Sociology Commons^™

Scaling Up A Successful Counseling Model In Guatemala, Guatemalan Association Of Female Physicians (Agmm)

Reproductive Health

This project aimed to improve clients’ ability to make an informed choice of contraceptive methods by scaling up the use of the balanced counseling strategy in public service delivery institutions in Guatemala. To reach this end, the project provided technical assistance to Calidad en Salud (Quality in Health), the leading reproductive health project in Guatemala, to train service providers in public institutions about the counseling methodology. The project successfully introduced the balanced counseling strategy in Guatemala and, as a result, has improved the informed choice of contraceptives in the country.

Effects Of Igss' Job Aids-Assisted Balanced Counseling Algorithms On Quality Of Care And Client Outcomes, Federico R. Leon, Carlos Brambila, Marisela De La Cruz, John H. Bratt, Gustavo Gutierrez, Veronica Davila, Carlo Boniato, Alex Rios

Reproductive Health

This study identified a need to improve the quality of care at the main maternity hospital of the Social Security Institute (IGSS) in Guatemala. Problems included very short counseling sessions, counseling not focused on clients’ needs, redundancy in the role of physicians and social workers as providers, skewed method mix, and low client return rate for method resupply. The intervention, using Balanced Counseling Algorithms, changed the counseling behavior of physicians and social workers and enhanced the quality of family planning care. The report includes recommendations for continuing these improvements: monitoring provider implementation of the job aids–assisted Balanced Counseling Algorithms, monitoring …

Integrating Adolescent Livelihood Activities Within A Reproductive Health Program For Urban Slum Dwellers In India, Dale Huntington, Mary Philip Sebastian, Barbara Mensch, Wesley H. Clark, Aditya Narain Singh, Sohini Roychowdhury, M.E. Khan, Nirmala Selvam, Bella C. Patel, Sandhya Barge, Y.P. Gupta, Lovleen Johri, Gita Biswas, Manohar Shenoy

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program and Policy Research Division, in collaboration with CARE India, conducted an operations research study in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh to examine the feasibility and impact of adding livelihood counseling and training, savings formation activities, and follow-up support to an ongoing reproductive health program for adolescents. The short-term objective of the study was to foster development of alternative socialization processes for adolescent girls that encourage positive sexual and reproductive health behaviors. The study also aimed to produce a replicable model for CARE and other agencies to use in adding livelihood activities to adolescent …

Promotion Of Lactation Amenorrhea Method Intervention Trial, Kazakhstan, Shamil Tazhibayev, Toregeldy Sharmanov, Ayan Ergalieva, Oksana Dolmatova, Orynkul Mukasheva, Aina Seidakhmetova, Raikhan Kushenova

Reproductive Health

In order to expand the benefits of breastfeeding as a birth spacing option for women in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition at the Academy of Preventive Medicine in Almaty conducted an operations research study to test the effectiveness of lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) promotion among women in Kazakhstan, as part of the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Small Grants Program. Results show that the intervention programs implemented in experimental baby-friendly hospitals (BFHs) and ordinary hospitals (OHs) improved women’s knowledge, skills, and desire to breastfeed The report concludes that training activities should be strengthened and all …

Developing A Supervision Instrument For Postabortion Care In Guatemala, Bolivia And Mexico, Carlos Brambila

Reproductive Health

The main objective of this project was to develop and test a supervision instrument and corresponding guidelines to collect information about postabortion care (PAC) services and to provide constructive feedback to service providers and program managers. The instrument and guidelines were designed to be used by technical supervisors to monitor performance and engage providers in continuous quality improvement of PAC services. As part of the project activities, existing postabortion care supervision practices were reviewed and analyzed, and, during a one-week workshop in December 2002, an international technical committee produced a first version of the instrument and guidelines. These materials were …

Youth Behavioral Risks And Psychosocial Resources In Peru's Alternative-Development Zones, Federico R. Leon, Mary L. Claux

Reproductive Health

Alternative-development programs are being offered to the population of seven regions of central-eastern Peru involved in coca cropping. The youth of these regions are above the national average in risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, use of alcohol and drugs, and violence against women. This study sought to identify and describe protective factors expected to function as counterforces to such risks; develop reliable indicators and provide a baseline concerning the risk behaviors and protective factors; compare youth by gender, developmental stage, urbanization, and geography to determine whether segmented interventions are required; and recommend specific intervention strategies. The results of …

Culturally Appropriate Information, Education And Communication Strategies For Improving Adolescent Reproductive Health In Cusco, Peru, Marco Florez-Arestegui Cornejo, Rosalinda Barreto Silva

Reproductive Health

The project Culturally Appropriate Information, Education and Communication Strategies for Improving Adolescent Reproductive Health in Cusco, Peru was designed in response to the evident lack of information and education on adolescent reproductive health in the country and, in particular, in the rural areas of the department of Cusco. Research revealed that a great need for sexual and reproductive health information still exists among indigenous adolescents in the rural areas of the region and that sexual education programs have to be sustainable. This report recommends that the Ministry of Education train more teachers in sexual and reproductive health topics, taking into …

Improving Health Care Providers' Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices In Reproductive Health In Rural Romania, Elaine Claire Himelfarb

Reproductive Health

To support new health reform initiatives undertaken by the Romanian Ministry of Health and Family, and in support of the USAID Romania strategy for improving women’s reproductive health, Project Concern International/Romania (PCI/R) was awarded a two-year grant to implement a reproductive healthcare project, Healthy Parents-Healthy Children (HP-HC). This project trained family physicians and nurses in rural dispensaries in techniques to improve pre- and postnatal care, including training on modern contraception, cervical and breast cancer screening, treating menopause and its symptoms, and the encouragement of healthy lifestyles. The goal of this OR project was to test the efficacy of interventions to …

Involving Men In Maternity Care: South Africa, Busi Kunene, Mags Beksinska, Simphiwe Zondi, Nobuhle Mthembu, Saiqa Mullick, Emma Ottolenghi, Immo Kleinschmidt, Susan E. Adamchak, Barbara Janowitz, Carmen Cuthbertson

Reproductive Health

The Reproductive Health Research Unit University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in partnership with the FRONTIERS Program of the Population Council, and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health conducted a three-year operations research study titled “Men in Maternity” in the Ethekwini district. The intervention was clinic-based and included two broad strategies: improving antenatal care services by strengthening the existing antenatal package and service monitoring and supervision; and introducing couple counseling by providing training to health providers, inviting partners of antenatal women to attend counseling twice during pregnancy and once post delivery, and providing information to couples with a new antenatal booklet. …

Tulane University Final Report, M. Celeste Marin, Anastasia J. Gage, Suhaila Khan

Reproductive Health

The Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program is a 10-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Population Council in partnership with Family Health International and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. This report summarizes the main activities undertaken by Tulane University under its subagreement with the Population Council on the FRONTIERS project from 1998–2004. As a partner, Tulane furthered progress toward all three of the program’s intermediate results: contributing innovative interventions tested to improve reproductive health through the small grants program; helping research staff take a more proactive approach to …

Experience From A Community-Based Education Program In Burkina Faso: The Tostan Program, Djingri Ouoba, Zakari Congo, Nafissatou J. Diop, Molly Melching, Baya Banza, Georges Guiella, Inge Baumgarten

Reproductive Health

This study describes a project that tested the feasibility and effectiveness of replicating the village empowerment program (VEP) developed by the Senegalese NGO, TOSTAN, in Burkina Faso. Although originally developed for empowering women, the program implemented in Burkina Faso also involved men because of their key role in such decisions. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, with funding from USAID and the GTZ Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of FGC, supported the adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of the VEP model in 23 villages in the province of Bazega/Zoundwéogo. In the existing social climate among the Burkinabé, where there is widespread awareness …

The Tostan Program: Evaluation Of A Community Based Education Program In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Modou Mbacke Faye, Amadou Moreau, Jacqueline Cabral, Helene Benga, Fatou Cisse, Babacar Mane, Inge Baumgarten, Molly Melching

Reproductive Health

This operations research project evaluated the effect and impact of a basic education program, developed by TOSTAN, a nongovernmental organization based at Thiès, Senegal. The basic education program consisted of four modules: hygiene, problem-solving, women’s health, and human rights. Through these four themes, emphasis was placed on enabling the participants, who were mostly women, to analyze their own situation more effectively and thus find the best solutions for themselves. The GTZ Supra Regional Project for the Elimination of Female Genital Cutting funded implementation of the program in 90 villages in Kolda Region, and the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health …

Safe Motherhood Demonstration Project, Western Province: Final Report, Charlotte E. Warren, Wilson Liambila

Reproductive Health

Since March 2000, the Population Council and the University of Nairobi have been assisting the Kenya Ministry of Health to implement Safe Motherhood activities in Western Kenya. The purpose of this project was to increase utilization of quality maternal services in the selected districts and, in an effort to improve pregnancy outcomes, focused on improving quality of antenatal care, essential obstetric care, clean and safe delivery, postpartum care, postabortion care, and management issues at all levels. In addition, the project focused on strengthening referral practices and addressing factors responsible for delays by pregnant women in making decisions on when, where, …

The Abnā Al-Dawla: The Definition And Legitimation Of Identity In Response To The Fourth Fitna, John P. Turner

Faculty Articles

Reopens the question about the identity and provenance of the abã al-dawla of the Abbasid dynasty. Period when these individuals formed an identity; Previous definitions of abã al-dawla; Reason why they formed a collective.

The Future Of Grassroots America: Local Perspectives On Current And Emerging Issues Facing Urban, Suburban And Rural Communities, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Philip Nyden, Gwendolyn Nyden, Amanda Fox

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

CURL worked with the National Neighborhood Coalition (a coalition of national and local organizations concerned with building the capacity of neighborhood-level organizations throughout the U.S.) to collect survey data and conduct focus groups that gave NNC an understanding of current and emerging policy issues at the local level. CURL worked with NNC in presenting these results at a Neighborhood Development Trend Summit in Washington, DC in June 2003. The summit engaged community leaders, private and public sector thought-leaders, policy makers, and funders in dialogue about the most significant trends and issues affecting the future of neighborhoods.

Based on the research …

Satellite Estimation Of Population And Housing Density In Marion County, Indiana, Guiying Li

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world population and associated housing area have experienced a high growth rate in the past century and generated great pressure on Earth resources and environments. Accurate and timely population and housing estimates and distributions become important for many applications, such as regional design and development, policy-making, etc. This research reviewed four categories of methods to estimate population and housing using remotely sensed data in a previous study and explored the potentials of integration of Landsat ETM+ data with census data to estimate population and housing density in Marion County, Indiana. Spectral signatures, principal components, vegetation indices, fraction images, texture, …

Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, And Colombians: A Scan Of Needs Of Recent Latin American Immigrants To The Boston Area, Miren Uriarte, Phillip Granberry, Megan Halloran, Susan Kelly, Rob Kramer, Sandra Winkler, Jennifer Murillo, Udaya Wagle, Randall Wilson

Gastón Institute Publications

The 2000 U.S. Census brought confirmation of the increase of the Latino population and of the growing diversity of Latino national groups that now make this region their home. Latinos now number 428,729, a 55% increase over their numbers in 1990. In 30 years, the Latino population has increased six-fold, and from its initial concentrations in Springfield, Holyoke, and Boston its presence is now a fact across the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Latinos are also showing increasing diversity, matching that of the Northeast region and exceeding that of the nation. At the national level, Mexicans have a dominance that dwarfs all other …

Neighborhood Voices: Getting It Together -- Connecting Local Neighborhoods And National Advocates, Anne Pasmanick, National Neighborhood Coalition

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

This report, focusing on the national relationship to local organizations, local and regional coalitions, and the forging of complementary relationships, shows that the work of advocates based in Washington can be bolstered by a renewed immersion in the day-to-day challenges of "local" groups. The frustrations of the "local" groups can be mitigated with a deeper appreciation of the constrained realities of federal advocacy in a period of devolution, retrenchment in social services and relentless assault on the role of government in providing basic supports for people and their communities. The evaluation was constructed using a total of 216 surveys that …

Minding The Gap: An Assessment Of Racial Disparity In Metropolitan Chicago, Center For Urban Research And Learning, The Human Relations Foundation/Jane Addams Policy Initiative

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

In cooperation with the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago (HRF), CURL and the Jane Addams Hull House examined inequalities among racial and ethnic groups in Chicago. Drawing from a broad range of existing data sources, researchers documented areas of reduced inequality as well as other areas of persistent inequality.

Minding the Gap: An Assessment of Racial Disparity in Metropolitan Chicago examines seven quality of life measurements: income, wealth and employment, education, housing, transportation, health, the lives of children and the criminal justice system. This report, by examining these seven systems, not just one, creates a unique context for understanding both …

Socio-Economic And Demographic Factors Associated With Injecting Drug Use Among Drug Users In Karachi, Pakistan, A. Agha, S. Parviz, M. Younus, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To identify the socio-economic and demographic factors associated with injecting drug users (IDUs) in Karachi.

Methods: We recruited 242 IDUs (taking drugs through sub-dermal routes) and 231 non-IDUs (taking drugs other than sub-dermal routes) from February through June 1996. IDUs were interviewed regarding sociodemographic factors, economic condition, and social network (marital status, living with spouse). In addition, information regarding location of drug users within the city (districts of Karachi) and current history of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were gathered. Moreover, blood samples were also obtained for HIV testing

.Results: Multivariate analysis showed that the income generation via illegal …

Social Disorganization Theory: Examining The Mediating Effects Of Social Ties And Disorder On Crime, Matasha L. Harris

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using study data collected for a larger research project entitled Project on Policing Neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Indiana, 1996, the relationship between social ties and disorder on neighborhood structural characteristics and crime rates was tested. Using two Structural Equation Models the mediating effects of social ties and disorder on neighborhood structural characteristics and crime received partial support from the analysis of Indianapolis data.

The results revealed that poverty and family disruption exerts a positive impact on crime rates. The results also revealed that neighborhoods with high levels of racial heterogeneity have a negative effect on social ties. As well, the study …

Most Frequently Asked Questions About The Latino Population Of Massachusetts, Daniel W. Vasquez

Gastón Institute Publications

Addresses Frequently Asked Questions about Latinos in Massachusetts as they pertain to the 2000 Census.

Identifying Compliance Issues In The Community Health Care Clinic Environment, Faye K. Beery

Graduate Theses

This study explored the high number of failed appointments and follow-up appointments at a community health care children’s clinic. A thirty-seven item questionnaire was randomly given to 112 participants seeking health care at the clinic on a random basis. Based on literature reviews, five hypothesis were generated to examine reasons for failing to keep appointments for children: 1. Communication difficulties between healthcare personnel and parents regarding patient comprehension of instructions and bottle directions were anticipated. 2. Patient/physician/clinic relationships were expected to influence patient compliance. The need for more reminder calls for appointments was anticipated to be a factor in patient …

Southwest Chicago Foreclosure Study, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Nathan Benefield, Samantha Dwyer, Tonia Garnett, David Hannah, Amy Falcone

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

The Center for Urban Research and Learning at Loyola University Chicago was contacted by the Southwest Organization Project to conduct a research project in conjunction with them, their institutional member, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago Lawn and Gage Park, and the Greater Southwest Development Corporation. This project seeks to identify the principles causes of foreclosures in these neighborhoods; to identify areas within the communities with a higher concentration of foreclosure and relate this to demographic, socioeconomic characteristics and housing stock in those areas; and to identify approaches to dealing with foreclosure as an issues. This project seeks to identify where …

United Power For Action And Justice: Breaking The Cycle Of Homelessness Reports - Policy Brief, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Christine George, Chiara Sabina, Aparna Sharma

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

This is a story of two groups of determined people with intersecting interests. Group one: a dozen leaders within United Power for Action and Justice who set out to prove their conviction, that homelessness is one symptom of a complex of issues that destabilizes individuals and communities. Group two: persons who are homeless and struggle daily to “fit in” to a landscape that is, more and more, structured to shut them out. In 2000, a cluster of leaders within United Power organized member institutions in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago, and initiated a relationship with Congressman John Porter …

Border Crossings: The Impact Of Migration On The New Hampshire House Of Representatives, Michael E. Dupre, Dante Scala

New England Journal of Public Policy

This paper studies the political effects of population migration to New Hampshire. Data suggest that, although migration from Massachusetts caused significant “suburbanization” effects in New Hampshire over the last four decades, demographic changes have not yielded commensurate changes in voting behavior, or party registration in the state. But the New Hampshire House of Representatives reveals more impact from the dramatic population increase. Population migration has led to suburbanization of the composition of the 400-member lower chamber. Citizen-legislators native-born to New Hampshire now compose just slightly over a third of the House, a proportion far lower than that in other New …

Killing For The State: The Darkest Side Of American Nursing, Dave Holmes, Cary H. Federman

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The aim of this article is to bring to the attention of the international nursing community the discrepancy between a pervasive ‘caring’ nursing discourse and the most unethical nursing practice in the United States. In this article, we present a duality: the conflict in American prisons between nursing ethics and the killing machinery. The US penal system is a setting in which trained healthcare personnel practices the extermination of life. We look upon the sanitization of death work as an application of healthcare professionals’ skills and knowledge and their appropriation by the state to serve its ends. A review of …

Latinos In Connecticut, Daniel W. Vasquez

Gastón Institute Publications

Census 2000 data include changes in the way people were counted. The most significant change is to allow persons to select more than one race, creating a new multiracial category of “two or more races”, but meaning people may not be included in the race with which they most identify. There was, however, no way to choose more than one ethnicity; one must choose either Latino or not. Throughout this profile, numbers reflect Latinos of all races, or non-Latinos by race, with persons of two or more races counted separately. All categorizations are based solely on self-identification. All of this …

Latinos In New Haven, Connecticut, Daniel W. Vasquez

Gastón Institute Publications

Census 2000 data include changes in the way people were counted. The most significant change is to allow persons to select more than one race, creating a new multiracial category of “two or more races”, but meaning people may not be included in the race with which they most identify. There was, however, no way to choose more than one ethnicity; one must choose either Latino or not. Throughout this profile, numbers reflect Latinos of all races, or non-Latinos by race, with persons of two or more races counted separately. All categorizations are based solely on self-identification. All of this …

Latinos In New London, Connecticut, Daniel W. Vasquez

Gastón Institute Publications

Census 2000 data include changes in the way people were counted. The most significant change is to allow persons to select more than one race, creating a new multiracial category of “two or more races”, but meaning people may not be included in the race with which they most identify. There was, however, no way to choose more than one ethnicity; one must choose either Latino or not. Throughout this profile, numbers reflect Latinos of all races, or non-Latinos by race, with persons of two or more races counted separately. All categorizations are based solely on self-identification. All of this …