Predictors of Knowledge of Stroke and Intent to Call 911 Among African Americans

Stroke is associated with significant health disparity and predominantly affects the elderly. Stroke outcome is significantly improved if an individual is able to get clot-bursting medication. A significant predictor of an on-time arrival to the emergency room for treatment in the event of a stroke is the ability to accurately recognize stroke signs and symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors (demographic, socioeconomic, and educational) that predict the knowledge of stroke signs/symptoms and intent to call 911 in the event of a stroke. The study was grounded in the social ecological theoretical model and analyzed archived data from 11,537 African Americans to answer the research questions. Multivariable analysis and chi-square analysis for trend were done to determine the predictors of knowledge of stroke signs and symptoms, intent to call 911, and their respective trends. Results show that respondents who were 18-39 years of age were less likely to have a low to no knowledge (OR = 0.46, CI = 0.27 - 0.80), while those who had a high school (OR = 1.95, CI = 1.28 - 2.96) or less than high school (OR = 2.83, CI = 2.03 - 3.96) level of education were more likely to have low to no knowledge of stroke signs and symptoms. Further, while males were less likely (OR = 0.65, CI = 0.64 - 0.66), respondents age 40-64 years (OR = 1.87, CI = 1.14 - 3.09), and those with moderate to adequate knowledge of stroke (OR = 1.39, CI = 1.18 - 1.65), were more likely to say they intend to call 911 in the event of a stroke. This study may lead to policies to improve stroke knowledge among the elderly. Targeted stroke education based on age, education, and socioeconomic status should be a component of such policy. Additionally, this study may lead to the provision of sidewalks and health education programs to improve risk factor control and could thus impact stroke incidence

Proceedings of the African Diaspora Conference on Sustainable Development

The authors urge the Western donor organizations to facilitate and support the take up of such more sustainable models

The Distributional Impact of Healthcare Financing in Nigeria: A Case Study of Enugu State

The deregulation of healthcare financing and supply in Nigeria has shifted the healthcare system towards competitive market ideals. Households' decision to utilize healthcare is identical with healthcare financing. This financing arrangement has potentials for income redistribution in a society with already high levels of inequality in resource redistribution. This study attempts to examine the extent to which this system of healthcare financing leads to catastrophic expenditures, defined as a threshold percentage of a household's income, and the extend of impoverishment arising from healthcare spending. It also uses the Aronson, Johnson, and Lambert (1994) decomposition framework to analyze redistributive effects in terms of vertical and horizontal inequities, as well as re-ranking effect. The study finds that healthcare spending engenders high incidence of catastrophic spending and impoverishment in the population. It also finds that healthcare spending is pro-rich in its redistributive effect, with significant vertical and horizontal inequities as well as reranking inherent in the system. The paper suggests policy reforms that separate healthcare utilization from healthcare financing if the poor are to have access to healthcare services.Redistributive effects, Healthcare financing, Catastrophic financing, Impoverishing effects, Equity, Nigeria

Searching for a place to belong in a time of othering

Australia is a land of opportunity, where hard work can bring a better life. Most immigrants come to Australia to establish a new life and fulfil hopes and dreams for better life opportunities. Like many immigrants to Australia, I came to establish a new better life for myself and for family. In this paper, I share my challenges of being different, and of being black and the experiences of black Africans in Australia. The paper invites more conversations on finding ways forward to change the system that favours some and disadvantages others. It indicates the need to humanise the Other and make Australia a more inclusive and liveable multicultural environment

Finding Umoja: Reimagining Mentoring of New Black Teachers

Abstract In the United States approximately 20% of new teachers leave within the first 3 years (Hayes, 2004 and Henke et al., 2000), and within 5 years up to 50% leave the profession (Ingersoll, 2003). Attrition rates were highest in urban schools and schools serving low-income and minority students leading to an inequitable distribution of quality and experienced teachers (Lankford et al., 2002, OECD, 2005 and Provasnik & Dorfman, 2005a). The purpose of this study was to reimagine mentoring as a part of the induction program, the Umoja Model, to support new Black teachers as they join urban educational environments. This qualitative study was conducted over five months. An action research framework in conjunction with grounded theory framework was used to understand what was happening to and with new Black teachers in an urban school. Using face-to-face interviews, observations and collected artifacts, an understanding of the supports necessary to reduce the attrition of new Black teachers from urban schools was sought. Attributes necessary for participation included Black teachers who were novice, 1 to 3 years teaching in the urban school. The data collected in this study showed that participants required four things in order to have a successful first year: consistency, personal connections, affirmation of their racial identity and experiences, and self-care. These themes contributed to the development of a reimagined mentoring program called the Umoja Model, which included two components: 1) best-fit mentorship; and 2) an induction program specifically tailored to new Black teachers

Hip Hop as Critical Pedagogy: Re-Imagining Education

Hip hop as a form of Black popular culture can help to create opportunities to generate new knowledge on how to re-imagine a culturally sustaining pedagogy for Black youth. In this literature review, I examine hip hop as an example of critical pedagogy that can be used to reframe and re-imagine learning and actively addresses the various forms of systemic racism and anti-Black oppression. Research has explored the impact of hip hop on youth's identity construction. Less research explores hip hop as a form of critical pedagogy. I draw on participatory methods to inquire how they are used to radically re-imagine a culturally sustaining and empowering vision. As critical pedagogy, hip hop can become a text and curriculum for revolutionary and transformative opportunities to critically interrogate intersecting forms of systemic racism while opening spaces for new generative learning by and for Black youth

Coloniality of power and international students experience: what are the ethical responsibilities of social work and human service educators?

This article explores theoretical responses to the living structures of dominance and subordination within modern postcolonial societies, highlighting racialised international students’ experiences within Australian universities. Drawing on coloniality of power and border thinking, it seeks to address ethical responsibilities for social work and human service educators from the author’s positioning as a non-Western immigrant ‘Other’, and experience of belonging as an educator of future social work and human service practitioners in Australia. Utilising autoethnographic and qualitative study, the article offers great insight into the systemic nature of discrimination in Australian tertiary education institutions. It suggests a need for critical, self-reflexive awareness about the legacies of colonialism and hegemonic whiteness to permeate social work and human service profession and education. This article, thus, enables decolonising minds, securing informed understanding, and initiating a shift in the way non-white (and non-Western) racialised international social work students are seen, constructed, and understood in contemporary Australian (Western) societies

Racial hierarchy and the global black experience of racism

This article aims to raise awareness on the life conditions of black people in Australia and beyond, and to renew public interest and discussion on how racial inferiority discourses, beliefs, and stereotypes about black people acquired and disseminated generations ago during colonialism together with institutional racism continue to limit their life opportunities and push them to the margins of the society. Therefore, this article explores racial hierarchy, white privilege and the socioeconomic challenges faced by black people. It does this by discussing how structures of inequality generated by the concept of race and its use in racialization continue to impact on the global black experience and condition. The article argues that racial inequality is perpetuated, especially, when racism codified in the institutions of everyday life is not acknowledged

American Education and the Black Girl

ABSTRACT American educators often view the Black girl as aggressive, defiant, and too challenging to educate, leading to disparities in disciplinary responses between the Black girl and her peers. This study aimed to examine the experiences of the Black girl in the K-12 system and to determine effective strategies teachers can use to establish productive educational relationships with the Black girl. The context of this inquiry was various states throughout the United States. In this study, I used a mixed method research design. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through surveys. One group of participants were Black girls who are recent high school graduates. The other group of participants were teachers who had taught Black girls. I found a disconnect between the perspective of the Black girls and the teachers. I recommended a policy change that requires administrators to receive professional development and facilitative coaching each year so they will understand the unique needs of the Black girl in order to support their teachers. I also recommended that teachers of Black girls receive professional development each year. As part of my policy, teachers of Black girls will also be assigned a mentor to support them