Community-Based Research Commons^™

Body Mass Index And The Risk Of Prostate Cancer, Daniel Lee Mcgee, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: This article presents cohort studies that use data from the National Health Information Survey from 1986 to 1994 and compares the effectiveness of Cox proportional hazards models that assume a linear relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of prostate cancer with models that assume a J-shaped relationship. Methods and results: Our study found that for black males over 40 years of age, neither a linear nor a J-shaped relationship yielded a statistically significant model. With white males over 40 years, assuming a linear relationship did not yield a statistically significant model (P = 0.582). When we …

Predictive Policing: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

Improving knowledge of crime and crime causation is an important focus for many law enforcement agencies. Many believe such knowledge can be used to predict crime and criminal behavior. Predictive policing is one of a variety of strategies developed by law enforcement personnel and researchers. The practice of law enforcement is frequently reactive, in nature, where police officers respond to crimes after they have been committed. In an effort to prevent future crimes, however, those with an interest in prevention have also added the strategy of proactive policing, where information and advanced analyses are added to their repertoire of approaches. …

Participatory Action Research: Science And Social Change, Dora Raymaker

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a general collaborative approach to inquiry that includes research "subjects" as members of the research team. Useful in any setting involving groups of people, PAR has revolutionized research with minority communities. Some "flavors" of PAR, such as Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) have been developed to address issues of power and privilege, to change dynamics between science, society, and minorities, and to enable and encourage systems change. This talk discusses the theory and practice of PAR as a research approach, drawing from real world examples in health sciences research with minority communities defined by disability or …

Police Community Partnerships: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

To better understand community/police collaborations, this study researched several different types of successful partnerships. Our objective was to learn why the partnerships were formed and who was involved. Our research also sought to determine the goals of the partnerships, and the methods used to achieve those goals. The study also highlights several practices used by police agencies successfully to solve community problems.

A Study Of Riders' Noise Exposure On Bay Area Rapid Transit Trains, Alexis Dinno, Cynthia Powell, Margaret Mary King

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excessive noise exposure may present a hazard to hearing, cardiovascular and psychosomatic health. Mass transit systems, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, are potential sources of excessive noise. The purpose of this study was to characterize transit noise and riders' exposure to noise on the BART system using three dosimetry metrics. We made 268 dosimetry measurements on a convenience sample of 51 line segments. Dosimetry measures were modeled using linear and non-linear multiple regression as functions of average velocity, tunnel enclosure, flooring, and wet weather conditions, and presented visually on a map of the BART system. This …

Community-Based Approaches To Reduce Toxins In Housing: Lessons Learned From Working With Diverse Communities, Erin Mcnally, Ian Blazina, Stephanie Farquhar

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article will review lessons learned from a community-based participatory research project with Latino and Somali residents in Portland, Oregon. The aim of the Healthy Futures Collaborative (HFC) project was to reduce in-home environmental health hazards associated with childhood respiratory illness and asthma through a process that strengthened social support and civic engagement. Using a community-based approach, the HFC trained community residents as community scientists to ensure local leadership and participation. Results suggest an increase in Somali and Latino residents' knowledge of environmental stressors and changes in behavior that may improve indoor environmental quality. Especially when working with historically marginalized …

Interpretations Of Interpretations: Combining Community-Based Participatory Research And Interpretive Inquiry To Improve Health, Jessica Gregg, Lourdes Centurion, Julio Maldonado, Raquel Aguillon, Rosemary Carmela Celaya-Alston, Stephanie Farquhar

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Latina immigrants from Mexico suffer significantly increased morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer when compared with non-Hispanic White women, largely owing to lack of screening and appropriate treatment. Objectives: To demonstrate that by combining the tools of community-based participatory research (CBPR) with the tools of interpretive inquiry, it is possible to address explicit community concerns surrounding a particular problem such as cervical cancer while also examining what other, perhaps less immediately visible, matters consume the time and attention of community members. Methods: We first briefly discuss and compare CBPR as an approach to research and interpretive inquiry as a …

A Pilot Study Of Riders’ Noise Exposure On Bay Area Rapid Transit Trains, Alexis Dinno

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excessive noise exposure may present a hazard to hearing, cardiovascular and psychosomatic health. Mass transit systems, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, are potential sources of excessive noise. The purpose of this study was to characterize transit noise and riders' exposure to noise on the BART system using three dosimetry metrics.

Inflammatory Biomarkers And Subclinical Atherosclerosis In African-American Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Sle), Edith M. Williams, Carlos J. Crespo, Joan Dorn

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Women with lupus are at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previous studies of atherosclerosis in SLE have not been representative of the minority groups most affected by lupus and its complications. Therefore, a study of 41 lupus cases and 83 controls was conducted to investigate the relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and inflammation in African-American women. Participation consisted of a questionnaire, physical examination, fasting blood draw, and ultrasound of the carotid arteries. There were observed differences between cases and controls with regard to carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and traditional cardiovascular risk factors, although few reached statistical significance. Tumor …

Occupational Health And Safety Status Of Indigenous And Latino Farmworkers In Oregon, Stephanie Farquhar, Nancy M. Goff, Nargess Shadbeh, Julie Samples, Santiago Ventura, Valentin Sanchez, Pamela Rao, Shelley Davis

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Exposure to pesticides poses great risk to agricultural workers and their families. Of the approximately 174,000 agricultural workers in Oregon, studies estimate that up to 40% of the workers in Oregon are indigenous and may be particularly vulnerable to the health risks of working in pesticide treated areas. Surveys conducted with Oregon farmworkers suggest that Latino and indigenous farmworkers differ demographically and may have diverse occupational and health needs. All Latino workers reported Spanish as their native language, while indigenous workers spoke several different native languages. Latino workers were employed mostly in orchards (28%) and nurseries (24%), while indigenous workers …

Sex Work And Moral Conflict: Enhancing The Quality Of Public Discourse Using Photovoice Method, Crystal Renee Tenty

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis uses an advocacy/participatory framework and moral conflict theory to examine the opposing ideas: and interests of parties involved in the issue of prostitution on 82^nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon. It locates areas of contention within the larger dominant feminist discourse, which views sex work as either a form of violence and exploitation or as a form of legitimate free-contract labor. The thesis shows how the intractable moral conflict between these differing feminist theories and values can be mediated using participatory data collection techniques.

Ethnographic data was collected and analyzed from 11 women working in the sex industry …

Diverse Contexts Of Reception And Feelings Of Belonging, Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The theoretical focus of this paper is the context of reception experienced by migrants in their new homeland. In particular we examine relations between established residents and newcomers or immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, and other Caribbean and Latin American nations in South Florida. Based upon long term fieldwork among late adolescents and young adults, we develop a framework and give ethnographic examples of established resident-newcomer relations that influence the contexts of reception for immigrants in South Florida. These contexts range from positive to negative, vary between national and local settings, and change over time.

"Sitting In Different Chairs:" Roles Of The Community Health Workers In The Poder Es Salud/Power For Health Project, Stephanie Farquhar, Noelle Wiggins, Yvonne L. Michael, G. Luhr, Jennifer Jordon, A. Lopez

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Evaluations of Community Health Worker programs consistently document improvements in health, yet few articles clearly describe the roles of Community Health Workers (CHWs) from the CHWs' perspective. This article presents the CHWs' points of view regarding the various roles they played in a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project, Poder es Salud/Power for Health in Portland, Oregon, including their roles as community organizers and co-researchers. Methods: Authors draw from an analysis of transcript data from in-depth interviews conducted with CHWs to present a description of the strategies employed by the CHWs to build leadership skills and knowledge among community members. CHWs …

Loop Analysis Of Causal Feedback In Epidemiology: An Illustration Relating To Urban Neighborhoods And Resident Depressive Experiences, Alexis Dinno

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The causal feedback implied by urban neighborhood conditions that shape human health experiences, that in turn shape neighborhood conditions through a complex causal web, raises a challenge for traditional epidemiological causal analyses. This article introduces the loop analysis method, and builds off of a core loop model linking neighborhood property vacancy rate, resident depressive symptoms, rate of neighborhood death, and rate of neighborhood exit in a feedback network. I justify and apply loop analysis to the specific example of depressive symptoms and abandoned urban residential property to show how inquiries into the behavior of causal systems can answer different kinds …

Miami Voter Dispositions Toward The Development ‘Boom’ And Economic Development Policy: A Report On Focus Group Research Among City Of Miami Voters, Alex Stepick, Marcos Feldman

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this project is to assess City of Miami residents’ opinions about Miami’s building boom of the past few years. We were concerned with how development directly affects the lives of individuals in Miami, especially in the areas where development is concentrated. We wanted to learn what residents view as the positive and negative impacts of development and what path they felt development should follow.

Building Community Research Capacity: Process Evaluation Of Community Training And Education In A Community-Based Participatory Research Program Serving A Predominately Puerto Rican Community, Laurene M. Tumiel-Berhalter, Victoria Mclaughlin-Diaz, John Vena, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Education and training build community research capacity and have impact on improvements of health outcomes.

Objectives: This manuscript describes the training and educational approaches to building research capacity that were utilized in a community-based participatory research program serving a Puerto Rican population and identifies barriers and strategies for overcoming them.

Methods: A process evaluation identified a multitiered approach to training and education that was critical to reaching the broad community.

Results: This approach included four major categories providing a continuum of education and training opportunities: networking, methods training, on-the-job experience, and community education. Participation in these opportunities supported the …

Advancing Transdisciplinary And Translational Research Practice: Issues And Models Of Doctoral Education In Public Health, Linda Neuhauser, Dawn M. Richardson, Sonja Mackenzie, Meredith Minkler

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Finding solutions to complex health problems, such as obesity, violence, and climate change, will require radical changes in cross-disciplinary education, research, and practice. The fundamental determinants of health include many interrelated factors such as poverty, culture, education, environment, and government policies. However, traditional public health training has tended to focus more narrowly on diseases and risk factors, and has not adequately leveraged the rich contributions of sociology, anthropology, economics, geography, communication, political science, and other disciplines. Further, students are often not sufficiently trained to work across sectors to translate research findings into effective, large-scale sustainable actions. During the past 2 …

Measuring The Influence Of Built Neighborhood Environments On Walking In Older Adults, Yvonne L. Michael, Tracey Beard, Dongseok Choi, Stephanie Farquhar, Nichole Carlson

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Examined the degree of association between perceived and objective characteristics of the neighborhood environment and the relation of each type of measurement to neighborhood walking in older adults. Participants included 105 adults aged 65-92 (mean age 75.1) from 10 neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon, participating in Senior Health and Physical Exercise (SHAPE), a randomized walking intervention. Neighborhoods were stratified by a "walking friendliness" ranking variable. This variable was derived for each neighborhood based on available social and environmental data that were hypothesized to correlate with walking and physical activity: high income, high older adult population density, high proportion of white residents, …

Activism Through Music, Cherry Muhanji, Jack C. Straton

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article discuses the pedagogy behind a University Studies freshman inquiry class taught at Portland State University. Portland State University has been engaged in a 10-year revolution in general education (Journal of General Education, 1999) that has inculcated activist education as central to instruction. In addition to the Critical Thinking and Communication instruction that any general education program must provide, Portland State’s University Studies Program promotes Social Responsibility and Diversity as central goals of its efforts.

Community-Based Participatory Research: Defining Community Stakeholders, Laurene M. Tumiel-Berhalter, Robert Watkins, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Community-based participatory research requires the participation of community stakeholders to inform the process. The West Side Community Asthma Project, a community-based participatory research program to study the effects of the environment on asthma conducted in Buffalo, N. Y, identified a stakeholders group of community leaders and activists. Creative strategies have been implemented to reach out to other community residents to invite them to participate in the participatory process.

Precautionary Approaches For Health And The Environment: Making The Case For A Toxics Reduction Strategy At Multnomah County And City Of Portland, Stephanie Farquhar, Molly Chidsey, Neha Patel

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes an overview of the problem, local concerns, model policies, and best practices for toxic pollution prevention and provides recommendations for next steps to protect human health and the local environment in Portland and Multnomah County. This report accompanies the Multnomah County and City of Portland resolutions to "Recognize National Pollution Prevention Week and develop a Toxics Reduction Strategy jointly with City of Portland / Multnomah County using the Precautionary Principle."

A Study Of Psoriasis : A Methodological Critique, Prudence Craig Ford, Roberta Jeanne Ford, Susan Swanson

Dissertations and Theses

According to the National Psoriasis Foundation (1976), psoriasis is a little known and poorly understood skin disease afflicting an estimated eight million victims in the United States. About fifteen thousand new cases of psoriasis are diagnosed each year. It affects men and women in equal numbers at any age, most often between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five.

Social Impact Assessment At The Neighborhood Level, William H. Triest

Dissertations and Theses

This paper originated as a result of one of the stated objectives of the Salem Primary Prevention Project. That project, operating jointly with Marion County Community Mental Health, Salem School District 24J and the City of Salem’s Community Development Department, has had as one of its stated objectives, the development of a mechanism to review the impact of planned change at the local level.

For several years both the staff and Advisory Committee for the Primary Prevention Program had wrestled with the complexity of developing such a review or assessment mechanism. Existing literature on social impact assessment appeared to deal …

Deviant Self-Concept Among Marijuana Dealers: Examining The Applicability Of Labeling Concepts, Cynthia Madaris

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of this thesis is dope dealing in marijuana. However, the main interest in this topic is not centered on unique behavior patterns of persons engaged in this illegal activity nor is it much concerned with the activity itself. Rather, this study was designed to investigate empirically claims of labeling theorists and deviance theory. Through focused interviews with dealers of marijuana, an inquiry was made into deviant self-concepts on the part of those persons. More specifically, attention centered around the variables of type of dealer (lid or small quantity pound); length of time in dealing business; and contact with …

The Treatment-Moral Career Of Clients In A Community Based Treatment Program, Charles Edward Forster Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

The research reported here was intended to consider in an exploratory fashion the impact of a community based treatment program, Services for Problem Drinker Drivers, (SPDD), for persons convicted of driving while under the influence of liquor on: (1) the self-concept, (2) consequences for public identity, and (3) the careers or changes over time in both self-concept and public identity of clients in the program.

The Effects Of Sociological Theories Of Poverty On Job Training Programs, Michael Richard Deshane

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is an exploratory study of the effects of two job training programs for the poor in Portland, Oregon. It seeks to illustrate that training programs are designed around certain theoretical conceptions or models of poverty and that these theoretical conceptions ultimately have a strong effect on the enrollees in programs designed on the given theoretical model. Two general theoretical models have been extracted from the literature. The first is the "Culture of Poverty" model and the second may be called the "Closed Opportunity Structure" model.

The culture of poverty model posits that the poor are unable to escape …