Capacity Building and Empowerment: A panacea and a challenge for agency-university engagement

Capacity building is an effective strategy for promoting organizational change and/or improving the quality of social services. In this article I present an empowerment approach to capacity building. In doing so I propose a number of principles that can promote capacity building and collaboration between social service agencies and universities from an empowerment perspective: keeping the control of the capacity building process in the agency; developing competencies that matter to the people in the agency; engaging in supportive roles; maintaining a strengths-based approach to capacity building; focusing on sustainability, institutionalization and utilization of acquired skills; and paying attention to cultural and contextual issues. Further, the challenges and benefits of the empowerment approach to university-agency collaboration are discussed in this article

African Americans\u27 Views on Access to Healthy Foods: What a Farmers\u27 Market Provides

The study reported here assessed African Americans\u27 perceptions of a local farmers\u27 market and access to healthy produce in their community. The majority of respondents were satisfied with several dimensions of the farmers\u27 market, including location, cleanliness, variety, price, and quality of produce. Comparing the farmers\u27 market to the local stores in terms of access to fresh produce, about twice the number of residents was satisfied with the farmers\u27 market than with the local stores. This study has implications for Extension in terms of promoting farmers\u27 markets in low-income minority communities

Latinx Immigrant Families With Youth With Disabilities Participating in Civic Engagement to Promote Social Justice

Vulnerable populations are exposed to several disparities and inequalities representing an infringement of social justice and limiting their opportunities to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Latinx immigrant families with youth and young adults with disabilities represent one such vulnerable population. The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss the participation of Latinx immigrant families of youth and young adults with disabilities in two interrelated civic engagement projects aimed at promoting social justice and community participation. First, we will discuss the conceptual framework of social justice that grounded these cases of civic engagement, and then we will describe two case studies. Both cases of civic engagement emerged from Latinx immigrant families as part of meaningful conversations they had with the research team related to healthy lifestyles and community participation. The first case of civic engagement addresses walkability safety, and the second describes a community-engaged asset-mapping process. These two cases of civic engagement provided participants an opportunity to advocate for justice. Finally, we discuss the implications and challenges that vulnerable populations experience in making their voices heard by those in positions of power

Associations between parenting strategies and BMI percentile among Latino children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Introduction: Maintaining healthy weight is a challenge for all children, and particularly for children with IDD compared to nondisabled children and for Latino children compared to non-Latino White children. Parenting practices related to food intake and physical activity have been found to be important in maintaining children\u27s weight. In this study, we describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity status among Latino children with IDD and their maternal caregivers and determine the relationship between food and physical activity parenting practices and childhood obesity among Latino children with IDD. Methods: We interviewed 94 Latino parent/child dyads and collected information about parenting practices, home environment, and parent and child height and weight using standardized measures. Parent body mass index (BMI) and child BMI percentile were calculated from height and weight. Results: The combined overweight/obesity status for children in our sample was high (60.3%) compared to national rates among nondisabled Latino children (56%) and non-Latino White children with autism (37%). Contrary to research on nondisabled children, we found that greater parental use of controlling dietary strategies was associated with lower BMI percentile in Latino children with IDD. These findings may be indicative of the fact that children with IDD tend to have unique dietary behaviors that warrant more disability and culturally sensitive strategies. Discussion: Our findings suggest that overweight and obesity is especially prevalent for Latino children with IDD and that more research is needed on family factors that promote health in Latino families of children with IDD

Using Photovoice to Identify Factors that Influence Children

Purpose: Children in the United States are at risk for developing obesity at higher rates than ever before. The study investigated if a picture taking assignment based on Photovoice was effective in engaging children in a discussion about factors that influenced their health and participation in active occupations. Method: Seventeen children between the ages of 10 and 11 years old completed the picture taking assignment and participated in a structured discussion. Results: The children were able to identify factors that promoted a healthy lifestyle, as well as factors that did not promote a healthy lifestyle. The children also established individual goals related to health and participation in active occupations.Conclusions: Occupational therapy practitioners who work with children can integrate similar assignments into their practice. Such assignments will provide children with the opportunity to discuss and share their opinions and concerns, as well as identify potential barriers they might encounter when implementing action plans

Capacity Building and Empowerment: A panacea and a challenge for agency-university engagement

Capacity building is an effective strategy for promoting organizational change and/or improving the quality of social services. In this article I present an empowerment approach to capacity building. In doing so I propose a number of principles that can promote capacity building and collaboration between social service agencies and universities from an empowerment perspective: keeping the control of the capacity building process in the agency; developing competencies that matter to the people in the agency; engaging in supportive roles; maintaining a strengths-based approach to capacity building; focusing on sustainability, institutionalization and utilization of acquired skills; and paying attention to cultural and contextual issues. Further, the challenges and benefits of the empowerment approach to university-agency collaboration are discussed in this article

Clinical Relevance and Psychometric Properties of the Swedish Version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument

Based on the increasing diversity of Swedish society, health professionals, like occupational therapists, find it challenging to provide culturally competent services to international clients. Consequently, cultural competence among professionals needs to be measured and improved using psychometrically tested instruments. This study examines the clinical relevance, construct validity, and reliability of the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument among Swedish occupational therapists. Material and Methods. A randomised sample of 312 Swedish occupational therapists answered a survey based on the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument with supplementary questions on the clinical relevance of the instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the clinical relevance of the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument. Factor analyses, both exploratory and confirmatory, were run to examine the factor structure. Cronbachs alpha was performed to assess the internal consistency of the instrument. Results. The participants reported that the 24 items had high clinical relevance. The validation yielded a three-factor model: openness and awareness, workplace support, and interaction skills. All three of these factors showed high loadings. Conclusions. The study results indicated positive clinical relevance and psychometric properties for the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument and strong support to be utilised in Sweden. The implications of this study are important given the rapid growth in migration over the last few decades. A self-rating instrument measuring cultural competence could support occupational therapists professional knowledge and development when they interact with international clients. As the tool was originally developed in English in the United States, the feedback from the Swedish version could potentially be useful for the instrument in modified form and for use by occupational therapists in English-speaking countries

A Case Study of Liberation among Latino Immigrant Families who have Children with Disabilities

Latino immigrant families with children with disabilities experience multiple sources of oppression during their settlement process in the United States. Unfair social structures and dominant cultural values and norms and the way they influence the immigrants’ personal life stories generate a cycle of oppression very difficult to break. This paper presents a case study of how a group of Latino parents carried out a process of liberation fueled by the generation of empowering community narratives (critical awareness leading to transformative action) that resulted from a community-university partnership. Participants initiated a process that led them to discover their own stories of oppression and create new stories; to deconstruct the dominant cultural narratives and modify existing ones; and to understand contexts for power sharing. This joint reflection and increased awareness propelled group members to take action by founding a grassroots organization to redress some of the injustices that were partly responsible for their oppression, thus generating shifts at the personal, relational, and collective levels. In light of the theory of liberation, we discuss the participants’ development of critical awareness that led them to take action to address their unmet needs