as the whole population and their political representatives at the national level. (authors)

Achieving Health Equity Through Community Engagement in Translating Evidence to Policy: The San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership, 2010?2016

OpenAIRE

Grumbach, Kevin; Vargas, Roberto A.; Fleisher, Paula; Arag?n, Tom?s J.; Chung, Lisa; Chawla, Colleen; Yant, Abbie; Garcia, Estela R.; Santiago, Amor; Lang, Perry L.; Jones, Paula; Liu, Wylie; Schmidt, Laura A.

2017-01-01

Background The San Francisco Health Improvement Partnership (SFHIP) promotes health equity by using a novel collective impact model that blends community engagement with evidence-to-policy translational science. The model involves diverse stakeholders, including ethnic-based community health equity coalitions, the local public health department, hospitals and health systems, a health sciences university, a school district, the faith community, and others sectors. Community Context We report o...

Barriers to implementing evidence-based practices in addiction treatment programs: comparing staff reports on Motivational Interviewing, Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach, Assertive Community Treatment, and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Amodeo, M; Lundgren, L; Cohen, A; Rose, D; Chassler, D; Beltrame, C; D'Ippolito, M

2011-11-01

This qualitative study explored barriers to implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in community-based addiction treatment organizations (CBOs) by comparing staff descriptions of barriers for four EBPs: Motivational Interviewing (MI), Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA), Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy (CBT). The CBOs received CSAT/SAMHSA funding from 2003 to 2008 to deliver services using EBPs. Phone interview responses from 172 CBO staff directly involved in EBP implementation were analyzed using content analysis, a method for making inferences and developing themes from the systematic review of participant narratives (Berelson, 1952). Staff described different types of barriers to implementing each EBP. For MI, the majority of barriers involved staff resistance or organizational setting. For A-CRA, the majority of barriers involved specific characteristics of the EBP or client resistance. For CBT, the majority of barriers were associated with client resistance, and for ACT, the majority of barriers were associated with resources. EBP designers, policy makers who support EBP dissemination and funders should include explicit strategies to address such barriers. Addiction programs proposing to use specific EBPs must consider whether their programs have the organizational capacity and community capacity to meet the demands of the EBP selected. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

Self-Esteem and Feelings of Community Connectedness of At-Risk Adolescents Attending Community-Based Afterschool Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Loughlin

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This research investigated the relationship between adolescent afterschool program attendance, self-esteem and feelings of community connectedness. Thirty-nine of the 61 at-risk adolescents enrolled in two federally funded, community based afterschool programs participated in the study. Participants completed a 10-item self-esteem questionnaire and a 5-item section of the Youth Involved in Community Issues Survey (YICI to measure perceptions of community connectedness. Attendance records were also collected from the sites. Data were analyzed using Pearson Correlations. Results indicated that there was not a significant relationship between the total variables. The individual item analysis, however, did find a significant relationship between adolescent community connectedness and self esteem items. Findings suggest that there is a relationship to be explored and strengthened through means of community outreach for adolescents. Conclusions from this study have important implications for youth practice. Specifically, program leaders need to help adolescents get involved in the community as contributing members.

Lessons From a Pilot Community-Driven Approach for Obesity Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilgendorf, Amy; Stedman, John; Inzeo, Paula Tran; McCall, Ann; Burrows, Judy; Krueger, Scott; Christens, Brian; Pollard, Ethen; Meinen, Amy; Korth, Amy; Wolf, Lesley; Adams, Alexandra

2016-11-01

The Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Initiative has piloted a novel approach for community action for obesity prevention that incorporates both coalition and community organizing efforts in 2 counties. This article describes lessons learned to date from this experience. A description of the progress made in these communities and the support provided by Initiative staff and other partners are drawn from process evaluation of the pilot from November 2014 through December 2015, as well as the reflections of community partners. In Marathon County, building towards coalition action required thoughtful re-engagement and restructuring of an existing obesity-focused coalition. Community organizing surfaced local concerns related to the root causes of obesity, including poverty and transit. In Menominee County, coalition and community organizing efforts both have drawn attention to cultural assets for health promotion, such as traditional food practices, as well as the links between cultural loss and obesity. Building coalition action and community organizing varies across community contexts and requires addressing various steps and challenges. Both approaches require critical local examination of existing community action and stakeholders, attention to relationship building, and support from outside partners. In coalition action, backbone staff provide important infrastructure, including member recruitment and facilitating group processes towards collaboration. Community organizing involves broad resident engagement to identify shared interests and concerns and build new leadership. A community-driven systems change model offers potential to increase community action for obesity prevention.

Protecting the Urban Community of Cotonou from the effects of ...

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

This project aims to build the capacity of populations in the urban community of Cotonou to cope with flooding. It will do so through a participatory diagnosis, analysis and planning process for sustainable flood prevention strategies. The process will involve local populations (including vulnerable groups), civil society actors, ...

Community College Students and Applied Research. Professional File. Number 30

Science.gov (United States)

Zuniga, Sabrina Faust

2009-01-01

Student participation in applied research as a form of experiential learning in community colleges is relatively new. Ontario Colleges today participate at different levels with different numbers of projects and faculty involved. A few colleges in Ontario are more established in doing applied research including having basic infrastructure for…

An Accounting System for Solid Waste Management in Small Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zausner, Eric R.

This pamphlet provides a guide to the type and quantity of information to be collected for effective solid waste management in small communities. It is directed at municipal or private personnel involved in the operation and ownership of management facilities. Sample activity reports are included for reference. (CS)

[Being personal: the development of community psychiatric mental health nursing].

Science.gov (United States)

Shiau, Shu-Jen; Lee, Shu-Hong

2009-08-01

Community psychiatric mental health nursing care emphasizes humanistic values and focuses on serving patient and family needs. In Taiwan, such care is delivered largely as part of patient discharge care plans and hospital / community based service models. Issues involved underscore the importance of operating an effective and integrated transfer system, the role and function of nurses and training in relevant competencies (Shiau, Huang & Lin, 2005). This article again emphasizes the importance of 'being personal' in the development of community psychiatric mental health nursing in Taiwan. Critical issues to consider include humanization, empowerment, nursing competencies, regulations, relating on a personal level, and facilitating empowerment and enlightenment on the healing process.

Community Drive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Magnussen, Rikke

2018-01-01

Schools and educational institutions are challenged by not adequately educating students for independent knowledge collaboration and solving of complex societal challenges (Bundsgaard & Hansen, 2016; Slot et al., 2017). As an alternative strategy to formal learning has Community-driven research...... opportunity to break boundaries between research institutions and surrounding communities through the involvement of new types of actors, knowledge forms and institutions (OECD, 2011). This paper presents the project Community Drive a three year cross disciplinary community-driven game– and data-based project....... In the paper we present how the project Community Drive initiated in May 2018 is based on results from pilot projects conducted from 2014 – 2017. Overall these studies showed that it is a strong motivational factor for students to be given the task to change their living conditions through redesign...

Community Partner Perspectives on Benefits, Challenges, Facilitating Factors, and Lessons Learned from Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships in Detroit.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Wilma Brakefield; Reyes, Angela G; Rowe, Zachary; Weinert, Julia; Israel, Barbara A

2015-01-01

There is an extensive body of literature on community-based participatory research (CBPR) and the role of community-academic partnerships, much of which has involved community partners in the conceptualization and preparation of publications. However, there has been a relative dearth of solely community voices addressing these topics, given the other roles and responsibilities which community members and leaders of community-based organizations (CBOs) have. The purpose of this article is to share the perspectives of three long-time (>20 years) community partners involved in the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center and its affiliated partnerships. In this article, we community partners provide our assessment of the benefits and challenges in using a CBPR approach at the personal, organizational, and community levels; the factors that facilitate effective partnerships; and our lessons learned through engagement in CBPR. We also present specific recommendations from a community perspective to researchers and institutions interested in conducting CBPR.

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.

Evaluating Community-Based Participatory Research to Improve Community-Partnered Science and Community Health

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Sarah; Duran, Bonnie; Wallerstein, Nina; Avila, Magdalena; Belone, Lorenda; Lucero, Julie; Magarati, Maya; Mainer, Elana; Martin, Diane; Muhammad, Michael; Oetzel, John; Pearson, Cynthia; Sahota, Puneet; Simonds, Vanessa; Sussman, Andrew; Tafoya, Greg; Hat, Emily White

2013-01-01

Background Since 2007, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy Research Center (PRC) has partnered with the Universities of New Mexico and Washington to study the science of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Our goal is to identify facilitators and barriers to effective community–academic partnerships in American Indian and other communities, which face health disparities. Objectives We have described herein the scientific design of our National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study (2009–2013) and lessons learned by having a strong community partner leading the research efforts. Methods The research team is implementing a mixed-methods study involving a survey of principal investigators (PIs) and partners across the nation and in-depth case studies of CBPR projects. Results We present preliminary findings on methods and measures for community-engaged research and eight lessons learned thus far regarding partnership evaluation, advisory councils, historical trust, research capacity development of community partner, advocacy, honoring each other, messaging, and funding. Conclusions Study methodologies and lessons learned can help community–academic research partnerships translate research in communities. PMID:22982842

Lessons learned from community-based approaches to sodium reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Heather; Strazza, Karen; Losby, Jan L; Lane, Rashon; Mugavero, Kristy; Anater, Andrea S; Frost, Corey; Margolis, Marjorie; Hersey, James

2015-01-01

This article describes lessons from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative encompassing sodium reduction interventions in six communities. A multiple case study design was used. This evaluation examined data from programs implemented in six communities located in New York (Broome County, Schenectady County, and New York City); California (Los Angeles County and Shasta County); and Kansas (Shawnee County). Participants (n = 80) included program staff, program directors, state-level staff, and partners. Measures for this evaluation included challenges, facilitators, and lessons learned from implementing sodium reduction strategies. The project team conducted a document review of program materials and semistructured interviews 12 to 14 months after implementation. The team coded and analyzed data deductively and inductively. Five lessons for implementing community-based sodium reduction approaches emerged: (1) build relationships with partners to understand their concerns, (2) involve individuals knowledgeable about specific venues early, (3) incorporate sodium reduction efforts and messaging into broader nutrition efforts, (4) design the program to reduce sodium gradually to take into account consumer preferences and taste transitions, and (5) identify ways to address the cost of lower-sodium products. The experiences of the six communities may assist practitioners in planning community-based sodium reduction interventions. Addressing sodium reduction using a community-based approach can foster meaningful change in dietary sodium consumption.

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.

Community relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Neil, C.

1997-01-01

The interaction of the oil and gas companies with the Northern communities regarding drilling activities was an important aspect of oil and gas operations conducted in the Beaufort Sea. During the 1960s the industry and aboriginal people basically ignored each other. Later, the industry put more emphasis on community consultation until finally two-way communication was established. Respect for the land and the environment were very important to aboriginal people who depended on the land and its resources for their traditional way of life. Community relations policies by the various companies involved in the area, and the impact they have had on their respective communities were recounted. Not all efforts were successful, however, the companies and the communities learned from their experiences, and by the time operations ceased, the communities seemed to be more appreciative of the ways they were being treated by the oil companies. 22 figs

SUSTAINABLE URBAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH AGENDA 21

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Zainal Md Zan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The much-talked about issues such as the rising of heavy crime cases, problems in solid waste management, air and water pollution as well as traffic congestion detering the quality of life among urban community members. Urgent and proactive measure is highly desireable in order to preserve and maintain the integral parts of urban’s higher quality of life. All parties should take part in ongoing efforts to achieve sustainable development through various means. Local Agenda 21 (LA21 serves as one of the efforts in achieveing the ultimate goal of sustainable development through better collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders including local government, non-governmental organisations and the community at large. The core principle of the LA21 program lies in the spirit of cooperation among community members, local authorities and the private sectors. This could be achieved through various activities including from the beginning such as through a comprehensive planning for the local area to achieve the sustainable development. Community members should be involved in brainstorming of the ideas and expressing their views so that authorities would be able to identify the real and arising issues in the community. Through this way a sustainable town and municipal planning could be developed and initiated. This paper discusses the importance of urbancommunity participation in achieving sustainable development as practicedthrough LA21 in Seberang Perai Municipal Council, Penang.

Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) Community

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, K. A.; Langendijk, G.; Bahar, F.; Huang-Lachmann, J. T.; Osman, M.; Mirsafa, M.; Sonntag, S.

2017-12-01

The Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) community is compiled of early career researchers (including students) coming from a range of scientific backgrounds, spanning both natural and social sciences. YESS unifies young researchers in an influential network to give them a collective voice and leverage within the geosciences community, while supporting career development. The YESS community has used its powerful network to provide a unified perspective on the future of Earth system science (Rauser et al. 2017), to be involved in the organization of international conferences, and to engage with existing international structures that coordinate science. Since its founding in Germany in 2010, the YESS community has grown extensively across the globe, with currently almost 1000 members from over 80 countries, and has become truly interdisciplinary. Recently, the organization has carried elections for Regional Representatives and the Executive Committee as part of its self-sustained governance structure. YESS is ready to continue pioneering crucial areas of research which provide solutions to benefit society for the long-term advancement of Earth system science.

Community-acquired bacterial meningitis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Beek, Diederik; Brouwer, Matthijs; Hasbun, Rodrigo; Koedel, Uwe; Whitney, Cynthia G.; Wijdicks, Eelco

2016-01-01

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges and subarachnoid space that can also involve the brain cortex and parenchyma. It can be acquired spontaneously in the community - community-acquired bacterial meningitis - or in the hospital as a complication of invasive procedures or head trauma

The Impact of a Community-Based Intervention Including a Monthly Food Ration on Food Insecurity Among HIV-Positive Adults During the First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Jessica; Kayigamba, Felix; Hills, Victoria; Gupta, Neil; Machara, Faustin; Niyigena, Peter; Franke, Molly F

2018-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine how food insecurity changed among HIV-positive adults during the first 12 months of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and whether any change differed according to the receipt of food support, which was provided in the context of a comprehensive community-based intervention. We conducted secondary data analyses of data from a prospective cohort study of the effectiveness of a community-based cART delivery model when added to clinic-based cART delivery in Rwanda. We included patients from four health centers that implemented a clinic-based cART delivery model alone and five health centers that additionally implemented the intervention, which included 10 months of food support. We compared food insecurity at 3, 6, and 12 months, relative to baseline, and stratified by receipt of the intervention. Relative to baseline, median food insecurity score decreased after 3, 6, and 12 months (p value insecurity scores remained unchanged at 3 and 12 months and were significantly higher after 6 months. In adjusted analyses, participants enrolled in the community-based intervention with a food ration had a lower risk of severe food insecurity and a lower risk of moderate or severe food insecurity after 12 months. A comprehensive community-based HIV program including a food ration likely contributes to an alleviation of food insecurity among adults newly initiating cART.

GeoChips for Analysis of Microbial Functional Communities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Nostrand, Joy D.; Wu, Liyou; He, Zhili; Zhou, Jizhong

2008-09-30

Functional gene arrays (FGA) are microarrays that contain probes for genes encoding proteins or enzymes involved in functions of interest and allow for the study of thousands of genes at one time. The most comprehensive FGA to date is the GeoChip, which contains ~;;24,000 probes for ~;;10,000 genes involved in the geochemical cycling of C, N, P, and S, as well as genes involved in metal resistance and reduction and contaminant degradation. This chapter details the methods necessary for GeoChip analysis. Methods covered include preparation of DNA (whole community genome amplification and labeling), array setup (prehybridization steps), hybridization (sample and hybridization buffers), and post hybridization steps (slide washing and array scanning).

Diversity of pufM genes, involved in aerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis, in the bacterial communities associated with colonial ascidians.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-García, Manuel; Díaz-Valdés, Marta; Antón, Josefa

2010-03-01

Ascidians are invertebrate filter feeders widely distributed in benthic marine environments. A total of 14 different ascidian species were collected from the Western Mediterranean and their bacterial communities were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene. Results showed that ascidian tissues harbored Bacteria belonging to Gamma- and Alphaproteobacteria classes, some of them phylogenetically related to known aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs), such as Roseobacter sp. In addition, hierarchical cluster analysis of DGGE patterns showed a large variability in the bacterial diversity among the different ascidians analyzed, which indicates that they would harbor different bacterial communities. Furthermore, pufM genes, involved in aerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis in marine and freshwater systems, were widely detected within the ascidians analyzed, because nine out of 14 species had pufM genes inside their tissues. The pufM gene was only detected in those specimens that inhabited shallow waters (<77 m of depth). Most pufM gene sequences were very closely related to that of uncultured marine bacteria. Thus, our results suggest that the association of ascidians with bacteria related to AAPs could be a general phenomenon and that ascidian-associated microbiota could use the light that penetrates through the tunic tissue as an energy source.

Ciclovia in a Rural Latino Community: Results and Lessons Learned.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Cynthia K; Ko, Linda K; Hernandez, Lidia; Ortiz, Rosa; Linde, Sandra

Ciclovias involve the temporary closure of roads to motorized vehicles, allowing for use by bicyclists, walkers, and runners and for other physical activity. Ciclovias have been held in urban and suburban communities in the United States and Latin America. We evaluated the first ciclovia held in a rural, predominantly Latino community in Washington State. Three blocks within a downtown area in a rural community were closed for 5 hours on a Saturday in July 2015. The evaluation included observation counts and participant intercept surveys. On average, 200 participants were present each hour. Fourteen percent of youth (younger than 18 years) were observed riding bikes. No adults were observed riding bikes. A total of 38 surveys were completed. Respondents reported spending on average 2 hours at the ciclovia. Seventy-nine percent reported that they would have been indoors at home involved in sedentary activities (such as watching TV, working on computer) if they had not been at the ciclovia. Regularly held ciclovias, which are free and open to anyone, could play an important role in creating safe, accessible, and affordable places for physical activity in rural areas. Broad community input is important for the success of a ciclovia.

Partnerships and Opportunity: A Canadian Success Story Community engagement on uranium mining in northern Saskatchewan. Informing and Involving Stakeholders in the Context of the Finnish Decision-making Process. Stakeholder involvement and public debate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katz, Sharonne; Vanhatalo, Hanna; Thome-Jassaud, Pierre-Franck

2017-01-01

Session 5 featured case studies of stakeholder involvement in decisions related to new nuclear power and fuel cycle facilities. The chair highlighted that more than 30 countries either have nuclear power facilities or are considering developing them, and 15 countries are currently building new reactors. The topic of new nuclear facilities is quite broad, and the session covered three case studies that were quite different. Ms Katz of Natural Resources Canada Limited outlined stakeholder engagement commitments by a number of actors in Canada, including the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She provided an overview on Cameco's behalf of their experience in engaging the local stakeholders of uranium mining activities. Ms Vanhatalo reviewed Fennovoima's activities related to the site selection and move towards construction of a new nuclear reactor. Mr Thome-Jassaud presented the experience of electricite de France on two proposed reactor projects with France's formalised public debate process. A central theme of the presentations was the importance of establishing and maintaining a good reputation, especially in the local community. Ms Katz relayed a story of Cameco inviting community leaders, near an Australian property that Cameco had acquired to visit a mining community in Saskatchewan. Instead of tightly controlling the interaction, Cameco left the Australian guests to stay with local families for several days to ask questions and hear directly from members of the Canadian community without any interference. This required confidence on the part of the company that it had built a strong and positive relationship with the Canadian host community. Ms Vanhatalo described how the success in siting nuclear power plant Hanhikivi 1 near Pyhaejoki was attributable not only to Fennovoima's commitment to engage the community, but also to the reputation that the company Teollisuuden Voima Oy had built with its Olkiluoto nuclear power plant and the positive association with

Families in Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Teams in Norway: A Cross-Sectional Study on Relatives' Experiences of Involvement and Alienation.

Science.gov (United States)

Weimand, B M; Israel, P; Ewertzon, M

2017-11-10

International research shows that relatives of people with mental illness are rarely involved by mental health services. Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) has been recently implemented in Norway. The experience of relatives of ACT users is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to explore relatives' experience with ACT-teams in Norway. Data were collected using the family involvement and alienation questionnaire, consisting of experiences of approach, and alienation from the provision of professional care. 38 Relatives participated in this study. A majority experienced a positive approach (openness, confirmation, and cooperation) from the ACT teams, which also was considered better compared to previous services. They considered openness and cooperation as essential aspects from the professionals. Almost half did not feel alienated (powerlessness and social isolation). Higher level of being approached positively was significantly associated with lower level of feeling alienated. The knowledge of what constituted relatives' positive experiences with the ACT teams should be transferred into practice regarding how to form a positive alliance with relatives.

Greek Mothers’ Narratives of the Construct of Parental Involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philia Issari

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The present study provides a brief overview of the ‘narrative turn’ in counselling and adopts a narrative perspective and analysis to explore Greek mothers’ experiences, and meaning making of involvement in their children’s learning. Data were collected via ten narrative interviews (life-history/biographical narrative. Participants portrayed a variety of conceptions and practices regarding children’s learning and parental participation. Mothers’ stories depicted parental engagement as a complex, multifaceted, flexible and multivoiced construct which can take various forms and is open to change. The findings can inform and enrich counselling practice and prevention efforts including parenting training programmes, family community programmes and home-school link initiatives. Of particular interest for counsellors and therapists are stories of functional and dysfunctional parental involvement practices, school expectations and cultural scripts, the working mother, identity and the process of change.

Community Capacity Building for Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Traverso-Yepez

2012-05-01

Full Text Available There is a great deal of literature examining the benefits and relevance of community participation and community capacity building in health promotion and disease prevention endeavors. Academic literature embracing principles and commitment to community participation in health promotion practices often neglects the complexities involved and the flexibility required to work within this approach. This article addresses some of these challenges through a case study of two projects funded by Provincial Wellness Grants in Newfoundland and Labrador, a province in Canada with a strong tradition of community ties and support systems. In addition to addressing the unique circumstances of the community groups, this research allowed the authors to examine the situational context and power relations involved in the provision of services as well as the particular forms of subjectivity and citizenship that the institutional practices support. Recognizing this complex interdependency is an important step in creating more effective intervention practices.

Is the contribution of community forest users financially efficient? A household level benefit-cost analysis of community forest management in Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh Kumar Rai

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Community forestry in Nepal is considered an exemplary forest management regime. However, the economics behind managing a community forest is not fully studied. This study examines whether the benefits generated from community forest management justify the contributions of forest users. The study is based on a survey of community forest users in Chitwan, Nepal. A household level benefit-cost analysis was performed to quantify and compare the costs and benefits from community forest management. Only direct benefits were included in the analysis. The study shows that older forest user groups derive more benefits to households compared to more recently established ones. The extent of timber harvesting also substantially influences the size of the household benefits. In addition, redistribution of benefits at the household level, in terms of income generating activities and payment for involvement in forest management activities, also enhances household benefits. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the current practice of community forest management enhances the welfare of rural households in this subsistence community. However, this finding is sensitive to assumptions regarding the opportunity cost of time. The study also found that the household costs of community forest management depend upon two factors – the area of community forest and the size of the forest area relative to the number of households.

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.

Public interface and waste management planning: An approach for integrating community involvement in waste strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiques, P.J.

1988-01-01

Public involvement and information programs have bridged a communication abyss and allowed waste management policy-makers to understand legitimate public concerns. The perception often held by waste generators that technical concerns had greater validity than institutional issues is being altered as managers realize that information failures can halt a program as abruptly as technical ones. The role and level of involvement of the public in establishing waste management policies has changed dramatically over the past decade. Once the domain only of the generators and regulators, effective waste management strategy development must now make early provisions for public and local government involvement. By allowing public decision makers to participate in the initial planning process and maintain involvement throughout the implementation, many institutional barriers can be avoided. In today's climate, such barriers may represent direct costs, such as litigation, or indirect costs, such as delay, deferral, or duplication of work. Government programs have historically enjoyed a degree of insulation from public involvement factors on the basis of national security, defense, or the greater public good. However, such programs are no longer sacrosanct. Today, the cost of cleaning up past environmental impact can leave little or no money to meet present program objectives. Thus failure to get a public consensus before beginning remedial action can have a major impact on the allocation of scarce resources. Specific approaches to integrating the public into the planning phase of waste management will be addressed, including audience identification, issue analysis and tracking, prioritization of concerns, and information tool development

Increasing User Involvement in Health Care and Health Research Simultaneously

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaltoft, Mette Kjer; Nielsen, Jesper Bo; Salkeld, Glenn

2014-01-01

of the effects of different actions and interventions on their health, including those implying contact with health care services. We see their research as primarily carried out in order to make better decisions for themselves, but they can offer to contribute the results to the wider population. We see...... at the point of decision need, when motivation is highest. Some basic distinctions, such as those between science and non-science, research and practice, community and individual, and lay and professional become somewhat blurred and may need to be rethought in light of this approach....... to increased user involvement, though somewhat more aligned with the former. METHODS: Our online decision support tools, delivered directly to the person in the community and openly accessible, are to be seen as research resources. They will take the form of interactive decision aids for a variety of specific...

Contracting communities: Conceptualizing Community Benefits Agreements to improve citizen involvement in urban development projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen-Jansen, Leonie; Veen, van der Menno

2017-01-01

Contractual agreements are becoming increasingly important for city governments seeking to manage urban development. Contractual governance involves direct relations between the local state and different public and private actors and citizens. Although abundant literature exists on public–private

Youth in Community Decision-Making: A Study of Youth-Adult Partnerships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelley Murdock

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Involving youth in community and organizational decision-making is widely believed to lead to stronger communities. A promising strategy to foster decision-making is youth-adult partnerships in which youth and adults work collaboratively, sharing their strengths, collective knowledge, and decision-making power. A qualitative study of eight youth organizations showed that those organizations employing youth-adult partnership strategies were most effective in increasing youth's contributions to their communities. This article explores the elements of youth-adult partnership that were evident among successful organizations including: mutual respect, meaningful roles for youth, unique contributions of adults and youth, and shared decision-making and implications for youth development programs.

Community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning: identifying tacit knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrier, Annie; Levasseur, Mélanie; Bédard, Denis; Desrosiers, Johanne

2010-12-01

  Occupational therapy interventions in the community, a fast expanding practice setting, are central to an important social priority, the ability to live at home. These interventions generally involve only a small number of home visits, which aim at maximising the safety and autonomy of community-dwelling clients. Knowing how community occupational therapists determine their interventions, i.e. their clinical reasoning, can improve intervention efficacy. However, occupational therapists are often uninformed about and neglect the importance of clinical reasoning, which could underoptimise their interventions.   To synthesise current knowledge about community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning.   A scoping study of the literature on community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning was undertaken.   Fifteen textbooks and 25 articles, including six focussing on community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning, were reviewed. Community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning is influenced by internal and external factors. Internal factors include past experiences, expertise and perceived complexity of a problem. One of the external factors, practice context (e.g. organisational or cultural imperatives, physical location of intervention), particularly shapes community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning, which is interactive, complex and multidimensional. However, the exact influence of many factors (personal context, organisational and legal aspects of health care, lack of resources and increased number of referrals) remains unclear.   Further studies are needed to understand better the influence of internal and external factors. The extent to which these factors mould the way community occupational therapists think and act could have a direct influence on the services they provide to their clients. © 2010 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2010 Australian Association of Occupational Therapists.

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.

Psycho-social processes in dealing with legal innovation in the community: insights from biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Paula; Mouro, Carla

2011-06-01

Mitigation measures for tackling the consequences of a changing climate will involve efforts of various types including the conservation of affected ecosystems. For this, communities throughout the world will be called on to change habits of land and water use. Many of these changes will emerge from the multilevel governance tools now commonly used for environmental protection. In this article, some tenets of a social psychology of legal innovation are proposed for approaching the psycho-social processes involved in how individuals, groups and communities respond to multilevel governance. Next, how this approach can improve our understanding of community-based conservation driven by legal innovation is highlighted. For this, the macro and micro level processes involved in the implementation of the European Natura 2000 Network of Protected Sites are examined. Finally, some insights gained from this example of multilevel governance through legal innovation will be enumerated as a contribution for future policy making aimed at dealing with climate change consequences.

Parents’ Perceptions of Their Involvement in Schooling

OpenAIRE

Erdener, Mehmet Akif; Knoeppel, Robert C.

2018-01-01

Parent involvement has an influence on children’s educational engagementduring the elementary years. The objective of this study was to examine theperceptions of rural Turkish parents about their involvement in schooling withelementary school students based on Epstein’s (1995) six types of parentalinvolvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home,decision-making, and collaborating with the community).  This study also investigated the differencesamong parent demographic ch...

Pre-genomic, genomic and post-genomic study of microbial communities involved in bioenergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Rittmann, Bruce E; Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa; Halden, Rolf U

2008-08-01

Microorganisms can produce renewable energy in large quantities and without damaging the environment or disrupting food supply. The microbial communities must be robust and self-stabilizing, and their essential syntrophies must be managed. Pre-genomic, genomic and post-genomic tools can provide crucial information about the structure and function of these microbial communities. Applying these tools will help accelerate the rate at which microbial bioenergy processes move from intriguing science to real-world practice.

Community Music in Cultural Policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Hoogen, Quirijn; Bisschop Boele, Evert; Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh; Higgins, Lee

2018-01-01

Community Music presents a contested field. Its art status, its methods and its effects all are under scrutiny as the various actors involved in community music practices frequently have very different backgrounds and different objectives. Aesthetic intentions, social objectives and economic

Lessons Learned From Community-Based Approaches to Sodium Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Heather; Strazza, Karen; Losby PhD, Jan L.; Lane, Rashon; Mugavero, Kristy; Anater, Andrea S.; Frost, Corey; Margolis, Marjorie; Hersey, James

2017-01-01

Purpose This article describes lessons from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative encompassing sodium reduction interventions in six communities. Design A multiple case study design was used. Setting This evaluation examined data from programs implemented in six communities located in New York (Broome County, Schenectady County, and New York City); California (Los Angeles County and Shasta County); and Kansas (Shawnee County). Subjects Participants (n = 80) included program staff, program directors, state-level staff, and partners. Measures Measures for this evaluation included challenges, facilitators, and lessons learned from implementing sodium reduction strategies. Analysis The project team conducted a document review of program materials and semi structured interviews 12 to 14 months after implementation. The team coded and analyzed data deductively and inductively. Results Five lessons for implementing community-based sodium reduction approaches emerged: (1) build relationships with partners to understand their concerns, (2) involve individuals knowledgeable about specific venues early, (3) incorporate sodium reduction efforts and messaging into broader nutrition efforts, (4) design the program to reduce sodium gradually to take into account consumer preferences and taste transitions, and (5) identify ways to address the cost of lower-sodium products. Conclusion The experiences of the six communities may assist practitioners in planning community-based sodium reduction interventions. Addressing sodium reduction using a community-based approach can foster meaningful change in dietary sodium consumption. PMID:24575726

Nutritional Noise: Community Literacies and the Movement against Foods Labeled as "Natural"

Science.gov (United States)

Trauth, Erin

2015-01-01

In the face of the $44 billion market--and rising--for foods labeled as "natural" (despite any formal regulatory oversight on the use of this term), this article examines multiple complex layers of community literacies and movements involving foods labeled as "natural," including an increasing availability of…

Determine small and medium enterprise social media activities: A community engagement project in the Tshwane community

OpenAIRE

Louise van Scheers; Jacques van Scheers

2015-01-01

The aim of this paper is to determine small and medium enterprise (SME) social media activities and promote CE scholarship engagement. It is a community engagement project conducted in the Tshwane community. Community engagement (CE) as a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people in the community to address issues affecting their well-being. The CE project SME skills transfer workshops are aimed at expanding involvement with the community. The benef...

The conundrum of police officer-involved homicides: Counter-data in Los Angeles County

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan Currie

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper draws from critical data studies and related fields to investigate police officer-involved homicide data for Los Angeles County. We frame police officer-involved homicide data as a rhetorical tool that can reify certain assumptions about the world and extend regimes of power. We highlight the possibility that this type of sensitive civic data can be investigated and employed within local communities through creative practice. Community involvement with data can create a countervailing force to powerful dominant narratives and supplement activist projects that hold local officials accountable for their actions. Our analysis examines four Los Angeles County police officer-involved homicide data sets. First, we provide accounts of the semantics, granularity, scale and transparency of this local data. Then, we describe a “counter data action,” an event that invited members of the community to identify the limits and challenges present in police officer-involved homicide data and to propose new methods for deriving meaning from these indicators and statistics.

Community Monitoring for REDD+: International Promises and Field Realities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finn Danielsen

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Will community monitoring assist in delivering just and equitable REDD+? We assessed whether local communities can effectively estimate carbon stocks in some of the world's most carbon rich forests, using simple field protocols, and we reviewed whether community monitoring exists in current REDD+ pilots. We obtained similar results for forest carbon when measured by communities and professional foresters in 289 vegetation plots in Southeast Asia. Most REDD+ monitoring schemes, however, contain no community involvement. To close the gulf between United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change texts on involving communities and field implementation realities, we propose greater embedding of community monitoring within national REDD+ pilot schemes, which we argue will lead to a more just REDD+.

Public/community engagement in health research with men who have sex with men in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Molyneux, Sassy; Sariola, Salla; Allman, Dan; Dijkstra, Maartje; Gichuru, Evans; Graham, Susan; Kamuya, Dorcas; Gakii, Gloria; Kayemba, Brian; Kombo, Bernadette; Maleche, Allan; Mbwambo, Jessie; Marsh, Vicki; Micheni, Murugi; Mumba, Noni; Parker, Michael; Shio, Jasmine; Yah, Clarence; van der Elst, Elise; Sanders, Eduard

2016-05-27

Community engagement, incorporating elements of the broader concepts of public and stakeholder engagement, is increasingly promoted globally, including for health research conducted in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, community engagement needs and challenges are arguably intensified for studies involving gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, where male same-sex sexual interactions are often highly stigmatised and even illegal. This paper contextualises, describes and interprets the discussions and outcomes of an international meeting held at the Kenya Medical Research Institute-Wellcome Trust in Kilifi, Kenya, in November 2013, to critically examine the experiences with community engagement for studies involving men who have sex with men. We discuss the ethically charged nature of the language used for men who have sex with men, and of working with 'representatives' of these communities, as well as the complementarity and tensions between a broadly public health approach to community engagement, and a more rights based approach. We highlight the importance of researchers carefully considering which communities to engage with, and the goals, activities, and indicators of success and potential challenges for each. We suggest that, given the unintended harms that can emerge from community engagement (including through labelling, breaches in confidentiality, increased visibility and stigma, and threats to safety), representatives of same-sex populations should be consulted from the earliest possible stage, and that engagement activities should be continuously revised in response to unfolding realities. Engagement should also include less vocal and visible men who have sex with men, and members of other communities with influence on the research, and on research participants and their families and friends. Broader ethics support, advice and research into studies involving men who have sex with men is needed to ensure that ethical challenges

Community involvement works where enforcement fails: conservation success through community-based management of Amazon river turtle nests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darren Norris

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Law enforcement is widely regarded as a cornerstone to effective natural resource management. Practical guidelines for the optimal use of enforcement measures are lacking particularly in areas protected under sustainable and/or mixed use management regimes and where legal institution are weak. Focusing on the yellow-spotted river turtles (Podocnemis unifilis along 33 km of river that runs between two sustainable–use reserves in the Brazilian Amazon as an illustrative example, we show that two years of patrols to enforce lawful protection regulations had no effect on nest harvesting. In contrast, during one year when community-based management approaches were enacted harvest levels dropped nearly threefold to a rate (26% that is likely sufficient for river turtle population recovery. Our findings support previous studies that show how community participation, if appropriately implemented, can facilitate effective natural resource management where law enforcement is limited or ineffective.

planning peoples' participaion in sustainable community ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

LUCY

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AT THE GRASSROOT. LEVELS IN ... development strategy is predicated on the capacity ..... energies and satisfaction which are central to the growth of .... intelligent members of the community must be involved.

Participation needs of older adults having disabilities and receiving home care: met needs mainly concern daily activities, while unmet needs mostly involve social activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Turcotte, Pier-Luc; Larivière, Nadine; Desrosiers, Johanne; Voyer, Philippe; Champoux, Nathalie; Carbonneau, Hélène; Carrier, Annie; Levasseur, Mélanie

2015-08-01

Participation is a key determinant of successful aging and enables older adults to stay in their homes and be integrated into the community. Assessing participation needs involves identifying restrictions in the accomplishment of daily and social activities. Although meeting participation needs involves older adults, their caregivers and healthcare providers, little is known about their respective viewpoints. This study thus explored the participation needs of older adults having disabilities as perceived by the older adults themselves, their caregivers and healthcare providers. A qualitative multiple case study consisted of conducting 33 semi-structured interviews in eleven triads, each composed of an older adult, his/her caregiver and a healthcare provider recruited in a Health and Social Services Centre (HSSC) in Québec, Canada. Interview transcripts and reviews of clinical records were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics based on thematic saliency analysis methods. Aged 66 to 88 years, five older adults had physical disabilities, five had mild cognitive impairment and one had psychological problems, leading to moderate to severe functional decline. Caregivers and healthcare providers were mainly women, respectively retired spouses and various professionals with four to 32 years of clinical experience. Participation needs reported by each triad included all domains of participation. Needs related to daily activities, such as personal care, nutrition, and housing, were generally met. Regarding social activities, few needs were met by various resources in the community and were generally limited to personal responsibilities, including making decisions and managing budgets, and some community life activities, such as going shopping. Unmet needs were mainly related to social activities, involving leisure, other community life activities and interpersonal relationships, and some daily activities, including fitness and mobility. This study

Biomethane potential of industrial paper wastes and investigation of the methanogenic communities involved.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Andreas; Silberberger, Sandra; Juárez, Marina Fernández-Delgado; Insam, Heribert; Franke-Whittle, Ingrid H

2016-01-01

Cellulose-containing waste products from the agricultural or industrial sector are potentially one of the largest sources of renewable energy on earth. In this study, the biomethane potential (BMP) of two types of industrial paper wastes, wood and pulp residues (WR and PR, respectively), were evaluated under both mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, and various pretreatment methods were applied in the attempt to increase the methane potential during anaerobic digestion. The methanogenic community composition was investigated with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the ANAEROCHIP microarray, and dominant methanogens were quantitated using quantitative PCR. All pretreatments investigated in this study with the exception of the alkaline pretreatment of PR were found to increase the BMP of two paper industry wastes. However, the low recalcitrance level of the PR resulted in the pretreatments being less effective in increasing BMP when compared with those for WR. These results were supported by the physico-chemical data. A combined application of ultrasound and enzymatic pretreatment was found to be the best strategy for increasing methane yields. The retention time of substrates in the reactors strongly influenced the BMP of wastes subjected to the different pretreatments. In sludges from both paper wastes subjected to the various pretreatments, mixotrophic Methanosarcina species were found to dominate the community, accompanied by a consortium of hydrogenotrophic genera. Pretreating industrial paper wastes could be a potentially viable option for increasing the overall degradation efficiency and decreasing reactor retention time for the digestion of complex organic matter such as lignocellulose or hemicellulose. This would help reduce the environmental burden generated from paper production. Although there were minor differences in the methanogenic communities depending on the temperature of anaerobic digestion, there was little effect of substrate

Addressing host community issues through enhancing community well-being: a practical framework for siting major nuclear projects in Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stemeroff, M.; Richardson, D.; Wlodarczyk, T.L. [AECOM Canada Limited, Markham, ON (Canada)

2011-07-01

Any major project development, including those related to nuclear activities in Canada, will certainly impose a wide range of effects and consequences for a host community and region. These wide ranging effects can be positive as well as negative and last for varying time periods. However, the challenge is not to simply identify effects of a project and then mitigate and/or compensate for them. Rather, we have witnessed a transition in recent years that gaining community social acceptance for projects has taken on new meaning. Specifically, communities have taken a 'longer view' of themselves and are more interested in how the project will enhance their long-term well-being. There is considerable evidence to suggest that assessing and demonstrating effects on community well-being has become the focal point for community understanding and decision-making about how to proceed with any new development. This paper will examine what the term 'community well-being' is and how it applies to gaining social acceptance for major nuclear projects in Canada. Insights and examples will be gathered from a range of cases in Canada and elsewhere to demonstrate its diverse meaning and application. A discussion of its application to gaining social acceptance for nuclear projects will be generic in nature and provide a useful framework that can be adapted to the meet the needs in unique situations. There is extensive literature with a cornucopia of subject headers including: community well-being, sustainable development, sustainability, social capital, social well-being, participatory development, and so on. In many cases, these and other terms are used interchangeably or applied as a sub-set to another term. There is no distinct rule or collective wisdom regarding which term to use under different circumstances or situations. Suffice it to say that the notion of community well-being, sustainable development and the like are not new terms or concepts, even in

Addressing host community issues through enhancing community well-being: a practical framework for siting major nuclear projects in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stemeroff, M.; Richardson, D.; Wlodarczyk, T.L.

2011-01-01

Any major project development, including those related to nuclear activities in Canada, will certainly impose a wide range of effects and consequences for a host community and region. These wide ranging effects can be positive as well as negative and last for varying time periods. However, the challenge is not to simply identify effects of a project and then mitigate and/or compensate for them. Rather, we have witnessed a transition in recent years that gaining community social acceptance for projects has taken on new meaning. Specifically, communities have taken a 'longer view' of themselves and are more interested in how the project will enhance their long-term well-being. There is considerable evidence to suggest that assessing and demonstrating effects on community well-being has become the focal point for community understanding and decision-making about how to proceed with any new development. This paper will examine what the term 'community well-being' is and how it applies to gaining social acceptance for major nuclear projects in Canada. Insights and examples will be gathered from a range of cases in Canada and elsewhere to demonstrate its diverse meaning and application. A discussion of its application to gaining social acceptance for nuclear projects will be generic in nature and provide a useful framework that can be adapted to the meet the needs in unique situations. There is extensive literature with a cornucopia of subject headers including: community well-being, sustainable development, sustainability, social capital, social well-being, participatory development, and so on. In many cases, these and other terms are used interchangeably or applied as a sub-set to another term. There is no distinct rule or collective wisdom regarding which term to use under different circumstances or situations. Suffice it to say that the notion of community well-being, sustainable development and the like are not new terms or concepts, even in

Addressing host community issues through enhancing community well-being: a practical framework for siting major nuclear projects in Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stemeroff, M.; Richardson, D.; Wlodarczyk, T. L. [AECOM Canada Limited, Markham, ON (Canada)

2011-07-01

Any major project development, including those related to nuclear activities in Canada, will certainly impose a wide range of effects and consequences for a host community and region. These wide ranging effects can be positive as well as negative and last for varying time periods. However, the challenge is not to simply identify effects of a project and then mitigate and/or compensate for them. Rather, we have witnessed a transition in recent years that gaining community social acceptance for projects has taken on new meaning. Specifically, communities have taken a 'longer view' of themselves and are more interested in how the project will enhance their long-term well-being. There is considerable evidence to suggest that assessing and demonstrating effects on community well-being has become the focal point for community understanding and decision-making about how to proceed with any new development. This paper will examine what the term 'community well-being' is and how it applies to gaining social acceptance for major nuclear projects in Canada. Insights and examples will be gathered from a range of cases in Canada and elsewhere to demonstrate its diverse meaning and application. A discussion of its application to gaining social acceptance for nuclear projects will be generic in nature and provide a useful framework that can be adapted to the meet the needs in unique situations. There is extensive literature with a cornucopia of subject headers including: community well-being, sustainable development, sustainability, social capital, social well-being, participatory development, and so on. In many cases, these and other terms are used interchangeably or applied as a sub-set to another term. There is no distinct rule or collective wisdom regarding which term to use under different circumstances or situations. Suffice it to say that the notion of community well-being, sustainable development and the like are not new terms or concepts, even in Canada. Despite the wide

Implementation of Community-Wide Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives: Focus on Partnerships.

Science.gov (United States)

Tevendale, Heather D; Fuller, Taleria R; House, L Duane; Dee, Deborah L; Koumans, Emilia H

2017-03-01

Seeking to reduce teen pregnancy and births in communities with rates above the national average, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, developed a joint funding opportunity through which grantees worked to implement and test an approach involving community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiatives. Once these projects had been in the field for 2.5 years, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff developed plans for a supplemental issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health to present findings from and lessons learned during implementation of the community-wide initiatives. When the articles included in the supplemental issue are considered together, common themes emerge, particularly those related to initiating, building, and maintaining strong partnerships. Themes seen across articles include the importance of (1) sharing local data with partners to advance initiative implementation, (2) defining partner roles from the beginning of the initiatives, (3) developing teams that include community partners to provide direction to the initiatives, and (4) addressing challenges to maintaining strong partnerships including partner staff turnover and delays in implementation. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring community participation in project design: application of the community conversation approach to improve maternal and newborn health in Zambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilbroad Mutale

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP has adopted an approach entitled Community Conversation (CC to improve community engagement in addressing health challenges. CCs are based on Paulo Freire’s transformative communication approach, in which communities pose problems and critically examine their everyday life experiences through discussion. We adopted this approach to engage communities in maternal and newborn health discussions in three rural districts of Zambia, with the aim of developing community-generated interventions. Methods Sixty (60 CCs were held in three target districts, covering a total of 20 health facilities. Communities were purposively selected in each district to capture a range of rural and peri-urban areas at varying distances from health facilities. Conversations were held four times in each community between May and September 2014. All conversations were digitally recorded and later transcribed. NVivo version 10 was used for data analysis. Results and Discussion The major barriers to accessing maternal health services included geography, limited infrastructure, lack of knowledge, shortage of human resources and essential commodities, and insufficient involvement of male partners. From the demand side, a lack of information and misconceptions, and, from the supply side, inadequately trained health workers with poor attitudes, negatively affected access to maternal health services in target districts either directly or indirectly. At least 17 of 20 communities suggested solutions to these challenges, including targeted community sensitisation on the importance of safe motherhood, family planning and prevention of teenage pregnancy. Community members and key stakeholders committed time and resources to address these challenges with minimal external support. Conclusion We successfully applied the CC approach to explore maternal health challenges in three rural districts of Zambia. CCs functioned

Neighborhoods on the move: a community-based participatory research approach to promoting physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Suminski, Richard R; Petosa, Rick L; Jones, Larry; Hall, Lisa; Poston, Carlos W

2009-01-01

There is a scientific and practical need for high-quality effectiveness studies of physical activity interventions in "real-world" settings. To use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to develop, implement, operate, and evaluate an intervention for promoting physical activity called Neighborhoods on the Move. Two communities with similar physical and social characteristics participated in this study. One community was involved in Neighborhoods on the Move; the other (comparison community) participated only in the assessments. Academic personnel and residents/organizations in the Neighborhoods on the Move community worked together to create a community environment that was more conducive for physical activity. Pre- and posttest data on new initiatives promoting physical activity, existing physical activity initiatives, and business policies supporting physical activity were collected simultaneously in both communities. The success of the CBPR approach was evidenced by several developments, including substantial resident involvement and the formation of a leadership committee, marketing campaign, and numerous community partnerships. The number of businesses with policies promoting physical activity and breadth of existing physical activity initiatives (participants, activities, hours) increased substantially more in the Neighborhoods on the Move community than in the comparison community. A total of sixty new initiatives promoting physical activity were implemented in the Neighborhoods on the Move community during the intervention. The CBPR approach is an effective strategy for inducing environmental changes that promote physical activity. Additional research is needed to assess the portability and sustainability of Neighborhoods on the Move.

Community member and faith leader perspectives on the process of building trusting relationships between communities and researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lakes, Kimberley D; Vaughan, Elaine; Pham, Jennifer; Tran, Tuyet; Jones, Marissa; Baker, Dean; Swanson, James M; Olshansky, Ellen

2014-02-01

In the first phase of this research, we conducted, audio-recorded, and transcribed seven focus groups with more than 50 English- or Spanish-speaking women of childbearing age. Qualitative analysis revealed the following themes: (1) expectation that participation would involve relationships based on trust that is built over time and impacted by cultural factors; (2) perceived characteristics of research staff that would help facilitate the development of trusting relationships; (3) perceptions about the location of the visits that may affect trust; (4) perceptions of a research study and trust for the institution conducting the study may affect trust; (5) connecting the study to larger communities, including faith communities, could affect trust and willingness to participate. In the second phase of this research, we conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed interviews with leaders from diverse faith communities to explore the potential for research partnerships between researchers and faith communities. In addition to confirming themes identified in focus groups, faith leaders described an openness to research partnerships between the university and faith communities and considerations for the formation of these partnerships. Faith leaders noted the importance of finding common ground with researchers, establishing and maintaining trusting relationships, and committing to open, bidirectional communication. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Service user involvement in mental health care: an evolutionary concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, Samantha L; Chambers, Mary; Giles, Melanie

2016-04-01

The concept of service user involvement is an evolving concept in the mental health-care literature. This study sought to explore and analyse the concept of service user involvement as used in within the field of mental health care. An evolutionary concept analysis was conducted using a literature-based sample extracted from an electronic database search. One hundred and thirty-four papers met the inclusion criteria and were analysed to discover key attributes, antecedents and consequences of service user involvement and to produce a definition of the concept. Five key attributes of service user involvement within the context of mental health care were identified: a person-centred approach, informed decision making, advocacy, obtaining service user views and feedback and working in partnership. Clarity of the attributes and definition of the concept of service user involvement aims to promote understanding of the concept among key stakeholders including mental health professionals, service users and community and voluntary organizations. The findings of the research have utility in the areas of theory and policy development, research on service user involvement in mental health care and service user involvement in mental health practice. Directions for further research regarding the concept are identified. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

L’esperienza delle Community Forests in Inghilterra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Colangelo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Community Forests can be described as multi-purpose forests that are close to people and that deliver environmental, social and economic benefits. Community Forests involve local communities in the planning, design, management and use of trees, woodland and associated green-spaces. In England, Community Forests are a national programme of environmental regeneration reaching half of the England’s population, enhancing the countryside around major towns and cities, creating beautiful landscapes, rich in wildlife with associated opportunities for recreation and education. Overall, Community Forests cover an area of over four hundred and fifty thousand hectares in England: one of the largest environmental initiatives in Europe. After twenty years, the great involvement of people shows the importance of this new strategy for environmental planning and management. 

How "community" matters for how people interact with information: mixed methods study of young men who have sex with other men.

Science.gov (United States)

Veinot, Tiffany Christine; Meadowbrooke, Chrysta Cathleen; Loveluck, Jimena; Hickok, Andrew; Bauermeister, Jose Artruro

2013-02-21

We lack a systematic portrait of the relationship between community involvement and how people interact with information. Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are a population for which these relationships are especially salient: their gay community involvement varies and their information technology use is high. YMSM under age 24 are also one of the US populations with the highest risk of HIV/AIDS. To develop, test, and refine a model of gay community involvement (GCI) factors in human-information interaction (HII) as applied to HIV/AIDS information among YMSM, specifically examining the role of Internet use in GCI and HII. Mixed methods included: 1) online questionnaire with 194 YMSM; and 2) qualitative interviews with 19 YMSM with high GCI levels. Recruitment utilized social media, dating websites, health clinics, bars/clubs, and public postings. The survey included questions regarding HIV/AIDS-related information acquisition and use patterns, gay community involvement, risk behaviors, and technology use. For survey data, we tested multiple linear regression models using a series of community- and information-related variables as dependent variables. Independent variables included community- and information-related variables and demographic covariates. We then conducted a recursive path analysis in order to estimate a final model, which we refined through a grounded theory analysis of qualitative interview data. Four community-related variables significantly predicted how people interact with information (HII variables): 1) gay community involvement (GCI), 2) social costs of information seeking, 3) network expertise accessibility, and 4) community relevance. GCI was associated with significantly lower perceived social costs of HIV/AIDS information seeking (R(2)=0.07). GCI and social costs significantly predicted network expertise accessibility (R(2)=0.14). GCI predicted 14% of the variance in community relevance and 9% of the variance in information seeking

Community pharmacy practice in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nousheen Aslam

2012-01-01

Conclusion: This study concludes that the current status of community pharmacy practice is below par. There is a need to involve more pharmacists at community level and develop awareness programs to counter patients′ routine drug issues and reducing the burden of disease from society.

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…

Community-based biological control of malaria mosquitoes using Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) in Rwanda: community awareness, acceptance and participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingabire, Chantal Marie; Hakizimana, Emmanuel; Rulisa, Alexis; Kateera, Fredrick; Van Den Borne, Bart; Muvunyi, Claude Mambo; Mutesa, Leon; Van Vugt, Michelle; Koenraadt, Constantianus J M; Takken, Willem; Alaii, Jane

2017-10-03

Targeting the aquatic stages of malaria vectors via larval source management (LSM) in collaboration with local communities could accelerate progress towards malaria elimination when deployed in addition to existing vector control strategies. However, the precise role that communities can assume in implementing such an intervention has not been fully investigated. This study investigated community awareness, acceptance and participation in a study that incorporated the socio-economic and entomological impact of LSM using Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) in eastern Rwanda, and identified challenges and recommendations for future scale-up. The implementation of the community-based LSM intervention took place in Ruhuha, Rwanda, from February to July 2015. The intervention included three arms: control, community-based (CB) and project-supervised (PS). Mixed methods were used to collect baseline and endline socio-economic data in January and October 2015. A high perceived safety and effectiveness of Bti was reported at the start of the intervention. Being aware of malaria symptoms and perceiving Bti as safe on other living organisms increased the likelihood of community participation through investment of labour time for Bti application. On the other hand, the likelihood for community participation was lower if respondents: (1) perceived rice farming as very profitable; (2) provided more money to the cooperative as a capital; and, (3) were already involved in rice farming for more than 6 years. After 6 months of implementation, an increase in knowledge and skills regarding Bti application was reported. The community perceived a reduction in mosquito density and nuisance biting on treated arms. Main operational, seasonal and geographical challenges included manual application of Bti, long working hours, and need for transportation for reaching the fields. Recommendations were made for future scale-up, including addressing above-mentioned concerns and

[What are we doing in neighborhoods? Description of health-promoting community activities in primary care: the FrAC Project].

Science.gov (United States)

March, Sebastià; Jordán Martín, Matilde; Montaner Gomis, Isabel; Benedé Azagra, Carmen Belén; Elizalde Soto, Lázaro; Ramos, María

2014-01-01

To describe the health-promoting community activities developed in primary health care and compare types of activities and how they are performed among autonomous regions. A descriptive multicenter study was carried out in primary care in 5 Spanish regions. We included community activities consisting of non-sporadic activities, carried out in the previous year, with the participation of the primary care team, and the active participation of the community or as a cross-sector activity. The persons responsible for each of the 194 teams were asked if the team participated in community activities and, if so, a questionnaire was completed by the person responsible for each activity. The variables consisted of the topic addressed, the target population, the professionals involved, the time and scope of implementation, evaluation, theoretical perspectives, network registration, the involvement of the community and other agents, and evaluation of this involvement. A descriptive analysis was performed, stratified by region. We identified 183 community activities in 104 teams. Although there was wide variability among regions, most activities were related to general health, nutrition and emotional-sexual health and targeted the general population, children or parents and were carried out in educational or health centers. Participating professionals had a median of 4 years of experience and a median of 2.8 professionals were involved in each activity. A total of 72.5% of the activities were performed during working hours, 75% were evaluated, and 70% were supported by theoretical and methodological perspectives. Non-health sectors were involved in 65%, local government in 60%, and nongovernmental organizations in 58.5%. Nurses were involved in 85.8% of the activities, physicians in 38.5%, and social workers in 35%. Substantial variability was detected among regions. Wide variability was found in the types of activities and their application among the community activities

Community Mining Method of Label Propagation Based on Dense Pairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WENG Wei

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, with the popularity of handheld Internet equipments like mobile phones, increasing numbers of people are becoming involved in the virtual social network. Because of its large amount of data and complex structure, the network faces new challenges of community mining. A label propagation algorithm with low time complexity and without prior parameters deals easily with a large networks. This study explored a new method of community mining, based on label propagation with two stages. The first stage involved identifying closely linked nodes according to their local adjacency relations that gave rise to a micro-community. The second stage involved expanding and adjusting this community through a label propagation algorithm (LPA to finally obtain the community structure of the entire social network. This algorithm reduced the number of initial labels and avoided the merging of small communities in general LPAs. Thus, the quality of community discovery was improved, and the linear time complexity of the LPA was maintained.

Is community-based participatory research (CBPR useful? A systematic review on papers in a decade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahya Salimi

2012-01-01

Conclusion: Some evidences were found for potentially effective strategies to increase the participant′s levels of CBPR activities. Interventions that included community involvement have the potential to make important differences to levels of activities and should be promoted.

Stakeholder involvement and public outreach at two Department of Energy sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, R.H.

1996-01-01

Outreach efforts at two U.S. Department of Energy sites (i.e., the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington and Pantex Plant in the Texas panhandle) have involved a broad spectrum of communications media, including technical presentations and articles, information brochures and fact sheets, video productions; interactive exhibits; presentations at civic and other public meetings; and proactive interactions with the news media, regulators and concerned citizens. In addition, representatives of local communities operate offsite environmental monitoring stations and Native Americans are involved in studying cultural resources, fisheries, and other issues at Hanford, and a program to obtain environmental samples from neighbors property is underway at Pantex. All major environmental programs (e.g., the reconstruction of past radiological doses to offsite human populations at Hanford) are conducted with open public participation, the Pantex Plant has opened an Information office in Amarillo, Texas, and both sites now have Citizen's Advisory Boards. This presentation describes Hanford and Pantex public outreach and involvement efforts, our successes and failures, and the lessons learned

Opening up closed policy communities.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Termeer, C.J.A.M.; Werkman, R.A.

2010-01-01

Agricultural policy networks have served as classic cases of closed policy communities, facing pressure to open up. However attempts to involve new stakeholders slowly move forward. This paper addresses the question why it is so difficult to open up agricultural communities and what might help to

A qualitative study into the perceived barriers of accessing healthcare among a vulnerable population involved with a community centre in Romania.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Siân; Daniels, Katy; Fioratou, Evridiki

2018-04-03

Minority vulnerable communities, such as the European Roma, often face numerous barriers to accessing healthcare services, resulting in negative health outcomes. Both these barriers and outcomes have been reported extensively in the literature. However, reports on barriers faced by European non-Roma native communities are limited. The "Health Care Access Barriers" (HCAB) model identifies pertinent financial, structural and cognitive barriers that can be measured and potentially modified. The present study thus aims to explore the barriers to accessing healthcare for a vulnerable population of mixed ethnicity from a charity community centre in Romania, as perceived by the centre's family users and staff members, and assess whether these reflect the barriers identified from the HCAB model. Eleven community members whose children attend the centre and seven staff members working at the centre participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews, exploring personal experiences and views on accessing healthcare. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using an initial deductive and secondary inductive approach to identify HCAB themes and other emerging themes and subthemes. Identified themes from both groups aligned with HCAB's themes of financial, structural and cognitive barriers and emergent subthemes important to the specific population were identified. Specifically, financial barriers related mostly to health insurance and bribery issues, structural barriers related mostly to service availability and accessibility, and cognitive barriers related mostly to healthcare professionals' attitudes and discrimination and the vulnerable population's lack of education and health literacy. A unique theme of psychological barriers emerged from both groups with associated subthemes of mistrust, hopelessness, fear and anxiety of this vulnerable population. The current study highlights healthcare access barriers to a vulnerable non-Roma native population involved with a

The Public Library on the Electronic Frontier: Starting a Community Online Information System.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Carol J.

1995-01-01

Details the Rockford (Illinois) Public Library's activities involved with developing a community online information system and the not-for-profit organization established to run the system. Includes mission statement; guiding principles, policy statements; standing committees and goals for first year of operation; funding; adding users and…

Parental Involvement in English Homework Tasks: Bridging the Gap between School and Home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelly Patricia Ávila Daza

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the concept of parental involvement in English homework tasks as a way to include parents in the educational community. This descriptive study was carried out in a female public school with 10 students from third and fourth grades and their parents. In order to obtain the information, different instruments were used: artifacts, interviews, questionnaires and observations. After analyzing the data, it was stated that parental involvement was seen as a means to bridge the gap between the school and home. The findings also showed the possibility of learning from each other and the importance of homework tasks as interactional and learning spaces among parents and children.

Between Community Law and Common Law: The Rise of the Caribbean Court of Justice at the Intersection of Regional Integration and Post-Colonial Legacies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caserta, Salvatore; Madsen, Mikael Rask

2016-01-01

The article focuses on the rise of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) post-colonial legacies. Topics discussed include Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which accepted the Court's jurisdiction to interpret and apply the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC); empowerment of CCJ for hearing cases invol...... involving Caribbean Community law (Community law); and CCJ's unique double jurisdiction.....

Who wants to be involved in health care decisions? Comparing preferences for individual and collective involvement in England and Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mio Fredriksson

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient and public involvement (PPI is framed as positive for individuals, the health system, public health, as well as for communities and society as a whole. We investigated whether preferences for PPI differed between two countries with Beveridge type health systems–Sweden and England. We measured willingness to be involved in individual treatment decisions and in decisions about the organization and provision of local health and social care services. Methods This was a comparative cross-sectional study of the general population’s preferences. Together, the two samples included 3125 respondents; 1625 in England and 1500 in Sweden. Country differences were analysed in a multinomial regression model controlling for gender, age and educational attainment. Results Overall, 68% of respondents wanted a passive patient role and 44% wanted to be involved in local decisions about organization and provision of services. In comparison with in Sweden, they were in England less likely to want a health professional such as a GP or consultant to make decisions about their treatment and also more likely to want to make their own decisions. They were also less likely to want to be involved in local service development decisions. An increased likelihood of wanting to be involved in organizational decision-making was associated with individuals wanting to make their own treatment decisions. Women were less likely to want health professionals to make decisions and more likely to want to be involved in organizational decisions. Conclusions An effective health system that ensures public health must integrate an effective approach to PPI both in individual treatment decisions and shaping local health and social care priorities. To be effective, involvement activities must take in to account the variation in the desire for involvement and the implications that this has for equity. More work is needed to understand the relationship between the

Healthy School Communities in Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca; Yessis, Jennifer; Manske, Steve; Gleddie, Doug

2016-01-01

Background and context: Healthy school communities aim to optimise student health and educational achievement. Various models, terms and resources have been used to describe healthy school communities. Policy makers and practitioners have reported confusion around many of the key concepts involved because of the varying models and terms.…

High-throughput sequencing reveals microbial communities in drinking water treatment sludge from six geographically distributed plants, including potentially toxic cyanobacteria and pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hangzhou; Pei, Haiyan; Jin, Yan; Ma, Chunxia; Wang, Yuting; Sun, Jiongming; Li, Hongmin

2018-04-10

The microbial community structures of drinking water treatment sludge (DWTS) generated for raw water (RW) from different locations and with different source types - including river water, lake water and reservoir water -were investigated using high-throughput sequencing. Because the unit operations in the six DWTPs were similar, community composition in fresh sludge may be determined by microbial community in the corresponding RW. Although Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, and Planctomycetes were the dominant phyla among the six DWTS samples, no single phylum exhibited similar abundance across all the samples, owing to differences in total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand, Al, Fe, and chloride in RW. Three genera of potentially toxic cyanobacteria (Planktothrix, Microcystis and Cylindrospermopsis), and four potential pathogens (Escherichia coli, Bacteroides ovatus, Prevotella copri and Rickettsia) were found in sludge samples. Because proliferation of potentially toxic cyanobacteria and Rickettsia in RW was mainly affected by nutrients, while growth of Escherichia coli, Bacteroides ovatus and Prevotella copri in RW may be influenced by Fe, control of nutrients and Fe in RW is essential to decrease toxic cyanobacteria and pathogens in DWTS. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stakeholder involvement and decommissioning. Some lessons derived from papers presented at WPDD (2000 - 2004)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pescatore, Claudio

2006-01-01

Decommissioning and dismantling (D and D) are the last elements of the life cycle of both nuclear and non-nuclear facilities. The problems of this phase are partly the same and partly different from those of the preceding phases (planning, construction and operation). Public concerns about safety, for instance, are present in every phase. In the course of construction and operation important challenges include meeting public expectations of a higher quality of life, accommodation of an increasing population, mitigation of construction nuisances and assurance of the safe operation of the facility. In the decommissioning and dismantling phase public concerns include decrease in employment, the reduction of revenues for the municipality, the future use of the affected land, and other negative social impacts (e.g. emigration of part of the skilled population) [d'Abadal, Castellnou]. This phase too is characterised - as earlier phases - by the heterogeneity of stakeholder interests and values, and the difficulties to achieve consensus or compromise. The difficulties arise in connection with the harmonisation of energy production, environmental protection and sustainable socio-economic development considerations. Issues of interaction between local and regional decisions are also characteristic. From the point of view of conflict management the building of trust amongst stakeholders is very important in the decommissioning and dismantling phase. Consequently, social lessons learned from the siting and development of nuclear facilities are widely applicable in the field of D and D. This paper summarises some lessons learned from papers on stakeholder involvement presented at WPDD meetings mainly between 2000 and 2004. In conclusion, community/stakeholder participation and economic development involve the identification of all relevant stakeholders and the community needs. There must be an early discussion of plans with all stakeholders. A continuous dialogue with the

DETERMINANTS OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN ORADEA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SAVEANU TOMINA GABRIELA

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The present paper is part of the research of the PhD thesis made by the author, having the title: Community Participation in Oradea, registered at the University of Oradea - Faculty of Social and Human Sciences. The general objectives of the paper are the explanation of different types of citizens involvement in the life of their community, the investigation of the existing relationships between different forms of participation, the interpretation of the effects different forms of participation have on the studied communities and the identification of relevant mechanism for the stimulation social involvement. The citizens' political and civil participation, social responsibility, community spirit, civic activism together with other concepts from the civil society's rhetoric entered the agenda of public debates together with the intensifying efforts for adhering to the European Community, being the subject of numerous studies conducted in this field. The need for a strong civic society, with interested and involved citizens in the life of the community which they belong to, for social and economical development belong to the same discourse of the strong democratic society, being challenged in the literature, starting with Tocqueville, Almond and Verba, to Putnam and many others. In parallel to the civil society's rhetoric and the analysis coming from this direction, are the studies and theories of community development, which on one side are based on development policies, regulations, institutional framework of development, but contain also aspects of citizens' involvement in evaluating the community problems, the decision making processes and in the actual implementation of solutions. Moreover the aspects of network belonging and social trust which are reflected in the concept of social capital are sources both for participation as well for economic and social development. The present paper reflects the analysis of the determinant factors which

Consumers’ Motivation to Interact in Virtual Food Communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Lina; Tudoran, Ana Alina; Lähteenmäki, Liisa

2017-01-01

-present are strong mediators of the relationships especially between food involvement and behavioural interaction intention. The chance to learn from and present oneself to the community are reasons why consumers engage in interaction in virtual food communities, given their pre-existing interest in food and...... managers must keep in mind that these opportunities will only appeal to food involved consumers with a certain online interaction propensity...... of motivation to self-present to and learn from the community regarding consumers’ willingness to interact in virtual food communities. The study investigates 1) the associations between the pre-existing consumer interests in food and general online interaction, and consumers’ willingness to interact in virtual...

Toxic and hazardous chemicals, Title III and communities: An outreach manual for community groups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNeil, C.; Arkin, E.B.; McCallum, D.

1989-09-01

The manual was prepared for State and local government officials, local emergency planning committee (LEPCs), and other community groups that want to make Title III work. It is intended as a practical guide for those who have little or no previous experience in the field of communication, whose time must be snatched from home and office, and whose resources are limited. The manual has three major sections: Part I discusses planning, which is vital to the success of a communication program; Part II suggests ways to get and keep people involved, especially important because Title III affects so many different sectors of the community; Part III, a how-to-do-it section, talks about specific tasks, such as giving a speech or writing a press release. Appendices include a detailed explanation of the law, a glossary, a list of recent studies related to Title III communications, a list of educational materials, and a list of State contacts

A history of women and feminist perspectives in community psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bond, M A; Mulvey, A

2000-10-01

Using an historical framework, we document and assess efforts to include women, women's issues, and feminism in community psychology and in the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). Initiatives of the SCRA Task Force/Committee on Women are traced from its inception to present. We also chronicle the dilemmas and difficulties of moving toward a feminist community psychology. The history is divided into five phases. Each phase is described in terms of women's involvement in the field and efforts to integrate feminist content into research and practice of the field. Reflections on the qualities of contexts that have both supported and inhibited inclusion are identified. We look to this history to try to understand the observation that while women have been increasingly visible in leadership roles and women's professional development has been encouraged, less progress has been made toward building a feminist community psychology.

Report to the community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braungart, S.; Ripley, M.

2001-10-01

In this document, Petro-Canada reports to the stakeholders on non-financial issues that have an impact on the communities in which the company operates. It is the first such annual report. The document touches environmental performance measures, the company's commitment and involvement in the various communities where it has a presence, health and safety, high-performance work environment for the employees, as well as business principles that guide the making of decisions. Some basic information concerning Petro-Canada is presented, followed by an overview of the corporate responsibility. The next section of the report is concerned with the environment. It is further divided into categories such as energy, air quality, water quality, regulatory compliance, environmental investments, waste management, and product quality. The section devoted to employee well-being addresses the work environment, and health and safety. The values and ethical decision-making are discussed in the next section, including the code of business conduct, corporate values, criteria for ethical decision-making, relationship with suppliers and business associates, community investment. The major growth areas, like Newfoundland, Northern Alberta, the Mackenzie Delta all benefit from a special sub-section that brushes on the major accomplishments. The report concludes by a statement concerning the contribution made by Petro-Canada to the Canadian economy. figs

Stakeholder involvement in the design of a patient-centered comparative effectiveness trial of the "On the Move" group exercise program in community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Brach, Jennifer S; Perera, Subashan; Gilmore, Sandra; VanSwearingen, Jessie M; Brodine, Deborah; Wert, David; Nadkarni, Neelesh K; Ricci, Edmund

2016-09-01

Group exercise programs for older adults often exclude the timing and coordination of movement. Stakeholder involvement in the research process is strongly encouraged and improves the relevance and adoption of findings. We describe stakeholder involvement in the design of a clinical trial of a group-based exercise program that incorporates timing and coordination of movement into the exercises. The study was a cluster randomized, single-blind intervention trial to compare the effects on function, disability and mobility of a standard group exercise program and the "On the Move" group exercise program in older adults residing in independent living facilities and senior apartment buildings, and attending community centers. Exercise classes were twice weekly for 12weeks delivered by study exercise leaders and facility activity staff personnel. The primary outcomes function, disability and mobility were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Function and disability were assessed using the Late Life Function and Disability Instrument, and mobility using the Six-Minute Walk Test and gait speed. Patient and provider stakeholders had significant input into the study aims, design, sample, intervention, outcomes and operational considerations. A community-based exercise program to improve walking can be developed to address both investigator identified missing components in current exercise to improve walking and stakeholder defined needs and interest for the activity program. Involvement of stakeholders substantially improves the relevance of research questions, increases the transparency of research activities and may accelerate the adoption of research into practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Family Resources as Protective Factors for Low-Income Youth Exposed to Community Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardaway, Cecily R; Sterrett-Hong, Emma; Larkby, Cynthia A; Cornelius, Marie D

2016-07-01

Exposure to community violence is a risk factor for internalizing and externalizing problems; however, resources within the family can decrease the likelihood that adolescents will experience internalizing and externalizing problems as a result of such exposure. This study investigates the potential moderating effects of kinship support (i.e., emotional and tangible support from extended family) and parental involvement on the relation between exposure to community violence (i.e., witnessing violence and violent victimization) and socioemotional adjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) in low-income adolescents. The sample included 312 (50 % female; 71 % African American and 29 % White) low-income youth who participated in a longitudinal investigation when adolescents were age 14 (M age = 14.49 years) and again when they were 16 (M age = 16.49 years). Exposure to community violence at age 14 was related to more internalizing and externalizing problems at age 16. High levels of kinship support and parental involvement appeared to function as protective factors, weakening the association between exposure to violence and externalizing problems. Contrary to prediction, none of the hypothesized protective factors moderated the association between exposure to violence and internalizing problems. The results from this study suggest that both kinship support and parental involvement help buffer adolescents from externalizing problems that are associated with exposure to community violence.

Using mixed methods when researching communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ochieng, Bertha M N; Meetoo, Danny

2015-09-01

To argue for the use of mixed methods when researching communities. Although research involving minority communities is now advanced, not enough effort has been made to formulate methodological linkages between qualitative and quantitative methods in most studies. For instance, the quantitative approaches used by epidemiologists and others in examining the wellbeing of communities are usually empirical. While the rationale for this is sound, quantitative findings can be expanded with data from in-depth qualitative approaches, such as interviews or observations, which are likely to provide insights into the experiences of people in those communities and their relationships with their wellbeing. Academic databases including The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, INTERNURSE, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge and PubMed. An iterative process of identifying eligible literature was carried out by comprehensively searching electronic databases. Using mixed-methods approaches is likely to address any potential drawbacks of individual methods by exploiting the strengths of each at the various stages of research. Combining methods can provide additional ways of looking at a complex problem and improve the understanding of a community's experiences. However, it is important for researchers to use the different methods interactively during their research. The use of qualitative and quantitative methods is likely to enrich our understanding of the interrelationship between wellbeing and the experiences of communities. This should help researchers to explore socio-cultural factors and experiences of health and healthcare practice more effectively.

Being Included and Excluded

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korzenevica, Marina

2016-01-01

Following the civil war of 1996–2006, there was a dramatic increase in the labor mobility of young men and the inclusion of young women in formal education, which led to the transformation of the political landscape of rural Nepal. Mobility and schooling represent a level of prestige that rural...... politics. It analyzes how formal education and mobility either challenge or reinforce traditional gendered norms which dictate a lowly position for young married women in the household and their absence from community politics. The article concludes that women are simultaneously excluded and included from...... community politics. On the one hand, their mobility and decision-making powers decrease with the increase in the labor mobility of men and their newly gained education is politically devalued when compared to the informal education that men gain through mobility, but on the other hand, schooling strengthens...

Community Economics

OpenAIRE

武藤, 宣道; Nobumichi, MUTOH

2000-01-01

This paper examines the new field of community economics with respect to Japan. A number of studies in community economics have already been produced in OECD countries including the United States. Although these are of great interest, each country has its own historical, socioeconomic context and must therefore develop its own approach to community economics. Community-oriented economics is neither macro-nor micro-economics in the standard economics textbook sense. Most community economics st...

Community Members Draw the Line

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory Freeland

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigates whether a community-based task force’s redistricting plan in Ventura County, California, positively affected fair representation, social equity issues, community interests, and the electoral process. Examination and evaluation of the organizational strategies and collaborations involved in the task force’s redistricting process find that the Board of Supervisors districts that members of the community drew were successful in improving and maintaining fair representation. This finding is based on comparing supervisorial votes and policies with community members’ votes on state propositions and local measures, in addition to conducting interviews with task force members, politicians, and community activists. This study finds that citizen participation in governmental processes improves overall community health and political participation.

Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) study protocol: a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach to measuring community-level factors influencing early child development in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfeld, Sharon; Villanueva, Karen; Tanton, Robert; Katz, Ilan; Brinkman, Sally; Woolcock, Geoffrey; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-03-13

Healthy childhood development in the early years is critical for later adult health and well-being. Early childhood development (ECD) research has focused primarily on individual, family and school factors, but largely ignored community factors. The Kids in Communities Study (KiCS) will test and investigate community-level influences on child development across Australia. Cross-sectional mixed-methods study exploring community-level effects in 25 Australian local communities; selection based on community socioeconomic status (SES) and ECD using the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), a population measure of child development, to create a local community 'diagonality type', that is, those performing better or worse (off-diagonal), or as expected (on-diagonal) on the AEDC relative to their SES. Data collection includes stakeholder interviews, parent and service provider focus groups, and surveys with general community residents and service providers, mapping of neighbourhood design and local amenities and services, analysis of policy documents, and the use of existing sociodemographic and early childhood education and care data. Quantitative data will be used to test associations between local community diagonality type, and ECD based on AEDC scores. Qualitative data will provide complementary and deeper exploration of these same associations. The Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study protocol (#30016). Further ethics approvals were obtained from State Education and Health departments and Catholic archdioceses where required. ECD community-level indicators will eventually be derived and made publically available. Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals, community reports, websites and policy briefs to disseminate results to researchers, and key stakeholders including policymakers, practitioners and (most importantly) the communities involved. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to

Planning Community-Based Youth Services in Cork, Ireland: The Relevance of the Concepts "Youth" and "Community."

Science.gov (United States)

Gaetz, Stephen

1992-01-01

A weakness in the approach to community-based youth services in Cork (Ireland) involves viewing the terms "youth" and "community" as though they represented homogeneous categories. Ethnographic data highlight the difficulties of monolithic classification by describing the experiences of three distinct categories of young…

Involving, Sharing, Analysing—Potential of the Participatory Photo Interview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina Kolb

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the photo interview method used in a participatory inter- and transdisciplinary research setting. The photo interview has proven particularly useful for sustainability and environmental studies in which eliciting community points of view is crucial to the research effort. Based on experiences in several countries, the author describes and analyses the photo interview process and its three phases—involving, sharing and analysing—and explores potential influences on data quality. In the first phase, researchers use the photo interview method to involve community residents from different levels of society in the research process. In the second phase, the photo interview method encourages community residents and scientists to share insights and perspectives and to partner in developing a common understanding of local structures, processes, and possible solutions. In the third phase, the photo interview method allows researchers to analyse visual and textual data as a representation of a local societal context. In decoding images, researchers ground the analysis in subjective perspectives, use residents' visual codes along with other methods to further analyse community data, and explore the wider societal context in which the study is embedded. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0803127

Mentoring in Native American Communities using STEM Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Angrum, A.; Alexander, C. J.; Martin, M.

2011-12-01

In this paper we will present a concept for mentoring built on STEM principles, and applied to the Native American community in Chinle, AZ. Effective mentoring includes being sensitive, listening to, and advising mentees based upon a 'correct' appreciation not only of their needs but also of the desires of the community they come from. Our project is an outreach effort on the part of NASA's contribution to the International Rosetta mission. Our initial program design incorporated ambitious STEM materials developed by NASA/JPL for other communities that excite and engage future generations in geoscience careers, to be re-packaged and brought to the Navajo community in Chinle. We were cognizant of the communities' emphasis on the need to know themselves and their own culture when teaching their students. Recognizing that one of the most important near-term problems in Native American communities across the country is preservation of aboriginal language, a first step in our program involved defining STEM vocabulary. Community participation was required to identify existing words, write a STEM thesaurus, and also define contemporary words (what we called 'NASA words') that have no equivalent in the native tongue. This step critically involved obtaining approval of new words from tribal Elders. Finally, our objective was to put this newly defined STEM vocabulary to work, helping the kids to learn STEM curriculum in their own language. The communities' response to our approach was guarded interest, an invitation to return for further work, and finally a request that we co-sponsor a Summer Science Academy that was not focused on the subjects of space exploration originally envisioned by the project. Thus a first lesson learned was that ambitious material might not be the first step to a sustained educational program on the reservation. Understanding the end-users' environment, requirements and constraints is a major component to sustainability. After several months of

Identifying barriers to mental health system improvements: an examination of community participation in assertive community treatment programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wakefield Patricia A

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Integrating the best available evidence into program standards is essential if system-wide improvements in the delivery of community-based mental health services are to be achieved. Since the beginning of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT program movement, program standards have included a role for the community. In particular, ACT program standards have sought to ensure that members of the local community are involved in governance and that former clients participate in service delivery as "Peer Support Specialists". This paper reports on the extent to which ACT program standards related to community participation have been implemented and identifies barriers to full compliance. Methods Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through a telephone survey of ACT Program Coordinators in Ontario, Canada, using a census sample of the existing 66 ACT programs. A thematic approach to content analysis was used to analyze respondents' qualitative comments. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and included means, frequencies, independent t-tests and Pearson Correlations. Results An 85% response rate was achieved. Of the 33 program standards, the two that received the lowest perceived compliance ratings were the two standards directly concerning community participation. Specifically, the standard to have a functioning Community Advisory Body and the standard requiring the inclusion of a Peer Support Specialist. The three major themes that emerged from the survey data with respect to the barriers to fully implementing the Community Advisory Body were: external issues; standard related issues; and, organizational/structural related issues. The three major themes concerning barriers to implementing the Peer Support Specialist role were: human resource related issues; organizational/structural related issues; and, standard related issues. Conclusions The reasons for low compliance of ACT programs with community

The European Community context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charrault, J.C.

1984-01-01

The chapter discusses the following: energy resources and energy policy within the European Community; political aspects in the Member States; Community involvement in the transport of radioactive materials; responsibility for safety in relation to transport lies with the governments of the Member States, but the Community through its various organizations also has certain responsibilities, e.g. to ensure that transport regulations are harmonised, to carry out safeguards checks, to provide standards for health and safety of workers and the public, and to cooperate with Member States in developing guidelines for transport safety. (U.K.)

Involving Extension in Urban Food Systems: An Example from California

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Lucy Diekmann

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Nationwide, Extension is increasingly involved in local food system work. In cities, initiatives to improve the local food system often include urban agriculture, which has attracted the attention of diverse stakeholders for its many potential social, health, economic, and environmental impacts. This article illustrates how Extension in the San Francisco Bay Area is developing urban agriculture programming and engaging in food-system-related partnerships. It also shares lessons learned from these efforts. In this metropolitan region, Extension practice aligns well with research findings on Extension involvement in local food systems, particularly with the emphasis on providing educational opportunities and resources adapted to unique needs of city residents and working collaboratively with community and government partners to facilitate broader food system change. The results of this case study will be useful for Extension personnel in designing and implementing programs related to urban food systems.

Commentary: a sociologist's view on community genetics

OpenAIRE

Raz, Aviad E.

2010-01-01

This commentary illustrates and discusses potential research directions for sociologists and anthropologists interested in the field of community genetics and its emerging networks of individuals genetically at risk. Community genetics—the application of medical genetics in community settings for the benefit of individuals—also involves social issues of lay-professional misunderstandings (and more recently also the different perspectives of various expert communities), stigmatization, discrim...

A qualitative exploration of trial-related terminology in a study involving Deaf British Sign Language users.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Alys; Oram, Rosemary; Dodds, Claire; Nassimi-Green, Catherine; Belk, Rachel; Rogers, Katherine; Davies, Linda; Lovell, Karina

2016-04-27

Internationally, few clinical trials have involved Deaf people who use a signed language and none have involved BSL (British Sign Language) users. Appropriate terminology in BSL for key concepts in clinical trials that are relevant to recruitment and participant information materials, to support informed consent, do not exist. Barriers to conceptual understanding of trial participation and sources of misunderstanding relevant to the Deaf community are undocumented. A qualitative, community participatory exploration of trial terminology including conceptual understanding of 'randomisation', 'trial', 'informed choice' and 'consent' was facilitated in BSL involving 19 participants in five focus groups. Data were video-recorded and analysed in source language (BSL) using a phenomenological approach. Six necessary conditions for developing trial information to support comprehension were identified. These included: developing appropriate expressions and terminology from a community basis, rather than testing out previously derived translations from a different language; paying attention to language-specific features which support best means of expression (in the case of BSL expectations of specificity, verb directionality, handshape); bilingual influences on comprehension; deliberate orientation of information to avoid misunderstanding not just to promote accessibility; sensitivity to barriers to discussion about intelligibility of information that are cultural and social in origin, rather than linguistic; the importance of using contemporary language-in-use, rather than jargon-free or plain language, to support meaningful understanding. The study reinforces the ethical imperative to ensure trial participants who are Deaf are provided with optimum resources to understand the implications of participation and to make an informed choice. Results are relevant to the development of trial information in other signed languages as well as in spoken/written languages when

Factors associated with involvement in nonmetropolitan LGBTQ organizations: Proximity? Generativity? Minority stress? Social location?

Science.gov (United States)

Paceley, Megan S; Oswald, Ramona Faith; Hardesty, Jennifer L

2014-01-01

Little is known about involvement in LGBTQ organizations. Factors associated with involvement in nonmetropolitan LGBTQ organizations were examined using logistic regression and survey data from 426 LGBTQ individuals residing in a nonmetropolitan region. Involvement was examined in five types of organizations (professional, social/recreational, religious, political, and community center/charity). The same model testing proximity, generativity, minority stress, and social location hypotheses was repeated for each organization type. Results demonstrate that the generativity hypothesis is most strongly supported. Indeed, emotional attachment to the LGBTQ community significantly increased the odds of involvement in every type of organization. However, the factors associated with involvement otherwise differed by organization type. Implications for organizational leaders are discussed.

Role of Community Radio for Community Development in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Anowarul Arif Khan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Community radio is a medium of expressing and sharing views, thoughts, ideas, problems and prospects of rural, disadvantaged, vulnerable and hard to reach population with the mainstream population. As the media of root level people of the disadvantaged areas, Community radio has become popular in recent years and it has opened a new arena for both the policy makers as well as grassroots people to be involved in the development process of their community. There are about 17 Community Radios broadcasting 135 hours programmes in a day across the country. The Community Radio can help us in addressing social, economic, cultural, educational, health, water and sanitation and disaster related issues more effectively and strategically. In order to highlight the importance and effectiveness of community radio for the community development of Bangladesh, this study has been conducted based on the secondary data. This is a group effort that has become successful by the co-operation of many individuals and institutions. Access to Information (a2i Programme would like to express sincere gratitude to Monisha Mohonto, Project Focal and Bakul Mohonto, Program Assistant, BTV for introducing such an innovative project. As this is a new concept, there is no significant study has been conducted. Therefore the study has been directed to explore the importance of community FM radio in Bangladesh particularly in remote and rural areas.

Effects of Short-Term Training of Community-Dwelling Elderly with Modular Interactive Tiles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik Hautop; Jessen, Jari Due

2014-01-01

Objective: The objective of this study is to test for the increased mobility, agility, balancing, and general fitness of community-dwelling elderly individuals as a result of short-term training involving playing with modular interactive tiles (Entertainment Robotics, Odense, Denmark) at two...... individuals (63–95 years of age; mean, 83.2 years of age) were assessed in one intervention group without the use of a control group. The intervention group performed nine group sessions (1–1.5 hours each) of playful training with the modular interactive tiles over a 12-week period in two community activity...... community activity centers for the elderly. Three different tests from the Senior Fitness Test were used in order to test a variety of health parameters of the community-dwelling elderly, including those parameters related to fall prevention. Materials and Methods: Eighteen community-dwelling elderly...

Patient Engagement in Community Health Center Leadership: How Does it Happen?

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Anjana E; Huang, Beatrice; Knox, Margae; Willard-Grace, Rachel; Potter, Michael B

2018-05-18

Patient engagement in primary care leadership is an important means to involve community voices at community health centers. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are mandated to have patient representation within their governing boards, while practices seeking patient-centered medical home certification receive credit for implementing patient advisory councils (PACs). Our objective was to compare and contrast how community health centers engage patients in clinic management, decision-making and planning within governing boards versus PACs. Qualitative study conducted from August 2016 to June 2017 at community health centers in California, Arizona and Hawaii. We interviewed practice leaders of patient engagement programs at their site. Eligible clinics had patient representatives within their governing board, PAC, or both. We assessed patient demographics, roles and responsibilities of patients participating, and extent of involvement in quality improvement among governing boards versus PACs. We interviewed 19 sites, of which 17 were FQHCs that had governing boards. Of the 17 FQHCs, 11 had also implemented PACs. Two non-FQHC safety-net sites had PACs but did not have governing boards. Governing board members had formal, structured membership responsibilities such as finances and hiring personnel. PAC roles were more flexible, focusing on day-to-day clinic operations. Clinics tended to recruit governing board patient members for their skill set and professional experience; PAC member recruitment focused more on demographic representation of the clinic's patient population. Both groups worked on quality improvement, but governing boards tended to review clinic performance metrics, while PAC members were involved in specific project planning and implementation to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience. Patient involvement in clinic improvement in CHCs includes higher-level decision-making and governance through mechanisms such as governing boards, as

Power to the people: To what extent has public involvement in applied health research achieved this?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Gill

2016-01-01

Public involvement is required for applied health research funded in the UK. One of the largest funders, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), makes it clear that it values the knowledge of patients and the public. As a result, there are now many resources to make sure that the public voice is included in decision-making about research. However, there is concern that the public voice still has limited impact on research decision-making. This article asks to what extent has power shifted from the scientific research community to the public? It looks at how much power and impact patients and members of the public have about research by asking: How do the public contribute to deciding which research areas and which research projects should be funded? How do they influence how the research is carried out? The article argues that there is evidence that the public voice is present in research decision-making. However, there is less evidence of a change in the power dynamic between the scientific research community and the public. The public involved in research are not always equal partners. The scientific research community still has the loudest voice and patients and the public do not always feel sufficiently empowered to challenge it. Public involvement in applied health research is a pre-requisite for funding from many funding bodies. In particular the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) in the UK, clearly states that it values lay knowledge and there is an expectation that members of the public will participate as research partners in research. As a result a large public involvement infrastructure has emerged to facilitate this. However, there is concern that despite the flurry of activity in promoting public involvement, lay knowledge is marginalised and has limited impact on research decision-making. This article asks to what extent has power shifted from the scientific research community to the public? It discusses the meaning of power and

The use of Goal Attainment Scaling in a community health promotion initiative with seniors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kloseck, Marita

2007-07-03

Evaluating collaborative community health promotion initiatives presents unique challenges, including engaging community members and other stakeholders in the evaluation process, and measuring the attainment of goals at the collective community level. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a versatile, under-utilized evaluation tool adaptable to a wide range of situations. GAS actively involves all partners in the evaluation process and has many benefits when used in community health settings. The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of GAS as a potential means of measuring progress and outcomes in community health promotion and community development projects. GAS methodology was used in a local community of seniors (n = 2500; mean age = 76 +/- 8.06 SD; 77% female, 23% male) to a) collaboratively set health promotion and community partnership goals and b) objectively measure the degree of achievement, over- or under-achievement of the established health promotion goals. Goal attainment was measured in a variety of areas including operationalizing a health promotion centre in a local mall, developing a sustainable mechanism for recruiting and training volunteers to operate the health promotion centre, and developing and implementing community health education programs. Goal attainment was evaluated at 3 monthly intervals for one year, then re-evaluated again at year 2. GAS was found to be a feasible and responsive method of measuring community health promotion and community development progress. All project goals were achieved at one year or sooner. The overall GAS score for the total health promotion project increased from 16.02 at baseline (sum of scale scores = -30, average scale score = -2) to 54.53 at one year (sum of scale scores = +4, average scale score = +0.27) showing project goals were achieved above the expected level. With GAS methodology an amalgamated score of 50 represents the achievement of goals at the expected level. GAS provides a

The use of Goal Attainment Scaling in a community health promotion initiative with seniors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kloseck Marita

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evaluating collaborative community health promotion initiatives presents unique challenges, including engaging community members and other stakeholders in the evaluation process, and measuring the attainment of goals at the collective community level. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS is a versatile, under-utilized evaluation tool adaptable to a wide range of situations. GAS actively involves all partners in the evaluation process and has many benefits when used in community health settings. Methods The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of GAS as a potential means of measuring progress and outcomes in community health promotion and community development projects. GAS methodology was used in a local community of seniors (n = 2500; mean age = 76 ± 8.06 SD; 77% female, 23% male to a collaboratively set health promotion and community partnership goals and b objectively measure the degree of achievement, over- or under-achievement of the established health promotion goals. Goal attainment was measured in a variety of areas including operationalizing a health promotion centre in a local mall, developing a sustainable mechanism for recruiting and training volunteers to operate the health promotion centre, and developing and implementing community health education programs. Goal attainment was evaluated at 3 monthly intervals for one year, then re-evaluated again at year 2. Results GAS was found to be a feasible and responsive method of measuring community health promotion and community development progress. All project goals were achieved at one year or sooner. The overall GAS score for the total health promotion project increased from 16.02 at baseline (sum of scale scores = -30, average scale score = -2 to 54.53 at one year (sum of scale scores = +4, average scale score = +0.27 showing project goals were achieved above the expected level. With GAS methodology an amalgamated score of 50 represents the achievement of goals at

On truth-telling and storytelling: Truth-seeking during research involving communities with an oral culture and a history of violent conflict

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A G Vethuizen

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to propose some principles and practices for truth-seeking during research into violent conflict. To achieve this aim, an argument is deployed by analysing the theoretical concepts “truth”, “myth” and “oral culture” as sources of knowledge. This conceptual analysis precedes a discussion on community-based participatory research (CBPR as a research methodology to access the knowledge of lived experiences embedded in the oral culture of the San community of Platfontein, near Kimberley, South Africa. It was found that CBPR contains good practices to use in research to judge the probable truth about disputes. The CBPR process is ideal for determining the accuracy of data in the context of a specific culture, considering the norms, spiritual influences and personal considerations of knowledge-holders that accompany a unique cosmology. A variety and equity of worldviews and perspectives of what happened during violent conflict successfully challenges hegemonic power relationships, paradigms and narratives, ultimately leading to informed judgements of what is probably true about a conflict. CBPR with the San of Platfontein revealed principles that can be used as guidelines for researching disputes where oral culture is involved.

Community Cookbooks: Sponsors of Literacy and Community Identity

Science.gov (United States)

Mastrangelo, Lisa

2015-01-01

This article looks at the various ways that communities can be "read" through their cookbooks. Recipes and collections can reveal much about communities, including shared memories/traditions, geographical identifications, and representations of class.

Crafting Legitimacy in District-Community Partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Lechasseur, Kimberly

2017-01-01

Background/Context: Partnering across districts, schools, and other community organizations has become ubiquitous as a policy for promoting change. Despite growing attention to and scholarship on district-community partnerships, there is little examination of the organizational mechanisms involved in sustaining them. Purpose/Objectives: This study…

Balancing government-regulated participation with community ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article seeks to explore the nature and extent of community participation and support for the Taung Skull World Heritage Site (TSWHS) scheme. Utilising the social exchange theory, the paper's central argument suggests meaningful community involvement in government-sponsored participation as a prerequisite to ...

Including Students with Severe Disabilities in General Education Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Wisniewski, Lech; Alper, Sandra

1994-01-01

This paper presents five systematic phases for bringing about successful regular education inclusion of students with severe disabilities. Phases include develop networks within the community, assess school and community resources, review strategies for integration, install strategies that lead to integration, and develop a system of feedback and…

Community resiliency as a measure of collective health status: perspectives from rural communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulig, Judith C; Edge, Dana; Joyce, Brenda

2008-12-01

Community resiliency is a theoretical framework useful for describing the process used by communities to address adversity. A mixed-method 2-year case study was conducted to gather information about community resiliency in 2 rural communities. This article focuses on the themes generated from qualitative interviews with 55 members of these communities. The participants viewed community as a place of interdependence and interaction. The majority saw community resiliency as the ability to address challenges. Characteristics included physical and social infrastructure, population characteristics, conceptual characteristics, and problem-solving processes. Barriers included negative individual attitudes and lack of infrastructure in rural communities. Nurses could play a key role in enhancing the resiliency of rural communities by developing and implementing programs based on the Community Resiliency Model, which was supported in this study.

A community perspective on the role of fathers during pregnancy: a qualitative study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Defining male involvement during pregnancy is essential for the development of future research and appropriate interventions to optimize services aiming to improve birth outcomes. Study Aim: To define male involvement during pregnancy and obtain community-based recommendations for interventions to improve male involvement during pregnancy. Methods We conducted focus groups with mothers and fathers from the National Healthy Start Association program in order to obtain detailed descriptions of male involvement activities, benefits, barriers, and proposed solutions for increasing male involvement during pregnancy. The majority of participants were African American parents. Results The involved “male” was identified as either the biological father, or, the current male partner of the pregnant woman. Both men and women described the ideal, involved father or male partner as present, accessible, available, understanding, willing to learn about the pregnancy process and eager to provide emotional, physical and financial support to the woman carrying the child. Women emphasized a sense of “togetherness” during the pregnancy. Suggestions included creating male-targeted prenatal programs, enhancing current interventions targeting females, and increasing healthcare providers’ awareness of the importance of men’s involvement during pregnancy. Conclusions Individual, family, community, societal and policy factors play a role in barring or diminishing the involvement of fathers during pregnancy. Future research and interventions should target these factors and their interaction in order to increase fathers’ involvement and thereby improve pregnancy outcomes. PMID:23497131

Parental Involvement in Elementary Children's Religious Education: A Phenomenological Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bunnell, Peter Wayne

2016-01-01

The issue of parental involvement in religious education is an important one for the family, the church, the Christian school, and society. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe parents' concepts and practices of involvement in their children's religious education as evangelical Christian parents in Midwestern communities.…

Parental involvement and association with adolescents’ fruit and vegetable intake at follow-up

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Sanne Ellegaard; Jørgensen, Thea Suldrup; Aarestrup, Anne Kristine

2016-01-01

involvement was found among 30.5 %, 29.6 % and 39.4 % of the students respectively. Parental involvement was highest among women. More men agreed that the parental newsletters provided new information. Students with a medium and high level of parental involvement ate 47.5 and 95.2 g more FV per day compared...... (≈13- year-olds) in the school year 2010/11. The study included a school component: free FV in class and curricular activities; a local community component: fact sheets for sports- and youth clubs; and a parental component: presentation of Boost at a parent-school meeting, 6 newsletters to parents, 3...... guided student-parent curricular activities, and a student-parent Boost event. Study population: Students whose parent replied to the follow-up survey (n = 347). Data: Questionnaire data from students, parents and teachers at 20 intervention schools. Process evaluation measures: dose delivered, dose...

Personnel involved in nuclear standards development: 1980 directory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, S.J.

1980-03-01

The development of nuclear standards is an active and necessary endeavor that is concerned with the safe, orderly, and economic development of nuclear potential. There are almost 4100 people from the teachnical community who are presently involved either in writing nuclear standards, including codes, or in the management and processing roles necessary for their approval and promulgation. This document identifies the current participation of each individual as member, chairman, cochairman (vice-chairman), or secretary of about 700 standards development committees and groups. The standards committees and groups are identified with the organizations that are responsible for the preparation, review, and maintenance of the standards and that provide support through supervisory committees and headquarters staff. This directory includes four major sections: personnel, employers, committees, and a Key-Word-in-Context (KWIC) Index of committee titles. It can also be used to identify the participation of employers as well as to recognize the contributions of individuals to the often interdisciplinary activity of standards development

Personnel involved in nuclear standards development: 1980 directory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carr, S.J. (ed.)

1980-03-01

The development of nuclear standards is an active and necessary endeavor that is concerned with the safe, orderly, and economic development of nuclear potential. There are almost 4100 people from the teachnical community who are presently involved either in writing nuclear standards, including codes, or in the management and processing roles necessary for their approval and promulgation. This document identifies the current participation of each individual as member, chairman, cochairman (vice-chairman), or secretary of about 700 standards development committees and groups. The standards committees and groups are identified with the organizations that are responsible for the preparation, review, and maintenance of the standards and that provide support through supervisory committees and headquarters staff. This directory includes four major sections: personnel, employers, committees, and a Key-Word-in-Context (KWIC) Index of committee titles. It can also be used to identify the participation of employers as well as to recognize the contributions of individuals to the often interdisciplinary activity of standards development.

The conundrum of Hodgkin lymphoma nodes: to be or not to be included in the involved node radiation fields. The EORTC-GELA lymphoma group guidelines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Girinsky, Theodore; Specht, Lena; Ghalibafian, Mithra

2008-01-01

PURPOSE: To develop easily applicable guidelines for the determination of initially involved lymph nodes to be included in the radiation fields. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with supra-diaphragmatic Hodgkin lymphoma. All the imaging procedures were carried out with patients in the treatment pos...

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Investigating Communication Supporting Community Resilience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenni Hyvärinen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In crisis management, cooperation within the response network is seen as crucial. Usually, this network refers to authorities and nongovernmental organizations, such as the Red Cross. However, the authors argue that to improve societal resilience one should take a broader overview of the actors involved in crisis preparedness and mitigation, and also include the public. With this in mind, the role of communication is scrutinized and a conceptual framework developed as a starting point for further investigation into how communication may be developed to strengthen a community approach to crisis management that includes citizen groups in the broader response network. A model is presented along with four propositions for future research. These include developing inventory methods to assist in stakeholder mapping in the pre-crisis phase, investigating all-hazard approaches to preparedness, scrutinizing collaboration during crisis situations to identify barriers to community resilience, and clarifying the kinds of communication competence needed in crisis situations and reflecting on lessons learned.

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.

Lessons learned from a community-academic initiative: the development of a core competency-based training for community-academic initiative community health workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Yumary; Matos, Sergio; Kapadia, Smiti; Islam, Nadia; Cusack, Arthur; Kwong, Sylvia; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau

2012-12-01

Despite the importance of community health workers (CHWs) in strategies to reduce health disparities and the call to enhance their roles in research, little information exists on how to prepare CHWs involved in community-academic initiatives (CAIs). Therefore, the New York University Prevention Research Center piloted a CAI-CHW training program. We applied a core competency framework to an existing CHW curriculum and bolstered the curriculum to include research-specific sessions. We employed diverse training methods, guided by adult learning principles and popular education philosophy. Evaluation instruments assessed changes related to confidence, intention to use learned skills, usefulness of sessions, and satisfaction with the training. Results demonstrated that a core competency-based training can successfully affect CHWs' perceived confidence and intentions to apply learned content, and can provide a larger social justice context of their role and work. This program demonstrates that a core competency-based framework coupled with CAI-research-specific skill sessions (1) provides skills that CAI-CHWs intend to use, (2) builds confidence, and (3) provides participants with a more contextualized view of client needs and CHW roles.

Stakeholder involvement in the design of a patient-centered comparative effectiveness trial of the “On the Move” group exercise program in community-dwelling older adults

Science.gov (United States)

Brach, Jennifer S.; Perera, Subashan; Gilmore, Sandra; VanSwearingen, Jessie M.; Brodine, Deborah; Wert, David; Nadkarni, Neelesh K.; Ricci, Edmund

2016-01-01

Background Group exercise programs for older adults often exclude the timing and coordination of movement. Stakeholder involvement in the research process is strongly encouraged and improves the relevance and adoption of findings. We describe stakeholder involvement in the design of a clinical trial of a group-based exercise program that incorporates timing and coordination of movement into the exercises. Methods The study was a cluster randomized, single-blind intervention trial to compare the effects on function, disability and mobility of a standard group exercise program and the “On the Move” group exercise program in older adults residing in independent living facilities and senior apartment buildings, and attending community centers. Exercise classes were twice weekly for 12 weeks delivered by study exercise leaders and facility activity staff personnel. Outcomes The primary outcomes function, disability and mobility were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Function and disability were assessed using the Late Life Function and Disability Instrument, and mobility using the Six-Minute Walk Test and gait speed. Stakeholders Patient and provider stakeholders had significant input into the study aims, design, sample, intervention, outcomes and operational considerations. Summary A community-based exercise program to improve walking can be developed to address both investigator identified missing components in current exercise to improve walking and stakeholder defined needs and interest for the activity program. Involvement of stakeholders substantially improves the relevance of research questions, increases the transparency of research activities and may accelerate the adoption of research into practice. PMID:27521806

75 FR 21113 - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Request for Grant Proposals: Community College...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-22

... business management and tourism and hospitality management. Faculty participants will be required to have... involved in the social and cultural life of their local U.S. communities: For example, making presentations...; Allied Health Fields, including Nursing; Applied Engineering; Information Technology; and Media. In...

Public involvement in cleanup - the Rocky Flats experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paukert, J.; Pennock, S.; Schassburger, R.

1992-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Plant recently completed and implemented the Rocky Flats Plant Community Relations Plan for public involvement in environmental restoration of the site. The plan was developed in cooperation with the plant's regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Health. In addition, citizens near the plant played a significant role in shaping the document through extensive community interviews and public comment. The result of these cooperative efforts is a plan that meets and exceeds the applicable federal and state community relations requirements for a cleanup program. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used the Rocky Flats Plant Community Relations Plants a model for similar plans at other federal facilities. Plan development, however, is only the starting point for an effective community relations effort. The Rocky Flats Plant and the public will face many challenges together as we implement the plan and build a partnership for addressing environmental cleanup issues. (author)

1997 report to the community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

In celebrating its thirtieth year of operation, Suncor has announced its future intentions, which includes doubling synthetic crude production from oil sands by 2002. This brochure presents an overview of the history of oil sands development in western Canada and describes the research since 1920 into the problem of separating the oil from the sand. The brochure was intended to inform residents in the Municipality of Wood Buffalo about the proposed Steepbank Mine on the east side of the Athabasca River, as well as provide information on other expansion projects. Suncor's strong commitment to community involvement was emphasized, along with the high priority that the company accords to environmental responsibility

The technique of participatory research in community development.

Science.gov (United States)

Anyanwu, C N

1988-01-01

The technique of participatory research in community development is based on the involvement of the beneficiaries of the research in the entire research process, including the formulation of the research design, the collection of data, interpretation of information collected, and the analysis of findings. Thus, research teams utilizing this approach are composed of villagers, farmers, unemployed people, local leaders, and educators. The research process thus offers an educational experience that helps to identify community needs and motivate community members to become committed to the solution of their own problems. Moreover, this approach challenges the prevalent notion that only professional researchers can generate knowledge for meaningful social reform. A participatory research technique, based on the concept of citizen enlightenment for community development, was adopted by the Department of Adult Education at the University of Ibadan in a study of rural poverty in Oyo State's Apasan villages. The research team, comprised of local leaders, peasant farmers, teachers, local students, and university students, identified the villages' isolation and food scarcity as major causes of poverty. 2 actions were taken in response to these findings: 1) the construction of a road linking the Apasan communities with the State capital, enabling villagers to travel to the town, sell their goods, and purchase needed items; and 2) formation of a primary cooperative society for multipurpose farming. These actions have solved the food problem, improved the villagers' earning capacity, and resulted in the return of numerous villagers who had migrated to towns to find wage employment. Because the villagers were directly involved in the study of their problems, they were able to become more aware of their social reality and make the changes needed to lift them out of poverty.

Food Barn for The Village Community To Strengthen Community Empowerment Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maulidyah Indira Hasmarini

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to assess the achievement level of community empowerment in realizing food security. The result was expected to reveal a model of community empowerment, particularly farmer community institution as an attempt to attain food security. Survey was employed as the research method that involved the farmers (farmer groups as the members of Food Barn for the Village Community (Lumbung Pangan Masyarakat Desa/LPMD. Technique of rapid rural appraisal was selected in the form of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Preliminary survey in study area was carried out to obtain the characteristic and status of food security; and to mapping the potential and role of Lumbung Pangan Masyarakat Desa in the process of community empowerment. Subsequently, study and analysis was done based on the survey. The results demonstrated the active role of stakeholders (A-B-G-C was significant in supporting the farmer institution (food barn. The economic and social aspects were also evidenced to have important role in enhancing the farmer community empowerment. This model is called social engine for rural community and local institution, particularly to attain the regional food security.

Increasing advance personal planning: the need for action at the community level.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Amy; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Ries, Nola; Bryant, Jamie

2018-05-09

Advance personal planning is the process by which people consider, document and communicate their preferences for personal, financial and health matters in case they lose the ability to make decisions or express their wishes in the future. Advance personal planning is most often undertaken by individuals who are seriously ill, often in the context of a medical crisis and/or at the time of admission to hospital. However, the clinical utility and legal validity of the planning process may be compromised in these circumstances. Patients may lack sufficient capacity to meaningfully engage in advance personal planning; there may be insufficient time to adequately reflect on and discuss wishes with key others; and there may also be limited opportunity for inter-professional input and collaboration in the process. Here, we propose an agenda for research to advance the science of advance personal planning by promoting a 'whole community' approach. Adoption of advance personal planning at a community level may be achieved using a variety of strategies including public media campaigns, intervening with professionals across a range of health care and legal settings, and mobilising support from influential groups and local government. One potentially promising method for encouraging earlier adoption of advance personal planning among a broader population involves a community action approach, whereby multiple evidence-based strategies are integrated across multiple access points. Community action involves calling on community members, professionals, community and/or government organisations to work collaboratively to design and systematically implement intervention strategies with the aim of bringing about desired behaviour change. An example of a community action trial to improving uptake and quality of advance personal planning is described. While promising, there is a need for rigorous evidence to demonstrate whether a community action approach is effective in

Relating Anaerobic Digestion Microbial Community and Process Function : Supplementary Issue: Water Microbiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaushik Venkiteshwaran

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Anaerobic digestion (AD involves a consortium of microorganisms that convert substrates into biogas containing methane for renewable energy. The technology has suffered from the perception of being periodically unstable due to limited understanding of the relationship between microbial community structure and function. The emphasis of this review is to describe microbial communities in digesters and quantitative and qualitative relationships between community structure and digester function. Progress has been made in the past few decades to identify key microorganisms influencing AD. Yet, more work is required to realize robust, quantitative relationships between microbial community structure and functions such as methane production rate and resilience after perturbations. Other promising areas of research for improved AD may include methods to increase/control (1 hydrolysis rate, (2 direct interspecies electron transfer to methanogens, (3 community structure–function relationships of methanogens, (4 methanogenesis via acetate oxidation, and (5 bioaugmentation to study community–activity relationships or improve engineered bioprocesses.

Community Radiation Monitoring Program. Annual report, December 1, 1982-March 31, 1984

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, M.A.; Cooper, E.N.

1984-01-01

The Community Radiation Monitoring Program is beginning its third year as part of the underground nuclear testing safety program developed by the US Department of Energy. The objectives of the program are: (1) to include local participation in the federal program to protect the health and safety of residents near the Nevada Test Site, (2) to augment the existing radiation monitoring network, and (3) to improve public understanding of the program by direct community involvement. The activities of program personnel from December 1, 1982 to March 31, 1984 are descussed and future efforts presented. 3 figures, 17 tables. (MF)

Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): A community-driven research programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, L.; Bell, J.N.B.; Bone, J.; Head, M.; Hill, L.; Howard, C.; Hobbs, S.J.; Jones, D.T.; Power, S.A.; Rose, N.; Ryder, C.; Seed, L.; Stevens, G.; Toumi, R.; Voulvoulis, N.; White, P.C.L.

2011-01-01

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public. - Highlights: → Environmental research conducted jointly by the public and scientists. → Over 200,000 people involved, 8000 sites surveyed, uncertainty minimised. → New insights into urban pollution. → A more engaged and informed society. - Research is enriched where the public and scientists work together.

Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): A community-driven research programme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davies, L., E-mail: l.davies@imperial.ac.uk [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Bell, J.N.B.; Bone, J.; Head, M.; Hill, L. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Howard, C. [Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Hobbs, S.J. [Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Jones, D.T. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Power, S.A. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Rose, N. [Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Ryder, C.; Seed, L. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Stevens, G. [Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD (United Kingdom); Toumi, R.; Voulvoulis, N. [Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); White, P.C.L. [Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)

2011-08-15

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public. - Highlights: > Environmental research conducted jointly by the public and scientists. > Over 200,000 people involved, 8000 sites surveyed, uncertainty minimised. > New insights into urban pollution. > A more engaged and informed society. - Research is enriched where the public and scientists work together.

A qualitative assessment of a community antiretroviral therapy group model in Tete, Mozambique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Freya Rasschaert

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: To improve retention on ART, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Ministry of Health and patients piloted a community-based antiretroviral distribution and adherence monitoring model through Community ART Groups (CAG in Tete, Mozambique. By December 2012, almost 6000 patients on ART had formed groups of whom 95.7% were retained in care. We conducted a qualitative study to evaluate the relevance, dynamic and impact of the CAG model on patients, their communities and the healthcare system. METHODS: Between October 2011 and May 2012, we conducted 16 focus group discussions and 24 in-depth interviews with the major stakeholders involved in the CAG model. Audio-recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: Six key themes emerged from the data: 1 Barriers to access HIV care, 2 CAG functioning and actors involved, 3 Benefits for CAG members, 4 Impacts of CAG beyond the group members, 5 Setbacks, and 6 Acceptance and future expectations of the CAG model. The model provides cost and time savings, certainty of ART access and mutual peer support resulting in better adherence to treatment. Through the active role of patients, HIV information could be conveyed to the broader community, leading to an increased uptake of services and positive transformation of the identity of people living with HIV. Potential pitfalls included limited access to CAG for those most vulnerable to defaulting, some inequity to patients in individual ART care and a high dependency on counsellors. CONCLUSION: The CAG model resulted in active patient involvement and empowerment, and the creation of a supportive environment improving the ART retention. It also sparked a reorientation of healthcare services towards the community and strengthened community actions. Successful implementation and scalability requires (a the acceptance of patients as partners in health, (b adequate resources, and (c a well-functioning monitoring and

Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Grauer, Kit, Ed.

1995-01-01

Art in context of community is the theme of this newsletter. The theme is introduced in an editorial "Community-Enlarging the Definition" (Kit Grauer). Related articles include: (1) "The Children's Bridge is not Destroyed: Heart in the Middle of the World" (Emil Robert Tanay); (2) "Making Bridges: The Sock Doll…

Community dynamics in the siting process for a low to intermediate level nuclear waste facility in Kincardine, Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Haydari, D.

2007-01-01

The use of nuclear technology to generate electricity inevitably produces waste that is detrimental to the environment and human health. Finding communities that will accept nuclear waste disposal facilities is extremely challenging. Furthermore, the siting of a nuclear waste disposal facility is more than a technological analysis, but a matter that includes a variety of social, ethical and political considerations. This study is aimed to assess the role of the place-based community, communities of interest and communities of identity involved in the voluntary siting process for a low to intermediate level nuclear waste disposal facility in Ontario. To accomplish this, a framework was developed and applied though a case study evaluation of the siting process for the Deep Geologic Repository in Kincardine, Ontario. The framework highlights four key procedural principles that were used to analyze the siting process: trust, public participation, equity and risk. The data revealed that the positions of the communities involved in the siting process varied depending on the meaningful fulfillment the four key procedural principles. (author)

Lessons Learned by Community Stakeholders in the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD) Project, 2013–2014

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Ganter, Claudia; Aftosmes-Tobio, Alyssa; Chuang, Emmeline; Kwass, Jo-Ann; Land, Thomas

2017-01-01

Introduction Childhood obesity is a multifaceted disease that requires sustainable, multidimensional approaches that support change at the individual, community, and systems levels. The Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project addressed this need by using clinical and public health evidence-based methods to prevent childhood obesity. To date, little information is known about successes and lessons learned from implementing such large-scale interventions. To address this gap, we examined perspectives of community stakeholders from various sectors on successes achieved and lessons learned during the implementation process. Methods We conducted 39 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders from 6 community sectors in 2 low-income communities from November 2013 through April 2014, during project implementation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using the constant comparative method. Data were analyzed by using QSR NVivo 10. Results Successes included increased parental involvement in children’s health and education, increased connections within participating organizations and within the broader community, changes in organizational policies and environments to better support healthy living, and improvements in health behaviors in children, parents, and stakeholders. Lessons learned included the importance of obtaining administrative and leadership support, involving key stakeholders early in the program planning process, creating buffers that allow for unexpected changes, and establishing opportunities for regular communication within and across sectors. Conclusion Study findings indicate that multidisciplinary approaches support health behavior change and provide insight into key issues to consider in developing and implementing such approaches in low-income communities. PMID:28125400

Developing and Field Testing a Community Based Youth Initiative to Increase Tuberculosis Awareness in Remote Arctic Inuit Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Gonzalo G; Van Dyk, Deborah D; Colquhoun, Heather; Moreau, Katherine A; Mulpuru, Sunita; Graham, Ian D

2016-01-01

Inuit in Canada have the highest reported tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate in Canada, even higher than other Canadian Indigenous groups. The aim of this study was to increase TB awareness among Inuit youth and their communities by equipping those who can best reach this population with a community based, youth focused, education initiative built on interventions adapted from a previous TB awareness study. The Taima TB Youth Education Initiative was a field test case study of a knowledge translation (KT) strategy aimed at community members who provide health education in these communities. In the first stage of this study, interventions from a larger TB awareness campaign were adapted to focus on youth living in remote Inuit communities. During the second stage of the study, investigators field tested the initiative in two isolated Inuit communities. It was then applied by local implementation teams in two other communities. Evaluation criteria included feasibility, acceptability, knowledge uptake and health behavior change. Implementation of the adapted KT interventions resulted in participation of a total of 41 youth (19 females, 22 males) with an average age of 16 years (range 12-21 years) in four different communities in Nunavut. Community celebration events were attended by 271 community members where TB messaging were presented and discussed. All of the health care workers and community members surveyed reported that the adapted interventions were acceptable and a useful way of learning to some extent. Knowledge uptake measures indicated an average TB knowledge score of 64 out of 100. Local partners in all four communities indicated that they would use the Taima TB Youth Education Initiative again to raise awareness about TB among youth in their communities. The TB awareness interventions adapted for the Taima TB Youth Education Initiative were acceptable to the Inuit communities involved in the study. They resulted in uptake of knowledge among participants

Exploring Service Providers' Perspectives in Improving Childhood Obesity Prevention among CALD Communities in Victoria, Australia.

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Sheila Cyril

Full Text Available Childhood obesity rates have been increasing disproportionately among disadvantaged communities including culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD migrant groups in Australia due to their poor participation in the available obesity prevention initiatives. We sought to explore service providers' perceptions of the key factors influencing the participation of CALD communities in the existing obesity prevention services and the service requirements needed to improve CALD communities' participation in these services.We conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions involving fifty-nine service providers from a range of services, who are involved in the health and wellbeing of children from CALD groups living in four socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Victoria, Australia.Thematic analysis of the data showed three major themes including community-level barriers to CALD engagement in childhood obesity prevention services; service-level barriers to the delivery of these services; and proposed changes to current childhood obesity prevention approaches. Integrating obesity prevention messages within existing programs, better coordination between prevention and treatment services and the establishment of a childhood obesity surveillance system, were some of the important changes suggested by service providers.This study has found that low CALD health literacy, lack of knowledge of cultural barriers among service providers and co-existing deficiencies in the structure and delivery of obesity prevention services negatively impacted the participation of CALD communities in obesity prevention services. Cultural competency training of service providers would improve their understanding of the cultural influences of childhood obesity and incorporate them into the design and development of obesity prevention initiatives. Service providers need to be educated on the pre-migratory health service experiences and health conditions of CALD

Exploring Service Providers' Perspectives in Improving Childhood Obesity Prevention among CALD Communities in Victoria, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cyril, Sheila; Green, Julie; Nicholson, Jan M; Agho, Kingsley; Renzaho, Andre M N

2016-01-01

Childhood obesity rates have been increasing disproportionately among disadvantaged communities including culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) migrant groups in Australia due to their poor participation in the available obesity prevention initiatives. We sought to explore service providers' perceptions of the key factors influencing the participation of CALD communities in the existing obesity prevention services and the service requirements needed to improve CALD communities' participation in these services. We conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions involving fifty-nine service providers from a range of services, who are involved in the health and wellbeing of children from CALD groups living in four socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Victoria, Australia. Thematic analysis of the data showed three major themes including community-level barriers to CALD engagement in childhood obesity prevention services; service-level barriers to the delivery of these services; and proposed changes to current childhood obesity prevention approaches. Integrating obesity prevention messages within existing programs, better coordination between prevention and treatment services and the establishment of a childhood obesity surveillance system, were some of the important changes suggested by service providers. This study has found that low CALD health literacy, lack of knowledge of cultural barriers among service providers and co-existing deficiencies in the structure and delivery of obesity prevention services negatively impacted the participation of CALD communities in obesity prevention services. Cultural competency training of service providers would improve their understanding of the cultural influences of childhood obesity and incorporate them into the design and development of obesity prevention initiatives. Service providers need to be educated on the pre-migratory health service experiences and health conditions of CALD communities to ensure

Community factors to promote parents' quality of child-nurturing life.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoyama, Megumi; Wei, Chang Nian; Chang-nian, Wei; Harada, Koichi; Ueda, Kimiyo; Takano, Miyuki; Ueda, Atsushi

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of community factors in parents' quality of child-nurturing life (QCNL). We developed a questionnaire to evaluate the degree of QCNL and determine the structural factors related to QCNL as community factors related to parents' QCNL derived from focus group interviews and the Delphi technique. The questionnaire also included the battery of the self-rating depression scale and Tsumori-Inage Infant's Developmental Test. Using the questionnaire, we then conducted a quantitative survey of parents whose children attended nursery schools in Kumamoto Prefecture. Factor analysis, calculation of the mean score and/or ratio to each item, Pearson's correlation coefficient, t test, multiple regression analysis, and covariance structure analysis were performed. The questionnaire we developed consisted of seven items with 75 elements, involving ten elements as community factors. Subjects included 699 parents (mean age 33.6 ± 5.4 years) and 965 children (age range 0-6 years). Factor analysis revealed that community factors consisted of five factors, such as "lifestyle rooted in the ground," "balance of housekeeping and work," "community network," "amenity," and "regeneration of life". These factors may be dominant in a rural area. Finally, we developed a structural model with "community factors," QCNL, QOL, and "child growth" by covariance structural analysis. The analysis revealed that community factors had a positive relation to parents' QCNL (r = 0.81, p < 0.001) and that parental SDS score had a negative relation to parents' QCNL (r = -0.59, p < 0.001). The analysis did show that community factors were positively related to the sound growth of children. The covariance structure analysis revealed that community factors were associated with parents' QCNL, SDS, and "child growth."

Factors associated with male involvement in reproductive care in Bangladesh

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Ghose Bishwajit

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Men’s active involvement in reproductive healthcare has shown to be positively associated with maternal and child health outcomes. Bangladesh has made appreciable progress in its pursuance of maternal mortality related goals in the framework of the MDGs. However, there remains a lot to be accomplished to realise the long-term goals for which active participation of male counterparts in reproductive care is crucial. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate factors associated with male involvement in reproductive health among Bangladeshi men. Methods We used data from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS conducted in 2011. Study participants were 1196 married men, aged between 15 and 69 years and living in both urban and rural households. Level of male involvement (outcome variable was measured based on the responses on knowledge, awareness and practice regarding reproductive health. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression models were performed for data analysis. Results Out of 1196 participants, only 40% were found to be active about partners’ reproductive healthcare. Chi-square test showed significant association between active involvement and ever hearing about family planning (FP in television, learning about FP through community health events, community health workers and poster/billboard. Results from logistic regression analysis revealed that type of residency [p = 0.004, AOR = 0.666, 95% CI = 0.504–0.879], literacy [secondary/higher education- p = 0.006. AOR = 0.579, 95% CI = 0.165–0.509], learning about family planning from Newspaper [p < 0.001. AOR = 1.952, 95% CI = 1.429–2.664], and television [p = 0.017. AOR = 1.514 95% CI = 1.298–1.886], and having been communicated about family planning by community health workers [p = 0.017. AOR = 1.946, 95% CI = 1.129–3.356] were significantly associated

Community-acquired pneumonia: 2012 history, mythology, and science.

Science.gov (United States)

Donowitz, Gerald R

2013-01-01

Pneumonia remains one of the major disease entities practicing physicians must manage. It is a leading cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality in all age groups, and a leading cause of death in those older than 65 years of age. Despite its frequency and importance, clinical questions have remained in the therapy of community-acquired pneumonia including when to start antibiotics, when to stop them, who to treat, and what agents to use. Answers to these questions have involved historical practice, mythology, and science-sometimes good science, and sometimes better science. How clinical decisions are made for patients with community-acquired pneumonia serves as an illustrative model for other problem areas of medicine and allows for insight as to how clinical decisions have been made and clinical practice established.

Visual methodologies and participatory action research: Performing women's community-based health promotion in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lykes, M Brinton; Scheib, Holly

2016-01-01

Recovery from disaster and displacement involves multiple challenges including accompanying survivors, documenting effects, and rethreading community. This paper demonstrates how African-American and Latina community health promoters and white university-based researchers engaged visual methodologies and participatory action research (photoPAR) as resources in cross-community praxis in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans. Visual techniques, including but not limited to photonarratives, facilitated the health promoters': (1) care for themselves and each other as survivors of and responders to the post-disaster context; (2) critical interrogation of New Orleans' entrenched pre- and post-Katrina structural racism as contributing to the racialised effects of and responses to Katrina; and (3) meaning-making and performances of women's community-based, cross-community health promotion within this post-disaster context. This feminist antiracist participatory action research project demonstrates how visual methodologies contributed to the co-researchers' cross-community self- and other caring, critical bifocality, and collaborative construction of a contextually and culturally responsive model for women's community-based health promotion post 'unnatural disaster'. Selected limitations as well as the potential for future cross-community antiracist feminist photoPAR in post-disaster contexts are discussed.

Stakeholders' perceptions of integrated community case management by community health workers: a post-intervention qualitative study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise L Buchner

Full Text Available Integrated community case management (iCCM involves delivery of simple medicines to children with pneumonia, diarrhea and/or malaria by community health workers (CHWs. Between 2010 and 2012, an iCCM intervention trial was implemented by Healthy Child Uganda. This study used qualitative tools to assess whether project stakeholders perceived that iCCM improved access to care for children under five years of age.The intervention involved training and equipping 196 CHWs in 98 study villages in one sub-county in Uganda in iCCM. During the eight-month intervention, CHWs assessed sick children, provided antimalarials (coartem for fever, antibiotics (amoxicillin for cough and fast breathing, oral rehydration salts/zinc for diarrhea, and referred very sick children to health facilities. In order to examine community perceptions and acceptability of iCCM, post-intervention focus groups and key respondent interviews involving caregivers, health workers, CHWs and local leaders were carried out by experienced facilitators using semi-structured interview guides. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques.Respondents reported increased access to health care for children as a result of iCCM. Access was reportedly closer to home, available more hours in a day, and the availability of CHWs was perceived as more reliable. CHW care was reported to be trustworthy and caring. Families reported saving money especially due to reduced transportation costs, and less time away from home. Respondents also perceived better health outcomes. Linkages between health facilities and communities were reportedly improved by the iCCM intervention due to the presence of trained CHWs in the community.iCCM delivered by CHWs may improve access to health care and is acceptable to families. Policymakers should continue to seek opportunities to implement and support iCCM, particularly in remote communities where there are health worker shortages.

A history of the working group to address Los Alamos community health concerns - A case study of community involvement and risk communication

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harry Otway; Jon Johnson

2000-01-01

In May 1991, at a Department of Energy (DOE) public hearing at Los Alamos, New Mexico, a local artist claimed there had been a recent brain tumor cluster in a small Los Alamos neighborhood. He suggested the cause was radiation from past operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Data from the Laboratory's extensive environmental monitoring program gave no reason to believe this charge to be true but also could not prove it false. These allegations, reported in the local and regional media, alarmed the community and revealed an unsuspected lack of trust in the Laboratory. Having no immediate and definitive response, the Laboratory offered to collaborate with the community to address this concern. The Los Alamos community accepted this offer and a joint Community-Laboratory Working Group met for the first time 29 days later. The working group set as its primary goal the search for possible carcinogens in the local environment. Meanwhile, the DOE announced its intention to fund the New Mexico Department of Health to perform a separate and independent epidemiological study of all Los Alamos cancer rates. In early 1994, after commissioning 17 environmental studies and meeting 34 times, the working group decided that the public health concerns had been resolved to the satisfaction of the community and voted to disband. This paper tells the story of the artist and the working group, and how the media covered their story. It summarizes the environmental studies directed by the working group and briefly reviews the main findings of the epidemiology study. An epilogue records the present-day recollections of some of the key players in this environmental drama.

A history of the working group to address Los Alamos community health concerns. A case study of community involvement and risk communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harry Otway; Jon Johnson

2000-01-01

In May 1991, at a Department of Energy (DOE) public hearing at Los Alamos, New Mexico, a local artist claimed there had been a recent brain tumor cluster in a small Los Alamos neighborhood. He suggested the cause was radiation from past operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Data from the Laboratory's extensive environmental monitoring program gave no reason to believe this charge to be true but also could not prove it false. These allegations, reported in the local and regional media, alarmed the community and revealed an unsuspected lack of trust in the Laboratory. Having no immediate and definitive response, the Laboratory offered to collaborate with the community to address this concern. The Los Alamos community accepted this offer and a joint Community-Laboratory Working Group met for the first time 29 days later. The working group set as its primary goal the search for possible carcinogens in the local environment. Meanwhile, the DOE announced its intention to fund the New Mexico Department of Health to perform a separate and independent epidemiological study of all Los Alamos cancer rates. In early 1994, after commissioning 17 environmental studies and meeting 34 times, the working group decided that the public health concerns had been resolved to the satisfaction of the community and voted to disband. This paper tells the story of the artist and the working group, and how the media covered their story. It summarizes the environmental studies directed by the working group and briefly reviews the main findings of the epidemiology study. An epilogue records the present-day recollections of some of the key players in this environmental drama

Condition of karangkepatihan village community balong district ponorogo regency in supporting development of community based tourism

Science.gov (United States)

Sutedjo, A.; Prasetyo, K.; Sudaryono, L.

2018-01-01

In Karangkepatihan village, it can be found some attractions that have the potential to develop. Some attractions have been developed by involving the community in its management, but its development has not been as expected. The purpose of this research is to know the attitude of the community and the level of human resources of the community of Karangkepatihan village in supporting the development of community-based tourism and the right strategy for its development. Subjects in this study were the head of the family and the physical condition of tourist objects, with a sample of 100 family heads taken randomly. Research data which are knowledge, understanding, participation, support to the development of tourism and level of education and skill obtained by interview while observation is done to get potential data of tourism object. The data obtained are analyzed by using scoring technique and SWOT analysis. The results show that community attitudes are positive in supporting community-based tourism development, but have not been shown to participate in developing tourism in Karangkepatihan village. The level of human resources in Karangkepatihan village to support the development of tourism is low so that the development of tourism is slow. An appropriate strategy for developing tourism development in Karangkepatihan village is to grow and build. Improving the skills of the community to fill the job opportunities in the field of tourism, increase the participation or involvement of the community in tourism activities, increasing the accessibility of tourism objects, increasing the facilities and infrastructure of tourism needs to be done.

Establishment and Implementation of the Balingasay Marine Protected Area: A Community-Based Approach

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Severino Salmo III

2000-12-01

Full Text Available A community-based approach in the establishment and implementation of a marine protected area (MPA in Balingasay, Bolinao, Pangasinan is presented. The factors necessary to facilitate the successful establishment and implementation of a community-managed MPA include heightening of environmental awareness, community mobilization, and legal/institutional and financial assistance. A heightened environmental awareness encouraged the community to undertake resource management action. The formation of a people’s organization, SAMMABAL (Samahan ng mga Mangingisda at Mamamayan ng Balingasay, was crucial in assessing environmental problems (e.g., overfishing and identifying the establishment of an MPA as a management tool to address the problem. SAMMABAL was also instrumental in eliciting community support for the issuance of a municipal ordinance in the establishment of the MPA. Subsequently, the organization initiated the patrolling of the MPA. Institutions involved in the community-based management of the MPA also included the multi-sectoral council (BRMC – Balingasay Resource Management Council and representatives from the barangay council and the municipal government. This institutional arrangement has proven to be very resilient, indicating a high probability of sustaining its successes despite some obstacles and shortcomings. Clear delineation of the role and functions of the institutions and the stakeholders was essential in advancing the initiative. This case study will draw on the lessons from the experience of a four-year community-managed MPA.

Community Resources for International Trade Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco, Virgil H.; Channing, Rose M.

1985-01-01

Describes Middlesex Community College's involvement in education and training programs aimed at encouraging local business involvement in international trade and the activities of its National Resource for International Trade Education (e.g., information dissemination; consulting services; seminars and workshops; a speakers bank; research; staff…

Community Participation Of Coastal Area On Management Of National Park, Karimunjawa Island

Science.gov (United States)

Wibowo, Bambang A.; Aditomo, Aryo B.; Prihantoko, Kukuh E.

2018-02-01

Karimunjawa island located in Jepara Regacy, Central Java has potential marine and fishing resources. Since 1998, this area has been selected as conservation for its natural resources. National park of Karimunjawa is managed by Balai Taman Nasional Karimunjawa (Karimunjawa National Park Beuroue). Some activities involved community have been done in order to get effective management. Community participation is an important component for success in coastal area management. The level of community/people awareness anual on natural resource conservation can increate sustainable resource. However, it is necesssary to provide tools in resource utilization for the community, so that their economic life can be secured. This study observe the level of community participation in the effort of Karimunjawa National Park management. Descriptive method and purposive random sampling were used to carry out the study parameters observed in this study include community participation related to level of knowladge and obedience on the rule of area zonation, an its impact to community. The result show that community knowledge was quite high (40%) with obedience (56%) on the rule of area zonation. Impact area zonation rule was less significant to community. The level of community participation to Karimunjawa National Park management was performed will low to medium level.

Development of a Community Radiation Monitoring program near a nuclear industrial facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pauley, B.J.; Maxwell, D.R.

1992-01-01

The Community Radiation Monitoring (ComRad) program is a cooperative effort of the DOE, Rocky Flats Office (RFO), EG ampersand G, and surrounding communities. The intent of the ComRad program is to establish radiation and meteorological monitoring stations in the communities for their independent control and use. The primary objectives of the ComRad program are to provide (1) public education, (2) active participation of the public, and (3) better community relations. The ComRad program involves establishing new offsite environmental surveillance stations to be operated and managed by local community science teachers. The general public will be invited to inspect the air quality instrumentation and results displayed. The instrumentation for each station will include a gamma counter, weather station, high-volume (Hi-Vol) air sampler, and thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD). The purpose of this paper is to describe the operation of the ComRad program emphasizing program objectives, organizational responsibility, participation by community technical representatives, station managers and alternate station managers training, and data dissemination to the public

Climate Change Adaptation Tools at the Community Level: An Integrated Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elvis Modikela Nkoana

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The negative impacts of climate change are experienced at the global, regional and local levels. However, rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa face additional socio-political, cultural and economic challenges in addition to climate change. Decision support tools have been developed and applied to assist rural communities to cope with and adapt to climate change. However, poorly planned participatory processes and the lack of context-specific approaches in these tools are obstacles when aiming at strengthening the resilience of these rural communities. This paper uses an integrated literature review to identify best practices for involving rural communities in climate change adaptation efforts through the application of context-specific and culturally-sensitive climate change adaptation tools. These best practices include the use of a livelihoods approach to engage communities; the explicit acknowledgement of the local cultural do’s and don’ts; the recognition of local champions appointed from within the local community; the identification and prioritisation of vulnerable stakeholders; and the implementation of a two-way climate change risk communication instead of a one-sided information sharing approach.

Public participation and marginalized groups: the community development model.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Keefe, Eileen; Hogg, Christine

1999-12-01

OBJECTIVES: To develop ways of reaching house-bound people and enabling them to give their views in planning and monitoring health and social care. STRATEGY: HealthLINK - a project based in a community health council - explored ways of involving older house-bound people in the London Borough of Camden, in planning and monitoring health and social care using community development techniques. RESULTS: HealthLINK set up an infrastructure to enable house-bound people to have access to information and to enable them to give their views. This resulted in access for health and local authorities to the views of house-bound older people and increased the self esteem and quality of life of those who became involved. CONCLUSIONS: Community development approaches that enable an infrastructure to be established may be an effective way of reaching marginalized communities. However, there are tensions in this approach between the different requirements for public involvement of statutory bodies and of users, and between representation of groups and listening to individual voices.

Public support for restrictions on fast food company sponsorship of community events.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettigrew, Simone; Pescud, Melanie; Rosenberg, Michael; Ferguson, Renee; Houghton, Stephen

2012-01-01

This study investigated community attitudes to fast food companies' sponsorship of community events. The aim was to inform future efforts to introduce greater restrictions on these marketing activities to reduce child obesity. While previous research has focused on the sponsorship of sporting events, the present study included all community events and gauged public support for fast food company sponsorships in general as well as specific sponsorship activities such as securing event naming rights, advertising on event premises, and distributing free items to children in the form of food and redeemable vouchers. A large and diverse sample of Western Australian adults (n=2,005) responded to a community attitudes telephone survey that included questions relating to event sponsorship. Almost half of the respondents reported that the promotion of fast foods is inappropriate at community events, and only a third considered it appropriate at events where children are likely to be present. Around two-thirds agreed that promoting fast foods at such events sends contradictory messages to children and just a quarter of respondents considered it acceptable for free fast food to be distributed at events or for children to be rewarded for participation with fast food vouchers. The results suggest that efforts to reduce child obesity that involve restrictions on the sponsorship of community events by organisations promoting unhealthy foods may be supported by a substantial proportion of the population.

Helicopter Parents of Community College Students: How Community College Professionals Operationally Define and Address This Phenomenon

Science.gov (United States)

Hightower, Helen C.

2014-01-01

This study examined whether the phenomenon of "parental over-involvement" occurred in the Virginia Community College System. Concern has been expressed in the popular and academic literature in recent years over the increased level of parental involvement at four year institutions whose student bodies consist almost exclusively of…

Replicating MISTERS: an epidemiological criminology framework analysis of a program for criminal justice-involved minority males in the community.

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Roberto Hugh; Akers, Timothy A; Bowman, Daniel Richard

2013-01-01

The Men in STD Training and Empowerment Research Study (MISTERS) program and epidemiological criminology began their development in Atlanta at about the same time. MISTERS focuses on men recently released from jail to reduce both HIV/STD and crime-related risk factors through a brief educational intervention. This article examines ways in which MISTERS and epidemiological criminology have been used to inform one another in the replication of the MISTERS program in Orange County, Florida. Data from 110 MISTERS participants during the first 10 months of operation are analyzed to examine the overlapping occurrence of health and criminal risk behaviors in the men's lives. This provides a test of core hypotheses from the epidemiological criminology framework. This article also examines application of the epidemiological criminology framework to develop interventions to address health and crime risk factors simultaneously in Criminal Justice-Involved populations in the community.

Local Area Network: Community Involvement, Social Capital, and Glocalization at NetU

Science.gov (United States)

Trevett-Smith, Matthew D.

2010-01-01

Ethnographic and interview data from a long-term study of "NetU," a wired community and college, are used to investigate the effects of computer-mediated communication on social relationships. During the course of this research "LAN" residents of NetU are compared with a similar group of non-LAN residents who lived in the same neighborhood, but…

Public involvement in environmental activities: Initiatives and lessons learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, R.H.

1995-01-01

Efforts to communicate the results of environmental studies and involve the public in environmental decisions have increased nationwide. Outreach efforts at two US Department of Energy sites (i.e., the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State and the Pantex Plant in the Texas Panhandle) have used a broad spectrum of communications media, including technical articles (open literature and symposium publications, annual and topical reports); information brochures and fact sheets; video productions; interactive exhibits; presentations at scientific, technical, civic, and other public meetings; and proactive interactions with the news media and with local, state, federal, and other agencies. In addition, representatives of local communities now operate offsite environmental monitoring stations and Native Americans are involved in studying cultural resources, fisheries, and other issues at Hanford and a program to obtain environmental samples from neighbor's property is underway at the Pantex Plant. All major environmental programs, such as the multi-year effort to reconstruct past radiological doses to offsite human populations at Hanford, are now conducted with open public participation

A realist synthesis of randomised control trials involving use of community health workers for delivering child health interventions in low and middle income countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dal Poz Mario

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A key constraint to saturating coverage of interventions for reducing the burden of childhood illnesses in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC is the lack of human resources. Community health workers (CHW are potentially important actors in bridging this gap. Evidence exists on effectiveness of CHW in management of some childhood illnesses (IMCI. However, we need to know how and when this comes to be. We examine evidence from randomized control trials (RCT on CHW interventions in IMCI in LMIC from a realist perspective with the aim to see if they can yield insight into the working of the interventions, when examined from a different perspective. Methods The realist approach involves educing the mechanisms through which an intervention produced an outcome in a particular context. 'Mechanisms' are reactions, triggered by the interaction of the intervention and a certain context, which lead to change. These are often only implicit and are actually hypothesized by the reviewer. This review is limited to unravelling these from the RCTs; it is thus a hypothesis generating exercise. Results Interventions to improve CHW performance included 'Skills based training of CHW', 'Supervision and referral support from public health services', 'Positioning of CHW in the community'. When interventions were applied in context of CHW programs embedded in local health services, with beneficiaries who valued services and had unmet needs, the interventions worked if following mechanisms were triggered: anticipation of being valued by the community; perception of improvement in social status; sense of relatedness with beneficiaries and public services; increase in self esteem; sense of self efficacy and enactive mastery of tasks; sense of credibility, legitimacy and assurance that there was a system for back-up support. Studies also showed that if context differed, even with similar interventions, negative mechanisms could be triggered

Consulting communities: a renewable energy toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinshelwood, E.; McCallum, D.

2001-07-01

Renewable Energy (RE) projects in the UK have always involved a degree of consultation. In many cases, however, it is limited to statutory consultees and key individuals in the locality of a proposed site. But as sustainable development moves up the agenda, and as the UK generation of RE is falling behind its European counterparts, the views of communities are becoming more of an issues. If priority is to be placed on sensitive and successful RE development, then it is vital to recognise local people as key stakeholders. They need to be acknowledged as potential catalysts for change, rather than as obstacles or sources of resistance to new technologies. A greater emphasis on community involvement (at all levels in RE development) represents a strategic move. It is both ethically important, and cost-effective in the long run. While there are a variety of aspects of community involvement, this guide deals specifically with community consultation, and acts as a support to organisations and companies planning the development of a Renewable Energy project. The guide is not intended as a 'tactic to get around' communities or to somehow 'win them over'. The premise behind consultation is to ensure that local people have access to relevant information and that the channels of communication exist whereby local people can contribute to project development. In a successful consultation, residents are seen as partners in the overall process of sustainable development. Local people are vital if we are to move forward. (Author)

Grasstops and Grassroots Approaches to Building Community Resilience

Science.gov (United States)

LeBeau, A.; Bader, D.

2017-12-01

Climate change and extreme weather events pose complex risks to cities all over the world, impacting not only the built environment, but also social infrastructure. Because urban communities are culturally and socioeconomically diverse, as well as systemically complicated, climate change and extreme weather events will impact people differently even within a single city—not only because of where they live, but also because of who they are. The City of Long Beach, California, is in its very early stages of understanding its vulnerabilities. However, city leaders and community partners including the Aquarium of the Pacific are committed to creating a model climate resilient city. Climate change risks most relevant to Long Beach include drought (and freshwater shortages), extreme heat, sea level rise, and poor air quality. Over the past 18 months, the Aquarium of the Pacific has been testing elements of a broad-reaching education strategy to reach community stakeholders. Two multi-level approaches are designed to build awareness and momentum for climate resilience. A grassroots approach, called RESILIENT LB, focuses on an interactive outreach booth that travels to community events. The booth is staffed by educators with specific training on climate communication. Facilitated conversations help people identify what they love about Long Beach and immediate impacts that climate change will have on the things they value. A second, complimentary approach involves long-term community engagement through a grasstops-to-grassroots approach. Aquarium educators have been facilitating different climate resilience workshops for leaders from a variety of groups across Long Beach. These workshops give leaders the chance to reflect on how their communities may be impacted by climate change, and highlight adaptation (rather than mitigation) to climate change. In this session, we will share how these programs have evolved, lessons learned, and areas of growth.

Developing quality indicators for community services: the case of district nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Philippa; Wye, Lesley; Horrocks, Sue; Salisbury, Chris; Sharp, Debbie

2011-01-01

Quality indicators exist for the acute and primary care sectors in the National Health Service (NHS), but until recently little attention has been given to measuring the quality of community services. The innovative project described in this paper attempted to address that gap. To produce a framework for developing quality indicators for Bristol Community Health services. To develop a set of initial indicators for Bristol Community Health services using the proposed framework. After familiarising ourselves with community services and NHS policy, gathering the views of stakeholders and consulting the literature on quality indicators, we designed a framework for indicator development, using the 'test' case of the district nursing service. The long list of possible indicators came from best practice guidelines for wound, diabetes and end of life care, the three conditions most commonly treated by district nurses. To narrow down this list we surveyed and held workshops with district nurses, interviewed service users by telephone and met with commissioners and senior community health managers. The final set of quality indicators for district nurses included 23 organisational and clinical process and outcome indicators and eight patient experience indicators. These indicators are now being piloted, together with two potential tools identified to capture patient reported outcomes. Developing quality indicators for community services is time consuming and resource intensive. A range of skills are needed including clinical expertise, project management and skills in evidence-based medicine. The commitment and involvement of front-line professionals is crucial.

Using an academic-community partnership model and blended learning to advance community health nursing pedagogy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezeonwu, Mabel; Berkowitz, Bobbie; Vlasses, Frances R

2014-01-01

This article describes a model of teaching community health nursing that evolved from a long-term partnership with a community with limited existing health programs. The partnership supported RN-BSN students' integration in the community and resulted in reciprocal gains for faculty, students and community members. Community clients accessed public health services as a result of the partnership. A blended learning approach that combines face-to-face interactions, service learning and online activities was utilized to enhance students' learning. Following classroom sessions, students actively participated in community-based educational process through comprehensive health needs assessments, planning and implementation of disease prevention and health promotion activities for community clients. Such active involvement in an underserved community deepened students' awareness of the fundamentals of community health practice. Students were challenged to view public health from a broader perspective while analyzing the impacts of social determinants of health on underserved populations. Through asynchronous online interactions, students synthesized classroom and community activities through critical thinking. This paper describes a model for teaching community health nursing that informs students' learning through blended learning, and meets the demands for community health nursing services delivery. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring users motivation in innovation communities

OpenAIRE

Ståhlbröst, Anna; Bergvall-Kåreborn, Birgitta

2011-01-01

A rapid growth of technologies supporting user interaction on the Internet, such as social networking sites and other virtual communities, can be seen today. These virtual communities have been shown to be of great value to companies that want to involve users in their innovation processes. However, in order to guide organisations on how to utilise their innovation intermediary communities, more knowledge is needed regarding who they are and their motivational drivers for participating in a c...

Public and patient involvement in needs assessment and social innovation: a people-centred approach to care and research for congenital disorders of glycosylation.

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas, Cláudia; Dos Reis, Vanessa; Silva, Susana; Videira, Paula A; Morava, Eva; Jaeken, Jaak

2017-09-26

Public and patient involvement in the design of people-centred care and research is vital for communities whose needs are underserved, as are people with rare diseases. Innovations devised collectively by patients, caregivers, professionals and other members of the public can foster transformative change toward more responsive services and research. However, attempts to involve lay and professional stakeholders in devising community-framed strategies to address the unmet needs of rare diseases are lacking. In this study, we engaged with the community of Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) to assess its needs and elicit social innovations to promote people-centred care and research. Drawing on a qualitative study, we conducted three think tanks in France with a total of 48 participants, including patients/family members (n = 18), health care professionals (n = 7), researchers (n = 7) and people combining several of these roles (n = 16). Participants came from 20 countries across five continents. They were selected from the registry of the Second World Conference on CDG through heterogeneity and simple random sampling. Inductive and deductive approaches were employed to conduct interpretational analysis using open, axial and selective coding, and the constant-comparison method to facilitate the emergence of categories and core themes. The CDG community has unmet needs for information, quality health care, psychosocial support and representation in decision-making concerned with care and research. According to participants, these needs can be addressed through a range of social innovations, including peer-support communities, web-based information resources and a CDG expertise platform. This is one of the few studies to engage lay and professional experts in needs assessment and innovation for CDG at a global level. Implementing the innovations proposed by the CDG community is likely to have ethical, legal and social implications associated with the

Impact analysis and community development needs at the salt site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, S.; Boryczka, M.; Hines, B.

1984-01-01

The Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation (ONWI) has developed a socioeconomic program for a nuclear waste repository constructed in salt. The program is comprised of three elements: impact assessment, impact mitigation, and impact monitoring. The first element, impact assessment, is the focus of ONWI's current activities. Socioeconomic data has been collected for seven salt sites in Texas, Utah, Mississippi and Louisiana. Demographic, economic, community service, governmental and social structure information has been assembled into data base reports for each site area. These socioeconomic reports will be the basis for analyzing community-related impacts. Socioeconomic effects are currently being evaluated for the environmental assessment document required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The approach to evaluating socioeconomic impacts for the environmental assessment impact includes developing the data base necessary for evaluation; assessing impacts of baseline population projected by the states; assessing project-related impacts through the use of an inmigration model and responding to socioeconomic issues raised in public meetings and hearings. The siting, construction, and operation of nuclear repositories will involve an extended period of time and an increased workforce, which can result in some impacts similar to those of other large development projects. The communities affected by a repository site will face increased demands for housing, community services (transportation, sewer and water, schools, etc.) and land, as well as a desire to maintain the community's ''character''. The management of this expansion and other related community impacts should be structured to meet community needs and goals. The management process should include the formation of an impact management comment, a public participation program, and a technical assistance program

Determine small and medium enterprise social media activities: A community engagement project in the Tshwane community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louise van Scheers

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to determine small and medium enterprise (SME social media activities and promote CE scholarship engagement. It is a community engagement project conducted in the Tshwane community. Community engagement (CE as a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people in the community to address issues affecting their well-being. The CE project SME skills transfer workshops are aimed at expanding involvement with the community. The benefits of social media seem to be ignored by most SMEs however; challenges prevent SME owners from using the tool effectively. A survey study method of research design has been selected for the research. The sample for the study comprised 200 SME owners who currently manage small businesses in the Tshwane area. The conducted research recommends that social media can be cost effective if the SMEs make use of their social networks and use best practises that enable them to get their adverts or posts shared across social networks. The conducted research also recommends that SMEs with limited resources start with social media and YouTube as a marketing tool, as the learning curve is low and cost involved is almost nil.

Tools for Scientist Engagement in E/PO: NASA SMD Community Workspace and Online Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, H.; Shipp, S. S.; Grier, J.; Gross, N. A.; Buxner, S.; Bartolone, L.; Peticolas, L. M.; Woroner, M.; Schwerin, T. G.

2014-12-01

The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Science Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) Forums are here to help you get involved in E/PO! The Forums have been developing several online resources to support scientists who are - or who are interested in becoming - involved in E/PO. These include NASA Wavelength, EarthSpace, and the SMD E/PO online community workspace. NASA Wavelength is the one-stop shop of all peer-reviewed NASA education resources to find materials you - or your audiences - can use. Browse by audience (pre-K through 12, higher education, and informal education) or topic, or choose to search for something specific by keyword and audience. http://nasawavelength.org. EarthSpace, an online clearinghouse of Earth and space materials for use in the higher education classroom, is driven by a powerful search engine that allows you to browse the collection of resources by science topic, audience, type of material or key terms. All materials are peer-reviewed before posting, and because all submissions receive a digital object identifier (doi), submitted materials can be listed as publications. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace. The SMD E/PO online community workspace contains many resources for scientists. These include one-page guides on how to get involved, tips on how to make the most of your time spent on E/PO, and sample activities, as well as news on funding, policy, and what's happening in the E/PO community. The workspace also provides scientists and the public pathways to find opportunities for participation in E/PO, to learn about SMD E/PO projects and their impacts, to connect with SMD E/PO practitioners, and to explore resources to improve professional E/PO practice, including literature reviews, information about the Next Generation Science Standards, and best practices in evaluation and engaging diverse audiences. http://smdepo.org.

Consumer involvement profiles: An application of consumer involvement in mobile industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Homa Rahbarian

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates consumer involvement profile among people who intend to purchase mobile devises. The study considers the effects of various factors influencing on purchase intention including consumers’ personal characteristics such as age, gender, income as well as some external factors including advertisement. The study uses a questionnaire in Likert scale, originally developed by O’Cass (2000 [O’Cass, A. (2000. An assessment of consumers' product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing. Journal of Economic Psychology, 21, 545-576.]. The questionnaire has been distributed among 385 people, randomly who purchased mobile devices from a mall in city of Tehran, Iran. Using Pearson correlation test, the study has concluded that oral advertisement as well as consumer purchase involvement have positive and strong relationship with consumer’s purchase intention. In terms of age, people aged 20-30 maintained the highest purchase intention. In addition, in terms of gender, men had more purchase involvement than women did.

A participatory approach to social impact assessment: the interactive community forum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Dennis R.; Harris, Charles C.; McLaughlin, William J.; Nielsen, Erik A.

2003-01-01

The Interactive Community Forum is a method of social impact assessment that seeks community members' judgments of social impacts resulting from project alternatives in an environmental impact assessment. The method employs a participant-driven description of the social system along with a set of community constructs to guide in the identification of anticipated social impacts. A diversity of participants with different areas of community involvement are exposed to a structured small group process where information is shared and community-level impacts are deliberated. Based on group discussion, participants project social impacts and identify measures necessary for their mitigation. The Interactive Community Forum thereby provides a means to integrate local knowledge into an Environmental Impact Statement and inform environmental decision-making through a modified public involvement process

The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART): an intervention to build community resilience to disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Rose L; Pfefferbaum, Betty; Van Horn, Richard L; Klomp, Richard W; Norris, Fran H; Reissman, Dori B

2013-01-01

Community resilience has emerged as a construct to support and foster healthy individual, family, and community adaptation to mass casualty incidents. The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) is a publicly available theory-based and evidence-informed community intervention designed to enhance community resilience by bringing stakeholders together to address community issues in a process that includes assessment, feedback, planning, and action. Tools include a field-tested community resilience survey and other assessment and analytical instruments. The CART process encourages public engagement in problem solving and the development and use of local assets to address community needs. CART recognizes 4 interrelated domains that contribute to community resilience: connection and caring, resources, transformative potential, and disaster management. The primary value of CART is its contribution to community participation, communication, self-awareness, cooperation, and critical reflection and its ability to stimulate analysis, collaboration, skill building, resource sharing, and purposeful action.

NIMH Project Accept (HPTN 043): results from in-depth interviews with a longitudinal cohort of community members.

Science.gov (United States)

Maman, Suzanne; van Rooyen, Heidi; Stankard, Petra; Chingono, Alfred; Muravha, Tshifhiwa; Ntogwisangu, Jacob; Phakathi, Zipho; Srirak, Namtip; F Morin, Stephen

2014-01-01

NIMH Project Accept (HPTN 043) is a community- randomized trial to test the safety and efficacy of a community-level intervention designed to increase testing and lower HIV incidence in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Thailand. The evaluation design included a longitudinal study with community members to assess attitudinal and behavioral changes in study outcomes including HIV testing norms, HIV-related discussions, and HIV-related stigma. A cohort of 657 individuals across all sites was selected to participate in a qualitative study that involved 4 interviews during the study period. Baseline and 30-month data were summarized according to each outcome, and a qualitative assessment of changes was made at the community level over time. Members from intervention communities described fewer barriers and greater motivation for testing than those from comparison communities. HIV-related discussions in intervention communities were more grounded in personal testing experiences. A change in HIV-related stigma over time was most pronounced in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Participants in the intervention communities from these two sites attributed community-level changes in attitudes to project specific activities. The Project Accept intervention was associated with more favorable social norms regarding HIV testing, more personal content in HIV discussions in all study sites, and qualitative changes in HIV-related stigma in two of five sites.

Benefits to US industry from involvement in fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waganer, L.M.; Davis, J.W.; Schultz, K.R.

2002-01-01

Over the past decades, fusion has created a cooperative relationship between the DOE national laboratories, leading universities, and high technology industries. This relationship in the fusion community has helped to solve difficult technical problems, which will hopefully lead toward the commercialization of fusion. The US industry, with high technology skills, provides relevant cutting-edge designs, tools, and processes to help solve unique and technically challenging problems associated with fusion energy development. Together, these relationships have developed new and improved technologies and processes to achieve and demonstrate solutions to help advance fusion toward its ultimate goal. The benefits to industry, in terms of commercial applications to their product lines, are subjective. The involvement of US industry has been limited to a few high technology firms, with Boeing and General Atomics being the longest lasting and most involved. Widespread industrial involvement has been constrained with limited funding for the fusion budgets. Even with the funding constraints, industry has contributed to all aspects and systems for MFE and IFE experiments, demonstration reactors, and commercial power plant designs. While several technology and product spin-offs are identified and examined, the more prevalent transfer of information arises from subtle two-way transition of technologies between the fusion related efforts and those of the parent industrial firms. Examples of this transfer include CAD/CAM, independent product team structures, computer simulation/modeling/assessment, extended material property databases, tailored material processing, improved and lower cost fabrication processes, and component designs/applications. Specific examples of transitioned components or technologies involve superconducting magnets, neutral beam components, laser machining, and microwave/RF technologies

Extended Community: An Oral History of the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP), 1989 - 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Susan DeSilva

2004-07-01

Studying the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) provides a unique opportunity to trace a concept created by two nuclear industry originators from inception, as it transitioned through several stewardship agencies, to management by a non-profit organization. This transition is informed not only by changes over two decades in the views of the general populace toward nuclear testing but also by changing political climates and public policies. Several parallel histories accompanied the development of the CEMP: an administrative history, an environmental history, and a history of changing public perception of not only nuclear testing, but other activities involving radiation such as waste transportation, as well. Although vital, those histories will be provided only as background to the subject of this study, the oral histories gathered in this project. The oral histories collected open a window into the nuclear testing history of Nevada and Utah that has not heretofore been opened. The nuclear industry has generated a great deal of positive and negative reaction since its inception. The CEMP emerged with specific objectives. It was designed to provide information to potential downwind communities and counter negative perceptions by creating more community involvement and education about the testing. The current objectives of the program are to: (1) Manage and maintain the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) offsite monitoring program including 26 radiation and environmental monitoring stations with associated equipment. Provide air sample collection and analysis, radiological and meteorological data collection, interpretation and reporting. (2) Facilitate independent operation of radiological monitoring stations and data verification by private citizens living in communities in proximity to the Nevada Test Site (NTS). (3) Hire and initiate training of local citizens to serve as Community

Extended Community: An Oral History of the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP), 1989 - 2003

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susan DeSilva

2004-01-01

Studying the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) provides a unique opportunity to trace a concept created by two nuclear industry originators from inception, as it transitioned through several stewardship agencies, to management by a non-profit organization. This transition is informed not only by changes over two decades in the views of the general populace toward nuclear testing but also by changing political climates and public policies. Several parallel histories accompanied the development of the CEMP: an administrative history, an environmental history, and a history of changing public perception of not only nuclear testing, but other activities involving radiation such as waste transportation, as well. Although vital, those histories will be provided only as background to the subject of this study, the oral histories gathered in this project. The oral histories collected open a window into the nuclear testing history of Nevada and Utah that has not heretofore been opened. The nuclear industry has generated a great deal of positive and negative reaction since its inception. The CEMP emerged with specific objectives. It was designed to provide information to potential downwind communities and counter negative perceptions by creating more community involvement and education about the testing. The current objectives of the program are to: (1) Manage and maintain the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) offsite monitoring program including 26 radiation and environmental monitoring stations with associated equipment. Provide air sample collection and analysis, radiological and meteorological data collection, interpretation and reporting. (2) Facilitate independent operation of radiological monitoring stations and data verification by private citizens living in communities in proximity to the Nevada Test Site (NTS). (3) Hire and initiate training of local citizens to serve as Community

Sharing Resources in Educational Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anoush Margarayn

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The paper explores the implications of mobility within educational communities for sharing and reuse of educational resources. The study begins by exploring individuals’ existing strategies for sharing and reusing educational resources within localised and distributed communities, with particular emphasis on the impact of geographic location on these strategies. The results indicate that the geographic distribution of communities has little impact on individuals’ strategies for resource management, since many individuals are communicating via technology tools with colleagues within a localised setting. The study points to few major differences in the ways in which individuals within the localised and distributed communities store, share and collaborate around educational resources. Moving beyond the view of individuals being statically involved in one or two communities, mobility across communities, roles and geographic location are formulated and illustrated through eight scenarios. The effects of mobility across these scenarios are outlined and a framework for future research into mobility and resource sharing within communities discussed.

The conundrum of hodgkin lymphoma nodes: To be or not to be included in the involved node radiation fields. The EORTC-GELA lymphoma group guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girinsky, Theodore; Specht, Lena; Ghalibafian, Mithra; Edeline, Veronique; Bonniaud, Guillaume; Maazen, Richard van der; Aleman, Berthe; Paumier, Amaury; Meijnders, Paul; Lievens, Yolande; Noordijk, Evert; Poortmans, Philip

2008-01-01

Purpose: To develop easily applicable guidelines for the determination of initially involved lymph nodes to be included in the radiation fields. Patients and methods: Patients with supra-diaphragmatic Hodgkin lymphoma. All the imaging procedures were carried out with patients in the treatment position. The prechemotherapy PET/CT was coregistered with the postchemotherapy CT simulation for planning purposes. Initially involved lymph nodes were determined on fused prechemotherapy CT and FDG-PET imaging data. The initial assessment was verified with the postchemotherapy CT scan. Results: The classic guidelines for determining the involvement of lymph nodes were not easily applicable and did not seem to reflect the exact extent of Hodgkin lymphoma. Three simple steps were used to pinpoint involved lymph nodes. First, FDG-PET scans were meticulously analysed to detect lymph nodes that were overlooked on CT imaging. Second, any morphological and/or functional asymmetry was sought on CT and FDG-PET scans. Third, a decrease in size or the disappearance of initially visible lymph nodes on the prechemotherapy CT scan as compared to the postchemotherapy CT scan was considered as surrogate proof of initial involvement. Conclusions: All the radiological procedures should be performed on patients in the treatment position for proper coregistration. It is highly advisable that all CT and/or CT/PET scans be performed with IV contrast. Using the above-mentioned three simple guidelines, initially involved lymph nodes can be detected with very satisfactory accuracy. It is also emphasized that the classic guidelines (2, 3, 4) can always be used when deemed necessary

The Resilient Society: On volunteering, civil society and corporate community involvement in transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.C.P.M. Meijs (Lucas)

2004-01-01

textabstractChanges in the Dutch non-profit regime necessitate the direct participation of citizens and businesses in non-profit organisations. Dutch society must re-invent the commitment of citizens, businesses, foundations, universities and various other organisations by increasing both ‘community

A Novel Model for Teaching Primary Care in a Community Practice Setting: Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

McCobb, Emily; Rozanski, Elizabeth A; Malcolm, Elizabeth L; Wolfus, Gregory; Rush, John E

Providing veterinary students with opportunities to develop clinical skills in a realistic, hands-on environment remains a challenge for veterinary education. We have developed a novel approach to teaching clinical medicine to fourth-year veterinary students and technical high school students via development of a primary care clinic embedded within a technical high school. The primary care clinic targets an underserved area of the community, which includes many of the participating high school students. Support from the veterinary community for the project has been strong as a result of communication, the opportunity for veterinarians to volunteer in the clinic, and the careful targeting of services. Benefits to veterinary students include the opportunity to build clinical competencies and confidence, as well as the exposure to a diverse client population. The financial model of the clinic is described and initial data on outcomes for case load, clinic income, veterinary student evaluations, and high school students' success in passing the veterinary assisting examination are reported. This clinical model, involving a partnership between a veterinary school and a technical high school, may be adoptable to other clinical teaching situations.

Community organizing and community health: piloting an innovative approach to community engagement applied to an early intervention project in south London.

Science.gov (United States)

Bolton, Matthew; Moore, Imogen; Ferreira, Ana; Day, Crispin; Bolton, Derek

2016-03-01

The importance of community engagement in health is widely recognized, and key themes in UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommendations for enhancing community engagement are co-production and community control. This study reports an innovative approach to community engagement using the community-organizing methodology, applied in an intervention of social support to increase social capital, reduce stress and improve well-being in mothers who were pregnant and/or with infants aged 0-2 years. Professional community organizers in Citizens-UK worked with local member civic institutions in south London to facilitate social support to a group of 15 new mothers. Acceptability of the programme, adherence to principles of co-production and community control, and changes in the outcomes of interest were assessed quantitatively in a quasi-experimental design. The programme was found to be feasible and acceptable to participating mothers, and perceived by them to involve co-production and community control. There were no detected changes in subjective well-being, but there were important reductions in distress on a standard self-report measure (GHQ-12). There were increases in social capital of a circumscribed kind associated with the project. Community organizing provides a promising model and method of facilitating community engagement in health. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health.

Stakeholder Analysis on Community Forest Management Partnership and Independent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimas Alfred Pasetia

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Timber of community forest in one of the alternative supply that is needed by the wood processing industries. Partnership and independent of community forest can be realized in the relationship between farmers and industry. However, parts of the community forest system is represented by different stakeholders, which are interrelated in a system. This study analyzed stakeholder interest, influences and relationships between partnership and independent of community forest management. The study was conducted in Probolinggo District and respondents were selected using snowball sampling. There were 15 stakeholders identified as being involved in the partnership of community forest management of which were classified 4 as key players, 2 as context setters, 5 as subjects and 5 as crowds. There were 12 stakeholders identified as being involved in the independent of community forest management of which were classified 3 as key players, 1 as context setters, 5 as subjects and 3 as crowd. The performances of each stakeholder can be controlled if the integration of relationships and rules has been established. Keywords: community forest, independent, partnership, stakeholders

Oral Dysbiotic Communities and Their Implications in Systemic Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Preethi Sudhakara

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The human body supports the growth of a wide array of microbial communities in various niches such as the oral cavity, gastro-intestinal and urogenital tracts, and on the surface of the skin. These host associated microbial communities include yet-un-cultivable bacteria and are influenced by various factors. Together, these communities of bacteria are referred to as the human microbiome. Human oral microbiome consists of both symbionts and pathobionts. Deviation from symbiosis among the bacterial community leads to “dysbiosis”, a state of community disturbance. Dysbiosis occurs due to many confounding factors that predispose a shift in the composition and relative abundance of microbial communities. Dysbiotic communities have been a major cause for many microbiome related systemic infections. Such dysbiosis is directed by certain important pathogens called the “keystone pathogens”, which can modulate community microbiome variations. One such persistent infection is oral infection, mainly periodontitis, where a wide array of causal organisms have been implied to systemic infections such as cardio vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease. The keystone pathogens co-occur with many yet-cultivable bacteria and their interactions lead to dysbiosis. This has been the focus of recent research. While immune evasion is one of the major modes that leads to dysbiosis, new processes and new virulence factors of bacteria have been shown to be involved in this important process that determines a disease or health state. This review focuses on such dysbiotic communities, their interactions, and their virulence factors that predispose the host to other systemic implications.

Parent Involvement Handbook.

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Caplan, Arna

This handbook on parent involvement, designed to be used with preschool programs, was developed by the Jefferson County Public Schools in Lakewood, Colorado. Included are: (1) a general statement about parent involvement in an early childhood program, (2) a description of the Jefferson County Early Childhood Program, (3) a description of the…

Community-based organizations in the health sector: A scoping review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilson Michael G

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Community-based organizations are important health system stakeholders as they provide numerous, often highly valued programs and services to the members of their community. However, community-based organizations are described using diverse terminology and concepts from across a range of disciplines. To better understand the literature related to community-based organizations in the health sector (i.e., those working in health systems or more broadly to address population or public health issues, we conducted a scoping review by using an iterative process to identify existing literature, conceptually map it, and identify gaps and areas for future inquiry. We searched 18 databases and conducted citation searches using 15 articles to identify relevant literature. All search results were reviewed in duplicate and were included if they addressed the key characteristics of community-based organizations or networks of community-based organizations. We then coded all included articles based on the country focus, type of literature, source of literature, academic discipline, disease sector, terminology used to describe organizations and topics discussed. We identified 186 articles addressing topics related to the key characteristics of community-based organizations and/or networks of community-based organizations. The literature is largely focused on high-income countries and on mental health and addictions, HIV/AIDS or general/unspecified populations. A large number of different terms have been used in the literature to describe community-based organizations and the literature addresses a range of topics about them (mandate, structure, revenue sources and type and skills or skill mix of staff, the involvement of community members in organizations, how organizations contribute to community organizing and development and how they function in networks with each other and with government (e.g., in policy networks. Given the range of terms used to

Modelling of volunteer satisfaction and intention to remain in community service: A stepwise approach

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Hasan, Hazlin; Wahid, Sharifah Norhuda Syed; Jais, Mohammad; Ridzuan, Arifi

2017-05-01

The purpose of this study is to obtain the most significant model of volunteer satisfaction and intention to remain in community service by using a stepwise approach. Currently, Malaysians, young and old are showing more interests in involving themselves in community service projects, either locally or internationally. This positive movement of serving the needy is somehow being halted by the lack of human and financial resources. Therefore, the trend today sees organizers of such projects depend heavily on voluntary supports as they enable project managers to add and to expand the quantity and diversity of services offered without exhausting the minimal budget available. Volunteers are considered a valuable commodity as the available pool of volunteers may be declining due to various reasons which include the volunteer satisfaction. In tandem with the existing situation, a selected sample of 215 diploma students from one of the public universities in Malaysia, who have been involved in at least one community service project, agreed that everybody should have a volunteering intention in helping others. The findings revealed that the most significant model obtained contains two factors that contributed towards intention to remain in community service; work assignment and organizational support, with work assignment becoming the most significant factor. Further research on the differences of intention to remain in community service between students' stream and gender would be conducted to contribute to the body of knowledge.

'Ballroom itself can either make you or break you' - Black GBT Youths' psychosocial development in the House Ball Community.

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Telander, Kyle; Hosek, Sybil G; Lemos, Diana; Jeremie-Brink, Gihane

2017-11-01

Social context plays a significant role in adolescent identity development, particularly for youth lacking traditional systems of support. Using ecological and symbolic interactionism perspectives, this study qualitatively explored the psychosocial identity development of Black gay, bisexual, or transgendered youth participating in the House Ball Community (HBC). The HBC is a diverse network of family-like structures called 'houses', as well as a glamorous social outlet via pageant-like 'balls' in which participants compete. A series of focus groups were conducted with youth and leaders from the HBC (n = 37; age range = 17-24). Via cross-case and comparative analyses, specific motivating factors related to entry into and continued involvement in the community were identified. Factors related to entry into the community included lack of safe spaces, opportunities for acceptance, means of subsistence, and allure of the scene. Factors related to continued involvement included resilience and coping skills development, sexual identity acceptance and pride, prevalence of risky behaviour, and risk of exploitation. Discussion of these factors provides insight on how self-constructed, supplementary social contexts may provide both unique supports and risks to members, allowing for more focused and well-informed interventions and policies to enhance healthy development in such communities while mitigating risk.

Exploring Service Providers' Perspectives in Improving Childhood Obesity Prevention among CALD Communities in Victoria, Australia

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