Educating Boys in Jamaica: In Search of a New Lens

The need for innovative solutions to enhance educational outcomes for Jamaican high school male students is evident. For over two decades, national exam results demonstrate that these students have consistently underachieved. Using aqualitative research design, this study explores the possibility of scaling up a student leadership educational model, developed by one U.S. school that has proven successful in educating an inner city minority male student population, to a similarly placed Jamaican high school. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with stakeholders at an all male Jamaican school and with administrators at the Ministry of Education, to understand their perceptions regarding the benefits, challenges and feasibility of the U.S. model for Jamaican high school male students. While participants’ attraction to the model was very strong, the possibility of transferring it was perceived to be low. Although Jamaican educators found aspects of the model helpful, they felt the need to construct their own model of education to respond to their contextual and cultural needs. This study offers two levels of analysis. First, it contributes on a macro level to the larger body of literature on scaling up educational reform, demonstrating the need to take into account the structural, cultural and agentive factors that co-construct and define the importance of context. This study shows that successful scaling up requires a high level of alignment with the educational goals, aspirations, beliefs, values and practices of the target school context. Second, this study contributes on a micro level to a greater understanding of the specificity of the Jamaican educational context. By examining the potential transferability of a student leadership educational model to help address high school male students’ academic underperformance, this study highlights how Jamaican educators’ deeply ingrained historical values, beliefs and practices, shape opportunities to reform education. In order to bring about meaningful change, successful transferability relies on sensitivity to school culture, as well as attending to stakeholders’ beliefs and practices regarding the education of male students

Reach of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) interventions and nutrition and physical activity-related outcomes, California, 2011-2012.

IntroductionThis study combined information on the interventions of the US Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education with 5,927 interview responses from the California Health Interview Survey to investigate associations between levels of intervention reach in low-income census tracts in California and self-reported physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables, fast food, and sugar-sweetened beverages.MethodsWe determined 4 levels of intervention reach (low reach, moderate reach, high reach, and no intervention) across 1,273 program-eligible census tracts from data on actual and eligible number of intervention participants. The locations of California Health Interview Survey respondents were geocoded and linked with program data. Regression analyses included measures for sex, age, race/ethnicity, and education.ResultsAdults and children from high-reach census tracts reported eating more fruits and vegetables than adults and children from no-intervention census tracts. Adults from census tracts with low, moderate, or high levels of reach reported eating fast food less often than adults from no-intervention census tracts. Teenagers from low-reach census tracts reported more physical activity than teenagers in no-intervention census tracts.ConclusionThe greatest concentration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education interventions was associated with adults and children eating more fruits and vegetables and adults eating fast food less frequently. These findings demonstrate the potential impact of such interventions as implemented by numerous organizations with diverse populations; these interventions can play an important role in addressing the obesity epidemic in the United States. Limitations of this study include the absence of measures of exposure to the intervention at the individual level and low statistical power for the teenager sample

Handwashing among Schoolchildren in Jatinangor, West Java

Background: Diarrhea and pneumonia accounts for an estimated 40% of all child deaths around the world each year. Handwashing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 6 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia. Although people around the world clean their hands with water, very few use soap to wash their hands. Washing hands with soap removes germs much more effectively. This study was undertaken to determine the level of knowledge and practice regarding proper handwashing among elementary school children.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted from August to October 2014 in Jatinangor using primary data from respondents who are 5th graders from four schools. A total of 49 males and 50 females were chosen using cluster random sampling. Schoolchildren who were present, able and well were given questionnaires after written informed consent was obtained from the schoolchildren and their guardians. Then, respondents demonstrated hand-washing techniques which were evaluated using a checklist.Results: Overall, 52% of the schoolchildren had moderate level of hand washing knowledge and 66% had bad handwashing practices.Conclusions: Despite having a moderate level of handwashing knowledge, the majority still had poor handwashing practices. Handwashing programs should be carried out extensively to improve knowledge and practice.[AMJ.2016;3(2):170–4]DOI: 10.15850/amj.v3n2.79

Bus use in a developing world city: implications for the health and well-being of older passengers

The aim of this article is to investigate the implications of bus use on the health and well-being of older passengers in a developing world city. Two complementary methods were used. Twenty-six participants aged 60 and over in Guadalajara, Mexico took part in four focus groups to identify the door-to-door elements of the bus service that impose difficulty in terms of accessing and using it, and their impact on the perceived or actual safety, usability and comfort of older passengers. The second part of the study comprised real time observation of 144 older passengers, to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the bus service and the observed behaviour of older passengers. The results show that issues such as driver behaviour, features of bus design, crowded buses, pedestrian infrastructure and other passengers׳ behaviour present difficulty to older passengers who need or want to use the bus service. The existence of these issues presents serious implications for older users in terms of perceived or actual safety, usability and comfort. Given the importance of the role of public transport, the overall conclusion is that there is an urgent need for further improvement of bus services to maintain and promote the health and well-being of older people

An observational comparison of the older and younger bus passenger experience in a developing world city

This study was an unobtrusive observational analysis of 333 older and younger bus passengers in Guadalajara, Mexico. A set of data were collected for each observed passenger, as well as more general observations related to driver behaviour, bus design, and bus service characteristics. There were significant differences between older and younger passengers in terms of boarding and alighting times, use of handrails, seat location preferences, passenger stability and coping strategies in order to maintain postural stability. The conditions of travel are conducive to a poor passenger experience for the older passengers in particular. Although the problems may be attributed to bus design and driver behaviour typical of that in developing countries, they are also influenced by the wider transport infrastructure, and a lack of a regulatory regime which places drivers under time pressure, and in direct competition with each other

Inclusive service design: in search of better services

Service Design focuses on designing services which are usable and desirable from the users’ perspective, and efficient and different from the organizations’ perspective. However, users are diverse and possess a variety of capabilities, needs, and desires, which presents specific challenges for Service Designers. Inclusive Design is an approach to designing products and services that addresses the needs of the widest possible audience, irrespective of age or ability. Draw upon these two approaches, this paper aims to present the concept of inclusive service design as an essential element in designing better services. The potential benefits of such an approach were explored through a series of qualitative studies of the bus service in Guadalajara, Mexico. Based upon the research, several advantages for service improvement were identified, drawn from the richness of data generated by younger and older customers, and the uniqueness of the information gained from them. Likewise, the value of the big picture data obtained from stakeholders. This information highlights areas where service designers can help reduce the gap between what service providers do and what a broad range of users expect or need

Muscle Dysmorphia and the Effects of Emotion Regulation and Fitness Media

Research on Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) has identified various cognitive and behavioral variables related to other psychopathology (i.e., eating disorders, additive disorders) associated with increased levels of impulsivity, compulsivity, and difficulty regulating emotions. PURPOSE: The aim of the current study was to investigate the degree to which emotional dysregulation (EDys), through the mediating effects of compulsivity and impulsivity, influence one’s risk towards MD symptomatology. Due to recent findings relating social media and negative regulatory associations, exploratory analyses assessed the effect of ‘fitspiration’ content on the model. METHODS: Using MTurk with a Qualtrics survey, 129 adults (aged 23-69 years) completed a background questionnaire, the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale – Short English Version, and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale – Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. For mediation analyses, PROCESS Model 4 was used in SPSS, and Model 59 was used to assess if ‘fitspiration’ exposure moderated any of the paths. RESULTS: Higher EDys was related to higher impulsivity (a1 = 0.21; 95% CI [0.15, 0.28]) and compulsivity (a2 = 0.39; 95% CI [0.31, 0.48]). Higher compulsivity was associated with increased MDDI scores (b2 = 0.32; 95% CI [0.12, 0.53]), while impulsivity was not (b1 = 0.01; 95% CI [-0.29, 0.29]). A direct effect was found for both models (c1’ = 0.68; 95% CI [-0.56, 0.81]; c2’ = 0.55; 95% CI [0.42, 0.69]); only compulsivity mediated this effect (a2 x b2 = 0.13; 95% CI [0.04, 0.23]). ‘Fitspiration’ exposure did not moderate this model (aint = -0.08; 95% CI [-0.22, 0.06]; bint = 0.50; 95% CI [-0.22, 1.23]; cint = -0.23; 95% CI [-0.64, 0.19]). CONCLUSION: Compulsivity significantly mediated the relationship between EDys and MD symptomatology, implying higher scores of EDys were associated with greater compulsivity, and increased compulsive scores were associated with more MD-related cognitions and behaviors. While related to EDys, impulsivity was not associated with dysmorphic symptoms. Exploratory analyses found ‘Fitspiration’ content exposure did not significantly moderate the model utilizing compulsivity as a mediating variable