|
ICR Abstracts: 5.4
|
Helena
|
Apr 17, 2007 08:06 PDT
|
*********************************************************************
REGISTER NOW FOR OUR PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS ON JUNE 7th, 2007 !!
The Institute for Community Research is pleased to offer the following
workshops on cutting-edge methodologies for data analysis delivered by
recognized experts in these fields.
*GIS Workshop on Mapping Neighborhoods for Community-Based Research
*State of the Art: Integrating Software with Qualitative Analysis
*Social Network Analysis
*Ethical Challenges and Guidelines in Community Based Research
Visit http://www.incommunityresearch.org/crossroadsIIpreconwkshps.htm
for more information.
*********************************************************************
[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 (5.4: April 17, 2007)
1. Beck, B., S. Young, et al. (2007). Development of a church-based
cancer education curriculum using CBPR. _Journal of Health Care for the
Poor and Underserved_, 18(1), 28-34.
2. Borders, A. E. B., W. A. Grobman, et al. (2007). Factors that
influence the acceptability of collecting in-home finger stick blood
samples in an urban, low-income population. _Journal of Health Care for
the Poor and Underserved_, 18(1), 100-115.
Objectives. To examine the acceptability of non-medical, community-based
interviewers obtaining blood samples during in-home interviews from
low-income study participants. Methods. Two separate focus groups were
conducted, one with ten non-medical community-based interviewers and the
other with eight research participants from a low-income population.
(Both the interviewers and the research participants had previously
taken part in a research project over the course of five years.)
Results. Participants and interviewers were comfortable with finger
stick blood samples performed in the home. The interviewers felt that
adequate training was critical. Participants identified key issues:
blood would not be used for other purposes and that the interviewers
would be trained to handle blood safely. Both groups felt that it was
crucial to communicate the study purpose and results. Recommendations
from the focus groups were implemented and the acceptance rate for blood
sampling was 99.5% (205/206). Conclusion. Proper training of
interviewers, organization of supplies, and communication with
participants can be combined to maximize acceptance of in-home, finger
stick blood sample collection by community-based interviewers among a
low-income population.
3. Brooks, N. and R. Schramm. (2007). Integrating economics research,
education, and service. _Journal of Economic Education_, 38(1), 36-43.
Since January 2000, the authors have experimented with an integrated
community-based research-education-service model that combined (1)
funded research into the local economic effects of the University of
Vermont; (2) a sequence of four semester-long courses to conduct the
research and to implement and evaluate key findings; and (3) a
university-community partnership that defined and guided the research
and helped identify and implement actions that grew out of the research.
The authors found that combining all three goals - research, education,
and service-into a set of integrated activities can offer substantial
benefits to faculty, students, and community groups. In particular,
these innovative experiential courses can improve the quality of
learning and serve as a capstone course for an undergraduate economics
major.
4. Bryant, C. A., K. R. Brown, et al. (2006). Community-Based Prevention
Marketing: Organizing a Community for Health Behavior Intervention.
_Health Promotion Practice_ 8(2), 154-163
This article describes the application and refinement of community-based
prevention marketing (CBPM), an example of community-based participatory
research that blends social marketing theories and techniques and
community organization principles to guide voluntary health behavior
change. The Florida Prevention Research Center has worked with a
community coalition in Sarasota County, Florida to define locally
important health problems and issues and to develop responsive
health-promotion interventions. The CBPM framework has evolved as
academic and community-based researchers have gained experience applying
it. Community boards can use marketing principles to design
evidence-based strategies for addressing local public health concerns.
Based on 6 years of experience with the "Believe in All Your
Possibilities" program, lessons learned that have led to revision and
improvement of the CBPM framework are described.
5. Carman, J. G. (2007). Evaluation practice among community-based
organizations: Research into the reality. _American Journal of
Evaluation_, 28(1), 60-75.
Increasingly, government, foundations, and others are asking
community-based organizations for more evaluation information. Although
the demand for this information may be increasing, the field knows very
little about the way organizations are responding to this demand. Using
data collected from interviews and a mail survey of community-based
organizations, this article addresses five research questions: (a) What
types of activities do community-based organizations use to evaluate
their programs? (b) What types of data do they collect? (c) How do they
collect data? (d) Who has the primary responsibility for conducting
evaluation? and (e) Where does the funding come from? The answers to
these questions are intended to serve as the basis for future
discussions about building evaluation capacity and improving
community-based services.
6. Economos, C. D. and S. Irish-Hauser. (2007). Community interventions:
A brief overview and their application to the obesity epidemic. _Journal
of Law Medicine & Ethics_, 35(1), 131-137.
Community-based interventions built on theory and informed by community
members produce potent, sustainable change. This intervention model
mobilizes inherent community assets and pinpoints specific needs.
Advancing community-based research to address obesity will require
training of future leaders in this methodology, funding to conduct
rigorous trials, and scientific acceptance of this model.
7. Epstein, J., K. Kadela Collins, et al. (2007). Space scouts: A
collaboration between university researchers and African American
churches. _Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse_, 6(1), 31-43.
Space Scouts, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and
produced by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH), is a
three-episode series of media tools designed to teach fourth-, fifth-,
and sixth-grade children from African American churches about the
science of drug addiction. This article examines the effectiveness of
the principles of practice for community-based participatory research
used to create Space Scouts. Academic researchers at MIMH collaborated
with an inter-faith agency-Committed Caring Faith Communities (CCFC)-and
solicited feedback from members of the target audience, their pastors,
and other church staff, substance abuse researchers, and curriculum
development specialists in order to ensure that the final program would
meet the needs of all involved parties.
8. Francisco, V. T. and F. D. Butterfoss. (2007). Social validation of
goals, procedures, and effects in public health. _Health Promotion
Practice_, 8(2), 128-33.
By relying solely on tests of statistical significance as the measure of
success for interventions in public health, and in community-based
participatory research, we can miss important social dimensions of the
project. These dimensions include how our interventions might affect the
lives of participants (social validity) and the lives of people more
broadly (clinical or public health significance). Social validation
procedures were originally developed to assess the acceptability of
procedures and effects of behavioral interventions among clients and
consumers. This article describes the methods used to obtain social
validity data for goals, procedures, and effects of interventions in
health settings. The challenges in using these procedures are also
discussed, and suggestions are offered for future research and practice
in this area.
9. Gonzalez, E. R., R. P. Lejano, et al. (2007). Participatory action
research for environmental health: Encountering Freire in the Urban
Barrio. _Journal of Urban Affairs_, 29(1), 77-100.
The community-based approach to health research and intervention is a
model of inquiry rooted in Freire's participatory action research (PAR).
We need to show, in concept and practice, what it is about PAR that may
be well suited for the types of health issues we encounter in inner-city
environments. What type of learning results, how does this respond to
particular health issues in the urban context, and what are the
particular challenges faced in translating Freire's model into today's
urban setting? To investigate these questions, we describe a recent PAR
project in Southeast Los Angeles, California-an area known to some as
"Asthmatown." One salient finding of the research is that PAR allows the
integration of complex and multiple forms of knowledge, and this is a
necessary response to the complex and multiplex nature of cumulative
impacts. There are challenges to translating the model to the urban
setting, however, such as the difficulties of participation in today's
urban milieu. The research leads to some lessons for practitioners, such
as the need to build "constant" elements into PAR projects. Lastly, we
reflect on implications of this model for institutional reform.
10. Kovas, A. E., B. H. McFarland, et al. (2007). Buprenorphine for
acute heroin detoxification: Diffusion of research into practice.
_Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment_, 32(2), 199-206.
Buprenorphinc has been approved for heroin detoxification, but little is
known about its impact on everyday practice. Concerns about
buprenorphine include expense, limited knowledge about its use, patient
limits, and social and clinical attitudes regarding opioid treatment for
heroin dependence. On the other hand, randomized clinical trials suggest
that buprenorphine is superior to clonidine with regard to withdrawal
symptom relief In June 2004, a community-based residential medical
detoxification center switched from clonidine to buprenorphine treatment
for all new and returning heroin clients. This study is a retrospective
chart review of subject outcomes with clonidine (n = 100) versus
buprenorphine (n = 100). Bivariate analysis suggested few cohort
differences in pretreatment demographics and client characteristics. In
contrast, buprenorphine was significantly associated with increased
length of stay and treatment completion. The positive associations
between buprenorphine and both treatment completion and length of stay
persisted and were slightly enhanced after regression analysis adjusted
for potential confounders. Additionally, clinical staff reported better
subject engagement in treatment and psychosocial group sessions. This
single-site study is an example of successful integration of an
evidence-based treatment into community-based practice.
11. Lorenzo, T., L. van Niekerk, et al. (2007). Economic empowerment and
black disabled entrepreneurs: Negotiating partnerships in Cape Town,
South Africa. _Disability and Rehabilitation_, 29(5), 429-436.
Purpose. This paper presents a second part reporting on Community
Disability Entrepreneurship Project (CoDEP) which was initiated in order
to contribute to the development of entrepreneurial skills of disabled
people living in informal settlements around Cape Town, South Africa.
The aim of CoDEP has been the upliftment and economic empowerment of
disabled people. This paper describes the point of departure, the
theoretical framework of participatory action research (PAR), the
development of research parameters, and continued focus. Method. A
participatory action research ( PAR) approach was initiated in order to
monitor and inform the effective development of the programme. Results.
While negotiating partnerships with disabled entrepreneurs, the six
spheres within which optimal interaction could take place emerged as:
(i) the choice of occupation; (ii) changing a culture of receiving;
(iii) nurturing teamwork by negotiating roles and responsibilities; (iv)
a focus on ability; (v) understanding the research process; and (vi)
organizational development dynamics. Committed interaction emerged as
the quintessence of these partnerships.
12. MacKellar, D. A., K. M. Gallagher, et al. (2007). Surveillance of
HIV risk and prevention behaviors of men who have sex with men - A
national application of venue-based, time-space sampling. _Public Health
Reports_, 122(Suppl. 1), 39-47.
In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
participating state and local health departments, universities, and
community-based organizations applied venue-based, time-space sampling
methods for the first wave of National HIV Behavioral Surveillance of
men who have sex with men (NHBS-MSM). Conducted in 17 metropolitan areas
in the United States and Puerto Rico from November 2003 through April
2005, NHBS-MSM methods included: (1) formative research to learn the
venues, times, and methods to recruit MSM; (2) monthly sampling frames
of eligible venues and day-time periods that met attendance, logistical,
and safety criteria; and (3) recruitment of participants in accordance
with randomly generated venue calendars. Participants were interviewed
on HIV risk and prevention behaviors, referred to care when needed, and
compensated for their time. By identifying the prevalence and trends of
HIV risk and prevention behaviors, NHBS-MSM data may be used at local,
state, and federal levels to help obtain, direct, and evaluate HIV
prevention resources for MSM.
13. Margerum, R. D. (2007). Overcoming locally based collaboration
constraints. _Society & Natural Resources_, 20(2), 135-152.
Scientific, societal, managerial, and political trends are all
simultaneously pushing resource management towards more collaborative
approaches. In response, innovatire collaborative efforts have emerged
to address natural resource problems-many of them originating at the
local level. Based on research in Australia and the United States, this
article highlights five constraints associated with locally, based
collaboration: transaction costs, limited perspective, organizational
sustainability,, policy issues, and the adequacy of representation. To
overcome these constraints, it is argued that the concept of
collaboration should he decoupled from the concept of localism.
Collaboration can operate at several different institutional levels, and
a nested set of collaborative arrangements in Oregon'S Rogue River Basin
helps illustrate how) constraints related to a locally based approach
can be overcome. Furthermore, these structures provide forums for a
range of decision makers to address some of the broader and more
fundamental natural resource management prohlems facing society today.
14. McCue, F. (2007). The arts and civic space: An experiment in
community education. _Teachers College Record_, 109(3), 590-602.
Background/Context: While the arts are being elbowed out of school
curricula, new community-based education venues for the arts are
emerging in cities across the country. This article describes Richard
Hugo House, an arts center for creative writing in Seattle, which
attracts People of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds who
participate in not only writing studios, but in a wide range of
activities such as literary readings and plays. Hugo House also
maintains a gallery, a cafe, and a "zine" library, an underground
collection of almost 16,000 homemade magazines from around the world. It
has come to function as a civic space for the arts that fosters in
participants not only a range of real-life skills, but also a sense of
democratic values. Purpose: This essay explores the theoretical
underpinnings of a community learning place for the arts and includes
some observations about how People of different backgrounds, ages, and
skill levels engage with an art form and how the art becomes a pivot of
dialogue for a larger community. Research Design: In this particular
civic arts space, I am identifying traits that make the learning
environment a vibrant and inspiring one. For example, at Richard Hugo
House, we are able to ask: "What do people need as they are learning to
write? What does anyone coming to an artistic enterprise need? How does
she sustain her work and improve her craft?" and we can trace the
responses to these questions through the experiences of particular
students and their teachers. Conclusions/Recommendations: Good teaching
in this informal setting is idealistic and pragmatic. it gives voice to
more stories, and more stories help us see the "what ifs" of the world.
Teaching at Hugo House facilitates more than it instructs-it's a process
theory approach and our observations are grounded similarly-in action
research. Mile, good teaching lets more people be the tellers of their
stories, it also helps to hone and craft them, making both the story and
the telling of it culturally urgent. That, at its best, is highly
democratic.
15. Pepall, E., J. Earnest, et al. (2007). Understanding community
perceptions of health and social needs in a rural Balinese village:
Results of a rapid participatory appraisal. _Health Promotion
International_, 22(1), 44-52.
This article reviews the process and key recommendations derived from
conducting a rapid participatory asset-focused health and social needs
assessment in the small traditional rural village of Tulikup, Bali. The
assessment aimed to develop recommendations for a community radio
station based in Tulikup to promote social change and development. The
health and social needs assessment utilized an asset-focused rapid
participatory assessment cycle methodological framework, incorporating
Annett and Rifkin's (1995) guidelines for rapid participatory appraisals
(World Health Organization, Geneva), community-based action research
(Sage Publications, California; Stringer, 1996) and asset-based
community development. The study explored Tulikup's pre-existing assets
and highlights the value of using rapid participatory appraisal
techniques as a first step in involving communities in assessing needs
and planning meaningful community development strategies. Data was
collected over a 3-week in-country period and included interviews with
key informants, informal individual and group discussions, field
observations and reviews of existing secondary data sources.
Triangulation using cultural interpreters, and participatory
consultation processes with community members helped ensure data
reliability and validity. Recent terrorist attacks in Indonesia and,
most notably, Bali, have had widespread economic and social effects
throughout Bali. In particular, secondary consequences of unemployment
and a reduction in income have had negative impacts on population health
and child labour at the village level. The findings and recommendations
of the health and social needs rapid assessment have been utilized by
the radio station to promote social change and development.
16. Seifer, S. D. (2006). Building and sustaining
community-institutional partnerships for prevention research: findings
from a national collaborative. _Journal of Urban Health_, 83(6),
989-1003.
The Examining Community-Institutional Partnerships for Prevention
Research Project began in October 2002 with funding from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention Research Center Program Office through a
cooperative agreement between the Association of Schools of Public
Health and the CDC. The three-year project aimed to synthesize knowledge
about community-institutional partnerships for prevention research and
to build community and institutional capacity for participatory
research. These ten organizations collaborated on the project because
they were all involved in community-institutional partnerships for
prevention research, had access to research and evaluation data on these
partnerships, and believed that the shared learning and action that
would result through a collaborative effort could significantly advance
collective knowledge about partnerships and lead to substantive
capacity-building responses: the Community Health Scholars Program,
Community-Based Public Health Caucus of the American Public Health
Association, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, Detroit
Community-Academic Urban Research Center, Harlem Health Promotion
Center, National Community Committee of the CDC Prevention Research
Centers Program, New York Urban Research Center, Seattle Partners for
Healthy Communities, Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center and the
Wellesley Institute. This paper reports on the project's findings,
including common characteristics of successful partnerships and
recommendations for strengthening emerging and established partnerships.
17. Smith, S., M. Frankel, et al. (2007). Challenges of community-based
research unveiled in the beauty shop stroke education project. _Stroke_,
38(2), 612-612.
18. Thomas, E. (2007). Student engagement and learning in a
community-based arts classroom. _Teachers College Record_, 109(3),
770-795.
Background/Context: Young people are often limited in the range of roles
and the dialogue routinely scripted for them, and then enacted with
them, in schools and other learning settings. Community-based arts
classrooms may offer young people access to a valuable alternative
resource for learning and development, yet these programs have rarely
been examined in empirical research. Greater understanding is needed of
the community-based activities and learning experiences afforded
adolescents situated in a range of economic, social, and cultural
contexts. Focus of study: This article examines a community-based arts
classroom that represents practices and relationships not often found in
schools to understand more about the possibilities of Learning and
identity for disenfranchised students. Setting: The community-based arts
classroom examined in this article was a printmaking workshop located in
a working-class neighborhood of a large Midwestern city of the United
States. The workshop was facilitated by a mainstream arts institution as
part of its community-based education program. Working artists served as
instructors. Research design: Qualitative methods were used to privilege
students' and teachers' perspectives and to describe complex, dynamic
teaching and learning practices. Data sources included field notes based
on participant observation, interview transcripts, and transcripts of
audiotaped recordings of workshop dialogue. I used interpretive and
discourse analysis procedures to develop appropriate units of analysis
and categories of learning and engagement practices. Findings:
Participation in the workshop provided at Least three sets of resources
for students. First, it promoted routine ways of speaking with
instructors and with one another about being an artist and doing,
creative work. Workshop Participation also facilitated entry into a
second pattern of dialogue and activity related directly to the process
of printmaking itself These practices allowed students to demonstrate
growing confidence classroom. A third set of resources was provided in
the form of rituals that promoted ownership and membership in a
community of artists. Conclusions: The workshop practices described in
this study provide conceptual tools and strategies for educators
interested in developing student competence and membership in a
classroom setting. The practices in this alternative educational context
illustrate how a group of young people, about whom there are few
positive expectations, and their teachers engage and team in ways that
are thoughtful, creative, and supportive of one another. These practices
are critically important as they suggest strategies for (re)engaging
students in a variety of contexts including school classrooms as well as
community-based settings.
19. Van Vorst, R. F., R. Araya-Guerra, et al. (2007). Rural community
members' perceptions of harm from medical mistakes: A High Plains
Research Network (HPRN) study. _Journal of the American Board of Family
Medicine_, 20(2), 135-143.
Objective: The aim of this study was to learn about community members'
definitions and types of harm from medical mistakes. Methods: Mixed
methods study using community-based participatory research (CBPR). The
High Plains Research Network (HPRN) with its Community Advisory Council
(CAC) designed and distributed an anonymous survey through local
community newspapers. Survey included open-ended questions on patients'
experiences with medical mistakes and resultant harm. Qualitative
analysis was performed by CAC and research team members on mistake
descriptions and types of reported harm. Patient Safety Taxonomy coding
was performed on a subset of surveys that contained actual medical
errors. Results: A total of 286 surveys were returned, with 172
respondents (60%) reporting a total of 180 perceived medical mistakes.
Quantitative analysis showed that 41% of perceived mistakes (n = 73)
involved only unanticipated outcomes. Reported types of harm included
emotional, financial, and physical harm. Reports suggest that perceived
clinician indifference to unanticipated outcomes may lead to patients'
loss of trust and belief that the unexpected outcome was a result of an
error. Discussion: CBPR methodology is an important strategy to design
and implement a community-based survey. Community members reported
experiencing medical mistakes, most with harmful outcomes. The response
they received by the medical community may have influenced their
perception of mistake and harm.
20. Westfall, J. and J. Stevenson. (2007). A guided tour of
community-based participatory research: an annotated bibliography.
_Annals of Family Medicine_, 5(2), 185-6.
Helena Hilario
|
|
 |
|
