Community-based Project Research Articles

Aftermath of a Storm: Women and Reparations for Residential School Abuses

This article is an effort to explain how a gender-specific (women only) community-based research project, working in partnership with an Indigenous women’s organization, made visible issues of gender, sexuality, and race in the Indian residential school (IRS) compensation claims process. The study focused on the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), which involved an out-of-court adjudication whereby IRS Survivors gave oral testimony to an adjudicator about serious physical and sexual abuses they experienced at IRS and the consequential harms. The IAP was a key part of the IRS Settlement Agreement. The article discusses the IAP in the context of Canada’s colonial history, and then it provides, through results of a community-based study, insights from Survivors, support workers, and adjudicators. The study demonstrated how the absence of a gender lens in legal policy and practices can create unfair bias and, conversely, how attention to gender, sexuality, and race can assist in mitigating colonial or settler bias. The article was inspired by a 2014 Queen’s University Faculty of Law conference in honour of the late Dr. Patricia Monture.

Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development

As tomorrow’s leaders, adolescents are navigating coming-of-age tasks in the context of both the fast-growing promises of technology and the burdens of overwhelming global challenges. The Climate Leaders Fellowship (CLF) is an extracurricular program that supports adolescents interested in environmental sustainability. Program participants are connected with like-minded peers and mentors across the globe who help them develop and implement community-based volunteer projects (CLF, 2022). This study focuses on whether and how participation in CLF shaped adolescents’ development. A directed content analysis approach was utilized to conduct and analyze semi-structured interviews with adolescent CLF participants (n = 9, 89% female). Results indicate that engagement in the program is associated with civic purpose development. Specifically, participants reported experiencing civic reflection, motivation, and action through their CLF involvement. Findings offer supporting evidence that the development of civic purpose may be associated with burgeoning critical consciousness. Recommendations for future programming, study limitations, and implications are discussed.

Leveraging community advisory boards within travel medicine to help reduce malaria incidence in refugees, immigrants and migrants visiting friends and relatives abroad: reflections from the Minnesota Malaria Community Advisory Board on patient-provider interactions.

Refugees, immigrants and migrants often have barriers to travel medicine. Community Advisory Boards (CAB) are a vital but underutilized tool for understanding and meeting healthcare needs and challenges, providing communities with a voice, and finding solutions. The paper discusses a malaria prevention community-based participatory research project informed by a CAB.

대학의 지역사회 연계 프로젝트 수업의 효과 연구

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a community-based project class on student capabilities. The study centers on a meticulously designed project in collaboration with a local youth career center, aiming to identify challenges faced by the center and formulate five new curricula to address these issues. Through an analysis of data collected from survey results, activity reports, and student reflections, this study unveils compelling evidence of the positive influences on students' communication and problem-solving skills as well as social engagement. The findings from this study contribute valuable insights to the ongoing discourse on the efficacy of community engagement within the higher education framework.

Health Interventions May Have Divergent Impacts on Health and Economic Equity: A Case Study of the Community-Based Hypertension Improvement Project in Ghana.

Improving health and economic equity are key objectives in priority setting, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to assess the distributional impacts of the Community-based Hypertension Improvement Project (ComHIP) on health and economic outcomes across wealth quintiles in Ghana. We developed a decision analytical model to simulate a 30million cohort of Ghanaians aged 15-49years. The study specified health outcomes as the prevention of stroke cases and averting deaths among those with hypertension. Furthermore, we explored economic impacts, including savings in out-of-pocket costs for stroke patients and government spending. Financial risk protection against catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditures was also examined. We assessed these outcomes across wealth quintiles, and the corresponding concentration indexes (CIXs) were determined. It was estimated that ComHIP could prevent 1450 stroke cases and 564 related deaths annually. Health benefits were observed to be more significant among the wealthier quintiles (CIX 0.217), mainly attributed to a higher occurrence of hypertension within these groups. ComHIP was also projected to result in an annual saving of USD 49,885 in individuals' out-of-pocket costs (CIX 0.262) and USD 37,578 in government spending (CIX 0.146). These savings correspond to the prevention of 335 catastrophic health expenditure cases (CIX -0.239) and 11 impoverishing health expenditure cases (CIX -0.600). While ComHIP provides greater health benefits to wealthier groups, it offers substantial financial risk protection for the less wealthy. This study highlights the importance of considering equity in both health and financial risk when making priority-setting decisions.

My Best Alaskan Life: Addressing Adolescent Mental and Reproductive Health in Alaska.

Since 2020, a multisector research team has coordinated a youth-driven, community-based participatory research project to adapt a reproductive life plan for application in a statewide initiative called My Best Alaskan Life (MBAL). The RLP is adapted for Alaskan youth and is intended to support teens in decision-making processes reflecting cultural priorities, personal goals, and sexual and reproductive health. Background. With 46% of youth in Alaska reporting not having used a condom during their last sexual intercourse and 15% not having used contraception, unintended pregnancy and transmission of STIs will continue. Furthermore, Alaskan youth also cite high rates of hopelessness and suicidality, and research shows that poor mental health among adolescents is correlated with developing and maintaining high-risk sexual behaviors. An intervention focusing on supporting mental wellness and developing personal goals in the context of sexual health decision-making may encourage adolescents to adopt safer sexual health behaviors. The MBAL research team completed a statewide pilot assessing the design and implementation of the tool, gathering feedback from over 700 survey responses (youth, ages 14-20); conducted 10 in-depth interviews (adult partners at community organizations and clinics); and hosted two youth-led design review sessions. Questionnaire respondents were overwhelmingly positive about the tool (91% "liked or loved" the tool) and its potential applicability in their community (86% cited "very applicable"). Project next steps include incorporating design recommendations, a statewide randomized control trial and ultimately, open source access for all interested parties.

"That's like therapy"-A qualitative study on socially disadvantaged women's views on the effects of a community-based participatory research project on their health and health behavior.

Regular physical activity has positive effects on both physical and mental health. Nevertheless, socially disadvantaged women are often insufficiently physically active. Through needs-based physical activity offers, community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects have the potential to reach these women and increase the effectiveness of physical activity interventions by supporting women's empowerment, health, and health behaviors. This study aimed to examine socially disadvantaged women's views on the effects of long-term participation in Bewegung als Investition in Gesundheit (BIG, i.e., movement as an investment in health), a long-standing German CBPR project, on their health and health behavior. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 participating women at five BIG sites across Germany between April and August 2022. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using framework analysis. Women reported that participation in BIG classes contributed to their physical, mental, and social health. For many women, the positive effects on their mental and social wellbeing were most important. In addition to increased fitness and improved physical endurance, many participating women were able to expand their social networks, thus receiving further social support, and improve their self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, participation in BIG physical activity classes positively influenced the health awareness of many women helping them to improve their activity level and diet over time. Our results suggest that CBPR projects, such as the BIG project, can increase physical activity among socially disadvantaged groups and contribute to their overall health and wellbeing. CBPR projects could thus be considered a key element of health promotion for this target group. Future interventional research is required to confirm and further explore the effects of CBPR interventions and to examine whether the effects can be replicated in other settings.

Locked out, but not disconnected: multilingual community engagement in Australia

ABSTRACT At the onset of COVID-19, many Local Government Areas (LGAs) indicated they were struggling to communicate effectively with multilingual migrant communities. Communities were isolated from vital LGA support due to factors including the digital divide, barriers to language access, and top-down communication strategies. The pandemic also provided insights into the ways migrant communities mitigate hardship by engaging in placemaking and place-shaping, using existing networks and resources to provide vital support during crisis, which requires significant invisible labour. In this article, we present three case studies from a larger community-based project which began in early 2020 with an LGA in Western Australia. We use case narratives to illustrate and analyse three common actions migrant women used to engage their communities prior to, and during, COVID-19 recovery. These simple, yet profound actions, which include visiting communities, acknowledging challenges, and identifying opportunities further evidence the ways community leaders facilitate culturally sustaining placemaking, even during crisis; they underscore the intense emotional, cultural, and linguistic labour required to enact support in contexts where resources are inaccessible or misaligned with community stories. We argue it is only in partnership with communities that LGAs can learn to address some of the long-standing issues COVID-19 highlights.

Original ecology folksongs, myth, and showbiz: a case study of musical sustainability among the Bulang ethnic group in Yunnan, China

ABSTRACT This study explores a community-based cultural protection project among the Bulang ethnic group in several villages located in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, southwest China. In 2008, ‘Bulang’s traditional singing and instrument playing’ (Bulangzu tanchang) was listed for protection under China’s intangible cultural heritage regulatory measures. This study documents Bulang musical heritage, explores the link between mythology and music, and analyses whether modern social changes endanger musical traditions or give rise to new aesthetics. It adopts an ethnomusicological perspective, focusing on sustainability amid the commodification of ethnicity for showbiz through staged performances for tourists. The fieldwork ranges from virtual digital spaces to the established ethnographic technique of participant observation. Fieldwork in Menghai village examines how the Bulang people represent themselves in media, stage performances, and popular music, negotiating and reshaping their musical identity. This study emphasises the relationship between the stage performances of ‘original ecology folksongs’ in media and the sustainability of Bulang music, with insights for the politics of intangible cultural heritage.

The Healthy and Active Fund: Lessons From the Evaluation Experiences of Community-Based Physical Activity Projects in Wales.

The "Healthy and Active Fund" involved 17 community-based projects focused on the delivery of physical activity interventions, led by a variety of public and third sector organizations. As a novel, direct approach to capturing impact at this level, these organizations were encouraged to robustly evaluate and monitor their own project's outcomes, with core funds allocated to this process. This study aimed to explore project experiences of planning and completing evaluation activities, to better understand how to support community-based practice improvement. In-depth semistructured interviews were completed with individuals who had supported their project's evaluation. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key facilitators and barriers associated with evaluation in this context. Across 3 identified themes, participants (N = 15, 12 projects) referred to a need for greater organizational capacity and expertise, familiarity with evaluation methods, partnership-working, inclusivity, and flexibility, particularly when collecting data from project beneficiaries. Overarching program support (eg,case officers) was viewed as a valuable resource that was disrupted by COVID-19. Participants highlighted the resilience of their projects when engaging with evaluation processes and acknowledged wider learning across organization networks as a result of this success. This study shows that projects may benefit from closer support and external expertise for research and evaluation. There is willingness by third sector and public bodies to adopt research and evaluation methods into routine practice, but significant barriers persist. Future programs should continue to support adaptable approaches to evaluation at community-level, to better progress health and well-being goals for diverse populations.

Solar Panels, Euler’s Method and Community-based Projects: Connecting Differential Equations with Climate Change

Solar Panels, Euler’s Method and Community-based Projects: Connecting Differential Equations with Climate Change

Lived Experiences of Probationers towards Community-based Correction Program: A Qualitative Study

This study explores the real-world experiences of probationers who take part in Ozamiz City community programs. The study uses a qualitative approach to investigate the viewpoints, difficulties, and results that probationers experience when participating in community-based projects. The study uses thematic analysis to identify and investigate major themes that surface from the narratives of probationers, providing insight into how they interact with programs for rehabilitation, reintegrate into society, and perceive support systems. The following are the generated themes: (1) Personal Growth and Self-Discipline, (2) Community Integration and Belonging, (3) Guidance and Support from Probation Officers, and (4) Skills Development and Employment Readiness. In this study, the researcher analyzed the data using the narrative and phenomenology methods of Moustakas for the gathering of information through open-ended and conversational communication. The research is to contribute to the creation of more responsive and effective interventions that are suited to the requirements and realities of probationers in Ozamiz City by clarifying these lived experiences.

Rethinking Sustainability for Foreign-Funded Community-Based Projects (CBPS) in Low-Income Countries

Rethinking Sustainability for Foreign-Funded Community-Based Projects (CBPS) in Low-Income Countries

Pan-Canadian review of community-based monitoring projects and their capacity to enhance environmental monitoring programs for cumulative effects assessments

While community-based monitoring (CBM) can support meaningful participation of the public in environmental decision-making, it remains unclear if and how CBM can support western science approaches to biophysical studies within cumulative effects assessment (CEA). We scored 40 Canadian CBM projects on their ability to enhance CEA's western science approaches to environmental monitoring. We used multivariate analyses to determine if the highest-scoring projects shared characteristics that could inform the design of CBMs to support CEA. Cluster analysis and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination revealed that highest-scoring projects were distinct from lower scoring projects, and the Similarity Percentages Routine identified characteristics that differentiated these projects. The highest-scoring projects involved non-profit organizations as bridging organizations that coordinated community participation and received funding and in-kind support from provincial/territorial government agencies. Participants in these projects collected measurements and samples using standardized protocols described in training manuals. Their data were publicly accessible in georeferenced databases and were used for baseline studies and resource management. There are existing CBM projects in Canada that thus appear well positioned to enhance western science approaches to CEA. Further study is required to identify how CBM projects can be designed to braid Indigenous and western science approaches to mutually enhance CEA methods.

Exploring the Entrepreneurial Micro-Ecosystem: Agribusiness Among Youth in Rural South Africa

In recent times, entrepreneurial ecosystems have increasingly being researched and seen as a vehicle for empowerment and poverty alle-viation by policy-makers, particularly in developing economies. Scholars have primarily studied this concept in developed markets, with a focus on urban regions in those markets. However, in the South African context, there is an increasing realization that entrepreneurship among youth in small towns and villages is key in unlocking economic development and self-sustainability in those areas. Thus, research in these regions is necessary for deeper understanding and scholarly engagement into the entrepreneurial ecosystems emerging among youths. In addressing insufficient attention to small town and village entrepreneurship ecosystems, a conceptual comparative-case study of three agribusinesses in rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa was conducted. Thus, the research examines how and to what extent entrepreneurial activities among youth in rural areas manifested in promising agribusinesses within a short space of time, after being affected by Covid-19 lockdowns. The findings depicted that (a) agribusiness is key in rural areas and among youth, (b) rural communities engage in community-based agricultural projects to encourage self-sustainability and entrepreneurship, and (c) there is a need for a more focused support by policy-makers in these areas for them to flourish and open more markets.

“How I transformed myself”: youth, HIV prevention and the contribution of community-based social projects in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

O artigo analisa os possíveis efeitos de projetos sociais desenvolvidos na década de 2000, em uma favela do Rio de Janeiro, na trajetória de vida e cuidado da saúde sexual e reprodutiva dos participantes. Foram entrevistados cinco mulheres e cinco homens egressos/as dessas intervenções. Segundo os resultados, a abordagem dos direitos humanos e desigualdades sociais e de gênero somada à participação juvenil e parcerias institucionais, assim como à expansão de políticas públicas para jovens no país, colaboraram para que seus integrantes tivessem relações de gênero mais igualitárias, postergassem a maternidade/paternidade e adotassem práticas preventivas ao HIV/IST. Ademais, favoreceram o acesso ao Ensino Superior, a melhoria das condições socioeconômicas e influenciaram suas escolhas profissionais. Tais resultados podem orientar a implementação de ações diante do aumento de casos de HIV/Aids entre jovens e do desmonte de políticas públicas para saúde sexual e reprodutiva.

Vulnerability in Inclusive Research: Exploring Co- and Professional Researchers’ Experiences in a Community-Based Participatory Project on the Disability Family

In the transition to a less protectionist research ethics paradigm—in which vulnerable groups are no longer excluded from participating in research—academic researchers need to think differently about vulnerability. By means of a collective autoethnographic investigation of professional and co-researcher’s experiences in a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project, this article explores how vulnerability is experienced and perceived in the work process and how to respond to vulnerability. It finds that vulnerability manifests in two main ways—that of feeling “emotional hurt” and “epistemic self-doubt”—and that it comes from two main layers: the lived life and from working within CBPR. The main argument in the article is that vulnerability is inevitable in qualitative research like CBPR, when involving persons in vulnerable life situations. We propose four key recommendations for future research: (a) accept vulnerability as an inevitable part of CBPR, (b) balance protection with participant autonomy in situ and together as a team, (c) use a processual approach because ethical risks in the research context might alter over time, and (d) accept that placing co-researchers at the center of interpretative authority can increase professional researcher’s vulnerability. The article expands existing understandings of ethical issues and risk in inclusive research through a combined and innovative focus on both professional and co-researcher’s lived experiences.

Developing a Menopausal Transition Health Promotion Intervention With Indigenous, Integrative, and Biomedical Health Education: A Community-Based Approach With Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Women.

Few studies have examined the menopausal transition in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women; these reports indicate they are the most likely group to report bothersome vasomotor symptoms (VMS). Evidence demonstrates VMS may be a biomarker for chronic diseases. Thus, evidence-based interventions to improve VMS and other symptoms and health-screening rates for urban midlife AI/AN women are needed. The objectives of this community-based project were to form a Community Advisory Board (CAB) with whom to: 1) conduct CAB meetings (similar to a focus group) with midlife AI/AN women to understand their lived health care experiences and needs during the menopausal transition; and 2) obtain guidance in creating a tailored intervention. Eligible participants indicated they were registered members of American Indian Tribes, self-identified as a woman, aged 35 or older, and were recruited through the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake and community outreach. Three CAB meetings were conducted via Zoom. A qualitative-descriptive approach was used for analysis, with the aim of staying close to the data to understand AI/AN women's experiences and needs. Transcripts were iteratively coded using content/thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: 1) lack of and desire for information about the menopause transition; 2) barriers to accessing care; 3) matriarchal priorities impacting personal health outcomes; and 4) preferences for Indigenous and integrative medicine as first-line interventions, followed by conventional medicine. Among this sample of urban AI/AN women, there was a great need for and interest in information about menopause, both for themselves and for their daughters and family. Integrative and Indigenous approaches were preferred. Proposed next steps include developing and pilot-testing a nurse-delivered health-education intervention with Indigenous, integrative, and conventional medical content.

Sustainability of Knowledge and practice regarding disasters among people living in flood-prone areas of Nepal

The main objective of this study is to examine the sustainability of knowledge and practice regarding disasters among people living in flood-prone areas of Nepal. Data for this survey were collected through a cross-sectional research design using a quantitative method. CARE Nepal and Handicap International implemented a community-based disaster risk reduction VISTAR project in Nepal’s Kailali, Dadeldhura, Kanchanpur, and Dang districts. The study used the baseline, end-line, and mainly post-project sustainability (PPS) survey data for detailed analysis. The study was conducted in four rural municipalities/municipalities of the Sudurpashchim Province. Univariate, Bivariate, and multivariate analyses (binary logistic regression) were applied to examine the sustainability of knowledge and practice regarding disasters among people living in flood prone areas of Nepal. It was observed that slightly over two-thirds of the respondents (67.5%) were female, while nearly one-third (32.5%) of them were male. More than one-fourth (27.5%) of the respondents were from the 25-34 age group, followed by one-fourth (25.1%) from the 35-44 age group. Knowledge of various types of disasters had increased for all types in the end-line (24.5 in the baseline to 32.9 in the end line) and showed sustainability in the PPS study (44.08) on average. Only less than a fourth (24%) of respondents reported the Household (HH) level plan requirement to mitigate the effect of disaster. Multivariate analysis found that respondents whose caste/ethnicity was Dalit (aOR= 1.3, 95% CI=0.7 2.23) and Janjati (aOR= 1.37, 95% CI=0.7 – 2.67) were more likely to know about the requirement of the HH level plan to mitigate the effect of a disaster than Brahmin/Chettri. Likewise, respondents whose primary source of income was small business/service were 3 times (aOR= 3.58, 95% CI= 1.46- 8.81) more likely to know about the requirement of the HH level plan to, mitigate the effect of a disaster than those whose source of income was agriculture. Knowledge of the type of disaster and the need for a household-level plan to mitigate disaster is very low. Thus, programs that advocate the importance of following disaster mitigation measures at the community and household level should be targeted to motivate people to be self-equipped to tackle possible disaster incidents.

The role of stakeholder structure in fostering community ownership: A case study of community-based projects.

Community health projects have played a crucial role in improving health issues. Listening to communities' voices and achieving community ownership are essential for conducting effective health projects. However, there are limited studies on the frameworks for collecting, aggregating, and operationalizing community preferences and values. In this study, we selected two cases of community field surveys from Japan and Cambodia to discuss who may represent a community and propose a practical approach to achieving community ownership. Both cases involved various stakeholders. From the insights of these two cases, we suggested the following three key components in the community project: the community representative, the communicator, and the institute outside the community. Notably, the community representative's role as the community's direct voice should be properly recognized and institutionalised to establish community ownership. We proposed the following key terms of the qualifications of community representatives: they should be able to represent voices from the community, should have extensive experience to decide the project direction and manage the project, and should be independent of outside actors. Our theoretical model of the structure of different stakeholder groups in community-based projects will be helpful to accelerate community capacity strengthening; moreover, it can help build the appropriate community institution and process, including multi-stakeholder groups to promote community ownership in health programs.