Participatory community enterprise: A new way of doing work with inbuilt flexibility

The way that work is structured and produced creates dilemmas for integrating work with the rest of life – family, friends, leisure, community activism, creativity, personal development and personal interests. The way that salaried or paid work is structured creates the kinds of communities we live in. At the same time there are large numbers of people excluded from even the possibility of decent, paid work in formal organisations, confined to worklessness and poverty. The dominant response to this is skills and productivity deficit (explanation) and skills training and development (solution). I will suggest a different way of approaching community, work and family tensions: an approach that enables communities to identify need and create work to meet these needs. This approach is known variously as part of the solidarity economy or the participatory civic economy. I will present some examples of civic participatory work developments that have the potential for community building and incorporating flexibility and family support

Culture, identity and alternatives to the consumer culture

This article explores questions of identity and culture in relation to the present systemic crises that confront human life on the planet, problematising the pursuit of economic growth and consumerist culture. It uses the concept of Ideology-Action-Structure complexes to understand the saturating nature of social, political and economic domination, and then explores interventions in these complexes, which all have characteristics of informal education, to promote cultural growth, create new settings and establish a counter-hegemonic ideology and alliance. It is suggested that by joining up fragmented local interventions and movements, there is hope that society's way of life can be shifted to one where cultural enrichment supports a less resource-exploitative economic and cultural model

Intergenerational differences in healthy eating beliefs among British Pakistanis with type 2 diabetes

Introduction: There are growing concerns on how to prevent, slow down and induce remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recent evidence has found diet and lifestyle interventions can cause remission of T2DM, however, there are challenges for diverse groups such as British Pakistanis who are four times more at risk of T2DM. There is a need to understand the food behaviours of different generational groups to develop culturally appropriate strategies to support diabetes prevention programmes. Aims: This study explores beliefs about healthy eating and food practices related to T2DM among British Pakistanis to understand the challenges they face in implementing healthy diets. Method: We carried out 26 semi-structured qualitative interviews via telephone and face-to-face. The sample included T2DM British Pakistanis living in Bradford (UK), aged between 18 and 71 with a mean age of 50 (SD = 17.04). Among the participants, 14 were women (54%) and 12 were men (46%), with interviews conducted in both English (76%) and Urdu (24%). Participants were grouped under three generation groups based on age (first generation 65+; second generation 40–64; younger generation 18–39 years). There was no biological link between the generational groups, and they were not part of the same family. Data were analysed using qualitative reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Findings were categorised into three themes: knowledge and awareness of diabetes symptoms; social and family context of food practices and making sense of healthy eating. The family was the fundamental unit of understanding food-related health behaviours. Eating traditional food was perceived as healthy and deemed practical for first generations who were the initial members of their family to settle in the UK as well as the second generations who had parents born in Pakistan. Younger British Pakistanis were born in the UK and reported that they struggled to eat alternative foods within the home and manage their T2DM. Conclusion: These findings improve our understanding of how three generations of British Pakistanis with T2DM negotiate healthy diets. There is a need for culturally tailored diet modifications and interventions, where different generational needs can be specifically targeted to adopt healthier diets which should be shared and encouraged

Pillars of support for wellbeing in the community: the role of the public sector

In this discussion I am concerned with the experiences of those living in areas of multiple deprivation in England, and what explorations of wellbeing might imply for the role of public services. I will draw attention to some of the paradoxes in linking wellbeing and participation for those living in areas of multiple deprivation. I will use the stress and burnout metaphor to describe some of the experiences of people who live in, and are active in areas of multiple deprivation in England. I will discuss some of the ways in which ‘participation’ enhances wellbeing but also some of the ways it undermines and threatens wellbeing. In particular I will examine the role that public sector workers, often at the point of engagement with ‘participating’ local people, play in enhancing or undermining wellbeing. I will argue that in the English context, with public and welfare agencies controlling and restricting people’s lives, it is the public sector that is placed to support wellbeing. It is also placed to jeopardise it. Instead of constantly calling for capacity building and the development of personal responsibility for wellbeing by those living in areas of deprivation, we would do well to attend to the capacity building for responsibility for wellbeing of public sector workers

Pathways project evaluation: final report

Pathways: Health and Well-Being through the Arts The Pathways project aims to deliver participatory arts practice within communities in Manchester addressing issues of mental health and social inclusion. From September 2004 - 2005, a research team from the Research Institute for Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of Pathways, using a participatory and inclusive approach. The Pathways Evaluation aimed: • To articulate the processes that artists were engaged in from the perspectives of both artists and participants; • To examine some of the mechanisms and outputs of the artistic processes in terms of the extent to which they can be gauges of change over the duration of the project (for example ‘tree people’ diagrams; ‘social atoms’, life stories); • To understand the mechanisms through which the artists relate with and work with the participants and the impact of these ways of working on both participants and artists (including, for example issues of playfulness, fun, trust); • To identify changes in mental health and/or social support and/or participation and inclusion of participants as a result of participating in the project; • To indicate how Pathways contributes to PSA target: improving outcomes for adults and children with mental health problems; and PSA target: improving quality of life; • To identify the process and impact of the Pathways Exhibition on participants and artists in terms of well-being and social inclusion; • To identify the relative strengths of different forms of data for evaluation of arts and mental health work. Taking an holistic perspective, information was gathered from artists, participants, LIME staff and project venue managers. Experiences and assessments of the workshops were collected through interviews, graffiti boards, diaries, questionnaires and research participant observations as well as emotional and social documenting via participatory group methods including the ‘tree people’ and ‘social atom’ techniques

"All in the same boat. The nightmare has gone and you're with other like-minded people". Psychosocial impact of participation in a holistic therapy programme for people with Parkinson's Disease, volunteer therapists and family members

A psychosocial evaluation of an annual Holistic Therapies Programme, consisting of ten different activities, for people with Parkinson’s Disease was undertaken with the following aims: 1. To gain information participants’ reported positive and negative experiences of different activities on offer during the holistic therapy week, in terms of their wellbeing (satisfaction and pleasure as well as personal development and growth); 2. To assess the extent to which gains in terms of quality of life, or wellbeing through participating in the in the week last over time; 3. To provide information that will lead to the enhancement of future holistic therapy weeks as well as the viability of holistic therapy programmes for use elsewhere. Different methods were used to collect information. These included Quality of Life (as measured by the PDQ39 scale measurements prior to and two months following the week and interviews and discussions with 30 people with Parkinson’s Disease, 18 carers or family members and 12 volunteer therapists. The quality of Life questionnaire failed to identify any changes in the quality of life domains of mobility; activities of daily living; emotional wellbeing; stigma social support; cognition; communication ; and bodily discomfort over time. However, other sources of information clearly identified positive impact on social, emotional, physical, leisure, and personal wellbeing. People with Parkinson’s Disease, their carers and volunteer therapists gained in terms of both satisfaction and personal challenge and development during the course of the week. They also experienced greater social inclusion during the course of the programme

Review of the East Manchester neighbourhood nuisance team

The community psychology team at Manchester Metropolitan University was commissioned in June 2005 by the East Manchester Neighbour Nuisance Team (EMNNT) to undertake a review of the working methods and outcomes of the team. The review aimed to: 1. Provide independent information about the work of the EMNNT; 2. Provide information from the perspectives of different stakeholders on the work of the EMNNT about the efficacy of its working methods and satisfaction with both intermediate and final outcomes of its practices; 3. To describe how intermediate and final outcomes are achieved through the specific working practices of the EMNNT, in particular the efficacy of its partnership working; 4. To assess the extent to which the EMNNT has achieved prevention in the area of neighbour nuisance and anti-social behaviour

"We don't believe you want a genuine partnership": universities work with communities

‘Community engagement’ has been slow to become a legitimate part of the work of Higher Education Institutions in the UK, and the extent to which different universities subscribe to this agenda is variable. This paper will draw on one part of a large five-University project on ‘knowledge transfer’ from Universities to the community around urban regeneration. We will describe of the participative processes of developing collaborative projects. Different stakeholder interests, as well as barriers to effective collaboration will be explored and discussed in terms of a model of organisational resource maximisation. The implications for embedding community work into Universities will be examined