Transforming researchers and practitioners: The unanticipated consequences (significance) of Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Each of us has knowledge but it is not complete. When we come together to listen, we learn, we grow in understanding and we can analyze better the course that needs to be taken. One thing I learned over the past several years is that words and their interpretation have power. Grand Bayou community member This dissertation examines the question of change in the non-community people who have interacted or come into contact with the Grand Bayou Participatory Action Research (PAR) project. Who Changes?, a book on institutionalizing participation in development, raises the issu of where is the change? in a participatory project (Blackburn1998). Fischer (2000), Forester (1992), and Wildavsky (1979) indicate that a participatory process is beneficial to all stages of planning policy development, and analysis. However, planners, academics, and practitioners who work with high risk communities are often of different cultures, values, and lived experience than those of the community. Despite the best intentions of these professionals, these differences may at times cause a disconnect from or a dismissal of the community\u27s knowledge, values or validity claims as the participatory process transpires. The outside experts often fail to learn from the local communities or use the community\u27s expertise. The Grand Bayou Participatory Action Research (PAR) project, funded in part by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, investigated the viability of PAR in a post-disaster recovery project. The NSF report revealed that the community did gain agency and political effectiveness; the study and evaluation, however, did not focus on the outside collaborators and their change. Freirian and Habermasian theories of conscientization and critical hermeneutics would assume that those engaged with the project have changed in some way through their learning experience and that change may be emancipatory. The change builds on a core tenet of PAR in developing relational knowledge while honoring the other. This study used a case study methodology utilizing multiple sources of evidence to explore the answer to this question. A better understanding of the change in outside collaborators in a PAR project can be helpful in developing a more holistic participatory community planning process

The Effect of the Type of Mental Disorder on Mental Health Stigma

Mental health stigma is an important topic as it has an influence on the care clients receive, as well as resources allocated by society. Previous research has primarily investigated the topic of stigma associated with schizophrenia and various factors that may influence the endorsement of stigmatizing beliefs. Few studies have investigated whether the type of mental disorder has an influence on the level of stigma. The current study evaluated the difference in the level of stereotypes endorsed across three conditions: schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and a typical person. Additionally, this study evaluated the reliability of using a global stereotype score obtained from summing the responses of the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-27). The results of this study showed that there is a significant difference in the level of global stereotype scores across the three conditions and that a global stereotype score from the AQ-27 is reliable

Campus-wide Coastal Hazards Resiliency Curriculum and Development of Hazard Mitigation Planning Curriculum

An area of the country so much at risk to coastal storms requires an educated populous to whom risk resilience comes naturally. Strengthening what UNO already offers in some of its graduate programs with similar interesting, logical instruction on resilience in many courses across the curriculum (called ‘teaching across the curriculum,’ like international issues are currently done) will build the human infrastructure to lead and support statewide storm mitigation. Given the widespread recognition of the importance of community and societal resilience in the context of natural hazard risk (or any risk), there is a strong need to begin systematically developing integrated social resilience curriculum in many of the university course offerings. The pinnacle outcome of this project is to produce community/regional leaders with strong professional capacities to create and support disaster resilience everywhere. The time and place could not be more perfect for such a program. The University, as the large public institution at “ground zero” of the Katrina/Rita catastrophe, offers a unique laboratory for the study of disaster resilience. In addition, UNO already has a foundation in place in the form of CHART and CUPA, faculty experts in disaster science, and a curricular core that can serve as a starting point for an instructional program

Campus-wide Coastal Hazards Resiliency Curriculum and Development of Hazard Mitigation Planning Curriculum

An area of the country so much at risk to coastal storms requires an educated populous to whom risk resilience comes naturally. Strengthening what UNO already offers in some of its graduate programs with similar interesting, logical instruction on resilience in many courses across the curriculum (called ‘teaching across the curriculum,’ like international issues are currently done) will build the human infrastructure to lead and support statewide storm mitigation. Given the widespread recognition of the importance of community and societal resilience in the context of natural hazard risk (or any risk), there is a strong need to begin systematically developing integrated social resilience curriculum in many of the university course offerings. The pinnacle outcome of this project is to produce community/regional leaders with strong professional capacities to create and support disaster resilience everywhere. The time and place could not be more perfect for such a program. The University, as the large public institution at “ground zero” of the Katrina/Rita catastrophe, offers a unique laboratory for the study of disaster resilience. In addition, UNO already has a foundation in place in the form of CHART and CUPA, faculty experts in disaster science, and a curricular core that can serve as a starting point for an instructional program

The Effectiveness of Total Worker Health Interventions: A Systematic Review for a National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop

BACKGROUND: The Total Worker Health (TWH) program of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health aims to advance worker well-being by integrating injury and illness prevention efforts with work-related safety and health hazard efforts. PURPOSE: To evaluate evidence on the benefits and harms of integrated TWH interventions. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO (January 1990 through September 2015); clinical trial registries; and reference lists. STUDY SELECTION: English-language studies that enrolled employed adults and compared integrated interventions with usual work practice, no intervention, or another intervention. DATA EXTRACTION: Dual abstraction and risk-of-bias (ROB) assessment. DATA SYNTHESIS: Ten of the 15 included studies had high ROB, primarily because of selection and attrition bias. Findings graded as having low strength of evidence (SOE) supported the effectiveness of TWH interventions for improving smoking cessation, as measured by self-reported 7-day abstinence over 22 to 26 weeks (2 randomized, controlled trials [RCTs]; n = 737), and increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables over 26 to 104 weeks (3 RCTs; n = 6056); results apply to populations of blue-collar manufacturing and construction workers. Findings graded as having low SOE supported the effectiveness of TWH interventions for reducing sedentary work behavior in office workers over 16 to 52 weeks (2 RCTs; n = 262). Evidence was insufficient or lacking for other outcomes of interest, such as rates of work injuries, quality of life, and harms. LIMITATION: Small, diverse body of evidence with many methodological limitations; possible publication bias. CONCLUSION: Integrated TWH interventions might improve health behaviors (for example, reduce tobacco use and sedentary behavior and improve diet) of workers, but effects of these interventions on injuries and overall quality of life are not known. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Differences in Hospital Managers’, Unit Managers’, and Health Care Workers’ Perceptions of the Safety Climate for Respiratory Protection

This article compares hospital managers’ (HM), unit managers’ (UM), and health care workers’ (HCW) perceptions of respiratory protection safety climate in acute care hospitals. The article is based on survey responses from 215 HMs, 245 UMs, and 1,105 HCWs employed by 98 acute care hospitals in six states. Ten survey questions assessed five of the key dimensions of safety climate commonly identified in the literature: managerial commitment to safety, management feedback on safety procedures, coworkers’ safety norms, worker involvement, and worker safety training. Clinically and statistically significant differences were found across the three respondent types. HCWs had less positive perceptions of management commitment, worker involvement, and safety training aspects of safety climate than HMs and UMs. UMs had more positive perceptions of management’s supervision of HCWs’ respiratory protection practices. Implications for practice improvements indicate the need for frontline HCWs’ inclusion in efforts to reduce safety climate barriers and better support effective respiratory protection programs and daily health protection practices

A Pilot Study of total Personal Exposure to Volatile organic Compounds among Hispanic Female Domestic Cleaners

Cleaners have an elevated risk for the development or exacerbation of asthma and other respiratory conditions, possibly due to exposure to cleaning products containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) leading to inflammation and oxidative stress. This pilot study aimed to quantify total personal exposure to VOCs and to assess biomarkers of inflammation and pulmonary oxidative stress in 15 predominantly Hispanic women working as domestic cleaners in San Antonio, Texas, between November 2019 and July 2020. In partnership with a community organization, Domésticas Unidas, recruited women were invited to attend a training session where they were provided 3M 3500 passive organic vapor monitors (badges) and began a 72-hr sampling period during which they were instructed to wear one badge during the entire period ( AT, fo