Remember the Fillmore: The Lingering History of Urban Renewal in Black San Francisco

In the summer of 2008, I moved to San Francisco, California. I lived in the city for three months. As a researcher, my objective was to learn more about Mayor Gavin Newsome’s African-American Out-Migration Task Force. The Task Force convened in 2007 and met eight times from August to December. In 2009, the Mayor\u27s office released a final report on the Redevelopment Agency\u27s website that summarized the history of blacks in the city and outlined several recommendations for reversing their flight. The final report found that the political, economic, and social conditions of African-Americans are disproportionately more dire than any other group in San Francisco. During our conversations, some task force members suggested that this dire condition could be due to the lack of a black middle-class, which could act as a “connective tissue” between San Francisco’s poor black community and the city’s decision makers. The Task Force reported that although blacks had been in San Francisco for decades, many African-Americans, especially poor blacks, often felt disconnected from much of the city life. That finding resonated with what I heard during my interviews with the middle- to upper-middle class African-American members of the Task Force and with my observations of how residents and visitors shared public space in the Fillmore neighborhood, one of the city’s historically black neighborhoods. [excerpt

Illness perception, mood and coping in patients with rhinitis

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A qualitative evaluation of home based contraceptive and sexual health care for teenage mothers

This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of teenage mothers using a nurse-led, home-based contraceptive service designed to prevent repeat unplanned pregnancies. The aim was to understand if, and how the service was effective in equipping teenage mothers to make informed choices about contraception, thus preventing a second pregnancy. Unplanned teenage pregnancy remains a significant focus of health and social policy in the United Kingdom (UK). Despite the long-term pattern of declining conception rates, the UK continues to report higher rates than comparable countries elsewhere in Europe. Current estimates suggest that approximately one fifth of births amongst under 18’s are repeat pregnancies (Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, 2009). Services that are designed to reduce second unplanned pregnancies are an important element in promoting teenage sexual health. However, there has been no UK research that explores this kind of service and the experiences of service users. We conducted a qualitative interview study. From 2013–2014 we interviewed 40 teenage mothers who had engaged with the nurse-led, home-based contraceptive service. The data demonstrates that the service was effective in preventing repeat pregnancies in a number of cases. Among the aspects of the service which were found to contribute to its effectiveness were privacy, convenience, flexibility, appropriately timed access, the non-judgemental attitude of staff and ongoing support

Administration of nasal medications to infants and young children – thematic analysis of parents’ experiences in online forum discussions and blogs

Background: Allergic rhinitis is an increasing problem among children in developed countries. A 12-year birth cohort study from 2001 to 2012 on Isle of Wight showed that current-rhinitis and lifetime-rhinitis prevalence increased by 5.5% (22.6-vs-28.1, p=0.004) and 13% (18.6-vs-31.7, p<0.001) respectively. Parents play an essential role in the administration of medication, but to date no qualitative research has focussed on the administration challenges of nasal medications to young children. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of parents administering nasal medications to their children. Using a novel method in paediatric health services research in allergy, online forum discussions and blog posts were used for this matter. Methods: Simple searches in Google were done to identify websites, where parents generally discussed the care of their atopic children. After that, advanced title searches in Google, Yahoo and Bing were done in the most appropriate websites like mumsnet.com, bellybelly.com.au, babycentre.co.uk, etc. Keywords for these advanced searches were: ‘how to nasal spray/drops toddler’, ‘tips nasal spray/drops toddler’, etc. A thematic analysis was used: First, the forum discussions and blog posts were transcribed into Word with line numbers; Transcripts were coded and divided into subthemes and themes; For ethical reasons, only online forum discussions were used which could be accessed without having to sign in. Results: 29 online forum discussions and 1 weblog were analysed, where parents of children with rhinitis symptoms sought advice on how to administer nasal medications or nasal saline irrigation. The following themes were found: 1. Barriers to medication administration: Resistance towards nasal medications shown by infants and young children was widely reported: Other barriers were fear of medications or hatred towards it: 2. Consequences to barriers of medication administration: Very common for parents was to use force because of resistance to medication which led to emotional disturbance in parents: 3. Facilitators for successful nasal medication administration: Several strategies for successful nasal medication administration were suggested like demonstration, distraction, while asleep, or game. Conclusions: This qualitative research highlights the challenges parents face when administering nasal medications to their children with rhinitis; Health professionals need to be aware of these difficulties to advise parents about medication administration appropriately; More research is needed to understand how best to facilitate the delivery of nasal treatment for allergic rhinitis in order to develop optimal control, and possibly prevent progression to asthma

Validity of two common asthma-specific quality of life questionnaires: Juniper mini asthma quality of life questionnaire and Sydney asthma quality of life questionnaire

Background This study explored the psychometric properties (internal consistency, construct validity, discriminative ability) of the Juniper Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini AQLQ-J) and the Sydney Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ-S). Methods One hundred fourty-six adults (18-45 years) with asthma requiring regular inhaled corticosteroids were recruited to a trial of written emotional disclosure. Correlational analyses were performed to understand the relationship of the two measures with each other, with symptoms, lung function, asthma control, asthma bother and generic quality of life. Median quality of life scores were compared according to gender, health care usage and levels of asthma severity. Results AQLQ-J and AQLQ-S total scores correlated strongly with each other (rho = -0.80) and moderately with the EuroQol Current Health Status Scale (AQLQ-J: rho = 0.35; AQLQ-S: rho = -0.40). Domain score correlations between AQLQ-J and AQLQ-S were mostly moderate (0.5 < rho < 0.8). Both QoL measures were significantly correlated with symptom score. Correlations with the symptom score asthma module (AQLQ-J: rho = -0.69; AQLQ-S: rho = 0.50) were stronger compared with the total symptom score and the symptom score rhinitis module (AQLQ-J: rho = -0.41; AQLQ-M: rho =0.31). Neither QoL measure was significantly correlated with FEV1 % predicted at the total or the domain level. Total scores of both measures were significantly correlated with subjective asthma control (AQLQ-J: rho = 0.68; AQLQ-S: rho = -0.61) and asthma bother (AQLQ-J: rho = -0.73; AQLQ-M: rho = 0.73). Conclusions This study provides further evidence for the validity of the AQLQ-J and the AQLQ-S in a British population of adult patients with asthma managed in primary care. Correlations with lung function parameters were weak or absent. Correlations with generic quality of life were moderate, those with asthma symptoms, asthma control and asthma bother were strong. Both measures are able to discriminate between levels of asthma severity

The second wave: Aboriginal cultural centres in sustainable development

Over the past 10 years there has been a widespread, localised, uncoordinated effort across Australia to create Aboriginal cultural centres. Generally funded by regional development bodies and/or local government, these centres focus on leveraging culture to drive human development (training, employment) while meeting a range of social and cultural goals. Among their goals are cultural events, engagement with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, and education about Aboriginal cultural knowledge. They can be differentiated from the first wave of Aboriginal arts centres that began in the 1970s that were controlled by Aboriginal organisations in which the Federal government exercised influence via funding models, had the principle activity of facilitating the production and marketing of art, and tended to be in remote locations. The focus here is on an exemplar of the established, though still developing, second wave of Aboriginal cultural centres. This paper presents a hypothesis on the characteristics of the second wave of Aboriginal cultural centres and their alignment with state-defined priorities for sustainable development through the case study of an Aboriginal culture and heritage centre. Insights are drawn from key informant interviews about the creation and operation of Gwoondwardu Mia, the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre in Carnarvon, Western Australia

The Real on Food-Related Medical Conditions: Narrativizing the Respective Lived Experiences of Eight Interlocutors Around Their Unique Food Needs

This native ethnographic research project disrupts narratives which limit analytical engagement with food-related medical conditions to the medical, and creates space for unpacking the very real social and emotional implications of suffering from a food-related medical condition. Eight interlocutors’ respective lived experiences, thoughts, and feelings are narrativized and used to understand what it means - holistically - to have medically-imposed dietary restrictions. Some key themes explored in this work include: stigma; embarrassment; the desire to render one’s food-related medical condition imperceptible to others; bullying; privilege (which takes multiple forms); fear of being seen by others as “that person”; race; systemic health inequities; Covid-19 and its relation to everyday living with a food-related medical condition; and anti-Black systemic racism

Applied synectics to teach community development for living and learning communities to resident advisors and community assistants at California State University Monterey Bay

This action research investigated the use of the synectics instructional model to teach community development to Resident Advisors and Community Assistnats at California State University Monterey Bay. Feedback from participants of the trainings was collected using online surveys and focus groups. The teacher-researcher also maintained a reflective journal of the training sessions. Findings supported that synectics promoted concept development and creative thinking and was a useful problem solving tool to organize training sessions and schedules. The research suggested combining the synectic models and adding more learning strategies improved the effectiveness of the model for teaching and learning

The Bronx in Australia: The Metaphoric Stigmatization of Public Housing Tenants in Australian Towns and Cities

This paper contributes to the literature on the stigmatization of Australian public housing tenants and to the literature on Australian housing metaphors, explaining the usage of “the Bronx” as a means of stigmatizing country town and suburban localities dominated by public housing. It compares four Australian situations where the marginalization of the poor is expressed through the typification of the area in which they live as “the Bronx” by local usage, the media or both, comparing these with a fifth situation that matched the signal characteristics of this typification but escaped being so labeled. An examination of the Bronx’s (New York City) history shows the development of its reputation as a metaphor for the urban ghetto. The results of qualitative fieldwork undertaken in the Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie, Carnarvon, and Broome are compared with media representations of analogous stigmatizations in New South Wales

Loosening the Bounds of Human Rights: Global Justice and the Theory of Justice

A review of: Bounds of Justice by Onora O’Neill. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 219pp