Group Of Community Members Research Articles

‘The work chose us’: Community development work with Vietnamese people settled in the UK

Abstract Vietnamese people have been working to help their compatriots in their settlement in the UK in a number of ways ever since the early arrivals of refugees in the mid 1970s. A national organisation, Refugee Action, has played a part in promoting the employment of bilingual, bicultural workers. Initially this was through training and employing Vietnamese and Chinese fieldworkers in a social welfare programme. Since 1984 a community development team has worked with local communities to enable refugees from Vietnam to become self-sufficient and able to participate fully in UK society, and to promote better service provision for refugees. This article examines the work of the community development team. It draws on interviews I held in 1993 and 1994 with eight Vietnamese workers, and the two white British team coordinators. At the time of my interviews the team numbered fifteen in all. I also spoke to some local Vietnamese community workers, activists and community group members.

Explorations in consultation of the public and health professionals on priority setting in an inner London health district

The methodology for eliciting the public's priorities for health services is in its infancy. The paper presents the results from a series of exploratory exercises on priorities in City and Hackney. The authors surveyed the opinions of members of community groups and tenants' associations, and compared their responses with those of a random sample of the public as well as general practitioners, consultants and public health doctors. This revealed some disagreement on priorities between these groups. The public, in consistency with the results from other studies, prioritised perceived life saving technologies as high, in contrast to community services and services for people with mental illnesses, which they prioritised as medium to low, in contrast to all the samples of doctors; the public also prioritised health education and family planning as fairly low, as did the GPs and consultants, in contrast to the public health doctors who prioritised them as high. Before DHAs embark on these studies as part of priority setting, they must answer the question: “what will they do if they disagree with the results?”

MRDC Monitor Farms - using information

An industry survey indicated a concern that the results of existing research were not getting across to potential adopters. In response to this situation, the Meat Research and Development Council sponsored a monitor farm programme which operated on 24 farms throughout New Zealand. Key components of the programme were the monitor farmer and farm, community group, and facilitator. Factors judged critical to the success of the programme were the need for local ownership of the programme, development of quality information, and the establishment of a partnership of skills, expertise and experience. Preliminary surveys indicate a high level of farmer endorsement of the programme. Level of involvement by community group members has exceeded that set initially. Further analysis is required to identify the impact of the programme on farm business performance and the application of technology in New Zealand farm businesses.Keywords: community group, information, monitor farm, technology transfer

Adult Learning through Participation in Rural Community Groups

This exploratory study investigates what adults learn through participation in community groups. An iterative content analysis was conducted on transcripts from ten in-depth interviews with active members of community groups throughout upstate New York. This process yielded 259 learning statements which were then classified into 8 learning categories. Here we present a rich description of what people learn in the context of local group activities. Understanding the learning that occurs in community group contexts has implications for adult educators and extension workers, as well as for the development of theoretical models of adult learning.

Adult Learning through Participation in Rural Community Groups

This exploratory study investigates what adults learn through participation in community groups. An iterative content analysis was conducted on transcripts from ten in-depth interviews with active members of community groups throughout upstate New York. This process yielded 259 learning statements which were then classified into 8 learning categories. Here we present a rich description of what people learn in the context of local group activities. Understanding the learning that occurs in community group contexts has implications for adult educators and extension workers, as well as for the development of theoretical models of adult learning.

Changes in perceived attitudes toward the goals for science instruction in schools

AbstractFour goal areas were identified by the Project Synthesis research team, including science for affecting daily living, science for resolving societal issues, career awareness in science/technology, and science necessary for further study. In 1976 15 science educators across the U.S. agreed to administer a short, one‐page assessment form to at least 50 members of service clubs or community groups in their respective communities. This survey asked the respondents about the relative importance for the four goal areas across the K‐12 curriculum (K‐3, 4–6, 7–9, and 10–12). The 1976 survey was repeated with similar respondents during 1980, 1984, and 1986. The results indicate that the view of the importance of science as preparation for studying science further is perceived as a most important goal which changes little across grade levels or time. During the 1976–86 period respondents rated the importance of science for improvement of daily living as significantly more important; in fact, its importance was perceived almost as great as academic preparation. Similarly, science for the resolution of societal issues and for meeting career‐awareness goals were viewed as significantly more important in 1986 than was the case in 1976. The respondents survey in 1984 and 1986 ranked science goals for resolving societal issues as more important than those associated with information useful in daily living. There is no way of determining how much of this change of perception is caused by professionals and/or forces at work at a given point in time. Nor is it clear how the information can or should be used to plan school programs.

Teachers and health workers: partners in primary health care. Experiences from Papua New Guinea.

Primary health care (PHC) involves community health education. When health priorities in rural communities are focused on the vulnerable under-5-years-of-age group then one has to examine who actually cares for this age group and what are the most appropriate means of reaching them through health education programs. In the context of rural communities in Papua New Guinea the linking of school and community health programs has been taking place. Examples and insights from programs where teachers and health workers attempted to find appropriate channels for integrating child and adult education in order to improve the health status of the very young child are described. The school programs used a child to child approach to develop in children a sense of shared responsibility with adults towards better health for themselves, younger children in their care and the environment of the community. The goal was a health program that applied to the whole community, where division between child and adult learning activities was not so sharply drawn, and where formal school programs and nonformal community education programs were to complement and contribute to each other. A campaign against infant diarrhea and death through dehydration was implemented. As a result of a 3-day planning workshop a program was drawn up for schools and communities. The workshop covered causes of diarrhea, fluid loss and dehydration, simple preventive and curative measures, essential hygiene habits and current community practices. Teachers, health workers and community leaders fashioned a program of activities for school children and adults. It was discovered that adults often feel a barrier between themselves and the child's school learning. Also, a gap often exists between what is taught in school and what is needed and can be applied to community health priorities. Thus, an effective community health education program that includes both children and adults in an integrated program will need to cover the varying ages and groups of community members who, with different degrees of responsibility, take care of themselves and others.

Reactions to Sex on Television: An Exploratory Study

Reactions to Sex on Television: An Exploratory Study