scholarly journals Development of a Community-Engaged Classroom for Teaching Health Communications: Lessons Learned From Nine Semesters of Implementation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Felter ◽  
Sara E. Baumann

Community-engaged classrooms (CECs) offer many advantages to both students and community-based organizations by creating an environment that enriches student learning and contributes to meeting needs identified by the community. Students who are engaged with communities during their studies report that they learned to apply skills, develop networks, and increase their decision-making skills, confidence, professional portfolio, and ownership of projects. In this article, we report on a CEC model for a graduate-level course called “Overview of Health Communications” at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, which has been sustained for nine semesters. This article outlines the approach for developing the CEC model, steps for implementing the course, course evaluation design, and results. We also present lessons learned from both the community organizations’ and students’ perspectives and recommendations to inform future CEC projects.

Author(s):  
Wayne Pease ◽  
Lauretta Wright ◽  
Malcolm Cooper

In regional Australia there is a growing interest and investment in community capacity building and this is beginning to be formalised in a desire to integrate information communications technology opportunities with other forms of community development. This paper explores the opportunity for greater social integration based on the formation of community-based information communication technology (ICT) driven organizations, using a case study approach.  It is suggested that whether disseminating information, collaborating with other communities, assisting the development of new industries, or simply by sharing the lessons learned along the way, community-based IT can assist and support a community’s economic and social development.  Further, the paper supports the view that, where understanding and developing new forms of information technology through community informatics is accepted as an integral part of such development, communities will not just ‘improve the old’ but will more radically restructure themselves towards a knowledge-based future. The case study that underpins these observations is that of the development of Bay Connect, a community-based Internet development and training project, begun in Hervey Bay with Networking the Nation support, and which is now expanding into the adjacent Maryborough and surrounding Shires. It is also supported by the University of Southern Queensland’s Wide Bay and has an emergent role in supporting new and existing IT businesses, Bay Connect and the Hervey Bay City Council, in the creation and nurturing of an IT skills base within the region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wallerstein ◽  
John G. Oetzel ◽  
Shannon Sanchez-Youngman ◽  
Blake Boursaw ◽  
Elizabeth Dickson ◽  
...  

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and community-engaged research have been established in the past 25 years as valued research approaches within health education, public health, and other health and social sciences for their effectiveness in reducing inequities. While early literature focused on partnering principles and processes, within the past decade, individual studies, as well as systematic reviews, have increasingly documented outcomes in community support and empowerment, sustained partnerships, healthier behaviors, policy changes, and health improvements. Despite enhanced focus on research and health outcomes, the science lags behind the practice. CBPR partnering pathways that result in outcomes remain little understood, with few studies documenting best practices. Since 2006, the University of New Mexico Center for Participatory Research with the University of Washington’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and partners across the country has engaged in targeted investigations to fill this gap in the science. Our inquiry, spanning three stages of National Institutes of Health funding, has sought to identify which partnering practices, under which contexts and conditions, have capacity to contribute to health, research, and community outcomes. This article presents the research design of our current grant, Engage for Equity, including its history, social justice principles, theoretical bases, measures, intervention tools and resources, and preliminary findings about collective empowerment as our middle range theory of change. We end with lessons learned and recommendations for partnerships to engage in collective reflexive practice to strengthen internal power-sharing and capacity to reach health and social equity outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Shostak ◽  
Margarita Corral ◽  
Ann G. Ward ◽  
Alex Willett

This article describes a senior capstone, Neighborhoods and Health, which used community-based research (CBR) as its primary pedagogy. Students in the course drew upon multiple research methods and forms of data to provide our partner, the Urban Farming Institute of Boston, with an array of research products in support of the revitalization of a historic farm in the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan. Based on pre- and posttest assessment and analysis of students’ reflections in their journals, we identify how a multimethods approach—combined with a commitment to producing usable research products—simultaneously contributed to students’ research methods proficiency and their understanding of complex social processes. For both sociology departments and interdisciplinary majors that draw on sociological perspectives, CBR offers a compelling means of providing seniors with meaningful capstone experiences while adding capacity to the important work of community-based organizations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia M. Rodriguez ◽  
Alexa M. Lahey ◽  
Justin J. MacNeill ◽  
Rebecca G. Martinez ◽  
Nina E. Teo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare some of the United States’ most devastating health and social inequities faced by people experiencing homelessness. Homeless populations experience disproportionate rates of underlying health conditions, stigma and marginalization that often disenfranchise them from health and social services, and living conditions that potentiate the risk of COVID-19 transmission and adverse outcomes. Methods: Guided by the socio-ecological model, this community-based participatory research study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 public health crisis on people experiencing homelessness in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and the ways in which homeless service providers prepared for, experienced, and responded to the pandemic. Eighteen (18) semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 15 community-based organizations, including shelters and other homeless service providers.Results: Qualitative content analysis revealed multilevel challenges and responses to COVID-19 impact mitigation in this community, including the implementation of diverse safety measures, policies and novel service delivery innovations.Conclusions: Community-based organizations, including homeless shelters, are uniquely qualified to inform pandemic response and disaster risk mitigation in order to respond appropriately to the specific needs of people experiencing homelessness. Many of the emergency measures put in place by homeless service providers in Tippecanoe County, Indiana created opportunities for innovative solutions to longstanding challenges faced by homeless populations that can inform better service delivery moving forward, long after the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learned and shared by homeless service providers on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic have important implications to improve future disaster response for homeless and other vulnerable populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 497-497
Author(s):  
Erin Emery-Tiburcio ◽  
Robyn Golden ◽  
Michelle Newman

Abstract CATCH-ON, the collaborative GWEP led by Rush University Medical Center, is working to create Age-Friendly Communities by assuring that health systems, community-based organizations, and older adults and families are educated about the 4Ms. For providers, CATCH-ON offers a monthly Learning Community that focuses on one of the 4Ms each quarter. Each session provides practical recommendations for 4Ms implementation and opportunities to share experiences in small groups. CATCH-ON also partnered with Community Catalyst, older adults, and caregivers to develop a 4Ms educational brochure. The brochure is available electronically and by paper to educate older adults and caregivers about the 4Ms and discussing them with their healthcare team. Additionally, CATCH-ON created 4M online modules for older adults and families. This session will explore the success and lessons learned in developing educational interventions for diverse audiences and how this approach strengthens Age-Friendly Communities.


Author(s):  
Oyekunle Oyelami

Community organizations, also known as community-based organizations, are civil society and non-profit social organizations based in the community with the main thrust being benefiting their members and the community at large. Community organizations have their roots in the community members organizing themselves for needs identification and realization of development goals. They are a subset of the wider group of non-profit organizations. Community organizations operate with the locality to ensure the community with sustainable provisions of community-service and action. This chapter highlights some measures for making community organizations more active and alive in the community of operations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Aileen O’Connell

Sampling methods are an important issue in the evaluation of community-based HIV prevention initiatives because it is through responsible sampling procedures that a valid model of the population is produced and reliable estimates of behavior change determined. This article provides an overview on sampling with particular focus on the needs of community-based organizations (CBOs). As these organizations continue to improve their capacity for sampling and program evaluation activities, comparisons across CBOs can become more rigorous, resulting in valuable information collectively regarding the effectiveness of particular HIV prevention initiatives. The author reviews several probability and nonprobability sampling designs; discusses bias, cost, and feasibility factors in design selection; and presents six guidelines designed to encourage community organizations to consider these important sampling issues as they plan their program evaluations.


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