Relanzamiento of Nicaragua’s Christian Base Communities: Forging New Models of Church and Society for the Twenty-First Century

How do narrative practices used by members of Christian Base Communities (in Spanish, CEBs) construct particular Catholic-political subjectivities within the Church, the nation-state, and the larger global institutions? Christian Base Communities, the vehicle by which liberation theology is put into practice, played a significant role in Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution. Their proclaimed renewal is happening under dramatically different contexts from which they first emerged. Their religious beliefs continue to justify and place a moral thrust on their struggle for a more egalitarian society despite the reduction of social programs on the part of neoliberal governments, including the current Sandinista party administration. I recorded elicited and un-elicited autobiographical narratives that are integral to participation as religious and political subjects. CEB participants recount processes of transformation, in which a new identity is being crafted by people on the economic margins capable of effecting change within the church and society. I focus upon liberation theology as a part of anthropology of Christianity and Catholicism. In that light I ask, might contemporary CEBs function as theological revolutionaries, seeking to transform Catholic practice

Ambivalence in How to Address Adolescent Marijuana Use Among School-Based Health Center Providers

Objective: As part of a larger study to evaluate the implementation of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) at school-based health centers (SBHCs), we interviewed SBHC providers regarding their perceptions of substance use among adolescents seen at their SBHCs, experiences providing care for students with substance use and other mental health issues, and their concerns around marijuana specifically. Methods: We interviewed 12 primary and behavioral health providers who worked at five SBHCs in New Mexico. The interviews lasted approximately 1 hour and were digitally recorded and professionally transcribed. Two research team members independently analyzed the transcripts. We undertook iterative comparative analysis of qualitative data specifically related to marijuana and substance use, coding segments of text on key sensitizing concepts. Results. Six key themes emerged from the provider interviews: (1) marijuana use is indicative of underlying mental health issues; (2) normalization of marijuana use; (3) hesitance to endorse marijuana as a medical treatment for youth; (4) risks of marijuana use relative to alcohol use; (5) tension between building trust with adolescent patients and asserting authority; and (6) knowledge and skills gaps that impact counseling. Conclusion: Our findings elucidate key domains to address to support providers in their efforts to increase the health and safety of adolescents in a state that is rapidly expanding legislation and acceptance of marijuana. These findings may benefit providers in states that are enacting policies favorable to marijuana use

Action versus Result-Oriented Schemes in a Grassland Agroecosystem: A Dynamic Modelling Approach

Effects of agri-environment schemes (AES) on biodiversity remain controversial. While most AES are action-oriented, result-oriented and habitat-oriented schemes have recently been proposed as a solution to improve AES efficiency. The objective of this study was to compare action-oriented, habitat-oriented and result-oriented schemes in terms of ecological and productive performance as well as in terms of management flexibility. We developed a dynamic modelling approach based on the viable control framework to carry out a long term assessment of the three schemes in a grassland agroecosystem. The model explicitly links grazed grassland dynamics to bird population dynamics. It is applied to lapwing conservation in wet grasslands in France. We ran the model to assess the three AES scenarios. The model revealed the grazing strategies respecting ecological and productive constraints specific to each scheme. Grazing strategies were assessed by both their ecological and productive performance. The viable control approach made it possible to obtain the whole set of viable grazing strategies and therefore to quantify the management flexibility of the grassland agroecosystem. Our results showed that habitat and result-oriented scenarios led to much higher ecological performance than the action-oriented one. Differences in both ecological and productive performance between the habitat and result-oriented scenarios were limited. Flexibility of the grassland agroecosystem in the result-oriented scenario was much higher than in that of habitat-oriented scenario. Our model confirms the higher flexibility as well as the better ecological and productive performance of result-oriented schemes. A larger use of result-oriented schemes in conservation may also allow farmers to adapt their management to local conditions and to climatic variations

Factors Impacting Implementation of Evidence-Based Strategies to Create Safe and Supportive Schools for Sexual and Gender Minority Students.

PURPOSE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends six evidence-based strategies to improve safety and support for sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth in U.S. schools. However, only a small minority of schools implement all strategies. This study draws on implementation science to assess contextual challenges to strategy implementation. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with at least two stakeholders at each of 42 high schools in New Mexico. Interviews consisted of open-ended questions centered on attitudes toward, access to, and availability of school and community supports for SGM youth, school policies, and practices, and organizational factors believed to impact implementation. Transcripts were imported into NVivo 11 for iterative coding and qualitative analysis. RESULTS: We identified eleven overarching sets of factors related to the preparedness of schools to implement the evidence-based strategies: (1) political climate; (2) community context; (3) community resources; (4) policies and practices; (5) staff knowledge and exposure to SGM issues; (6) training deficits; (7) prevalence of neutrality discourses suggesting SGM students should not be singled out for special treatment or intervention; (8) student attitudes and support; (9) de facto safe spaces; (10) health education curricula; and (11) pragmatic considerations, such as time, staff turnover, and workloads. Key factors believed to hinder implementation included lack of resources, staffing concerns, and knowledge deficits. CONCLUSIONS: These results can be used to inform the development of implementation strategies to modify school health systems from within to best support evidence-based practices for SGM youth and other stigmatized populations

Research-Supported Intervention and Discretion Among Frontline Workers Implementing Home Visitation Services

ObjectiveWe examine how frontline workers and supervisors delivering a research supported intervention (RSI) to reduce child neglect negotiated system-related challenges, the pragmatics of RSI implementation, and their professional identities and relationships with clients.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews, small group discussions, and focus groups with frontline workers and supervisors in one large county over two time periods. We used iterative coding to analyze qualitative data.ResultsFrontline workers navigated several aspects of RSI implementation and sustainment: (1) contract requirements and information dissemination, (2) fidelity, (3) competing demands and crises, (4) structure versus creativity, and (5) relationships with clients.ConclusionsWorkers dynamically negotiated multiple system- and provider-level (or outer- and inner-contextual) demands influencing RSI provision for clients with complex service needs. Results affirm the need to attend to the unintended consequences of implementing new contract, reimbursement, and other system organizational processes and to address the "committed work" supporting RSI delivery

Collaboration, Negotiation, and Coalescence for Interagency-Collaborative Teams to Scale-Up Evidence-Based Practice

OBJECTIVE: Implementation and scale-up of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is often portrayed as involving multiple stakeholders collaborating harmoniously in the service of a shared vision. In practice, however, collaboration is a more complex process that may involve shared and competing interests and agendas, and negotiation. The present study examined the scale-up of an EBP across an entire service system using the Interagency Collaborative Team (ICT) approach. METHODS: Participants were key stakeholders in a large-scale county-wide implementation of an EBP to reduce child neglect, SafeCare(®). Semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups were conducted with 54 individuals representing diverse constituents in the service system, followed by an iterative approach to coding and analysis of transcripts. The study was conceptualized using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework. RESULTS: Although community stakeholders eventually coalesced around implementation of SafeCare, several challenges affected the implementation process. These challenges included differing organizational cultures, strategies, and approaches to collaboration, competing priorities across levels of leadership, power struggles, and role ambiguity. Each of the factors identified influenced how stakeholders approached the EBP implementation process. CONCLUSIONS: System wide scale-up of EBPs involves multiple stakeholders operating in a nexus of differing agendas, priorities, leadership styles, and negotiation strategies. The term collaboration may oversimplify the multifaceted nature of the scale-up process. Implementation efforts should openly acknowledge and consider this nexus when individual stakeholders and organizations enter into EBP implementation through collaborative processes

The Bepi Colombo Laser Altimeter (BELA): Concept and baseline design

The BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) has been selected for flight on board the European Space Agency’s BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO). The experiment is intended to be Europe’s first planetary laser altimeter system. Although the proposed system has similarities to the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) currently flying on board NASA’s MESSENGER mission to Mercury, the specific orbit and construction of the MPO force the use of novel concepts for BELA. Furthermore, the base-lined range-finding approach is novel. In this paper, we describe the BELA system and show preliminary results from some prototype testing

From a “Perfect Storm” to “Smooth Sailing”

Policymakers shape implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices (EBPs), whether they are developing or responding to legislation and policies or negotiating public sector resource constraints. As part of a large mixed-method study, we conducted qualitative interviews with 24 policymakers involved in delivery of the same EBP in two U.S. states. We analyzed transcripts via open and focused coding techniques to identify the commonality, diversity, and complexity of implementation challenges; approaches to overcoming those challenges; and the importance of system-level contextual factors in ensuring successful implementation. Key findings centered on building support and leadership for EBPs; funding and contractual strategies; partnering with stakeholders; tackling challenges via proactive planning and problem solving; and the political, legal, and systemic pressures affecting EBP longevity. The policymaker perspectives offer guidance on nurturing system and organizational practice environments to achieve positive outcomes and for optimally addressing macro-level influences that bear upon the instantiation of EBPs in public sector child welfare systems