Community-Based Research Commons^™

Nasis 2010: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

We need your help to learn about how Nebraskans think, feel, and live. Your responses will help shape Nebraska program and policy development now and into the future.

62 questions; 8 pages

Service Versus Advocacy? A Comparison Of Two Latino Community-Based Organizations In Chelsea, Massachusetts, Glenn Jacobs

Trotter Review

Anyone walking down Chelsea’s main drag, Broadway, would be struck by its raucous cacophony of sights and sounds, a panoply of foreign languages spoken by women (many mothers with young children and infants), children, teenagers, and men of a variety of physiognomies and skin tones; a collage of small specialty shops selling jewelry, clothing, religious statues, CDs, and mobile phones; and restaurants and eateries serving El Salvadoran, Vietnamese, Mexican, and Chinese food; pawnshops, check-cashing places, bakeries, and coffee shops, with occasional rectangles of negative visual space occupied by the post office and chain drug and convenience stores. It is a …

Brief Report: Activities And Achievements Of The P4p Project—Introducing Pay-For-Performance (P4p) Approach To Increase Utilization Of Maternal, Newborn, And Child Health Services In Bangladesh, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A pilot study was initiated in Bangladesh for testing Pay-for-Performance for providers and clients in improving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services by addressing supply and demand-side barriers. With funding from UNICEF, the Population Council provided technical assistance for the operations research study implemented by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh. Necessary and key human resource placement and training on integrated management of childhood illness, emergency operations centers, newborn care, infection prevention, and waste management are important for better performance in all facilities. In spite of existing barriers, …

Training Institutions For Community Midwives In Pakistan: An Initial Assessment, Zakir Hussain Shah, Momina Salim, Mumraiz Khan

Reproductive Health

This study focuses on the training of community midwives (CMWs) in Pakistan, to specifically look at the institutions providing CMW training to see what resources (both physical and human resources) they had available and how these resources were being utilized. This study served as an early evaluation of the trainings and upgrades by the PAIMAN project, to assess how their interventions fared, and provides documentation for future decisions regarding the management, training, and practice of CMWs in Pakistan. As Pakistan transitions from a country with a high level of home births to a country where most births take place in …

Assessing The Feasibility Of Home Administration Of Misoprostol In The Prevention Of Postpartum Hemorrhage In Rural Pakistan, Ali M. Mir, Abdul Wajid, Sadaf Gull

Reproductive Health

This report details an operations research project carried out by the Population Council as part of the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns. The overall goal of the project was to test the feasibility of administering misoprostol for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in a home setting through community‐based healthcare providers, including traditional birth attendants (TBAs), or family members, in two districts of Pakistan. Furthermore, it aimed to identify common side effects of misoprostol and determine the reduction in demand for referral due to PPH after oral ingestion of misoprostol. The results provide a useful addition to the literature …

Assessing The Potential Acceptability Of A New Cadre Of Community Midwives For Pregnancy And Delivery Related Care In Rural Pakistan: Findings From A Qualitative Study, Abdul Wajid, Ali M. Mir, Zubaida Rashid, Abida Aziz

Reproductive Health

The Population Council designed an operations research study to assess the potential acceptability of a new cadre of community midwives (CMWs) for pregnancy and delivery-related care in rural Pakistan. Specific objectives of the study were to determine the need for skilled birth attendants, identify any misconceptions in the community about CMWs, determine levels of acceptance in the community, and explore barriers to the placement of CMWs in the community. The report recommends sensitizing family members so they are more willing to grant permission for pregnant women to consult CMWs, developing flexible fee structures, giving clients greater accessibility, building a network …

Process Evaluation Of Community Mobilization Activities, Zakir Hussain Shah

Reproductive Health

This report presents the findings of a process evaluation by the Population Council of community mobilization (CM) activities implemented under the PAIMAN project in Pakistan. PAIMAN developed a comprehensive communication, advocacy, and mobilization (CAM) strategy to increase knowledge and awareness of harmful practices among women and their family and to improve their health-seeking behaviors. The CAM roadmap acknowledges the importance of engaging communities in order to achieve behavior change and links clients with providers and services. The main objective of this evaluation was to assess the process of CM implementation and to identify its gaps in order to develop corrective …

The Role Of Traditional Leaders In Preventing And Addressing Sexual And Gender-Based Violence: Findings From Kwazulu-Natal, Northwest And Limpopo Provinces In South Africa, Mantshi Teffo-Menziwa, Saiqa Mullick, Prince Cedza Dlamini

Reproductive Health

The Population Council, in partnership with the Ubuntu Institute, embarked on a program to engage traditional Leaders in three South African provinces (North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo) to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in rural communities. The overarching goals of the program were to strengthen linkages between the Population Council and traditional communities, generate and share strategic information on SGBV, strengthen prevention and response to child sexual assault, engage new partners to address prevention of and access to SGBV services, and expand access to comprehensive post-rape services by working with traditional leadership structures. Some of the key findings reflect …

Introducing And Pilot-Testing The National Guidelines On Integrating The Management Of Stis/Rtis Into Reproductive Health Settings In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Saiqa Mullick, Ian Askew, Nathalie Broutet, Bartilol Kigen, Cosmas Mutunga, Daniel Sande, Nimrod Garama, Benjamin Tsofa, Christine Awuor, Ibrahim Mohammed

Reproductive Health

This report evaluated a project in ten Kenyan health facilities. It examined the feasibility, acceptability and effect of introducing reproductive tract infection and sexually transmitted infection (RTI/STI) guidelines on the quality of care provided, and the incremental costs of integrating these services into existing reproductive health (RH) services; it also disseminated the results and lessons learnt within Kenya. Overall, the results showed that integration of activities to screen for and manage STIs/RTIs into RH services is feasible, acceptable to clients and providers, and effective in improving the range and quality of services offered to clients.

Emergency Contraception: Idea To Program, Saumya Ramarao, John Townsend, Sarah Raifman

Reproductive Health

This report summarizes the role of the Population Council in generating evidence, providing technical leadership, and demonstrating at scale that emergency contraception (EC) can be easily integrated into national family planning programs and other reproductive health services. Since the 1990s, the Population Council, along with other partners, has contributed to the changes seen in the provision and availability of EC, now available in over 140 countries around the world. While much progress has been made in the campaign for access to EC, the Council is committed to improving existing methods of service delivery and to leading advocacy efforts and research …

Communalism Predicts Prenatal Affect, Stress, And Physiology Better Than Ethnicity And Socioeconomic Status, Cleopatra M. Abdou, Christine Dunkel Schetter, Belinda Campos, Clayton J. Hilmert, Tyan Parker Dominguez, Calvin J. Hobel, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The authors examined the relevance of communalism, operationalized as a cultural orientation emphasizing interdependence, to maternal prenatal emotional health and physiology and distinguished its effects from those of ethnicity and childhood and adult socioeconomic status (SES). African American and European American women (N = 297) were recruited early in pregnancy and followed through 32 weeks gestation using interviews and medical chart review. Overall, African American women and women of lower socioeconomic backgrounds had higher levels of negative affect, stress, and blood pressure, but these ethnic and socioeconomic disparities were not observed among women higher in communalism. Hierarchical multivariate regression analyses …

Project Animate: Promoting Student Civic Participation Through Latino Voter Mobilization - Ollas Report No. 6, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

This project sought to expand voter outreach and mobilization of new registered and Latino voters through a series of activities in the greater Omaha metropolitan area. Following the successful development of a voter mobilization project undertaken in the 2006 election cycle, this project conducted door-to-door canvassing activities utilizing students to distribute nonpartisan voter information and engage in “get out the vote” activities with new Latino registered voters.

The Impact Of Third Places On Community Quality Of Life, Leo Wayne Jeffres, Cheryl Campanella Bracken, Guowei Jian, Mary F. Casey

Communication Faculty Publications

Older cities struggling with issues of survival focus on jobs and the economy, but competition requires all cities to pay attention to the quality of life that attracts residents. Creating such an inviting environment includes “third places” that foster community and communication among people outside of home and work, yet we have little empirical evidence that speaks to the subject, or their importance for a community’s quality of life. Here we report on a national U.S. survey that asked people to identify such places in their community, producing a wide variety of “third places” that ranged from the most popular …

Understanding The Impact Of The Kalamazoo Promise From The Perspectives Of Parents And Community Group Members, Charles Pearson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to uncover the emerging views of parents and community group stakeholders in regards to The Kalamazoo Promise, and what they believed were the important issues that must be understood by implementers of The Promise in order to provide more effective implementation.

The Kalamazoo Promise is a full-tuition scholarship provided to all eligible graduates of the school district. The qualification criteria are simple, and all graduates attending at least the four years of high school are eligible.

A case study was conducted in one representative school in this midsized, urban district. A multiple-phase approach was …

The Impact Of An Urban Wal-Mart Store On Area Businesses: An Evaluation Of One Chicago Neighborhood's Experience, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Julie Davis, David Merriman, Lucia Samayoa, Brian Flanagan, Ron Baiman, Joseph Persky

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

Having achieved nearly complete coverage of non-urban and suburban markets, mega-retailer Wal-Mart has turned its attention to urban expansion. Evaluations of Wal-Mart’s impact on urban retail businesses and local employment are necessary to inform policy makers, scholars, and community activists looking to improve economic opportunities for inner-city residents. This study focuses on the Wal-Mart store that opened on the West Side of Chicago in September 2006.

Community Based Divorce Education Programmes: Short-Term And Longer-Term Impacts, Sherrill Hayes, Lori Pelletier

Faculty Articles

Surveys of mandatory parent education in the USA (M J Geasler and K R Blaisure, ‘A review of divorce education programme materials’ (1998) 47 Family Relations 167–175; M J Geasler and K R Blaisure, ‘1998 Nationwide survey of court-connected divorce education programmes’ (1999) 37 Family and Conciliation Courts Review 36–63; S L Pollet and M Lombreglia, ‘A nationwide survey of mandatory parent education’ (2008) 46(2) Family Court Review 375–394) have demonstrated the positive impact of well-designed, evidence-based programmes on children and families. Divorce education programmes for parents are now required in many jurisdictions in 46 states in the USA (Pollet …

Community-Based Suicide Prevention Research In Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities, Corinne A. Isaak, Mike Campeau, Laurence Y. Katz, Murray W. Enns, Brenda Elias, Jitender Sareen

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Suicide is a complex problem linked to genetic, environmental, psychological and community factors. For the Aboriginal population more specifically, loss of culture, history of traumatic events, individual, family and community factors may also play a role in suicidal behaviour. Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Canadian Aboriginal youth. While the need to develop interventions to reduce suicidal behaviour for First Nations on-reserve populations is evident, there may be an element of distrust of researchers by Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, research in mental health and specifically suicide is much more sensitive than studying medical illnesses like diabetes. Clearly, …

Sources Of Informal Social Control And The Relationship To Victimization In Southeastern Virginia, Jennifer R. Jones

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The link between community characteristics and crime has been at the forefront of criminological research for some time. Social disorganization theory focuses on the relationship between structural characteristics of communities and crime. Recent examination of the social disorganization perspective has emphasized the role of informal social control as mediating the effects of structural characteristics on victimization. In this study, contemporary social disorganization theory was tested using data from the U.S. Census Bureau: Census Tract Fact Finder (2000) and the Southeastern Virginia Community Survey (2008). This research addressed three central research questions: Is there a relationship between structural characteristics (i.e., poverty, …

An African-American Resources And Needs Assessment Of The West Bloomington Area, Phase 1, Karishma Amatya, Nicholas Beaty, Jamie Boban, Joanna Bossi, Tyler Curtis, Casandra Fritzsche, Andrew Griffin, David Johnson, Sasha Miranda, Dana Overman, Emily Putnam, Jared Ulschmid, Tessa Zevallos

Community Project Design and Management Reports - Sociology

Over the course of the Fall 2009 semester, students in the Community Project Design and Management class worked with members of West Bloomington to recognize the growing needs within the community. Along with the African-American Focus Workgroup (AAFW) and the West Bloomington Revitalization Partnership (WBRP), the students completed Phase 1 of an African-American resources and needs assessment resulting in this report. This document reflects needs, wants, and hopes of the West Bloomington community and the AAFW. Comprehensively, this document is meant to serve as a bridge between community members and AAFW members.

As Bloomington as a whole continues to grow …

The Health-Care Debate And Nebraska's Latino And Immigrant Populations - Ollas Policy Brief No. 2, Lourdes Gouveia, Yuriko Doku

Latino/Latin American Studies Policy Briefs

No abstract provided.

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2009, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, John R. Broderick, Grace Chen, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Larry "Chip" Filer, Adrian Gheorghe, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Yingxue Li, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Linda Mcgreevy, Janet Molinaro, Jason Phenicie, Ken Plum, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 10th annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Quality Of Life Estimation With Structural Equation Modeling In School Aged Children With Asthma, Sheniz Moonie, Xuan Huang, David A. Sterling

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Significant increases in childhood asthma prevalence and mortality has prompted federal and regulatory agencies to work towards a national framework to address childhood asthma. Quality of life is an important component of chronic disease, and the evaluation of healthcare outcomes. There is little discussion in the literature regarding the implications of QoL as a theoretical construct. This study determined the effect of asthma on the QoL of our study population and caregiver’s missed workdays on the child’s QoL scores. A negative relationship was found between the child’s QoL and the caregiver’s missed workdays due to their child’s asthma. The use …

Participatory Evaluation Of The Tribal Victim Assistance Programs At The Lummi Nation And Passamaquoddy Tribe, Ada Pecos Melton, Michelle Chino

School of Public Health Faculty Research

The high rate of crime in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and/or against AI/AN people reflected in numerous studies in the last three decades, demonstrates the need for victim assistance programs in Indian Country to help victims cope with and heal from violent crime (Wolk 1982; Allen 1985; Sacred Shawl Women’s Society, no date; McIntire 1988; DeBruyn, Lujan & May 1995; Norton & Manson 1995; Fairchild et. al 1998; Greenfield & Smith 1999; Alba, Zieseniss, et al 2003; Perry 2004). The U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) became aware of the lack of resources available to …

Evaluation Of Adult Lucas County Treatment Alternatives To Street Crime, Inc. (Tasc): Outcomes Related To Program Completion, Melissa W. Burek, Christine M. Englebrecht

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The central purpose of this research was to evaluate the Lucas County, Ohio Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) program for adult clients. The principal investigator was Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Melissa W. Burek, Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in conjunction with Stacey Rychener, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Evaluation Services and associates at BGSU. Co-author of the report that follows was Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Christine Englebrecht, Ph.D., also of BGSU. Data collection for the project began in January 2009 and completed in late March of same year.

We had three general objectives for …

Puerto Rican And Proud: The Varying Understandings Of Puerto Rican Identity Among Island-Born And Mainland Puerto Rican Students At Syracuse University, Marguerite Moore

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My Capstone project examined the complexities within Puerto Rican ethnic identity. While this project did not set out to resolve one specific problem, its aim was to further explain the variations that often occurs under one ethnic label. Many people assume that ethnic groups are homogeneous, and I was interested in further exploring the idea and disproving this assumption.

Specifically, I was interested in exploring the various understandings that island-born and mainland Puerto Rican students have about their self-identity. Also, I was interested to see the ways in which these students manage their identities in the presence of others. My …

Quest For Quotidian: A National Survey Of Non-Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Marriage, Troy A. Mcginnis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marriage equality remains a legal impossibility for same-sex couples in most states, and opponents are concerned that expansion of marriage to include gays and lesbians would radically redefine the institution. Findings from an online survey of lesbians, gays and bisexuals— a non-random sample of 466 adult men and women age 18 to 74 in 37 states— strongly suggest that many non-heterosexuals' attitudes reflect neither a radical departure from core definitions of marriage, nor a rejection of traditional "family values," but instead signal an assimilationist position favorable to traditional marriage norms rather than a liberationist position critical of the institution.

What Makes Women Tired? A Community Sample, Donna E. Stewart, Susan Abbey, Marta Meana, Katherine M. Boydell

Psychology Faculty Research

We aimed to determine the major health concerns or problems of women and their personal attributions for the causes of their primary health concerns. We used a survey of women from the Toronto area attending a women's health symposium. Completed questionnaires were returned by 153 (85%) of 180 women attendees. Persistent fatigue was the primary and most commonly cited health concern. Fatigue was ranked first by 42 (27.5%) women and among the top 10 concerns by 123 (80.4%) women. Women attributed their fatigue to a combination of home and outside work (63.4%), poor sleep (38.2%), lack of time for self …

Death Of An American City: The Role Of Capitalism In Urban Decay, Chad Everett Saunders

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Chad Everett Saunders on April 22, 2009.

Implications For Child Welfare Teaching And Human Services Personnel Perspectives Experiences Of Children With Special Needs, Sarah Huesmann

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

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 …