Rewriting the Call to Charity: From Food Shelf Volunteer to Food Justice Advocate

Consider the food shelf volunteer (or any charity worker) who is inspired to practice good work on behalf of those who are poor and hungry. Her beneficence is praiseworthy. But a simple call to charity may also blind the volunteer to certain facts about food justice. First, it leaves out why clients who utilize the food shelf are hungry. Second, it suggests that the generous volunteers who staff the food shelf have met their political responsibilities. In this viewpoint I argue that hunger relief advocates may be transformed into policy advocates only if they are epistemically positioned to do so. What we need is a new practical strategy or technique for rewriting the very nature of what it means to engage in charity. This strategy involves using stories or narratives that profile particular people who are food insecure, but that also include systemic background conditions describing the social, political, and economic positions of more than one person. To make visible these background conditions I employ the philosophical concept of a counterstory. Counterstories reveal structural inequities that identify how groups of people are unfairly disadvantaged. Acquiring this point of view is necessary for undertaking our collective responsibilities for achieving food justice because it positions us to see what structural conditions must change. In this way food justice activism becomes a real goal, made possible by the creation of a knowledgeable and informed citizenry.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fss2014/1013/thumbnail.jp

Using the ICF and psychological models of behavior to predict mobility limitations

Aims to test the ability of a model that integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB) into the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) to predict walking limitations in adults awaiting hip or knee replacement surgery. Study Design and Participants: Cross-sectional structural equation modeling study of activity limitations in 190 adults. Method: A postal questionnaire measuring the TPB, ICF and walking limitations. Results: The integrated model accounted for more variance in activity limitations (57%) than either the TPB or ICF alone. Control beliefs (TPB) significantly mediated the relationship between impairment (ICF) and activity limitations. Conclusions: The integrated model provides an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that identifies intervention targets to effect reductions in disability without the need for concomitant reductions in impairment

The outcomes of family and consumer leadership education: creating positive change in disability policy and practice

Background When individuals with disabilities are trained in evidenced based practices and how to advocate for themselves and their families, they are best able to ensure that services and supports meet their needs and create and realize a positive vision for their future. Participants and procedure In New Hampshire in the United States a Leadership Series provided seven weekend training sessions to an annual cohort of about 25 family members and 10 adults with disabilities about better practices in service provision, defining a vision for the future, and community organizing and advocacy strategies, using informational sessions and participation in small work groups. Results A total of 100 participants completing the Series over a six-year period completed pre and post surveys consisting of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Respondents reported highly significant increases in their knowledge about service provision and advocacy strategies, significant increases in their clarity of vision for six out of seven life domains, and significant increases in their membership in community organizations and frequency of advocacy activities. Conclusions The Leadership Series fostered increased efforts to create positive change in the lives of the participants and their family members with disabilities and in the services and supports provided to family members with disabilities

For the Sake of the Child: Parental Recognition in the Age of Assisted Reproductive Technology

Assisted Reproductive Technology has expanded the ways in which families may be created. Some intended parents of ART-conceived children, however, are not recognized as legal parents under existing North Carolina law. This Article explores why this lack of parental recognition is unjust for ART-conceived children, and how legislative codification of the Uniform Parentage Act will provide a framework for just and consistent decisions across North Carolina courts tasked with resolving critical family law issues

Consumer purchasing patterns in response to calorie labeling legislation in New York City

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity is a major public health threat and policies aimed at curbing this epidemic are emerging. National calorie labeling legislation is forthcoming and requires rigorous evaluation to examine its impact on consumers. The purpose of this study was to examine whether point-of-purchase calorie labels in New York City (NYC) chain restaurants affected food purchasing patterns in a sample of lower income adults in NYC and Newark, NJ.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study utilized a difference-in-difference design to survey 1,170 adult patrons of four popular chain restaurants in NYC and Newark, NJ (which did not introduce labeling) before and after calorie labeling was implemented in NYC. Receipt data were collected and analyzed to examine food and beverage purchases and frequency of fast food consumption. Descriptive statistics were generated, and linear and logistic regression, difference-in-difference analysis, and predicted probabilities were used to analyze the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A difference-in-difference analysis revealed no significant favorable differences and some unfavorable differences in food purchasing patterns and frequency of fast food consumption between adult patrons of fast food restaurants in NYC and Newark, NJ. Adults in NYC who reported noticing and using the calorie labels consumed fast food less frequently compared to adults who did not notice the labels (4.9 vs. 6.6 meals per week, p <0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While no favorable differences in purchasing as a result of labeling were noted, self-reported use of calorie labels was associated with some favorable behavioral patterns in a subset of adults in NYC. However, overall impact of the legislation may be limited. More research is needed to understand the most effective way to deliver calorie information to consumers.</p

What does the chronic pain grade questionnaire measure?

This study explored the ability of the Chronic Pain Grade Questionnaire (CPG) to operationalise the WHO's model of health outcomes, namely the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Twelve expert judges used the method of discriminant content validation to allocate the seven items of the CPG to one or more ICF outcome, namely, impairment, activity limitations and participation restrictions. One-sample t-tests classified each item as measuring impairment, activity limitations or participation restrictions, or a combination thereof. The results indicated that the CPG contains items able to measure each of the three ICF outcomes. However, the pain grade classification system used in the CPG conflates the ICF outcomes. The implication of this conflation of outcome for the assessment of interventions is discussed

MOBILE and the provision of total joint replacement

Modern joint replacements have been available for 45 years, but we still do not have clear indications for these interventions, and we do not know how to optimize the outcome for patients who agree to have them done. The MOBILE programme has been investigating these issues in relation to primary total hip and knee joint replacements, using mixed methods research

The Lantern Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring 1969

• My Steps Alone • He Said He Hated Time • Communication • Evolution • Morning Almost Faded • Today I Looked • Gloucester • Have You Ever Tried • It\u27s Contact • The Galloping Camel • Life\u27s Flight • Haiku • Today is Monday • At the Waterfront • He Said to Me • Somewhere • A Darkened Window • The Stomach of the Sea • And When I Looked There Were Pinprick Holes in the Sky • Trinity • You Are a Goof • In Transit • Night Will Fall • Praise Be To...?https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1095/thumbnail.jp

Caregiver food behaviours are associated with dietary intakes of children outside the child-care setting

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether food behaviours of parents are associated with children’s dietary intakes outside the child-care setting, and to compare children’s dietary intakes at home with foods and beverages consumed when they are at child-care centres. DESIGN: In 2005–2006, a survey was completed by parents of at least one child between 3 and 5 years old who attended group child-care centres. Surveys about nutrition practices were completed by centre directors. Research assistants observed foods and beverages consumed by children at lunchtime at the centres. SETTING: Sixteen licensed group child-care centres in three underserved New York City communities (South Bronx, East/Central Harlem, Central Brooklyn) and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. SUBJECTS: Two hundred parents. RESULTS: Children were more likely to consume healthful foods including fruits or vegetables if parents reported purchasing food from produce stands/farmers’ markets, shopped for frozen or canned fruits frequently and ate family meals or meals prepared at home daily. Children were more likely to consume less healthful foods such as French fries, or fruit drinks, more frequently if parents reported eating meals from fast-food or other restaurants at least once weekly, or if children ate while watching television. Types of foods and beverages offered to children at home (e.g. higher-fat milk, soft drinks and desserts) were less healthful than those offered at child-care centres. CONCLUSIONS: Children’s dietary intakes at home need to be improved. Parents need to understand the importance of providing home environments that support healthful food behaviours in children

Exploring differential item functioning in the SF-36 by demographic, clinical, psychological and social factors in an osteoarthritis population

The SF-36 is a very commonly used generic measure of health outcome in osteoarthritis (OA). An important, but frequently overlooked, aspect of validating health outcome measures is to establish if items work in the same way across subgroup of a population. That is, if respondents have the same 'true' level of outcome, does the item give the same score in different subgroups or is it biased towards one subgroup or another. Differential item functioning (DIF) can identify items that may be biased for one group or another and has been applied to measuring patient reported outcomes. Items may show DIF for different conditions and between cultures, however the SF-36 has not been specifically examined in an osteoarthritis population nor in a UK population. Hence, the aim of the study was to apply the DIF method to the SF-36 for a UK OA population. The sample comprised a community sample of 763 people with OA who participated in the Somerset and Avon Survey of Health. The SF-36 was explored for DIF with respect to demographic, social, clinical and psychological factors. Well developed ordinal regression models were used to identify DIF items. Results: DIF items were found by age (6 items), employment status (6 items), social class (2 items), mood (2 items), hip v knee (2 items), social deprivation (1 item) and body mass index (1 item). Although the impact of the DIF items rarely had a significant effect on the conclusions of group comparisons, in most cases there was a significant change in effect size. Overall, the SF-36 performed well with only a small number of DIF items identified, a reassuring finding in view of the frequent use of the SF-36 in OA. Nevertheless, where DIF items were identified it would be advisable to analyse data taking account of DIF items, especially when age effects are the focus of interest