scholarly journals Use of social media for cancer prevention through neighborhood social cohesion: feasibility study protocol (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Oakley-Girvan ◽  
Lauren C Houghton ◽  
Cheryl Jones ◽  
Jessica L Watterson ◽  
Marley P. Gibbons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Low Income Mothers

UNSTRUCTURED Social cohesion is associated with healthier behaviors and better health outcomes, and therefore may offer a mechanism for promoting better health. Low socioeconomic status communities face higher rates of chronic disease, due to both community and individual level factors. Therefore, this study aims to leverage social cohesion to promote healthier behaviors and prevent chronic disease in a low SES community. This protocol outlines the study methodology for a pilot study to assess the feasibility of an intervention (Free Time For Wellness, or FT4W) using a social networking platform (NextDoor) with mothers living in an urban, low-income community to improve social cohesion and to promote healthy behaviors. The study will involve three phases: I) co-designing the intervention with mothers in the neighborhoods of interest, II) implementing the intervention with community leaders through the social networking platform, and III) evaluating the intervention’s feasibility. Phase I of the study will include qualitative data collection and analysis from in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a co-design group session with mothers. Phases II and III of the study include a pre- and post-intervention survey of participating mothers. Neighborhood-level data on social cohesion will also be collected to enable comparison of outcomes between neighborhoods with higher and lower baseline social cohesion. Ultimately, this study aims to: 1) determine barriers and facilitators to finding free time for wellness among a population of low-income mothers in order to inform the co-design process, and 2) implement and study the feasibility of an intervention that leverages social cohesion to promote physical activity in a community of low-income mothers. The results of this study will provide preliminary feasibility evidence to inform a larger effectiveness trial, and will further our understanding of how social cohesion might influence wellbeing.

scholarly journals The Role of the Physical and Social Environment in Observed and Self-Reported Park Use in Low-Income Neighborhoods in New York City

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier E. Otero Peña ◽  
Hanish Kodali ◽  
Emily Ferris ◽  
Katarzyna Wyka ◽  
Setha Low ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Low Income ◽  
York City ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Park Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

Physical and social environments of parks and neighborhoods influence park use, but the extent of their relative influence remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between the physical and social environment of parks and both observed and self-reported park use in low-income neighborhoods in New York City. We conducted community- (n = 54 parks) and individual-level (n = 904 residents) analyses. At the community level, observed park use was measured using a validated park audit tool and regressed on the number of facilities and programmed activities in parks, violent crime, stop-and-frisk incidents, and traffic accidents. At the individual level, self-reported park use was regressed on perceived park quality, crime, traffic-related walkability, park use by others, and social cohesion and trust. Data were collected in 2016–2018 and analyzed in 2019–2020. At the community level, observed park use was negatively associated with stop-and-frisk (β = −0.04; SE = 0.02; p < 0.05) and positively associated with the number of park facilities (β = 1.46; SE = 0.57; p < 0.05) and events (β = 0.16; SE = 0.16; p < 0.01). At the individual level, self-reported park use was positively associated with the social cohesion and trust scale (β = 0.02; SE = 0.01; p < 0.05). These results indicate that physical and social attributes of parks, but not perceptions of parks, were significantly associated with park use. The social environment of neighborhoods at both community and individual levels was significantly related to park use. Policies for increasing park use should focus on improving the social environment of parks and surrounding communities, not only parks' physical attributes. These findings can inform urban planning and public health interventions aimed at improving the well-being of residents in low-income communities.

scholarly journals Multiple meanings of resilience: Health professionals’ experiences of a dual element training intervention designed to help them prepare for coping with error.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Janes ◽  
Reema Harrison ◽  
Judith Johnson ◽  
Ruth Simms-Ellis ◽  
Tom Mills ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Professionals ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
System Factors ◽  
Personal Resilience

Rationale, aims and objectives: Consistent data demonstrates negative psychological effects of caregiving on front-line health professionals. Evidence that psychological resilience factors can help minimise distress and the potential for low-cost interventions have created interest in resilience-based development programmes; yet evidence of perceived value amongst health professionals is lacking. This study explored health professionals’ experiences and perceptions of a novel, resilience-based intervention designed to pro-actively prepare staff for coping with error; to investigate their perceptions of what resilience meant to them, the relevance of the intervention, and impact of participation on ability to cope with error. Method: Semi-structured interviews 4-6 weeks post intervention with 23 randomly selected participants from seven cohorts (midwives, paediatricians, obstetrians/gynaecologists, paramedics) and trainees (physician associates, mammographers, sonographers). Thematic analysis of interview data. Findings: Participants reported various interpretations of, and a shift in perception regarding what the concept of psychological resilience meant to them and their practice. These included for example, resilience as a positive or negative concept and their awareness and response to a range of personal, organisational and system factors influencing personal resilience. They valued the prophylactic, clinically relevant, interactive and applied nature of the intervention; having developed and applied valuable skills beyond the context of involvement in error, noting that individuals needed to be willing to explore their own coping mechanisms and human fallibility to gain maximum benefit. There was also consensus that whilst proactively developing individual level psychological resilience is important, so too is addressing the organisational and system factors that affect staff resilience which are outside individual staff control. Conclusion: Enhancing resilience appears to be considered useful in supporting staff to prepare for coping with error and the wider emotional burden of clinical work, but such interventions require integration into wider system approaches to reduce the burden of clinical work for health professionals.

‘‘I Just Need a Job!’’ Behavioral Solutions, Structural Problems, and the Hidden Curriculum of Parenting Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-345
Author(s):  
Maia Cucchiara ◽  
Erin Cassar ◽  
Monica Clark
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Hidden Curriculum ◽  
The United States ◽  
Parenting Education ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Private Funding ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Low Income Mothers

Parenting education programs aim to teach parents, often low-income mothers, a set of skills, behaviors, and attitudes believed to promote improved opportunities for their children. Parenting programs are often offered in schools, with instructors teaching pregnant or parenting teens about child development, attachment, and discipline strategies. Despite the large numbers of participants and significant public and private funding going to parenting education, sociologists of education in the United States have paid little attention to the topic. Existing research, by scholars in other disciplines, has found parenting education to be a relatively weak intervention. Yet this research focuses exclusively on individual-level processes, paying little attention to social context or other factors. This study uses extensive observational and interview data from parenting education programs in two schools and one social service organization to examine what is taught, what is not, and the intersections between program content and the structural realities shaping parents’ lives. The results show that although they were designed for low-income mothers, the classes were silent on the issue of poverty, treating poverty-related concerns as irrelevant to the task of parenting. Furthermore, when such topics did emerge, instructors redirected the conversations to personal behaviors and characteristics. Thus, the ‘‘hidden curriculum’’ of parenting education conveyed the message that good parenting should be unaffected by the challenges of poverty. The mothers, however, struggled to provide for their children in conditions of extreme scarcity, making it difficult for them to focus on other parenting issues.

Low-income mothers in an Israeli welfare-to-work program: Symbolic violence and its limitations

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Herbst-Debby ◽  
Orly Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Role Modeling ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Program ◽  
Paid Employment ◽  
The Common ◽  
Low Income Mothers

Welfare-to-work (WTW) programs use role modeling rhetoric to re-educate mothers to prioritize paid employment over presence-based childcare. Research has shown that mothers may resist this rhetoric if, historically, policies in their countries shaped their sense of entitlement to be supported as mothers. But under what conditions does such resistance build a critical voice? What other voices emerge in the encounter with the WTW rhetoric? This article uses three ‘voices’ that emerge in the ideological environment of WTW to criticize the common usage of ‘voice’ in discussions of working with those who live in poverty. Based on semi-structured interviews of 62 single mothers participating in a WTW program in Israel, the study shows how participants’ voices convey disentitlement to childcare services. By considering how low-income single mothers experience themselves as respectable individuals when suitable childcare is scarce, the article discusses the conditions under which an emerging ‘voice’ can be considered critical.

scholarly journals “Sometimes I feel like I’m counting crackers”: The household foodwork of low-income mothers, and how community food initiatives can support them

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-132
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Martin
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Low Incomes ◽  
Food Programs ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Low Income Mothers ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Community Supports ◽  
Good Food

For women parenting on low incomes, there is a significant disparity between household foodwork standards and the resources with which to meet them. This study centres on the everyday foodwork experiences of low-income mothers and their engagement with community supports such as community food initiatives (CFIs). It helps address a research gap concerning the relationship between CFI participation and maternal household foodwork. The study employs multiple methods including semi-structured interviews, graphic elicitation and tours of local community food programs. By identifying a range of factors, strategies, and challenges in mothers’ foodwork, the study elucidates some of the contradictory pressures that low-income mothers experience around foodwork. Some of these pressures are associated with meeting individualizing standards around being "good" mothers, "good" consumers and "good" food program participants. Efforts to meet these standards were seen through mothers’ attempts to feed their children healthy and preferred food, exercise agency through market choices, and moderate their demands of community food programs. While more research is required regarding both mothers’ actual participation in CFIs and CFI strategies to support them, the findings suggest that CFIs should incorporate low-income mothers’ subjectivities into food programming. 

How Low-Income Mothers Seek Quality Health Care for Their Children: An Ethnographic Study

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marquia Blackmon ◽  
Sherry C. Eaton ◽  
Linda M. Burton ◽  
Whitney Welsh ◽  
Dwayne Brandon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Low Income Mothers
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