scholarly journals Congregations as Health Connectors – Addressing Health and Social Needs of Neighbors Through Conversations, Not Surveys

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Buss ◽  
David Craig ◽  
Emily Hardwick ◽  
Sarah Wiehe

Background and Hypothesis:  Social determinants of health (SDOH) directly affect health outcomes and indirectly limit access to resources needed to maintain individual health. In an effort to address the negative impacts of SDOH on the urban communities of Indianapolis, four congregations have employed Site Connectors to directly form relationships with neighbors, learn about their health journey, and connect them to resources addressing expressed needs. It is our hypothesis that through research of similar models and discussion with community partners, an optimized model for fostering relationships and assessing the health and social needs of neighbors can be developed for use by the Site Connectors. Project Methods: A search was performed for examples of health and social needs assessments utilized by established care providers, and thirteen were identified. The items within these assessments were then organized into six groups based on SDOH topic (ie. Housing, Transportation, etc.). Additionally, six interviews with community partners performing similar work were conducted utilizing a fixed set of questions. Results: It was determined that the best format for our assessment would not be a survey, as in the example assessments, but rather a visual aid resembling a concept map. This model lends itself more to the nature of relationship-building by guiding Connector-Neighbor conversations rather than dictating them, with three starter questions at the center and six offshoots covering each of the SDOH topics. A post-encounter checklist was also developed for Connectors to retroactively record priority items from their conversations. Potential Impact: It is yet to be determined whether our model will be useful in practice, as the Connectors begin their work in August. However, it is our hope that we have developed a novel format for assessing needs that more holistically addresses the impacts of SDOH through respecting the vulnerability and energy required for relationship-building.  

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87
Author(s):  
Alexsandra Dubin ◽  
Barry A. Garst ◽  
Tracey Gaslin ◽  
Beth E. Schultz

Background: Summer camps engage millions of youth in enrichment opportunities during the summertime while employing a substantial young adult workforce to provide high-quality programs and services to camp participants. Workplace fatigue has been implicated in camp-related injury and illness events, yet few studies have targeted fatigue among camp employees. Purpose: This study aimed to better understand how fatigue impacted employee performance as well as strategies for reducing the negative impacts of fatigue within camp settings. Methodology/Approach: Focus groups were conducted with camp health care providers and directors, and their responses were analyzed using directed content analysis. The analysis process was guided by sensitizing concepts from the literature. Findings/Conclusions: Emergent themes suggested that camp-related fatigue is conceptualized as a construct of time, types, and causes; is a distinct experience leading to setting-specific outcomes; is managed using administrative and peer supports; and is sometimes perceived in positive ways. Implications: This exploratory study highlighted the unique challenges associated with working in a camp setting and the potential development of fatigue as a starting point informing future research. It suggests that future research should include a broader study population, including frontline staff, as well as possible quantitative measures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Mott ◽  
Beth Martin ◽  
Robert Breslow ◽  
Barb Michaels ◽  
Jeff Kirchner ◽  
...  

The objectives of this article are to discuss the process of community engagement experienced to plan and implement a pilot study of a pharmacist-provided MTM intervention focused on reducing the use of medications associated with falling, and to present the research methods that emerged from the community engagement process to evaluate the feasibility, acceptance, and preliminary impact of the intervention. Key lessons learned from the community engagement process also are presented and discussed. The relationship building and planning process took twelve months. The RE-AIM framework broadly guided the planning process since an overarching goal for the community partners was developing a program that could be implemented and sustained in the future. The planning phase focused on identifying research questions that were of most interest to the community partners, the population to study, the capacity of partners to perform activities, and process evaluation. Much of the planning phase was accomplished with face-to-face meetings. After all study processes, study materials, and data collection tools were developed, a focus group of older adults who represented the likely targets of the MTM intervention provided feedback related to the concept and process of the intervention. Nine key lessons were identified from the community engagement process. One key to successful community engagement is partners taking the time to educate each other about experiences, processes, and successes and failures. Additionally, partners must actively listen to each other to better understand barriers and facilitators that likely will impact the planning and implementation processes. Successful community engagement will be important to develop both formative and summative evaluation processes that will help to produce valid evidence about the effectiveness of pharmacists in modifying drug therapy and preventing falls as well as to promote the adoption and implementation of the intervention in other communities.   Type: Original Research


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yagmur Esemen ◽  
Micaela Uberti ◽  
Navneet Singh ◽  
Andreas Karamitros

Abstract Aims A discharge summary is a permanent record of a patient’s hospital visit and the primary means of handover between care providers. Studies show they often lack precision and omit important information. This may compromise quality and continuity of care yet they are frequently written by the most junior clinicians on a ward with little guidance or formal education on how to write one. The aim of this study was to develop some specific guidelines to improve the quality of discharge summaries in a busy neurosurgical unit. Methods A survey was designed to identify the challenges faced by junior medical staff in writing discharge summaries. The essential components of a good neurosurgical discharge summary were identified by group of senior neurosurgeons. Summaries were retrospectively audited against these components. We then designed a simple visual aid and placed it above computer stations in the junior doctors’ offices. Formal departmental teaching session followed. After three months we re-audited the discharge summaries retrospectively to measure any effect of our intervention. Results Half of the neurosurgical team rated summaries as below expectations. Challenges included poor ward round documentation and a lack of clear expectations regarding structure and essential components. After the intervention, ward round documentation and discharge summary quality improved dramatically. Conclusions Although various recommendations about writing good discharge summaries exist, they are generally vague and not specific to neurosurgical practice. The development of a simple specialty specific discharge summary guide can improve discharge summary quality and should be encouraged in all specialties.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Dempsey ◽  
S Callaghan ◽  
MF Higgins

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Despite being one of the most common gynaecological procedures in the world, abortion care remains highly stigmatized. Internationally, providers have noted negative impacts related to their involvement in the services and abortion care has been described as “dirty work”. Though much of the existing research focuses on the challenges of providing, many have also highlighted the positive aspects of working in abortion care. Despite the steadily increasing interest in this area over the past decade, however, no one has sought to systematically review the literature to date. The aim of this review is to systematically explore published studies on the experiences of abortion care providers and to create a narrative review on the lived experience of providing abortion care. Methods: The review will be conducted according to the framework outlined by Levac et al., which expanded on the popular Arksey and O’Malley framework. We will systematically search for peer-reviewed articles in literature in six electronic databases: CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science. Following a pilot exercise, we have devised a search strategy to identify relevant studies. In this protocol, we outline how citations will be assessed for eligibility and what information will be extracted from the included articles. We also highlight how this information will be combined in the review. Discussion: The findings of this review will provide a comprehensive overview on the known experiences of providing abortion care. We also pre-empt that the findings will identify aspects of care and/or experiences that are not reflected in the available literature. We will disseminate the results via a publication in a peer-reviewed, academic journal and by presenting the findings at conferences in the areas of abortion care, obstetrics, and midwifery. As this review is a secondary analysis of published articles, ethical approval was not required.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Kranz ◽  
Ammarah Mahmud ◽  
Denis Agniel ◽  
Cheryl Damberg ◽  
Justin W. Timbie

Objectives. To describe the types of social services provided at community health centers (CHCs), characteristics of CHCs providing these services, and the association between on-site provision and health care quality. Methods. We surveyed CHCs in 12 US states and the District of Columbia during summer 2017 (n = 208) to identify referral to and provision of services to address 8 social needs. Regression models estimated factors associated with the provision of social services by CHCs and the association between providing services and health care quality (an 8-item composite). Results. CHCs most often offered on-site assistance for needs related to food or nutrition (43%), interpersonal violence (32%), and housing (30%). Participation in projects with community-based organizations was associated with providing services on-site (odds ratio = 2.48; P = .018). On-site provision was associated with better performance on measures of health care quality (e.g., each additional social service was associated with a 4.3 percentage point increase in colorectal cancer screenings). Conclusions. Some CHCs provide social services on-site, and this was associated with better performance on measures of health care quality. Public Health Implications. Health care providers are increasingly seeking to identify and address patients’ unmet social needs, and on-site provision of services is 1 strategy to consider.


1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Knight

This literature review discusses therapy with the aged person in the community. The discussion is based on the literature published since Rechtschaffen's review in 1959 [1]. The elderly are not receiving mental health services in proportion to their representation in the population or in proportion to their estimated need for such services. Major barriers to the utilization of such services by the aged are the prejudices of care providers, the poverty of the aged, and the lack of public commitment to the provision of services to this special population. A summary of the literature on the goals, content, and techniques of psychotherapy with the elderly client is presented and supports the conclusion that this therapy is different from similar work with the younger adult only in terms of a focus on different content areas. The potential contribution of behavior therapy to treatment programs for the elderly is discussed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Brieger ◽  
Sam A. Orisasona ◽  
P. Bolade Ogunlade ◽  
U. Olu. Ayodele ◽  
Ayo Iroko

Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) was given a mandate by USAID to find innovative ways to meet the child health needs of poor Nigerian urban communities. BASICS inventoried communities in the Lagos metropolitan area to identify community-based organizations (CBOs) and private health facilities (HFs) that could form coalitions that might plan and deliver child and family health services such as immunization and prompt treatment. Six Community Partners for Health (CPHs) coalitions formed in late 1995. In late 1997, a documentation of the progress and processes of CPH formation and functioning was carried out through a review of documents, interviews with CPH leaders, discussions with CBO members, and textual analysis of CPH board meeting minutes to define the CPH approach, the organizational structures that result from that approach, the achievements of the CPHs and the potential sustainability of the approach. All CPHs have developed a work plan and all have undertaken programmatic activities including child immunization campaigns, environmental clean-up, and awareness campaigns to alert the public on the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Most CPHs have also developed three main mechanisms for financial sustainability. Finally, CPHs have also been calling on each other for technical and management assistance. This augers well for future independent action and sustainability, and BASICS staff themselves have been promoting inter-CPH communication and activities among the Lagos CPHs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Mena-Ulecia ◽  
Heykel Hernández Hernández

Selection of treatment technologies without considering the environmental, economic and social factors associated with each geographical context risks the occurrence of negative impacts that were not properly foreseen, working against the sustainable performance of the technology. The principal aim of this study was to evaluate 12 technologies for decentralized treatment of domestic wastewater applicable to peri-urban communities using sustainability approaches and, at the same time, continuing a discussion about how to address a more integrated assessment of overall sustainability. For this, a set of 13 indicators that embody the environmental, economic and social approach for the overall sustainability assessment were used by means of a target plot diagram as a tool for integrating indicators that represent a holistic analysis of the technologies. The obtained results put forward different degrees of sustainability, which led to the selection of: septic tank + land infiltration; up-flow anaerobic reactor + high rate trickling filter and septic tank + anaerobic filter as the most sustainable and attractive technologies to be applied in peri-urban communities, according to the employed indicators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23
Author(s):  
Gopal Chandra Saha

This study endeavors to test the effect of promoting of rural tourism in Bangladesh. Rural tourism can offer assistance in forming our society. It can have both positive and negative impacts on rural as well as urban communities. There's a scope of rural tourism in Bangladesh. The government ought to empower private enterprises to advance tourism in rural areas. For creating the rural tourism we ought to get it the rural environment, demography, socio-culture, financial and political foundation of that put. How we will include the country individuals to improve their socio-economic condition. To create a key promoting arranges for rural tourism we ought to get it the target customer, their needs and how to coordinate it with our rural framework. Rural tourism can create a win-win circumstance for both the rural and urban communities.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document