Self-Organizing Special Districts: A Tool for Community Change and Development

2022 ◽  
pp. 0739456X2110654
Author(s):  
Brian Y. An
Keyword(s):  
Community Change ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Special Districts ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Service Areas ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Home Sale Prices ◽  
Self Organizing

Can self-organizing special districts created from the bottom up be a tool for community change and development? Focusing on community services districts in California, this study introduces the context in which communities opt out of a county service system to reshape their governing structure for better representation. The empirical part measures their effectiveness, using single-family home sale prices as an impact metric. Leveraging multi-level difference-in-difference hedonic regression methods, the analysis shows that district formation increases the prices annually up to 16 percent, compared to both the surrounding and distant county service areas, indicating their efficacy as a tool for community change and development.

Perceptions and Consequences of Social Change Among Elderly Japanese-American Workers in a Hawaii Plantation Community: A Case Example of Industrial Withdrawal

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Velma A. Kameoka ◽  
Anthony J. Marsella
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Japanese American ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
Resident Attitudes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lifestyle Patterns

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions and consequences associated with the closing of a sugar plantation company for a group of Japanese American plantation workers who were born and raised on the plantation. These workers were the children of Japanese immigrants who had come to Hawaii at the turn of century to plant and harvest sugar. The participants were thirty nisei (second generation) Japanese-American male residents of a rural plantation community in Hawaii. Using the techniques of participant observation, interviewing, and record research, the study explored the worker's (1) perceptions of change, (2) evaluations of perceived change, (3) stresses resulting from change, (4) coping strategies, and (5) future expectations. These subjective dimensions of change were examined across eight major areas of community life (i.e., employment, housing, community relations, community services, family life, education, physical environment, and crime). The data were analyzed to determine perceptions, evaluations, and stresses resulting from community change and to identify strategies used to cope with community change. The impact of change on resident attitudes and lifestyle patterns are discussed and summarized under three major themes: (1) communal versus individualistic lifestyles, (2) association versus dissociation of employment and the community, and (3) continuity versus discontinuity of life in the plantation.Personal comments of workers are presented to demonstrate the utility and significance of the present research approach in assessing individual experiences in response to social changes. An understanding of the impact of change on resident attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle patterns provides the basis for devising change programs that are sensitive to the social and psychological needs of individuals affected by the changes.

scholarly journals Patient feedback on services: a questionnaire survey approach

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palanivelu S. Kumar ◽  
Andrew McBride
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Patient Feedback ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Service Areas ◽  
Pilot Sample

Aims and MethodThe aims of the project were to develop a simple, low-cost patient satisfaction questionnaire with face validity and to obtain patient feedback on a range of service areas in a community addiction team. A questionnaire was designed and revised after feedback from multidisciplinary team members and a pilot sample. The questionnaire was distributed until 100 correctly completed forms were received.ResultsThe survey took approximately 30 h of authors' time from commencement to completion and costs were minimal. The majority of the 12 areas evaluated were rated by patients as good or very good. Overall quality of care was rated as good or very good by 88% of participants. There was no enthusiasm in this sample for more active participation in service development.Clinical ImplicationsAll National Health Service staff and services are now enjoined to engage with service users and carers for the purposes of evaluation and development. Simple, affordable methods for obtaining such information about community services can contribute to this process.

scholarly journals Community social network pattern analysis: Development of a novel methodology using a complex, multi-level health intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Butel ◽  
Kathryn L Braun ◽  
James Davis ◽  
Andrea Bersamin ◽  
Travis Fleming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Community Based Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Network Pattern

Community social networks (CSN) include individuals and groups, and those with strong partnerships and relationships are well situated for implementing community-based interventions. However, information on the nature of CSN relationships required for multilevel community-based interventions is not present in the literature. Using data from the multi-level Children’s Healthy Living (CHL) trial to reduce child obesity in nine Pacific communities, this study aimed to develop a methodology based on Social Network Analysis (SNA) to understand how CSN evolved over the course of a two-year trial, as well as the characteristics of CSN most successful in impacting indicators of childhood obesity. The two-year trial was considered in four six-month intervals. Within each interval, implemented activities, as recorded in CHL monthly reports, were coded by activity implementer(s), e.g. government agency, school, or community-based group, as well as for collective efficacy impact of the activity, e.g. to leverage resources from outside the CSN or to facilitate civic engagement. Coded data were used to create CSN maps for the four time intervals, and SNA techniques examined the CSN characteristics. CSN density increased over time, as measured by the number of ties within the network. Schools, community-based groups and large organizations were identified as the primary implementers of the CHL intervention and formed a community implementer backbone. Social leveraging, i.e. linking local groups to people with authority over outside resources, was shown to be a central component in intervention success. It took time to develop strong CSN, and stronger (denser) CSN were more successful in building social cohesion and enacting community change. Findings illustrate a methodology that can be useful for tracking the development and impact of CSN.

scholarly journals Changing Drug Users' Risk Environments: Peer Health Advocates as Multi-level Community Change Agents

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 330-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Weeks ◽  
Mark Convey ◽  
Julia Dickson-Gomez ◽  
Jianghong Li ◽  
Kim Radda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Users ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Risk Environments ◽  
Multi Level
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