Importance Of Participation Research Articles

<b>Record of foraging of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in vertebrate carcasses

Knowing the importance of participation by insects at cadaverous decomposition processes, and the limited use of the family Formicidae in criminal investigations, this study aims to record the foraging activity of four genera of ants in carcasses of birds and mammals. Observations occurred accidentally in two locations in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In total, seven species of ants foraging in eight vertebrate carcasses were recorded. In addition, the study reported for the first time the presence of Wasmannia in carcasses in Brazil.

Making participation accessible for vulnerable clients

Despite forty years of research, community sector service providers still find operationalising participation in their practice confusing and difficult. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study that begins to question why this is so and what can be done about it? The study examines the meaning and importance of participation determined by a review of the academic literature, by soliciting feedback from a range of stakeholders in community sector organisations, including service users with complex barriers to participation, staff, and board members. The participants’ perspectives, views and experience of participation were obtained through the use of semi-structured interviews. The data generated a number of telling examples of the impact organisational culture has on service delivery and how the values of the leadership shape the organization, as well as illustrations of the principles that underpin participation expressed from the standpoints of the three participant groups. Study findings underscore the critical importance for service providers to consider their culture and its influences. Keywords: organisational culture, vulnerable clients, client participation

Study of Community Participation in the Process of Villages Infrastructure Development on Program PNPM Mandiri in Jayapura Regency

Community participation in each process of public policy making is an important issue as the mirror of principle of democracy in a country. It would be very precise when participation of community later became one of the principles that should be implemented by the government in an effort to realize good governance. The importance of participation and form of participation given a supporting factor for the success of the government program. The aim of Road Infrastructure development program is to increase local community welfare so they are able to access a wide range economy, social and politic activities. For example, in economic activity, the local producer can easily carry and sell their product to the local market when compared to the previous moment when road was damaged, especially during the rainy seasons. Therefore it is necessary participation of community to engage in solving the road infrastructure problem in their respective villages and districts. This research is located in Jayapura Regency, and using explanatory research with qualitative approach. The Techniques of data collection on this study is using questionnaire, distributed to 80 respondents. The result of this research shows that community participation community in the planning, implementation and evaluation is very good. Community participation on implementation phase of National Program of Community Empowerment (PNPM Mandiri) is really determined by the level community involvement in the planning stages. The important reasons related to community participation are: a) the engagement of community, either directly or indirectly, are able to create feel of belongings to all public asset that has been built with high cost. b) Through community participation, they know about the limitation of government resources (funds, manpower). c) Involvement of local society in those development stages could be a control tools to supervise all development financing in the level of village, district, and regency as well.

Communities of Practice: Literacy and Deaf Children

This article aims to discuss young deaf children's access to literacy within a sociocultural perspective. We introduce the concept of communities of practice as an aspect in early literacy development for young deaf children. Preschools are learning communities and thus constitute communities of practice. Our discussion on the use of communities of practice is based on a study of literacy practices in preschools with deaf and hearing children. The findings revealed that deaf children did not have adequate access to significant literacy events during preschool activities. We will argue that with regard to developing literacy, more attention should be given to the importance of participation, interaction and regularity for deaf children in these communities of practice.

Perceptions of Power Within a Membership-based Seniors' Community Center

ABSTRACTAs opportunities for citizenship diminish in everyday life amid increasing consumption and privatization, there is a growing realization of the importance of participation and citizen power, particularly for older adults. Gaventa's (1980) concepts of visible, invisible, and hidden power and Arnstein's ladder of citizen power (1969) framed this study, which used participatory methods, including creation and facilitation of a members' group at a small seniors' center, to address the question: What are the factors that undermine or cultivate citizen power at a small community center for seniors? The data were organized under three power-related themes: powerlessness, reluctance to claim power, and claiming power. Findings suggest that negative social constructions associated with aging act as instruments of invisible power. Further, community center membership, to be considered meaningful, should be imbued with visible power, so that seniors can be involved in decision making and leadership.

The importance of participation in development through community radio: a case study of Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi

This article examines the role of participation in development through community radio. Ordinary people participate in community radio through programme production, financing, management and the daily operations of the station. This enables them to define the development problems faced by their communities, and to find solutions to those problems – they therefore participate in development through community radio. As such, the term ‘participation’ is presented as an empowering factor for ordinary people and as a potential solution to the many development problems faced by the community. Using Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi as a case study, the article employs Sherry Arnstein’s ladder of participation to evaluate various forms of participation in the media and in development. The article finds that ordinary people’s participation in the media is low or reduced. The argument is made that while some development goals require the full involvement of the people (e.g., access to media technology, participation in programme production, management and daily operations of the station), others do not require full-blown engagement for development to be realised. Therefore, community radio can encourage development even when members of the community do not participate fully in the activities of the radio through other means such as promoting development initiatives started by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

ประสิทธิผลการนานโยบายกองทุนหมู่บ้านและชุมชนเมืองไปปฏิบัติในจังหวัดนนทบุรี (Effectiveness of the Village and Community Fund Policy Implementation in Nonthaburi Province)

ประสิทธิผลการนานโยบายกองทุนหมู่บ้านและชุมชนเมืองไปปฏิบัติในจังหวัดนนทบุรี (Effectiveness of the Village and Community Fund Policy Implementation in Nonthaburi Province)

Breast cancer and support group in the life of mastectomized women

AbstractObjectives To identify the importance of participation in support groups for mastectomized women’s recovery and their knowledge about this type of cancer.Material and methods Qualitative descriptive study with ten mastectomized women participants of the “Reborn” (“Renascer”, in portuguese) support group. Data were collected by means of interviews, using a questionnaire prepared by the researcher as an instrument. The data collected were then qualitatively analyzed according to the systematization proposed by Minayo (4).Results Six categories were identified. This study addressed the knowledge of the participants on breast cancer and their participation in the support group.Conclusion A change of concepts and ideas about cancer in the interviewed women was identified, as well as the importance of information and explanation about this cancer, its treatment and consequences for the patient. The relevance of the support group in these women’s recovery is also noteworthy, due to the opportunity of socializing with other people with similar stories.

Intermethod reliability and factors affecting recall with the Temple University Community Participation measure

Background: Increased interest in promoting community inclusion of adults with serious mental illnesses will necessitate advances in measuring community participation as an outcome of such efforts.Aims: The primary aim of this study is to examine the intermethod reliability of the Temple University Community Participation (TUCP) measure with a daily checklist approach. Secondary aims are to explore the influence of frequency and importance of participation on recall consistency.Method: One hundred and seven individuals diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, or major depression completed a daily checklist of community participation in 25 areas. Approximately 30 days later they completed the TUCP measure involving recall of participation in these same areas.Results: TUCP responses were highly correlated with totals from the daily checklists. Participation areas with more participation days have higher TUCP-diary checklist correlations. Importance of the participation area did not appear to affect correlations.Conclusions: The TUCP is a usable and relatively unobtrusive measure of community participation. Modest evidence found that more frequent events were recalled more consistently.

Practice Leadership at the Front Line in Supporting People with Intellectual Disabilities and Challenging Behaviour: A Qualitative Study of Registered Managers of Community-based, Staffed Group homes.

The front-line management role in services for people with intellectual disabilities remains rather under-researched. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of registered managers in services for adults with intellectual disability who exhibit challenging behaviour. Interviews, primarily focussed upon staff practice, were conducted with 19 managers of staffed group homes in SE England. Transcripts were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Five groups of themes emerged: monitoring staff performance, supporting new ways of working, shaping staff performance, influence of external and employing agencies, and importance of participants' personal values and experiences. The themes identified contribute to a conceptual framework for thinking about front-line management/practice leadership. The limitations, and potential implications, of the findings are discussed.

Using Focus Group Techniques to Explore the Possibility of using Electronic Communication Tools for Problem Based Learning at Arabian Gulf University, Kingdom of Bahrain

Problem Based Learning PBL is an educational approach that requires the students› interaction with each other to clarify their educational needs, share information for solving the problem under investigation and make use of various educational resources available online such as electronic books, scientific research papers, and Internet resources, and then access the collected information to reach a solution to this problem of education. This study aimed to determine the possibility of using electronic communication tools for the [Problem Based Learning] from resource persons’ point of views at College of Medicine & Medical Science; Arabian Gulf University. The study implemented a qualitative research method based on focus group techniques on a sample of 24 resource persons who work for the Arabian Gulf University. The most essential results that came out of the qualitative analysis were that there were many difficulties facing, the use of communication tools in the virtual learning environment WebCT. The time restrictions of the student, lack of using WebCT tools, lack of support for students to use the same tools by resource persons and tutors. The resource persons focused on the point that the students do not require skills to use WebCT, and there is a need to make the environment of using WebCT in line with the external environments which students refer to during their learning. Also, they focused on the importance of participation of students with college management to design the WebCT from the beginning and to instruct the students toward using the same environment, as the same shall be implemented on premedical and not after the start of using PBL. Recommendations included; the need to train the tutors and resource persons on using WebCT and help them master the skills needed for using WebCT in their teaching and interacting with their students.

Using GPS and geo‐narratives: a methodological approach for understanding and situating everyday green space encounters

This methods paper contributes to the recent proliferation of methodological innovation aimed at nurturing research encounters and exchanges that facilitate in‐depth insights into people's everyday practices and routine place encounters. By drawing on the experiences of an interpretive study seeking to situate people's green space wellbeing practices within their daily lives, we suggest value in using personalised maps – produced using participant accelerometer (physical activity) and Global Positioning System (GPS) data – alongside in‐depth and mobile ‘go‐along’ qualitative interview approaches. After introducing the study and the methods adopted, the paper discusses three opportunities offered by this mixed method approach to contribute a more nuanced, contextualised understanding of participants' green space experiences. These include: (a) the benefits of engaging participants in the interpretation of their own practices; (b) the value of using maps to provide a visual aid to discussion about the importance of participants' routine, often pre‐reflective practices; and (c) the production of a layered appreciation of participants' local green and blue space wellbeing experiences. Used in combination, such methods have the potential to provide a more comprehensive picture of how current green space experiences, be they infrequent and meaningful, or more routine and habitual, are shaped by everyday individual agency, life circumstances and past place experiences.

Two NGO-Run Youth-Centers in Multicultural, Socially Deprived Suburbs in Sweden—Who Are the Participants?

Objective: Leisure-time is an important part of young people’s lives. One way to reduce social differences in health is to improve adolescents’ living conditions, for example by enhancing the quality of after-school activities. Multicultural, socially deprived suburbs have less youth participation in organized leisure-time activities. This study explores who the participants are at two NGO-run youth-centers in multicultural, socially deprived suburbs in Sweden and whether socio-demographic, health-related, and leisure-time factors affect the targeted participation. Methods: The study can be seen as an explanatory mixed-methods study where qualitative data help explain initial quantitative results. The included data are a survey with youth (n = 207), seven individual interviews with staff, and six focus-groups interviews with young people at two youth-centers in two different cities. Results and Conclusions: The participants in the youth-centers are Swedish born youths having foreign-born parents who live with both parents, often in crowded apartments with many siblings. Moreover they feel healthy, enjoy school and have good contact with their parents. It seems that strategies for recruiting youths to youth-centers have a large impact on who participates. One way to succeed in having a more equal gender and ethnicity distribution is to offer youth activities that are a natural step forward from children’s activities. The youth-centers’ proximity is also of importance for participation, in these types of neighborhoods.

Developmental networks in translational science

Developmental networks in translational science

Importance of Participation in Major Life Areas Matters for Return to Work

Introduction The complexity of the process and outcome of vocational rehabilitation yearns for a multifaceted approach. This article investigates whether importance of participation in major life areas for men and women predicts the outcome of vocational rehabilitation. Methods This longitudinal study provides measure points at the start of the intervention (T1), at the end of the intervention (T2) and at a follow-up 6–12 months after completing the rehabilitation program (T3). Associations were assessed by nominal logistic regression. Results The importance of participation in work was positively associated to return to work (RTW), while the importance of participation in leisure activities and importance of participation in family was negatively associated with RTW after the rehabilitation. Gender and number of children also contributed significantly to the regression model. Conclusion To identify individuals’ subjective evaluation of the importance of participation may be of value in explaining return or not RTW and contribute to explain gender differences in outcomes. It may also inform rehabilitation counselors in collaboration with clients and facilitate tailoring interventions to the individual’s needs.

The TISA Initiative: An Overview of Market Access Issues

The plurilateral negotiations on a Trade in Services Agreement ( TISA) have attracted much attention in trade policy circles. Policy and economic implications are intensely debated given the number and economic importance of participants. This article aims to provide insights into the market access issues arising in such negotiations. Should TISA negotiations result in participants exchanging the best commitments they have so far undertaken in their preferential trade agreements (PTAs) - a reasonable starting point -,TISA market access commitments would go well beyond commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and services offers tabled in the Doha Round. While this would be in itself a significant outcome (especially in terms of predictability and stability), we also highlight, however, that the real economic benefits would be reduced by the fact that a number of participants have already exchanged significant concessions amongst themselves through bilateral PTAs. Further, and more importantly, exchanging 'best PTA' commitments would not meet the participants' most important export interests. These have often remained unaddressed in many of the previous bilateral negotiations or involve countries not currently participating in TISA. Addressing better these export interests would require going beyond an exchange of 'best PTA' commitments among TISA participants - with the more difficult policy and negotiating decisions that this implies - and/or seeking to expand the group of participants. We also discuss the different forms that such a plurilateral agreement may take vis-à-vis the WTO framework.

Living successfully with aphasia during the first year post-stroke: A longitudinal qualitative study

Background: Studies exploring the concept of living successfully with aphasia have advanced the understanding of positive adaptive factors, which may inform clinical interventions provided to people with aphasia. Adaptation over time has been identified as a critical component of living successfully with aphasia. Yet, the experiences of individuals with aphasia and factors they perceive to influence living successfully over time remain ill-described. Longitudinal research might add an important perspective to existing literature in the area of living successfully with aphasia and provide clarification regarding the needs of people with aphasia over time.Aims: To describe the insider’s perspective of what is important to living successfully with aphasia and changes that occur throughout the first year post-stroke.Methods & Procedures: A qualitative, prospective longitudinal design was used. Fifteen participants took part in semistructured interviews at four time points: 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-stroke. A total of 50 interviews were conducted. Data analysis sought to identify common features or the shared experiences of the participants.Outcomes & Results: Findings from this study indicated one overarching theme: actively moving forward. This theme described the importance of participants taking positive actions in order to promote living successfully with aphasia across time. Factors relating to perceived communication improvement, engagement in activities, social support, and maintaining positivity were important in facilitating a more successful life with aphasia across time.Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest a holistic approach to aphasia management is necessary with direct intervention efforts consistent with the broader context of an individual’s everyday life. Speech language pathologists may play a crucial role in the delivery of timely services to ensure that people with aphasia and their families are supported in their endeavours to live successfully with aphasia.

The Prediction of Political Competencies by Political Action and Political Media Consumption.

Political competencies are often considered a precondition for political action; however, they are not independent of previous political participation, which may also include the frequency and the kind of political media consumption. My research aims at finding out the importance of participation in political activities in the past, as well as taking over civic responsibility in positions at school or university for cognitive political competencies. The focus is on structural political knowledge of the polity, symbolic political knowledge about political figures and actors, and political reasoning. The main hypothesis reads that the media primarily influence symbolic political knowledge, while structural political knowledge is mainly achieved by active political participation. The ability of political reasoning is assumed to be equally influenced by both, media consumption and political participation. By using a small, homogeneous sample of university students, these hypotheses are examined by taking into consideration socio-demographic control variables and political interest in statistical analyses and by considering differential effects of various political activities and different forms of political media consumption. The results are primarily discussed with respect to potential future research and by considering political education in modern societies.

Measuring community participation of adults with psychiatric disabilities: Reliability of two modes of data collection.

The Americans with Disabilities Act set in motion a series of policies and actions to promote community integration and participation, including for those individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Measuring participation in this population is in its infancy. This study examines the test-retest reliability of two modes of administration of a measure that assesses participation in four social life domains and the extent to which participation is viewed as sufficient and important. One hundred and 19 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression were randomly assigned to either an interviewer- or self-administered method of completing the measure, and filled out the measure again in the same format within 48-72 hr. Correlations at the individual participation item and scale levels between the two time points were nearly all in the r = .6-.9 range. Agreement on the importance and sufficiency of their participation was also consistently high. The importance of participation in each area ranged from 36% to 95%, and among these individuals, between 18% and 71% indicated they were not participating as much as desired. Community participation of individuals with psychiatric disabilities can be reliably measured using 2 methods of administration as an outcome in rehabilitation research and evaluation studies with this population. These individuals are engaged to varying degrees in a wide-range of participation areas in the community that are important, but most not to the degree that they desire. More intervention efforts are needed to increase the sufficiency of community participation.

A New Perspective on Preservice Teachers’ Video-Aided Reflection

This article adds to the literature on video-aided professional development for teachers by presenting a schema-based framework for analyzing teachers’ video-aided reflection on their own teaching. Qualitative analysis of two novice teachers’ video-enhanced reflection was used to demonstrate how the framework could be used. Results emphasized the importance of participants’ prior knowledge as a major influence on their ability to reflect. The authors contend that this is important because prior knowledge should determine the kind of guidance participants need in order to benefit most from video-aided reflection.