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ICR Abstracts: 4.12
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The Institute for Community Research
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Dec 28, 2006 13:27 PST
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[Editor's note: The following articles have been selected because they
collectively deal with a variety of issues related to community-based
research (e.g., collaboration, ethics, methods) and they cover various
disciplines. If you have suggestions for articles/publications for
future postings, or other feedback in the
presentation, simply reply to this email. Thanks for joining!]
ICR Abstracts (4.12: December 28, 2006)
1. Brodsky, A. E. and T. Faryal. (2006). No Matter How Hard You Try,
Your Feet Still Get Wet: Insider and Outsider Perspectives on Bridging
Diversity. _American Journal of Community Psychology_, 37(3-4), 311-320.
Research in which the researcher and the participants come from
different contexts and communities always presents challenges. This
paper is based on qualitative, community-based research carried out by a
U.S. researcher in Pakistan and Afghanistan with an underground Afghan
women's humanitarian and political organization. Written from the
perspectives of two authors, one an organization insider and the other
the outside researcher, it presents some unique examples of diversity
challenges, while also illuminating issues that exist in subtle ways
even in more common research experiences. Within the context of multiple
diversities, two challenges to bridging diversity are discussed: (1) Can
or should all diversities be bridged? and (2) Can narrow attention to
diversity lead to ignoring similarities? We argue that the definitions
of success and failure in bridging diversity are themselves relative
terms, grounded in this very diversity. Further, even when research
fails to bridge diversity it may, in fact, not only honor and respect
that diversity, but ultimately lead to a better understanding of it.
2. Browne, G., J. A. Browne, et al. (2005). An Ontario initiative to
enhance the effectiveness of AIDS service organizations:
Community-linked evaluation of AIDS resources. _Journal of the
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care_, 16(2), 49-52.
This report describes the rationale, process, and early outcomes of
establishing a community-based research unit. The AIDS Bureau of the
Ontario Provincial Government established the Community-Linked
Evaluation of AIDS Resources Unit (CLEAR), which works in partnership
with the AIDS Bureau and 31 of 74 AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) in
Ontario.
3. Bukachi, S. A., S. O. Nyamwaro, et al. (2005). Capacity of
community-based organisations to disseminate sleeping sickness
information. _East African Medical Journal_, 82(8), 409-13.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the capacity of established community based
organisations (CBOs) to disseminate information on sleeping sickness
control. DESIGN: Participatory interview process administered to
randomly selected CBOs in a tsetse and trypanosomosis endemic area.
SETTING: Busia district, Western, Kenya. RESULTS: Community based
organisations especially women groups and farmer field schools that are
internally initiated have the potential to contribute greatly to
sustainable sleeping sickness dissemination strategies. The study
indicated a mean reach of between 400-600 persons per day, but with a
range of up to 1000 persons per day. CONCLUSION: Internally initiated
women groups may be the best options for targeting health education
programmes with the aim of ensuring sustained community participation.
4. Clark, A. and B. Percy-Smith. (2006). Beyond Consultation:
Participatory Practices in Everyday Spaces. _Children, Youth and
Environments_, 16(2), 1-9.
Full text available online: http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye
5. Dollman, W. B., V. T. Leblanc, et al. (2005). Achieving a sustained
reduction in benzodiazepine use through implementation of an area-wide
multi-strategic approach. _Journal of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics_,
30(5), 425-32.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the impact, in a regional
setting, of a multi-strategic partnership approach for reducing
benzodiazepine use in the management of insomnia, as recommended in
Australia's National Policy on Quality Use of Medicines. METHOD: The
setting was a rural region of South Australia, covering approximately
2000 km2, with a population of over 20 000. The study involved
participatory action research, with qualitative and quantitative
evaluations. The intervention involved a multi-strategic approach,
including provision of treatment guidelines, provision of consumer
information, a local media campaign and education and training of health
professionals. The quantitative evaluation involved a single region
before/after study with 2 years of follow-up using pharmacy-based
dispensing data for benzodiazepines and antidepressants, gathered for
the months of November to April in 1998/99 ('before' period) through to
2000/01 ('after' period). The data were analysed using non-parametric
statistics. RESULTS: There was a 19% reduction in benzodiazepine
dispensing 2 years after the intervention compared with a 6% reduction
nationally. Dispensing of antidepressants increased by 33%, compared
with a 28% increase nationally. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the
multi-strategic approach to the management of sleep disorders proved
successful in promoting the use of non-drug alternatives, achieving
sustained reduction in benzodiazepine consumption in a rural community,
without therapeutic substitution of antidepressants. IMPLICATIONS: The
study demonstrated that a sustainable reduction in prescribing of
benzodiazepines can be achieved through the implementation of a
multi-strategic approach involving local consumers, health
professionals, a Division of General Practice, a government department,
aged-care facilities and the local media.
6. Feenstra, C., B. Gordon, et al. (2006). Managing community and
neighborhood partnerships in a community-based nursing curriculum.
_Journal of Professional Nursing_, 22(4), 236-41.
A community-based undergraduate nursing program in a liberal arts
college sought to establish partnerships with area neighborhoods to
enhance the educational process of the program and the health of the
neighborhoods. With the full financial and emotional support of the
college administration, two unique positions were developed within the
nursing department: community partnership coordinator (CPC) and
neighborhood coordinator. The CPC works at the greater community level
with involvement in area-wide community health ventures to provide a
liaison to the community for the nursing department. The CPC coordinates
area-wide student experiences, provides oversight to the community-based
participatory research process, and expands scholarly opportunities for
students and faculty. In addition, a neighborhood coordinator for each
of the three underserved, ethnically diverse partnering neighborhoods
provides an ongoing presence in the neighborhood, coordinating and
teaching students as they have practicum experiences within the
neighborhood. The neighborhood coordinator is also intimately involved
in the neighborhood, maintaining professional relationships with
neighborhood residents, leaders, agency representatives, and health care
professionals. Discussion of how challenges of the roles were managed is
included.
7. Gellert, K., K. L. Braun, et al. (2006). The 'Ohana Day Project: A
community approach to increasing cancer screening. _Preventing Chronic
Disease_, 3(3), A99.
BACKGROUND: Native Hawaiians have higher cancer mortality rates and
lower cancer screening rates compared with non-Hawaiians in Hawaii.
People living in rural areas have particularly limited options for
cancer services, especially for services that are culturally attractive
and convenient. CONTEXT: 'Ohana Day, offered in a small, rural, and
predominantly Hawaiian community, was designed to attract underserved
Hawaiians to cancer screening. METHODS: The year-long project involved a
1-day ho'olaule'a (community celebration) for families that featured
30-minute visits with a same-sex Hawaiian physician (for adults),
culturally relevant cancer education and brochures, Hawaiian music, and
games for children. Recruitment and follow-up for screening and
treatment were offered. Principles of community-based participatory
research, Hawaiian values, and Kreuter's strategies guided the design of
the event. CONSEQUENCES: Of the 73 participants, 10 had abnormal
screening results, and all received follow-up screening, treatment, or
both within 3 months. Six months after the event, the number of men
current with prostate cancer and colorectal cancer screening and the
number of women current with clinical breast examination and colorectal
cancer screening increased significantly. In addition, the number of
participants affiliated with the community's Native Hawaiian health care
system and the number with health insurance increased significantly.
Participant evaluations showed high overall satisfaction with the 'Ohana
Day program. INTERPRETATION: Previous studies have noted the barriers to
increasing cancer screening among underserved minorities. Culture- and
community-based strategies appear to be successful at overcoming these
barriers.
Full text available online:
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2006/jul/05_0188.htm.
8. Harris, G. (2006). Practicing HIV/AIDS community-based research.
_AIDS Care_, 18(7), 731-738.
Although community-based research (CBR) is gaining popularity,
especially within the field of HIV/AIDS research, there is a paucity of
practical models or frameworks designed to guide researchers and
community members. Within the present paper the author presents a
ten-stage model of conducting CBR that emerged from two HIV/AIDS CBR
studies that were conducted in Alberta, Canada. The main strengths and
challenges to conducting HIV/AIDS CBR are also explored. Living a life
with HIV has changed dramatically over the past few decades. There have
been notable improvements in medical technology and treatment, resulting
in increased quality and duration of life (Volberding, 1998; Wong-Staal,
1997) as well as improvements in psychosocial interventions leading to
improved mental health services (Grinstead & Van Der Straten, 2000;
Hoffman, 1996; Sarwer & Crawford, 1994; Schaffner, 1994). Perhaps most
significant has been the astonishing community rallying and social
support networks that have occurred among individuals living with HIV
and AIDS (Roy & Cain, 2001). People living with HIV and AIDS have
demonstrated their resilience and positive outlooks through developing a
multitude of community connections and projects. These organizational
groups have engaged in HIV peer counselling at community-based
organizations, fund raising programs, board involvement in community
agency organizations and HIV/AIDS national committees, as well as
volunteer work in many settings. There has also been a recent focus on
CBR, which includes having individuals living with HIV and AIDS, people
vulnerable to HIV infection or other stakeholders in HIV/AIDS issues
become partners in research projects with academic or trained
researchers (Health Canada, 2002).
9. Leadbeater, B., E. Banister, et al., Eds. (2006). _Ethical Issues in
Community-Based Research with Children and Youth_. Toronto, University
of Toronto Press.
Efforts to apply ethical guidelines and regulations to vulnerable
populations are often problematic. Consequently, health and social
scientists sometimes shy away from the challenges of research,
particularly when it means addressing value-laden social problems such
as sexuality, drugs, and racism. Ethical Issues in Community-Based
Research with Children and Youth is a collection of essays that describe
the uniqueness of community-based research, outlining several of the
ethical concerns that it engenders. The contributors examine such issues
as the scope of informed consent to multiple stakeholders, determining
competence to give consent in marginalized populations, and managing
dual roles as participant researchers. The collection suggests that a
more collaborative, ongoing, and discursive approach is needed by
researchers and by ethical review boards to ensure that research on
sensitive social problems with high risk populations is supported and
also conducted with a clear understanding of the highest ethical
standards possible.
10. Malone, R. E., V. B. Yerger, et al. (2006). "It's like Tuskegee in
reverse": A case study of ethical tensions in institutional review board
review of community-based participatory research. _American Journal of
Public Health_, 96(11), 1914-9.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) addresses the social
justice dimensions of health disparities by engaging marginalized
communities, building capacity for action, and encouraging more
egalitarian relationships between researchers and communities. CBPR may
challenge institutionalized academic practices and the understandings
that inform institutional review board deliberations and, indirectly,
prioritize particular kinds of research. We present our attempt to
study, as part of a CBPR partnership, cigarette sales practices in an
inner-city community. We use critical and communitarian perspectives to
examine the implications of the refusal of the university institutional
review board (in this case, the University of California, San Francisco)
to approve the study. CBPR requires expanding ethical discourse beyond
the procedural, principle-based approaches common in biomedical research
settings. The current ethics culture of academia may sometimes serve to
protect institutional power at the expense of community empowerment.
11. Martsolf, D. S., T. J. Courey, et al. (2006). Adaptive Sampling:
Recruiting a Diverse Community Sample of Survivors of Sexual Violence.
_Journal of Community Health Nursing_, 23(3), 169-182.
Accessing vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations is a significant
challenge for nurse researchers. Adaptive sampling is a procedure that
has been used effectively in community-based research to recruit rare or
hidden populations. Structured community assessment, as practiced by
community health nurses, can be used to enhance adaptive sampling
procedures to recruit research participants. This article describes
adaptive sampling techniques, discusses how the techniques can be
enhanced with a structured nursing community assessment, and describes
how adaptive sampling was used successfully by nurse researchers to
obtain a diverse and vulnerable community sample for a grounded-theory
study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence.
12. Paschal, A. M., K. Kimminau, et al. (2006). Using Principles of
Community-based Participatory Research to Enhance Health Data Skills
Among Local Public Health Community Partners. _Journal of Public Health
Management & Practice_, 12(6), 533-539.
In a prior statewide health disparities assessment, local community
public health and social service professionals indicated a need for
technical capacity growth in order to understand and effectively utilize
health data. Using a community-based participatory research approach in
addressing this need, health data training was provided to 26
individuals with the primary goals being to provide capacity to identify
health disparities that result in higher morbidity and mortality, and to
provide the skills needed to access, interpret, and utilize health data.
Satisfaction surveys showed that an overwhelming majority of
participants were extremely pleased with the training. Follow-up
telephone interviews (100% response rate) conducted 2 months after the
training indicated positive results, with participants discussing how
they felt empowered to find, interpret, and use data as a result of the
training. Results of a 6-month follow-up questionnaire (54% response
rate) further supported the program's desired outcome to expand
participants' knowledge and use of health data. This pilot project
illustrated how utilizing a community-level partnership approach to
program development not only enhances the utilization of such programs
but also helps sustain participants' knowledge and skills.
13. Pequegnat, W. (2005). "Toward the Next Generation of AIDS
Interventions With Community Impact". _Community interventions and
AIDS_. E. J. Trickett and W. Pequegnat. New York, NY, Oxford University
Press: 278-285.
(from the preface) In this final chapter, Willo Pequegnat discusses
future directions for community-based research deriving direction from
the chapters themselves and her experience in the Office of AIDS
Research on Mental Health at the National Institute of Mental Health.
She provides an overview of concepts in need of further clarification in
community-level interventions and outlines a series of research
questions suggested by varied chapters in the book.
14. Rhodes, S. D., K. C. Hergenrather, et al. (2006). Using
Community-Based Participatory Research to Develop an Intervention to
Reduce HIV and STD Infections Among Latino Men. _AIDS Education &
Prevention_, 18(5), 375-89.
Although the Latino community living in the United States has been
disproportionately affected by the intersecting epidemics of HIV and
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the development, implementation,
and evaluation of HIV and STD prevention interventions designed to
reduce infection among Latinos lags behind prevention efforts targeting
other communities. HoMBReS: Hombres Manteniendo Bienestar y Relaciones
Saludables is a sexual risk reduction intervention designed to reduce
HIV and STD infection among recently arrived, non-English-speaking
Latino men who are members of a multicounty Latino soccer league in
central North Carolina, a region of the United States with both the
fastest growing Latino population and disproportionate HIV and STD
infection rates. HoMBReS was developed in partnership with the local
Latino community using community-based participatory research (CBPR). We
describe (a) the CBPR partnership history and further expansion; (b) the
development of the intervention through the integration of collected
formative data, theoretical considerations, and findings from the
scientific literature; and (c) lessons learned while using a CBPR
approach to develop HoMBReS.
15. Schensul, J. J., J. Robison, et al. (2006). Building
Interdisciplinary/Intersectoral Research Partnerships for
Community-Based Mental Health Research with Older Minority Adults.
_American Journal of Community Psychology_, 38(1-2), 79-93.
Community-based research often brings investigators from different
disciplinary backgrounds together with community representatives to
conduct research on topics of mutual concern. This paper describes a
case example that illustrates an interdisciplinary/intersectoral study
of depression and barriers to mental health care among older adults and
illustrate the factors central to implementing a successful research
partnership. It will address the following conditions that facilitate
and challenge interdisciplinary/intersectoral research: (1) achieving
commonality of purpose in study design and research and referral
approaches; (2) ensuring the ability to develop, field-test and
implement psychometrically rigorous and culturally and qualitatively
appropriate instruments; (3) building effective management structures
for interdisciplinary/intersectoral research partnerships; and (4)
identifying, training and supporting qualified researchers to carry out
a mental health study with older ethnically diverse adults. The paper
concludes with strengths and limitations of the approach.
16. Schensul, S. L., B. K. Nastasi, et al. (2006). Community-Based
Research in India: A Case Example of International and Transdisciplinary
Collaboration. _American Journal of Community Psychology_, 38(1-2),
95-111.
While there has been a trend toward greater disciplinary collaboration
over the last several decades, the emergence of the HIV pandemic has
required that disciplines work more closely and creatively to generate
the multiple and innovative approaches necessary to meet the demands for
effective prevention and treatment. This paper describes the nature of
collaborative relationships among U.S. and Indian anthropologists,
psychologists, demographers, epidemiologists, physicians and
representatives of other fields and sectors in conducting a large scale,
multi-year HIV/STD prevention project directed toward married men in
urban poor communities in Mumbai (Bombay), India. The project has
challenged members of the participating disciplines to develop a
transdisciplinary conceptual model, to test the model with
community-based formative research and to utilize the results in the
development and implementation of a multi-level (community, provider and
patient) intervention. The paper describes the interaction among
disciplines and international sectors in the conceptualization,
methodology and community-based action components of the project. In
addition, it examines both the inhibiting and facilitating factors that
are a part of the collaborative process. The paper concludes with
implications for future transdisciplinary partnerships.
17. Skivenes, M. and A. Strandbu. (2006). A Child Perspective and
Children’s Participation. _Children, Youth and Environments_, 16(2),
10-27.
This paper is concerned with children’s participation in communicative
processes. We suggest an interpretation of the concepts child
perspective and participation that might make it easier to understand,
analyze and facilitate “effective” participation for children. Our
threefold notion of the child perspective contains both structural and
individual aspects. We state that adults must guarantee children’s
rights as well as make arrangements to ensure their participation.
Further, children’s participation must take place in a way that
incorporates their subjective understanding and experiences. This
requires exploring and identifying the meanings of their assertions, not
taking them for granted. We suggest an interpretative model in which
understanding between individuals through communication is essential.
Our discussions are illustrated with Norwegian children’s experiences in
participation situations, collected from our research on children in
child welfare cases and our reflections on daily situations with
children.
Full text available online: http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye.
18. Tiffany, J. S. (2006). Respondent-Driven Sampling in Participatory
Research Contexts: Participant-Driven Recruitment. _Journal of Urban
Health_, 83(Suppl 7), 113–124.
This article reports on the use of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in
participatory and community-based research. Participant-driven
recruitment (PDR) retains all of the analytic capabilities of RDS while
enhancing the role of respondents in framing research questions,
instrument development, data interpretation, and other aspects of the
research process. Merging the capabilities of RDS with participatory
research methods, PDR creates new opportunities for engaging community
members in research addressing social issues and in utilizing research
findings within community contexts. This article outlines PDR's
synthesis of RDS and participatory research approaches, describes how
PDR is implemented in community contexts, and provides two examples of
the use of PDR, illustrating its process, potentials, and challenges.
19. Tolson, D., S. Irene, et al. (2006). Constructing a new approach to
developing evidence-based practice with nurses and older people.
_Worldviews Evid Based Nurs_, 3(2), 62-72.
PURPOSE: Providing evidence-based nursing care to older people is
central to the international development agenda. This paper is a report
on the first 5 years (2000-2005) of a participatory research project,
the purpose of which was to collaborate with practitioners and older
people to develop approaches to promote the attainment of evidence-based
nursing care across Scotland. DESIGN: Many theoretical influences shaped
the design of this action research study including realistic evaluation,
participatory social learning theory, and descriptions of communities of
practice. Multiple methods of data collection were used during four
action cycles. The inaugural community of practice comprised 30 nurses,
a second group of 30 nurses joined midway, followed by a third group of
15 nurses, and finally, an older person-carer community of 21 members
was established. FINDINGS: Project outputs included the construction of
an internet-based, practice-development college. A procedural model for
developing and demonstrating care guidance drawn from a diversity of
evidence and reflective of an agreed set of principles was piloted and
endorsed by the national standard setting agency. A preliminary version
of a promising approach to practice development, "the Caledonian Model,"
was delineated for future testing and refinement. CONCLUSION: This work
indicates the merits of using participatory research to find solutions
to the challenge of promoting evidence-based practice. Evaluation data
suggest that in combination, the approaches developed in this project
empower nurses to work with older people to champion developments even
in seemingly unfavorable conditions.
20. Warming, H. (2006). ‘How Can You Know? You’re Not a Foster Child’:
Dilemmas and Possibilities of Giving Voice to Children in Foster Care.
_Children, Youth and Environments_, 16(2), 28-50.
Based on Axel Honneth’s Theory of Recognition and an empirical action
research project entitled “Børnetinget” (Children’s Parliament),
conducted in Denmark by the author, this article discuss dilemmas and
possibilities of giving voice to children in foster care. The
Børnetinget project aimed to give voice to foster children so that their
knowledge about “the life as a child in foster care” could find its way
to social workers and foster parents as well as politicians, thus
influencing, democratizing and qualifying social work with children and
youth in foster care. “Børnetinget” was established with a core group of
15 foster children, aged 10-13, and a web-based “foster children’s
public forum.” This article focuses on learning about participation from
the Børnetinget experience, both as a model of participatory research
practice and for the insights it provides in relation to how we
understand participation in research and social work practice.
Full text available online: http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye.
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