Capacity Of Local Communities Research Articles

Hearing the Older Adults and Caregivers Voice in Medication Optimization Initiatives

AbstractBackgroundEngaging older adults, caregivers and family is necessary to produce relevant and meaningful evidence. Patient‐centered‐outcomes research (PCOR) engages these individuals as research partners. For instance, the process of shared decision‐making about deprescribing (reducing or stopping potentially inappropriate medications) between people living with dementia and their carers (consumers), and clinicians, is complex.MethodVarious tactics were employed by the Elder Care Medicine Network (ECMN) and stakeholder steering groups from USA and Australia. These initiatives describes efforts to increase capacity of local communities – older adults, their caregivers, healthcare providers and researchers – to participate in medication related PCOR as well as the development of a tool (PRIME) to help with deprescribing medications for individuals with dementia.ResultThere are over 120 active participants in the ECMN. After they shared their PCOR training needs, trainings were held as Discussion sessions where Council members and network participants shared their medication experiences and talked about participating on a PCOR research team. Network participants also identified what they felt were meaningful research questions on medication‐related PCOR (video). Additionally the PRIME tool was developed via an iterative process utilizing one‐to‐one semi‐structured interviews and a focus group session with 39 participants (people living with dementia, carers, and clinicians) to determine the usability and comprehensibility of the PRIME tool. Iterative changes were made to improve the content and layout of the tool.ConclusionThese two initiatives illustrate the importance of co‐design and incorporating the older adults and caregivers voice in medication optimization efforts in individuals with dementia.

Co-Creation and Developing the Creative Economy: The ‘Galo da Madrugada’ Case

Summary This case study explores the potential of connecting the creative economy with tourism through the analysis of the collaborative creative process, to rethink a carnival icon called ‘Galo de Madrugada’ (Morning Rooster) in Recife, Brazil. The icon already existed but the process by which it used to be created was not collaborative and caused few and temporary impacts. Via the description of the new creative process of the ‘Galo de Madrugada’, which brings together people from various cities in Pernambuco state, the case study illustrates how awareness for sustainable consumption is increased, which simultaneously acts as a tool to build capacity in local communities, create meaningful connections and boost social cohesion via co-working opportunities. Information © The Authors 2023

Pelatihan Pembukuan Dalam Penjurnalan Dengan Sistem Digital di Desa Sanehen Kabupaten Aceh Tengah

Training in Digital Accounting Journalization in Sanehen Village, Central Aceh Regency: Integration with Thematic Real Work Lecture (KKNT). This research explains the implementation of digital accounting training in Sanehen Village, Central Aceh Regency, as part of the Thematic Real Work Lecture (KKNT) activities. The research aims to enhance the local community's capacity in accounting and journalization through digital technology. The research method involves active collaboration with village stakeholders and the integration of training into KKNT. The training results show an improvement in understanding and efficiency in using digital systems. In the context of KKNT, this training has a positive impact on community development, increasing participants' involvement in sustainable village development. The discussion includes concrete benefits of KKNT integration and challenges faced. In conclusion, digital accounting training not only enhances financial literacy but also contributes to the goals of village development within the KKNT framework. This study provides guidance for similar programs in rural areas facing similar challenges.

Linking Satellite, Land Capability, and Socio-Economic Data for Local-Level Climate-Change-Adaptive Capacity Assessments and Decision Support

Climate change is now one of the most formidable threats to the livelihoods of resource-poor communities in low-income developing countries world-wide. Addressing this challenge continues to be undermined by the conspicuous absence of actionable adaptation strategies that are potentially capable of enhancing our capacities to realize the Millennial Sustainable Development Goals that seek to securitize access to adequate food supplies for everybody. This paper attempts to address this limitation by providing an improvised geostatistical methodology that integrates multi-source data to map the adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities in a selected South African local municipality, whose livelihoods are largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture. The development of this methodology was based on the use scripts that were compiled in Python and used to test-try its usefulness through a case-study-based assessment of the climate-change-adaptive capacities of local communities in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM), Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A Bayesian maximum entropy framework-based technique was used to overcome the lack of missing soil moisture data, which we included because of its reliable usefulness as a surrogate indicator of climate-change-driven variations in this variable on the sustainability of rain-fed agriculture. Analysis of the results from a sampling universe of 124 communities revealed that 65 and 56 of them had high and medium adaptive capacities, respectively, with the remaining 3 having low adaptive capacities. This finding indicates that more than half of the communities in the municipality’s communities have limited capabilities to cope with climate change’s impacts on their livelihoods. Although our proposed methodology is premised on findings from a case-study-based investigation, it is still extremely useful because it demonstratively shows that there is tremendous scope for the scientific community to provide objectively informed insights that can be used to enhance the adaptive capacities of those in need of the badly needed but difficult-to-access information. Added to this is the fact that our proposed methodology is not only applicable for use under different environmental settings but also capable of allowing us to cost-effectively tap into the rich, wide-ranging, freely accessible datasets at our disposal. The aim of this submission is to show that although we have the information, we need to address these persevering challenges by exploring innovative approaches to translate the knowledge we have into actionable climate-change-adaptation strategies.

Local community capacity building: exploring non-governmental organizations approaches in Tamil Nadu

Abstract Locally based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an important role in community capacity building (CCB). Because these NGOs are generally located close to the affected communities, they have the local knowledge to identify problems and assist the affected communities to address them. However, the methods these local NGOs use to build capacity in the local communities and the reasons they choose certain CCB approaches are not well known. To enhance the knowledge in these areas, this study conducted semistructured interviews with local NGOs and local NGO experts in Tamil Nadu, India. It was found that local NGOs build capacity in communities using emotional empowerment; a process that involves providing communities with (i) a sense of care and hopefulness, (ii) spaces to voice their feelings and challenges, and (iii) support to transform their voices into community action. Local NGOs adopted this approach because they found that long-term disadvantaged communities had high affective barriers, such as discouraging personal outlooks and an acceptance of existing social structures, which prevented them from taking ownership of the situation. Theoretically, these insights contribute to CCB literature by drawing attention to the community’s psychological processes and emotional empowerment characteristics. They also add to wider poverty debates by highlighting the affective community barriers that perpetuate existing inequalities.

Assessment of Solid Waste Management Strategies in Elele Community, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Solid waste management has become the greatest problem facing many semi-urban and rural communities like Elele in Nigeria, and is fast becoming a serious health concern. The study therefore was carried out to assess the strategies developed by Elele community in solid waste management and recommend proper solid waste disposal strategies. Materials and Methods: The study adopted survey research method using data collected through self-administered questionnaire which were analyzed to generate data for the study. Results and Discussions: The result from the field research showed that majority 96.19% of the respondents have heard of solid waste, and (34.83%) of the solid wastes generated in Elele community was Garbage, composed majorly of food waste which were compostable to make local manure; 29.62% refuse waste made up of papers, plastics, cans and glass were generated. The result revealed also that dumping in open spaces (69.82%) was the most prominent disposal method practiced in Elele and only 1.09% of the population practice Land fill (Burial method). There was inadequate provision of closed top compacting trucks (29.03%) to handle refuse collection with protective measure in mind. The respondent’s acknowledgement on the indiscriminate disposal of Solid waste in Elele was high (96.67%) and listed factors responsible like: lack of awareness on accepted methods of solid waste disposal (38.55%), Lack of Community Participation (16.23%), and Financial inadequacy of government (l4.78%). Conclusion: The study revealed that dumping in open spaces (69.82%) was the most prominent disposal method, while the least was land fill practice (Burial method) 1.09%. The study recommends the participation of the Local Governments in enhancing and building the capacities of local communities to identify and promote proper waste disposal and management. In addition, develop strategies that minimize waste at household and community levels through re-use like in manure, or recycling in their vicinity.

A cost description of the setup costs of community-owned maternity waiting homes in rural Zambia.

Maternity waiting homes (MWHs) are one strategy to improve access to skilled obstetric care in low resource settings such as Zambia. The Maternity Homes Access in Zambia project built 10 MWHs at rural health centers in Zambia for women awaiting delivery and postnatal care (PNC) visits. The objective of this paper is to summarize the costs associated with setup of 10 MWHs, including infrastructure, furnishing, stakeholder engagement, and activities to build the capacity of local communities to govern MWHs. We do not present operational costs after setup was complete. We used a retrospective, top-down program costing approach. We reviewed study documentation to compile planned and actual costs by site. All costs were annuitized using a 3% discount rate and organized by cost categories: (1) Capital: infrastructure and furnishing, and (2) Installation: capacity building activities and stakeholder engagement. We assumed lifespans of 30 years for infrastructure; 5 years for furnishings; and 3 years for installation activities. Annuitized costs were used to estimate cost per night stayed and per visit for delivery and PNC-related stays. We also modeled theoretical utilization and cost scenarios. The average setup cost of one MWH was $85,284 (capital: 76%; installation: 24%). Annuitized setup cost per MWH was USD$12,516 per year. At an observed occupancy rate of 39%, setup cost per visit to the MWH was USD$70, while setup cost per night stayed was USD$6. The cost of stakeholder engagement activities was underbudgeted by half at the beginning of this project.This analysis serves as a planning resource for governments and implementers that are considering MWHs as a component of their overall maternal and child health strategy. Planning considerations should include the annuitized cost, value of capacity building and stakeholder engagement, and that cost per bed night and visit are dependent upon utilization.

Can conditional cash transfers reduce vulnerability to climate change?

ABSTRACT In the last decades several Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have been implemented to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of poverty. More recently, they have also been used as a policy response to provide support to households hit by the COVID crisis. CCTs are being deployed as a development tool to reduce local communities’ vulnerability, increasing their resilience and capacity to adapt. In this context, this paper investigates if CCTs can reduce vulnerability to climate change by increasing the adaptative capacity of local communities. Indeed, while some literature has found that CCTs can reduce specific dimensions of vulnerability to socio-economic shocks, we argue that more research is necessary to understand their impact on vulnerability to climate change. Empirically, we use a panel of household survey data collected in Colombia in 2002 and 2006. We employ a difference-in-differences approach to analyse the impact of the CCT programme Familia en Acción (FA) CCTs on rural households. We consider seven components of vulnerability linked to climate change aggregated in an index: wealth, health, access to information, access to basic facilities, financial vulnerability, resilience to natural disasters, and nutrition. Our results differ from previous research and indicate that CCTs provided by the FA program do not decrease vulnerability to climate change. This finding suggests that CCTs are not a universal solution to reducing vulnerability to climate change and may be ineffective in specific contexts.

The role of community-university engagement in strengthening local community capacity in Southeastern Europe

For more than a century, scholars have been interested in promoting community-based learning to develop students’ agency and civic engagement. While community-university engagement (CUE) matured into an academic discipline of its own, questions about its impact on local communities remain largely ignored. This study examines the landscape of CUE in Southeastern Europe and its impact on local capacity development. One hundred eighty-seven faculty from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo completed a self-administered survey. The results link CUE programs with increased community assets, functioning and transformational capacity, and underscore the importance of learning with community stakeholders to promote local development.

Environmental justice promotion in the Italian contaminated sites through the national epidemiological surveillance system SENTIERI

Conceptual and operational aspects of studying and promoting environmental justice and the results from assessments on environmental justice carried out within the epidemiological surveillance SENTIERI focused on communities living close to main Italian contaminated sites are here summarized. The communities under SENTIERI surveillance often have environmental injustice conditions associated with the cumulative impact of environmental pressures due to contamination and a high socioeconomic deprivation and mortality risk. In Italy, a North-South divide gradient is present, with the worst conditions in the South&Island, where most communities affected by contaminated sites are socioeconomically deprived. The main mechanisms of development and maintenance of distributive injustice in contaminated sites are attributable to procedural injustice conditions, with marginalization and misrecognition of disadvantaged communities or subgroups in decisional processes regarding both the location and permanence of polluting industrial plants and the interventions on remediation and reduction of hazardous exposures and health-related impacts. Within SENTIERI, strategies have been developed to produce participative territorial communication plans and to strengthen the environmental health literacy of local institutional and social actors. SENTIERI contributes in promoting environmental justice through the empowerment of social capacities of local communities.

Capacity and Control: Superintendent-School Board Relations in Locally Controlled Districts

Purpose: In the wake of school board protests nationwide, it is essential for educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers to understand locally controlled educational governance. The stability of educational districts depends on superintendents navigating relationships with their school boards, yet little research exists that addresses board–superintendent relationships in locally controlled districts. Using theories of local will and capacity, and community power relationships, I examine what factors shape the extent of local control enacted by school boards, and how these factors affect superintendent–school board relations. Research Methods: The qualitative case study design is bounded as one multi-district union superintendent and three rural school boards. Data collection included semistructured interviews, ethnographic observations, and document collection to understand the relational dynamics of local control. Data analysis included in vivo and a priori coding, and the development of analytic matrices. Findings: All boards demonstrated local will and some local capacity, which explained the dimensions of enactment of local control. Rural board capacity—tenure, expertise, and residency of board members—influenced the extent of local control. Cross-case analysis revealed a relationship between board capacity, community capacity, and board–superintendent relationships. These patterns are theorized as local control school board–superintendent relationships typology, based on board capacity and local community capacity. The relationships include role contestation, confusion, collaboration, and dependence. Implications for Research and Practice: The study expands the theory of local capacity to include community and board dimensions and describes the complexities of superintendent–board relationships. The study concludes with recommendations for practice, policy, and research on locally controlled school boards.

Capacity Building of Forest Local Community, Tree Seeds Providers and Forestry Extension Workers on Plus Tree Selection Technique in Kediri, East Java, Indonesia

Community forests play significant role in supplying national demand of woods, sustaining local ecosystem and increasing benefit for local community. Tree plantings for both community forests and rehabilitation of degraded forests and lands, however often neglect utilization of good quality seeds, which resulted in low quality of forest plantation. In order to support the procurement of good quality seeds, it is necessary to raise awareness of local community, seeds providers and forest extension workers on the production of good quality seeds through tree selection program. This paper reported the activity to build the capacity of local community, seeds providers and forest extension workers on plus trees selection, as sources of good quality seeds production. The training activity took place two times at Ngancar Village, Kediri Regency, East Java. The participants in each training received lectures in a classroom and hand-in practical work on tree selection techniques in the field. The topics given are considered as important by participants, as evident from the increasing number of participants in the second time of training. Analysis of pre- and post-test conducted showed that the participants knowledge and skill increased by 27,9 % after training, regardless of their ages and educational backgrounds.

Climate Change and Adaptative Strategies of the Communities of Panchkhaal Municipality

Climate change has now become an unquestionable fact that affects the complex relationships between physical landscapes, natural resources, and their modification by local communities to adapt the impact of climate change. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the climate change and adaptive strategies of the community of Panchkhaal Municipality Ward No.13. The data were collected from both primary and secondary sources using mixed[1]method research design. Primary data were collected from field observation, questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and key informant survey. Secondary data were collected from reviews of published and unpublished documents. The finding shows that traditional adaptive strategies have been changing due to decline in food crop production since the last two decades. As a result, 52.5 percent households seem to be adapting new opportunities for diversifications- altering cropping times, application of agricultural inputs, tunneling and organic farming to adjust to the consequences of climate change. However, the adaption rates are varying depending on time and space and also it is varying on the basis of adaptive capacity of local community. Thus, strong policy efforts should be prepared to mitigate adverse impact of climate change on traditional farming methods.

LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN RURAL AREA AS A FORM OF CIVIL ACTIVITY: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Within the framework of the article, an analysis of international experience in the development of local communities was carried out, the implementation of individual social projects to increase the capacity of local communities in rural areas of Kazakhstan was considered, and, according to an expert survey, the main tools for involving rural citizens in the decision-making process at the local level were studied. In addition, recommendations are presented to increase the capacity of local communities in rural areas.

ONLINE PETITIONS AS AN INSTITUTE FOR CIVIL ACTIVITY: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Within the framework of the article, an analysis of international experience in the development of local communities was carried out, the implementation of individual social projects to increase the capacity of local communities in rural areas of Kazakhstan was considered, and, according to an expert survey, the main tools for involving rural citizens in the decision-making process at the local level were studied. In addition, recommendations are presented to increase the capacity of local communities in rural areas.

LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF RAINFALL SCARCITY AND ITS IMPACTS ON WATER AND FOOD RESOURCES: A CASE STUDY OF MOLETJIE COMMUNITY IN LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

Local communities are conscious of changing climatic conditions, the main variables, and their impacts on human livelihood requirements. This study describes the local community members’ perception of rainfall scarcity and its impact on water and food resources. Semi-structured interviews with a sample of 150 participants produced data about the perceptions of rainfall scarcity, its main variables and the impacts on water and food resources. The health impacts of poor status water resources and poor production of subsistence crops involve lack of reliable water provision for household consumption, and malnutrition and poverty as a result of subsistence crop production. A major recommendation from the study is an exploration of coping, adapting, and building the resilience capacities of local communities towards the impacts of climate change on water and food resources.

Consistent Changes in Land-Use/Land-Cover in Semi-Arid Areas: Implications on Ecosystem Service Delivery and Adaptation in the Limpopo Basin, Botswana

Ecosystems in semi-arid areas remain essential to securing livelihoods and aiding climate change adaptation. However, land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) is the leading driver of biodiversity, ecosystem services, habitat, and ecosystem loss in most rural areas of developing countries. We evaluated LULCC in the Bobirwa sub-district of Botswana between 1995 and 2015. We employed the supervised classification’s maximum likelihood algorithm on the 1995, 2005, and 2016 Landsat images to establish the implications of LULCC on the delivery of provisioning ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem-based adaptation in the Limpopo Basin part of Botswana. Five major LULC classes—vegetation, cropland, bare land, built-up areas, and water bodies—were identified in the sub-district. The decline in vegetation by 50.67 km2/year between 1995 and 2016 was characterized by an increase in croplands (34.02 km2/year). These changes were attributed to the growing human population that induced farming households to expand croplands. Government programs also encouraged agricultural expansions by offering free inputs and compensating smallholder farmers for land preparation. Higher agricultural yields remained critically low while the loss of vegetated areas to croplands threatened biodiversity, habitats, and the sustainability of provisioning ES through impaired ecosystem functions. There is an urgent need to arrest all unnecessary agricultural expansions and enhance agricultural productivity from current land parcels. The government and other relevant stakeholders also need to strengthen the ecosystem management capacities of local communities and support them to develop and implement biodiversity-based village action plans. Engaging communities through participatory, biodiversity-based action planning promotes biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of ecosystem resources.

Local tips, global impact: community-driven measures as avenues of promoting inclusion in the control of neglected tropical diseases: a case study in Kenya

BackgroundNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect poor populations with little or no ‘political voice’ to influence control activities. While most NTDs have interventions that work, the biggest challenge remains in delivering targeted interventions to affected populations residing in areas experiencing weak health systems. Despite the upward development trends in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the healthcare worker to population ratio remains exceptionally low, with some areas not served at all; thus, there is a need to involve other personnel for school and community-based healthcare approaches. Nonetheless, the current community-based programs suffer from inconsistent community participation due to a lack of coordinated response, and an expanded intervention agenda that lacks context-specific solutions applicable to rural, urban, and marginalized areas.MethodsThis research investigated the capacity of local communities to address the burden of NTDs. Informed by the social theory of human capability, the research collected primary qualitative data by conducting key informant interviews and focus group discussions of people infected or affected by NTDs. The interview data were collected and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis using Nvivo version 12.ResultsOur findings reveal, first, a need for intersectoral collaboration between governments and affected populations for inclusive and sustainable NTD solutions. Second, a ‘bottom-up’ approach that enhances capacity building, sensitization, and behaviour change for improved uptake of NTD interventions. Third, the enforcement of Public Health Legislative Acts that mandates the reporting and treatment of NTDs such as leprosy. Fourth, the establishment of support groups and counseling services to assist persons suffering from debilitating and permanent effects of NTDs.ConclusionsOur research demonstrates the importance of human agency in encouraging new forms of participation leading to the co-production of inclusive and sustainable solutions against NTDs.

Reflections on the Nexus between Climate Change, Food Security and Violent Conflicts: A Tour through the Nigeria Experience

Climate change has been adjudged as the most treacherous threat to global sustainability having its deteriorating effects on the ecosystems in the form of increase in temperature, haphazard changes in the pattern of rainfall, rising of the sea level etc. We believe the consequential impacts of climate change on food, biodiversity, health, and the overall economy have been of grave concern in Nigeria and to Africa as a whole. Hence, in this present study we demonstrate the intricate relationship between climate change, food security and violent conflicts in Nigeria, especially the root causes of famers-Fulani herdsmen clashes in Nigeria with the goal of providing sustainable conflict management strategies to the crisis. A mixed method research design (basically a mix of research papers’ syntheses, causal loop diagram, interviews/focus group discussions and the social progress index data) was analysed and adopted to achieve the study’s specific objectives.The causal loop diagram help us to demonstrate the interconnectivity of climate change, food security and violent conflicts. Interestingly, the majority of respondents (70%) ranked “resource scarcity due to increased desertification” as the top-rated cause for farmers-Fulani’s herdsmen clashes while less than one-quarter (21%) emphasised that urbanisation and social vices propelled the conflict. In light of these findings, we reasoned that there is a critical need to build the capacity of local communities to take on key governance roles around resource management while remediation and appropriate management measures of affected and vulnerable regions must commence without further delay. Government should strengthen police capacity to curb rustling and banditry, improving livestock tracking.

Building the capacity of territorial communities by revealing their latent potential

Decentralization is a common component of public finance development and reform strategies through efficiency, better governance and accountability. It has become particularly important for the local governments to recognize and test policies and practices that promote building the capacity of local communities by revealing their latent potential. The aim of the article was to identify and describe the current state of the decentralization process in Ukraine and in the EU, the problems and achievements of local communities. Observation and comparison were the leading methodological tools. The research found that the effective development of territorial communities of Ukraine requires further implementation of the relevant regional strategic planning of the European Union. The appropriateness and prospects of the LEADER/CLLD approach in the form of cooperation and partnership between urban and rural areas were established. Fiscal decentralization as a basic factor on the way to improving the level of regional development was determined through a comparative analysis of the factors of positive dynamics of development of territorial communities in the EU and Ukraine. A comparative analysis of the practice of Ukraine and EU countries in the implementation of LEADER/CLLD projects in the context of building the capacity of local communities by revealing their latent potential is a promising vector of further research.