Group Of Community Members Research Articles

Trialling mediated action research for development in a remote community in Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACTThis article discusses research on action research for community development in a remote district of Papua New Guinea. The authors taught (during site visits) and supported (by mobile phone) five groups of community members to undertake action research. The article discusses how the visits and mobile telephony were deployed to facilitate their action research. It is concluded that action research, with appropriate face-to-face and mobile phone support, was viable and cost-effective for community development in remote districts. Several strengths and weaknesses of the approach were identified to enable improvements for subsequent action research remote community development projects.

Graphic warnings and text warning labels on cigarette packages in Riyadh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Awareness and perceptions.

BACKGROUND:Graphic warning labels have been shown to be effective in smoking initiation and cessation and were implemented in Saudi Arabia in 2012. To date, no study has assessed the effectiveness of these labels and the Saudi population's perceptions on the effectiveness of cigarette health warning labels.METHODS:We used a cross-sectional qualitative study comprising of nine focus groups among 3 different community group members including health-care workers, adult women and adult men. We conducted in-depth interviews among community leaders. Both focus groups and interviews assessed awareness levels and elicited perceptions about health warning labels on cigarette boxes currently used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.RESULTS:While most participants in the study were aware and supported the use of graphic warning labels on cigarette packages, the awareness of the specific details on the labels was low. Participants perceived the effectiveness of current labels somewhat vague in smoking cessation and advocated for stronger and more aggressive graphics. Community leaders, however, preferred text-only labels and did not support aggressive labels which were deemed culturally and religiously inappropriate.CONCLUSIONS:The study suggests that while graphic warning labels are perceived as necessary on cigarette packages the currently used messages are not clear and therefore do not serve their intended purposes. Measures should be undertaken to ensure that pictorial cigarette labels used in Saudi Arabia are culturally and ethnically appropriate and are rotated on a regular basis to ensure salience among smokers and nonsmokers alike.

‘You opened my mind’: Latinx immigrant and receiving community interactional dynamics in the United States

AbstractCommunities are continually shaped by immigration. As immigrants join receiving community members as members of the same community, all must co‐navigate emergent and evolving relationships. These intergroup relations can range from quite positive, marked by mutual enrichment and engagement, to quite negative, marked by prejudice and discrimination. This study seeks to illuminate immigrant and receiving community member relations by exploring what factors play a role in each group's attitudes and actions toward, and experiences with, one another. Thirty first‐ and second‐generation immigrants from Latin America and 30 third‐generation or more U.S.‐born respondents participated in semistructured interviews, which were thematically analyzed. Results indicated that while both intergroup contact (Allport, 1954) and the formation of common in‐group identities (Gaertner, Dovidio, & Bachman, 1996) helped to create positive intergroup relations, numerous personal characteristics–including values and beliefs, visible features, and relative power–affected experiences and attitudes. Further, in the absence of knowledge based on direct contact, media played a strong role in shaping attitudes toward both groups of community members. These findings show how attitudes and actions of immigrants and receiving community members are each shaped by experiences, or lack thereof, between these groups. Moreover, this pathway is iterative and reciprocal. Therefore, efforts aimed at increasing and improving positive intergroup relations must consider the bidirectional iterative process and experiences of both groups.

Practitioner and communities’ awareness of CALFB: Child abuse linked to faith or belief

This paper reports the results of an online survey which aimed to explore practitioners’ and faith community groups’ awareness and understanding of child abuse linked to faith or belief (CALFB) and to identify their further training needs in this area. The survey was founded in the work of the National working group for CALFB; a multi-agency response group committed to raising knowledge and awareness of this form of child abuse. Despite the relatively small number of recorded cases, CALFB continues to be a matter of concern to professionals and faith communities in the UK and beyond. One thousand three hundred and sixty two respondents comprising of frontline practitioners, faith and community group members completed the survey. A mixed-method analysis of the survey data illustrates a wide-ranging understanding of the term CALFB and disagreement about whether this is a specific form of child abuse. The results also indicate a relationship between confidence levels in identifying and responding to CALFB and specific training in this area. There is a call for specialised training to be more readily available. Further work is needed to develop a toolkit, which identifies indicators of CALFB and effective response pathways together with research across communities. The current research is timely and important in providing a foundation on which to build more effective identification of cases, policy and intervention.

The Analysis of Community Empowerment Process through Poor Community Group (The Comparative Study of Pilot and Replication Areas)

Objective - The objectives of this study are to find out how to empower the poor through community groups (Pokmaskin) at Wukirsari village. The second objective is to create a model for community empowerment with the basic of comparative for pilot and replication area. Methodology/Technique - The first method is Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to analyse the factors that affect the community empowerment through poor society in the pilot areas and the area will be used replication analysis. The second method will use qualitative method with Focus Group Discussion and in-depth interview to answer how the empowerment model that is right for the poor in urban and rural areas. FGD involve various stakeholders in the area of both the elements of society, leaders, NGOs and government. Findings – The result showed that the factors which is the most influenced on the community development as perceived by members of community groups in the pilot and replication areas are, internal factors, institutional factor and external factor. Increasing the internal factor with increased motivation main target group members in the community empowerment; increasing institutional support in the form of legality, the role of local government, support from community leaders, encourages community motivation, formed to develop the organization; and empower all stakeholders, especially the private sector to provide support in training, financial, increase production and marketing. Novelty - The study uses Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Focus Group Discussion to reach the results. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Poverty; Empowerment; Stakeholder; Community Group. JEL Classification: P32, P35.

The Measurement of Environmental Resilience of Villages against Earthquake Hazard (Case Study: Mojezat Dehestan in Zanjan County)

Extended abstract 1. INTRODUCTION Disasters do not affect all members of a society equally. Disaster scholars, and to a less extent the general public, have acknowledged that disasters do not indiscriminately distribute risk. Indeed, disasters are the products of the social, political, and economical environment, as well as the natural events that cause them. In the last three decades, two geophysical hazards, Haiti earthquake in 2010, and the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami in 2004 have caused the highest death toll from natural disasters. Natural disasters such as floods and earthquake in geographical areas, especially in rural areas often have undesired adverse effects. Natural disasters had mostly endangered health of residents, especially children and the elderly by destroying the sources of income and living facilities, and had always been a serious threat to development, especially in developing countries. This subject reminds the necessity of attention to resilience at the local level (village); because, local resilience believes that resiliency almost depends on properties and action in microscale. Local resiliency based on events means that local community is able to stand against extreme natural events without damages like destructive losses and damages or loss of production of power or quality of life. 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The relationship between a society's sustainability of resiliency and risks includes many social, economic, political and complex physical factors. There are three common models for studying resilience: mitigation model, recovery model, and structural-cognitive model. 3. METHOLOGY In this research, the sampling method has two steps. In the first step, due to vulnerability of villages against the earthquake, among twenty-four villages in the study area, eleven villages with more than 20 households were selected as the sample of study. Because these villages are near to the faults, they are more in danger of earthquakes. Therefore, sampling was performed in eleven selected villages. These villages have a population of 6413 people. Since the exact number of people in a society cannot be calculated due to time and cost restrictions, the sample size was calculated using Cochran's formula, which includes 362 people. To evaluate resiliency in villages, independent samples t test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Friedman ANOVA, and Prometheus techniques as well as Electra 1 have been used. 4. DISCUSSION The analysis and increase of resilience of natural disasters has become an important and extensive field in a way that currently the issue is shifting from analyzing the movement of the mutual sustainable development and disaster management towards increasing resilience. Accordingly, the analysis and increase of the resilience of human and environmental systems against natural disasters is moving towards achieving the goal of sustainable development which has gained a particular importance. Reviewing literature and previous successful experiences showed that increasing resilience of residents and the resiliency of rural settlements is the best way to reduce the effects of natural disasters. The most important step to increase the resiliency is identification of the amount of rural areas and rural people's resiliency. Therefore, the present study seeks to investigate the status of resiliency in Mojezat district against danger of earthquake so that the economic, social, organizational, and infrastructural resiliency can be studied. 5. CONCLU#SION The results showed that among the various aspects studied, the social dimension has high resiliency and organizational dimension has low resiliency. Because rural people tend to participate in helping the victims, be members of community groups and cooperate with architects. However, villager's due to lack of appropriate institutional context and unsuccessful performance of institutions related to crisis management have been less satisfied with these organizations. This issue led to the fact that the organizational dimension based on independent samples T test becomes fairly good. It is also confirmed by Friedman test. The existence of positive and significant relationship between different dimensions indicates that strengthening one dimension of resiliency can help increasing resiliency in other dimensions. Prometheus technique showed that Doran and Ramin villages, according to the indexes studied in rural areas, had the highest rank. According to the obtained results, the following points can be proposed to increase resiliency: 1-Improving institutional and organizational infrastructure and creating a bilateral relationship between the local organizations and rural people in order to increase people's satisfaction and improve institutional resiliency, especially in Riyhan, Segheltuli and Qynerjhe villages. 2- Increasing participation among individuals, people, and their members of the local groups, especially among the educated class and in Barutaghaji village because of the low average of the social dimension in this village. 3- Improving infrastructure in SeghlTuli and BarotAghaji through development of infrastructure facilities, improving the quality of housing and increasing public services, especially the houses of pastoral class. 4. Paying more attention to Chavarzaq and Riyhan Villages and reducing the vulnerability of these villages, especially in the organizational aspect.

Getting off on the wrong foot? How community groups in Zimbabwe position themselves for partnerships with external agencies in the HIV response

BackgroundPartnerships are core to global public health responses. The HIV field embraces partnership working, with growing attention given to the benefits of involving community groups in the HIV response. However, little has been done to unpack the social psychological foundation of partnership working between well-resourced organisations and community groups, and how community representations of partnerships and power asymmetries shape the formation of partnerships for global health. We draw on a psychosocial theory of partnerships to examine community group members’ understanding of self and other as they position themselves for partnerships with non-governmental organisations.MethodsThis mixed qualitative methods study was conducted in the Matobo district of Matabeleland South province in Zimbabwe. The study draws on the perspectives of 90 community group members (29 men and 61 women) who participated in a total of 19 individual in-depth interviews and 9 focus group discussions (n = 71). The participants represented an array of different community groups and different levels of experience of working with NGOs. Verbatim transcripts were imported into Atlas.Ti for thematic indexing and analysis.ResultsGroup members felt they played a central role in the HIV response. Accepting there is a limit to what they can do in isolation, they actively sought to position themselves as potential partners for NGOs. Partnerships with NGOs were said to enable community groups to respond more effectively as well as boost their motivation and morale. However, group members were also acutely aware of how they should act and perform if they were to qualify for a partnership. They spoke about how they had to adopt various strategies to become attractive partners and ‘supportable’ – including being active and obedient.ConclusionsMany community groups in Zimbabwe recognise their role in the HIV response and actively navigate representational systems of self and other to showcase themselves as capable actors. While this commitment is admirable, the dynamics that govern this process reflect knowledge encounters and power asymmetries that are conditioned by the aid architecture, undermining aspiring efforts for more equitable partnerships from the get-go.

Challenges Encountered in a Chinese Immersion Program in the United States

The rapid rise of Asian economies has increased the popularity of learning Chinese language worldwide. Although CIP have become popular in the United States, research into these programs is scant. This study explores the practices and challenges of one such Chinese immersion program by using a case study methodology to gain in-depth insights. The case school is a state-funded nonprofit organization created by a group of community members. The main research participants were teachers of the kindergarten levels of immersion classes. The researchers used semistructured interviews, an online questionnaire, and document collection to obtain data. The main challenges faced by the CIPs are as follows: (1) difficulty in recruiting qualified teachers; (2) insufficient professional development; (3) difficulty in balancing content and language instruction; (4) insufficient use of Chinese; and (5) shortage of external resource support. Strategies to overcome these obstacles encountered in CIP have been discussed and suggested in this paper.

Becoming a (green) identity entrepreneur: Learning to negotiate situated identities to nurture community environmental practice

This paper explores the relationship between ‘green’ identity and community environmental practice. It focuses on the ways in which professional community development facilitators and lead members of community groups attempt to actively shape how environmental projects are locally received. Drawing principally on identity, social sustainability and social practice theory scholarship, it reviews the often very personal and place-specific ways in which appeals to green identity are variously understood and applied, or are actively avoided, by community group leaders. Individuals who have become skilful in negotiating and influencing the presentation of environmental projects to the local community are understood here as (green) identity entrepreneurs. Arguably, it is the situated entrepreneurial skilfulness of lead individuals in negotiating the multiple and evolving (green) identities circulating through any one project, which plays a significant part in determining its subsequent impact and longevity. In understanding the contribution of (green) identity entrepreneurship, however, its relational association with everyday practices, routines and meanings of community and place is brought to the fore. The paper also considers how divergent external interpretations of what constitutes legitimate environmental practice at a local level further shape project identity. The discussion is informed by evidence drawn from a qualitative study of 17 community groups and 7 professional environmental support officers participating in a Welsh Government led programme aimed at facilitating ‘community action on climate change’.

Four Principles to Guide Interactions

Statistics for Action project partners developed resources to bridge the divide between environmental professionals and residents affected by environmental contamination. Miscommunication is frustrating and frequent. Four principles that guided one STEM educator are illustrated with examples from work with residents of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. These principles may be useful to others intending to increase understanding among community group members and environmental regulators or professionals. The principles are especially relevant when tensions due to racial differences, priorities for next steps, or power imbalances due to funding streams threaten to derail communication.

Local terms and understandings of mental health problems in Burundi.

A pilot study and two intensive studies were conducted to document the local vocabularies used by Burundians to describe mental health problems and their understandings about the causes. The pilot study-in which 14 different large groups of community members awaiting appointments at a village health clinic were engaged in open-ended discussions of the local terminology and causal beliefs about mental health problems-suggested three key syndromes: akabonge (a set of depression-like symptoms), guhahamuka (a set of trauma-related symptoms), and ibisigo (a set of psychosis-like symptoms). In Study 1 ( N = 542), individual interviews or surveys presented participants with the names of these syndromes and asked what they considered to be the symptoms and causes of them. Study 2 ( N = 143) cross-validated these terms with a different sample (also in individual interviews/surveys), by presenting the symptom clusters and asking what each would be called and about their causes. Findings of both studies validated this set of terms and yielded a rich body of data about causal beliefs. The influence of education level and gender on familiarity with these terms was also assessed. Implications for the development of mental health services and directions for future research are discussed.

Prevalência de atividade física de deslocamento e fatores associados em idosos longevos

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2016v18n5p520 The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of commuting physical activity and associate sociodemographic, behavioral and health characteristics in longlived older adults of Florianópolis/SC. This cross-sectional epidemiologic study included 343 individuals aged 80 and older; these individuals are members of community groups registered in the municipality of Florianópolis/SC. Sociodemographic information and health and behavior data were collected. To assess physical activity, the “commuting” domain of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used, adapted for older adults. Data were analyzed using Stata 11.0 with Logistic regression expressed in odds ratios and 95% confidence interval. The prevalence of commuting physical activity was 19.5%. The oldest members of the group (p= 0.011; OR= 0.90; 95%CI= 0.83/0.98), with worse health perception (p< 0.001; OR= 0.33, 95%CI= 0.18/0.60) and with hypertension diagnosis (p= 0.009; OR=0.47; 95%CI= 0.27/0.83) had lower odds ratio of commuting physical activity. Knowledge about sociodemographic, behavioral and health characteristics associated with commuting physical activity can serve as a basis for the development of programs and actions to encourage commuting physical activity among long-lived older adults.

Prevalência de atividade física de deslocamento e fatores associados em idosos longevos

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of commuting physical activity and associate sociodemographic, behavioral and health characteristics in longlived older adults of Florianopolis/SC. This cross-sectional epidemiologic study included 343 individuals aged 80 and older; these individuals are members of community groups registered in the municipality of Florianopolis/SC. Sociodemographic information and health and behavior data were collected. To assess physical activity, the “commuting” domain of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used, adapted for older adults. Data were analyzed using Stata 11.0 with Logistic regression expressed in odds ratios and 95% confidence interval. The prevalence of commuting physical activity was 19.5%. The oldest members of the group (p= 0.011; OR= 0.90; 95%CI= 0.83/0.98), with worse health perception (p< 0.001; OR= 0.33, 95%CI= 0.18/0.60) and with hypertension diagnosis (p= 0.009; OR=0.47; 95%CI= 0.27/0.83) had lower odds ratio of commuting physical activity. Knowledge about sociodemographic, behavioral and health characteristics associated with commuting physical activity can serve as a basis for the development of programs and actions to encourage commuting physical activity among long-lived older adults.

From principle to practice: community consultation regarding access to Indigenous language material in archival records at the State Library of New South Wales

In the context of Indigenous languages, archival science in Australia continues to move from a theoretical framework of considering record subjects as third parties to a ‘participants model’. In a participants model framework record subjects are considered co-creators and custodians of the intellectual property of the record. However, the shift from theory to practice is still an under-described challenge currently facing archival professionals. This article reports on an experience of applying guidelines developed by First Languages Australia (FLA) and National and State Libraries of Australasia (NSLA) aimed at enhancing the rights of Indigenous Australians over records that contain Indigenous language material. A team of researchers from the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) Indigenous Services branch and Western Sydney University engaged with four Indigenous language groups to evaluate records containing Indigenous language material held at the SLNSW. On viewing the archival records of Indigenous language material members of community groups expressed a diversity of opinions and suggestions. This feedback was grouped by the authors into the following themes: painful remembrance of the provenance of the archival record, evaluations of the value of the documents, custodianship and use of the language material, and access to the SLNSW records. The authors found that participants in the study substantially shaped the process of implementing the protocols.

The Experiences of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Supporting Rural Development in the Caribbean Region

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture is an International Organization that provides technical support for the development of agriculture and rural life in thirty- four countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, there were mixed results in the Institute's programmes, designed to improve the lives and livelihoods of farmers and members of community groups living in rural areas. The degree of success enjoyed in delivering those programmes, and ease with which they were implemented depended, to a large extent, on the nature of problems besetting those communities, and facilitative environment provided at the institutional level. IICA also had favorable experiences in providing support to rural community groups which had requested support for further exploiting opportunities with potential for improving their income earning capacity. The paper, therefore, seeks to identify the nature of the challenges experienced by the IICA Office in providing support to community groups in Trinidad and Tobago and selected countries of the region, and to highlight interventions undertaken for assisting those communities. The paper further outlines conditions, both at the community and institutional levels, which can facilitate the technical cooperation process.

CAN A SMARTPHONE-BASED CHATBOT ENGAGE OLDER COMMUNITY GROUP MEMBERS? THE IMPACT OF SPECIALISED CONTENT

CAN A SMARTPHONE-BASED CHATBOT ENGAGE OLDER COMMUNITY GROUP MEMBERS? THE IMPACT OF SPECIALISED CONTENT

Social participation and mortality: does social position in civic groups matter?

BackgroundSocial participation is known to predict longevity. However, little is known about the effect of social participation according to an individual’s position in civic groups. We evaluated the influence of social position on mortality, using data from a large cohort of Japanese older adults (the AGES cohort).MethodsOf 14,804 individuals aged 65 years and older enrolled in the AGES, 14,286 individuals were followed up for approximately 5 years from 2003 to 2008. We performed inverse probability of treatment weighted (IPTW) Cox proportional hazards regression with multiple imputation of missing values to compute hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality according to the individual’s position in the community organization(s) to which they belonged. We examined participation in the following civic groups: neighborhood association/senior citizen club/fire-fighting team, religious group, political organization or group, industrial or trade association, volunteer group, citizen or consumer group, hobby group, and sports group or club. The values for IPTW were computed based on demographic variables, socioeconomic status, and self-reported medical condition.ResultsDuring 22,718 person-years of follow-up for regular members of community groups and 14,014 person-years of follow-up for participants in leadership positions, 479 deaths and 214 deaths were observed, respectively. Relative to regular members, crude HR for all-cause mortality for occupying leadership positions (e.g. president, manager, or having administrative roles) was 0.72 (95 % CI:0.62–0.85). The IPTW-HR was 0.88 (95 % CI: 0.79–0.99) for participants occupying leadership positions.ConclusionsHolding leadership positions in community organization(s) may be more beneficial to health than being regular members.

Group Maturity in a Community-Based Project

Community-based projects have become popular as a method to address various community problems. Specifically important is that community members take an active role in these interventions resulting in sustainable social change. Although considerable literature exists on the dynamics of small group interaction, this article addresses how group processes differ in community-based projects. Instead of constructing a static model for group interaction, this discussion focuses on experiences from a recent community-based health project on the island of Grenada. Because community-based projects are directed by a diverse group of community members, maturity is described as a process of negotiation rather than consensus.

A Neighborhood Notion of Emergent Literacy: One Mixed Methods Inquiry to Inform Community Learning

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, this study considered the early literacy and language environments actualized by childcare providers and parents of young children (ages 3–5) living in one large urban community in the United States of America. Both childcare providers and parents responded to questionnaires and participated in focus groups held at various community sites within the neighborhood. Using snowball sampling, 77 childcare providers and 149 parents responded to surveys that asked about their individual roles in children’s emergent literacy development. Subsequently, several focus groups were held, ensuring childcare provider and parent representation from both center and home-based early childcare sites. Study questions considered the consistencies and inconsistencies in beliefs and actions by members of both community groups regarding early literacy development. Consistencies and inconsistencies were identified through a descriptive comparative analysis within and across survey and focus group data to guide the implementation of practical, ecological, research-based community learning that can be used as a model for other communities seeking to create similar communities of practice.

Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.

BackgroundAn adequate health workforce force is central to universal health coverage and positive public health outcomes. However many African countries have critical shortages of healthcare workers, which are worse in primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare workers, policy makers and the community on the shortage of healthcare workers in Botswana.MethodFifteen focus group discussions were conducted with three groups of policy makers, six groups of healthcare workers and six groups of community members in rural, urban and remote rural health districts of Botswana. All the participants were 18 years and older. Recruitment was purposive and the framework method was used to inductively analyse the data.ResultsThere was a perceived shortage of healthcare workers in primary healthcare, which was believed to result from an increased need for health services, inequitable distribution of healthcare workers, migration and too few such workers being trained. Migration was mainly the result of unfavourable personal and family factors, weak and ineffective healthcare and human resources management, low salaries and inadequate incentives for rural and remote area service.ConclusionsBotswana has a perceived shortage of healthcare workers, which is worse in primary healthcare and rural areas, as a result of multiple complex factors. To address the scarcity the country should train adequate numbers of healthcare workers and distribute them equitably to sufficiently resourced healthcare facilities. They should be competently managed and adequately remunerated and the living conditions and rural infrastructure should also be improved.