Effects From Living in Mixed-Income Communities for Low-Income Families: A Review of the Literature

Reviews the literature on the definitions of mixed-income communities; hypothesized and documented benefits, including poverty alleviation, desegregation and urban revitalization; and prevalence of such communities. Points to areas for future research

Monitoring Success in Choice Neighborhoods: A Proposed Approach to Performance Measurement

Offers a framework and tools for performance management in the initiative to transform poor neighborhoods into revitalized, sustainable mixed-income communities. Proposes system components, logic model, management reports, and performance indicators

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

Building community in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 146-157).Trauma Informed Community Building (TICB) is a new approach to community development that utilizes a "trauma" lens when engaging with communities that have been negatively impacted by concentrations of poverty and crime, social isolation and economic disinvestment. TICB first acknowledges the adverse effects persistent trauma has on individuals and communities and how these effects challenge "traditional" community building strategies. The practice involves a set of intentional strategies at every level of the social-ecological model-individual, interpersonal, community and system-to reduce the amount of chaos and stressors in individuals' lives, to build social cohesion among neighbors and institutions and to foster community resiliency over time. By implementing these strategies, the authors hypothesize individuals will increase their 'readiness for change,' which, in turn, lays the foundation and support for effective program and service delivery and sustainable individual and community change. They argue these two outcomes are critical when working with "trauma-impacted" communities that are undergoing any kind of major transition and disruptions-i.e., housing redevelopment and/or relocation. TICB was created by BRIDGE Housing Corporation (BRIDGE), a nonprofit affordable housing developer in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, based off of its six years of community building experience in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, as part of the master redevelopment of Potrero Terrace-Annex public housing under San Francisco's HOPE SF initiative. In this thesis, I utilize the case study methodology and mixed-method techniques to explore what it means to approach community building with a "trauma" lens. I explore the evolution, implementation and early impacts of TICB at Potrero Terrace-Annex and I assess the value of TICB's framework as a whole and key lessons learned and challenges. Specifically, I examine the extent to which BRIDGE's community building activities have positively impacted the social dynamics of the economically- and socially-diverse North and South side Potrero Hill communities, increased public housing residents' civic participation and capacity, and helped transform systems, namely democratic processes and public education. I conclude with recommendations to inform policy, practice and future research.by Kassie D. Bertumen.M.C.P