Community Events Research Articles

Conducting Community-Based Research in An African Immigrant Population: Lessons Learned

Background Although small, the African immigrant population is one of the fastest growing immigrant populations in the United States. Emerging research indicates a high prevalence of noncommunicable preventable chronic conditions in this population. Like other African Americans, African immigrants are mistrustful of the health care system, hampering efforts for prevention and intervention research. Purpose To describe our experiences conducting 2 studies in an African immigrant community, discuss the lessons learned, and provide advice to researchers interested in conducting research in similar populations. Design The 2 published studies for which we derive lessons learned for this paper were a cross-sectional study and a qualitative study using focus group interviews. Participants included Zimbabwean immigrants in the Eastern United States recruited at religious festivals and community events. The 2 studies enrolled a total of 135 participants. Results Of our recruitment goal of 120 in the first study, we enrolled only 98 despite numerous efforts. However, after strategically partnering with a community advisory board (CAB), in the second study, we met our recruitment goal within 4 months. With the CAB, we recruited a larger proportion of men (38% versus 24%). Without the CAB, 350 individuals agreed to participate, but only 98 (28%) returned the questionnaire, whereas with the CAB, 40 agreed to participate, and 37 (93%) successfully completed the study. Conclusion Conducting health-related research in immigrants requires strategic partnerships with the community to build strong relationships between the research team and the target community. By nurturing these relationships, research teams can effectively access this hard-to-reach population and achieve high participation.

Nurturing the Seeds of Participation: Unveiling the Foundational Path for Understanding Aging in Place Barriers and Facilitators From the Perspective of Older Adults Using Mixed Methods and Translational Science.

Participation in society is a cornerstone for quality of life, active aging, and aging in place. While the majority of older adults prefer aging in place, health and financial challenges can hinder this vision. Conducted in suburban South Jersey, this study utilized mixed methods, including surveys and interviews with older adult participants. Surveys indicated that satisfaction with participation in the community is influenced by functional ability, healthcare service availability, and information access. Interviewees identified suggestions to overcome barriers (e.g., improve access to community and address ageism). Combined results provide a theory of change which suggests older adults' empowerment in community participation hinges on home living support, participation options aligning with ability and interest, and accessible information on community events. This person-centered planning approach emphasizes the importance of older adult and stakeholder participation in foundational community planning, offering translational foundational tools for evidence-based strategies to engage them in future community action plans (CAPs).

Protocol of a 12-week eHealth programme designed to reduce concerns about falling in community-living older people: Own Your Balance randomised controlled trial

IntroductionConcerns about falling (CaF) are common in older people and have been associated with avoidance of activities of daily life. Exercise designed to prevent falls can reduce CaF, but the...

Exploring School Personnel’s Conceptions on Managing Instruction and Services for High School Aeta Students

The exploratory study featured four high schools and their personnel's conceptions of better instruction and school services for Aeta students. The researcher used open-ended questions to interview 42 public school personnel. Sharing their strengths, weaknesses, and experiences related to inclusiveness towards the Indigenous students, the teachers, administrators, and support service personnel hinted at their training needs revolving around competencies in producing investigative articles on the educational needs of the Aetas, collaborating with co-workers in synergistically servicing the indigenous, greater awareness of ethical protocol in engaging with the Indigenous in service provision contexts, reflecting more intensively on personal efficacy in teaching non-mainstream students, re-tooling given cultural competence, knowing more of the culture and values of the Aetas, and championing more pro-actively the needs of the Indigenous, particularly in the educational and livelihood spheres of their life. Thematic analysis and interpretation brought to the fore the personnel's strong support for a curriculum that is specifically designed for the Aetas, support systems strengthened to empower the personnel further inclusiveness-wise, differentiated instruction facilitated with animation of Indigenous knowledge and learner centeredness, inclusiveness training for the personnel, and inclusive community events, and counseling specifically for Aetas.

A Community-Based Intervention to Enhance Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults: Study Design and Baseline Participant Profiles

Promoting subjective well-being is a crucial challenge in aging societies. In 2022, we launched a community-based intervention trial (the Chofu-Digital-Choju Movement). This initiative centered on fostering in-person and online social connections to enhance the subjective well-being of older adults. This paper describes the study design and baseline survey. This quasi-experimental study involved community-dwelling older adults aged 65–84 years in Chofu City, Tokyo, Japan. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 3742 residents (1681 men and 2061 women), and a baseline survey was conducted in January 2022. We assessed subjective well-being (primary outcome); psychosocial, physical, and dietary factors; and the use of information and communication technology variables (secondary outcomes) among the participants. After the intervention involving online classes, community hubs, and community events, a 2-year follow-up survey will be conducted to evaluate the effects of the intervention, comparing the intervention group (participants) with the control group (non-participants). We received 2503 questionnaires (66.9% response rate); of these, the analysis included 2343 questionnaires (62.6% valid response rate; mean age, 74.4 (standard deviation, 5.4) years; 43.7% male). The mean subjective well-being score was 7.2 (standard deviation, 1.9). This study will contribute to the development of a prototype subjective well-being strategy for older adults.

Predicting the incidence of mild cognitive impairment with a computer-based cognitive assessment tool in community-dwelling older adults: The Otassha study.

This study examined the ability of a computer-based cognitive assessment tool (CompBased-CAT) to predict mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in community-dwelling older adults. A two-year longitudinal study was conducted using data from 2016 to 2018 from the Otassha study cohort of community-dwelling older adults. MCI was defined as a Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score of <27. The CompBased-CAT was used at baseline, with each subtest score converted into a Z-score. Subsequently, the total Z-scores were calculated. Participants were divided into robust and MCI groups, and all variables were compared using the t-test or χ2 test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression analyses were conducted, with MCI and total Z-scores as dependent and independent variables, respectively. Among the 455 participants (median age, 72 years; range, 65-89 years; 282 women and 173 men), 32 developed MCI after two years. The participants in the MCI group were significantly older. They had lower maximal gait speed, baseline MMSE scores, subtest Z-scores, and total Z-scores than those in the robust group. The area under the ROC curve was 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.70-0.87; P <0.01). The sensitivity was 0.76, and the specificity was 0.75. The logistic regression analysis showed an odds ratio of 1.34 (95% confidence interval: 1.18-1.52; P <0.01). This study showed that CompBased-CAT can detect MCI, which is an early stage of dementia. Thus, CompBased-CAT can be used in future community health checkups and events for older adults.

“Normalising” flying-foxes: a bold vision for improving the public perceptions of our largest and most conspicuous bats

ABSTRACT Negative public attitudes toward particular species can have significant impact on their conservation. Traditional approaches to improving public perceptions of flying-foxes include defending them, encouraging co-existence with them and promoting empathy for them following publicised mortality events. We propose a shift toward “normalising” flying-foxes, in which they are portrayed as interesting species and a natural part of our highly esteemed biodiversity. This has somewhat already begun in a piecemeal fashion, and we provide examples of flying-foxes being represented in a range of formats, including museum and photography exhibitions, public artwork and street décor, books, preschool and school education, wildlife-based tourism and community events. However, there remains paucity in flying-foxes being represented alongside portrayals of Australian wildlife at a broader scale. We suggest that proponents fearing public backlash or impacts on market responses are a likely barrier to seeing flying-foxes being represented more widely; but conclude with hope that current participation in depicting flying-foxes as interesting and part of biodiversity will gain momentum. Ultimately, through normalising flying-foxes, public attitudes adopting their intrinsic value may eventually overshadow the perspectives of flying-foxes connected to contentious issues.

Transdisciplinary learning trajectories: developing action and attitude in interplay

Addressing complex societal challenges requires professionals capable of integrating multiple perspectives on problems and possible solutions. This requires crossing disciplinary boundaries and boundaries between science and society. Transdisciplinary approaches respond to this demand by deliberately integrating knowledge of different disciplinary specialists and societal actors for a joint framing and co-creation of new options for addressing societal challenges. There is, however, limited understanding of which assets transdisciplinary work requires and how students can be trained in these. We studied transdisciplinary learning in the context of a novel course in which students engaged in multi-actor agenda-setting and facilitated multi-actor dialog sessions at a community event. We found that with the support of teachers and a detailed script, and by acquiring knowledge and skills through theoretical learning and exercises, students were able to facilitate safe and structured multi-stakeholder dialog sessions. Shifts towards a more transdisciplinary attitude were sparked by eye-opening experiences in transdisciplinary encounters if students processed these critically and openly. Based on our findings we propose “Transdisciplinary Learning Trajectories” which conceptualizes transdisciplinary learning as developing the ability to engage in transdisciplinary action and developing towards a transdisciplinary attitude. Based on our findings, we argue for a combination of experiential and instruction approaches that support learning in both dimensions, simultaneously and in interplay.

Tournament rituals and experiential competence development in higher education: A case of a unique conference series

The Hungarian Student Research Society (HSRS) movement is a unique, experience-based tournament ritual promoting student-centered learning via instructors working as facilitators. Within the framework of this 70-year-old conference series, students conduct mentor-supported research activities on self-chosen topics, prepare academic papers, and present their research work to peers and expert juries within their institutions. The best research is included in the National Student Research Conference (NSRC), organized by discipline. The present study reviews and analyzes this process from the perspective of tournament rituals, skill development, and student experience. The study utilizes student opinions, perceptions, and feedback from a Student Research Conference in Economics to illustrate the method's effectiveness. Findings suggest that such conference event series – which function as tournaments, professional conferences, and festivals via community events – effectively develop the soft skills that are becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. In addition to professional competencies, Student Research Conferences (SRC) provide student participants with positive experiences.

The role of community events in preserving identity in the context of social change: An ethnographic analysis of the World Coal Carrying Championships

This article examines the role community events can play in negotiating forms of community and place identity against a backdrop of social, economic and urban change. Our contention is that in the context of globalisation and de-industrialisation, forms of working-class community may be expressed and recreated through maintaining traditions and practices established in place-based community events. The article is based on an ethnographic study of the World Coal Carrying Championships (WCCC) which involved undertaking in-depth interviews, volunteering, focus groups, observations and archival analysis. The findings show how the WCCC is invested with powerful symbols and invented traditions that are activated through the event. By reconstructing and remobilising shared pasts in the present, the WCCC permits community members to create an affective sense of community in the contemporary context, even in spite of the destabilising loss of other aspects of their industrial lives.

Digital social media expression and social adaptability of the older adult driven by artificial intelligence.

This study examines the impact of digital new media art on the health literacy and digital health literacy of older adults. It explores how digital new media art influences the social adaptability of the older adult, with a focus on variations in their engagement with digital technologies and community activities. The research employed interviews and observations of older adult participants from communities A and B. Data were collected on their smartphone usage, community engagement, and access to technological infrastructure. The study also assessed their interaction with digital new media across various domains, including interpersonal communication, information retrieval, entertainment, practical applications, and mobile payments. The study found significant differences in engagement with digital new media art among the older adult. Participants with prior computer experience were generally more skilled in using smartphones and more active in community events. In contrast, individuals in community B showed lower acceptance of digital new media art and no clear association with community participation. There was substantial variability in their use of digital media for information retrieval, entertainment, practical applications, and mobile payments. Some older adult individuals demonstrated proficiency with these technologies, while others were more reserved. The findings suggest that digital new media art can enhance community participation and social adaptability among older adults, particularly those with prior computer experience. However, disparities in digital media usage highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve digital health literacy and engagement across different community settings. The study underscores the importance of addressing these disparities to ensure that all older adults can benefit from digital advancements, thereby improving their overall well-being and health literacy.

Distribution of COVID-19 Home Testing Through Community Health Centers: Results of the COVID CoNOce MÁS Study.

To assess acceptability and feasibility of rapid at-home COVID-19 testing and reporting of test results among individuals seeking care at community health centers (CHCs) and their household members. Participants were recruited from 2 Community Health Centers during a clinic visit or a community event. Over-the-counter COVID-19 tests were distributed to participants for self-testing and to offer testing to household members. Separate surveys were administered to collect baseline information on the study participant and to collect test results on the study participant and household members. We calculated the proportion of individuals who agreed to complete COVID home testing, those who reported test results, and the test positivity. For household members, we calculated the proportion who completed and reported results and the positivity rate. We assessed reasons for undergoing COVID-19 testing and the action taken by participants who reported positive tests. A total of 2189 individuals were approached by CHC staff for participation and 1013 (46.3%) agreed to participate. Among the 959 participants with complete sociodemographic data, 88% were Hispanic and 82.6% were female. The proportion providing test results was 36.2% and the test positivity was 4.2%. Among the 1927 test reports, 35.3% for the index participant and 64.4% were for household members. The largest proportion of test results were for index participants (35.3%) and the second largest was for the participant's children (32.1%), followed by parents (16.9%), and spouse/partner (13.2%). The 2 most common reasons for testing were symptoms (29%) and attending family gatherings (26%). Among test-positive individuals (n = 80), most (83.3%) noted that they isolated but only 16.3% called their provider and 1.3% visited a clinic. Our results show interest in at-home COVID-19 testing of multiple household members, as we headed into the endemic phase of the pandemic. However, reporting of test results was modest and among test-positive individuals, reporting results to a provider was very low. These results underscore the challenges with reporting and following guidelines among people undergoing home testing for COVID-19, which may have implications for future pandemics.

The Role of Public Relations in Wildlife Conservation: Examples From Uganda

Within developing countries, awareness efforts that promote wildlife conservation are not only important to engage communities neighboring wildlife habitats, but they are also critical nationally because urban dwellers are not usually exposed to wildlife. Here, we suggest that media and public relations professionals can promote domestic tourism activities, and engage communities in ways that will encourage the public to protect wildlife. We outline examples of successful ongoing initiatives we have used that stem from the principles of strategic communication to promote wildlife conservation in Uganda. First, tours with journalists, celebrities, and politicians have been launched to support awareness of wildlife and their economic value to the country. These initiatives highlight protected areas to the mainstream media and encourage domestic tourism. Second, parades around the country, intramural sports teams, as well as public lectures, community and school events are held to mobilize additional conservation awareness. Lastly, we discuss the role of strategic communication through media frames by the national newspapers in promoting the importance of wildlife conservation. These initiatives have likely led to the demonstrated increase in domestic tourism to national parks over the past decade and increase in support for wildlife by the Ugandan public.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Studying Portuguese Ethnic Media in Montreal: ‘Autosiociobiographie,’ Sibling Relations, Brotherly Love and ‘Emotional Episodes’ in Research

How does the dynamic of sibling relations affect researching and dissemination of research findings? How can we best capture the unfolding of this dimension in researching? We discuss these questions via the description of a community event where the siblings were directly implicated and an “emotional episode” arose leading to humor in one sense but also stress on the other as the younger sibling struggled to intervene and interrupt his older brother’s presentation. We discuss and analyze this “key emotional episode” by placing it in the cultural upbringing of the siblings involved in the study as well as co-authors’ reactions to the same episode. We conclude by stating the necessity to know your audience and the approach most conducive to fit the culture of community engagement. Further, we argue that in this time when so much emphasis is placed on team research, we know so much about the academic credentials and skills of our project team members, but little about their personal upbringing and how this can influence relationships and interpretations of findings.

Chagas disease is a low health priority among high-risk Latin American migrants in Geneva, a qualitative study

This qualitative study of the situation of Latin American migrants with Chagas Disease in Geneva analyses how precarious migration-related socioeconomic conditions determine health priorities and disease perception. The study was conducted between 2016 and 2019 and is based on survey data collected in three Chagas-related community events, as well as on open-ended interviews with Bolivian migrants. This research contributes to more appropriate development of public health policies for migrants, as well as to a more nuanced and culturally sensitive understanding of how precarity affects the delivery of, and access to, healthcare in Western Europe. The significance of this research is to highlight how perceptions of Chagas Disease provide a lens to better understand the links between precarity and health among Bolivian migrants.

Gender Differences in the Association between Psychological Distress and Sociability among Older Adult Survivors: Cross-Sectional Survey Four Years after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake in Japan.

Mental health deterioration after a disaster is a concern. Individuals' sociability is expected to relate to the risk of this deterioration; however, research focusing on older adults is lacking. We aimed to investigate the relationship between psychological distress and sociability in older adults who survived the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. We conducted a self-reported questionnaire survey in 2020. Data on 3,588 people aged 65 years and over (2,024 women and 1,564 men, mean age 74.6 ± 7.2, mean ± standard deviation) were analyzed. The overall prevalence of psychological distress (the Kessler psychological distress scale: K6 ≧ 10) was 10.5%; by gender, it was 11.2% in women and 9.5% in men. Logistic regression analysis revealed that, in the total sample, age, gender, public housing, reduction in income resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, self-rated unhealthy conditions, subjective social isolation, and a lack of awareness of community events were positively associated with psychological distress. For women, a lack of community participation was positively related to psychological distress. For men, not knowing the change in school district after relocation was negatively associated with psychological distress, probably due to men's scarce community participation and reliance on friendships, compared to women's stronger dependence on community. Moreover, having a family member or friend to consult with was associated with a lower risk of psychological distress, regardless of gender. Gender differences were related to different conditions of social participation and types of social relationships. Enhancing community participation and family relationships among women and social contact with friends among men is essential.

INTEGRATED PUBLIC SPACE DESIGN WITH A PASSIVE ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH IN THE TINGKIR SUB-DISTRICT, SALATIGA

Public places that provide a secure, welcoming, and beautiful environment are becoming increasingly important to enhance community welfare. The government is attempting to enhance public services in Salatiga's Tingkir sub-district by creating an integrated public space design for the neighbourhood. Presenting this integrated public space is difficult as it must allow for various community activities in a typical community area, including sports, education, recreation, and events. In response to this problem, a passive design strategy that optimises building operations and conserves resources by considering context and microclimate elements is given in the design of a public space. These include modifications to the traditional Javanese stilt house form, skylights for daylighting, and roof protection against predicted excessive rains and sunshine. Integrated public space planning aims to fulfil many communities' requirements and provide a visually stunning and sustainable environment for everyone via these strategies. This study's most effective passive design techniques are adapting the traditional stilt house model to increase natural ventilation on artificial cooling systems and roof protection as shading, which can effectively regulate temperature. These methods are anticipated to enhance public spaces' overall sustainability and livability, transforming them into ecologically conscious and neighbourhood-focused hubs of activity and engagement.

Social-Educational Factors of Children’s Citizenship Education in Basic School: the Context of Lithuania

Citizenship education is a relevant issue of education and international policy in many countries, including Lithuania, especially due to the current tense geopolitical situation. In 2022-2023, after updating general education curricula, citizenship education competence is included in all subjects of general education. According to the updated Fundamentals of Citizenship programme for grades 9–10, students can develop citizenship competences by participating in nonformal education and engaging in other activities related to citizenship education. To achieve the aim of the research presented in the article – to analyze the social-educational factors of children’s citizenship education in basic school – an empirical study was carried out, for which the Diagnostic Questionnaire for the Situation of Citizenship Education by Valuckienė et al. (2017) was used. The study made it possible to distinguish the social-educational factors important for citizenship education: the child’s trust in the school staff, the child’s relationship with community events, adults’ respect for the child’s opinion, the child’s interest in news and the child’s participation in school self-government. The results of the empirical study confirmed the hypotheses: 1) respect for the child’s opinion is moderately positively related to the child’s involvement in the life of the school community, participation in school self-government and 2) adults’ respect for the child’s opinion is weakly positively related to the child’s trust in the school staff.

Identifying conditions leading to power quality events in Arctic Norway: Feature selection

Higher penetration of renewable energy and increased electricity consumption makes delivering a reliable power supply a complex task. Power system operators are nevertheless required to provide a reliable power supply with a power quality within specified limits. Power quality events can cause malfunctioning of sensitive equipment for consumers in the distribution network. Communities in the periphery of radial distribution networks, such as rural and island communities, often experience more challenges with power quality than other areas. This study focuses on a small island community in the Norwegian Arctic that exemplifies the challenges of power reliability. It explores an alternative approach to utilise the existing electrical infrastructure. By analysing one year of measurements from an electrical substation near a large industry complex, combined with weather forecast data, machine learning models are employed to recognise conditions leading to low power quality. Although these models show satisfactory performance, some data is missing to fully understand the causes of such events. To address this, feature selection techniques are applied to identify the most significant data features and find new important features. Through this process, a refined dataset is obtained, enabling more accurate detection of power quality events in the Arctic community. This research not only enhances the detection capability but also provides valuable insights into the specific data features that contribute to identifying power quality events, offering opportunities for targeted mitigation strategies and generalisation to other locations.

Theorizing architectural research and practice in the metaverse: the meta-context of virtual community engagement

PurposeThis article explores the implications of virtual social spaces for conceptualizing community engagement in the practice of architecture and design by critically analyzing multidisciplinary approaches to conceptualizing community namely space, place, and context to envision social spaces of virtual community engagement by architects and designers.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article utilized narrative literature review as the primary method for conducting a transdisciplinary theoretical integration. First, the authors defined the metaverse as all manner of human-technological interaction. Second, the authors discussed theories of place from architecture, social geography, and human ecology and employed neoecological theory to describe the interactional processes inherent in research and practice with virtual communities. Finally, the authors documented specific types of virtual engagement strategies in architectural research and practice.FindingsVirtual environments provide varied opportunities for effective collaborations among architects, designers, and community members. The primary strategies identified by the literature review of virtual community engagement were collaborative, augmented reality, and situated digital experiences. In addition, researchers have found that the most effective community engagement bridges interactions in the physical space and digitally mediated interactions.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors advocate for increased research towards understanding how the expanded availability of more complex technological tools, such as future versions of artificial intelligence (AI) software, may further layer the landscape of community engagement in ways that may be unpredictable and currently less understood. Additional research is also needed to address participants' perspectives in virtual community engagement and explore how the building of communities in the meta-context is felt, lived, and understood by those who act in them.Practical implicationsThe availability of new technological tools and digital platforms challenges diverse professionals to expand their community-engaged practice into the metaverse. Although not every community has broadband Internet or software access, many physical locations whether community centers, libraries, schools, or one’s own home may serve as safe spaces for novel virtual engagement experiences by individuals and groups. Digital engagement can increase opportunities for involvement from persons who are home-bound, lack transportation or child-care to attend in-person community events, or may desire the anonymity afforded by virtual engagement.Social implicationsVirtual environments can provide varied opportunities for effective collaboration among architects, designers, and community members by overcoming physical or nonphysical barriers to in-person engagement. For example, recent case studies of civic and community organizations have successfully integrated physical and virtual community engagement during the global COVID-19 pandemic by overcoming physical or nonphysical barriers to in-person engagement. Community development theorists have referred to such contexts as a “post-place community” in which individuals find solidarity through digital global networks.Originality/valueThis article theorizes virtual community engagement in the metaverse from a transdisciplinary perspective and coins the innovative concept of meta-contexts to describe a global “post-place” community. Integrating theories of place from architecture, social geography, and human ecology guides an original review of effective strategies for meta-contextual digital community engagement by architects and designers.