scholarly journals The Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative: Rationale and Design

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arleen F. Brown ◽  
D'Ann M. Morris ◽  
Katherine L. Kahn ◽  
Ibrahima C. Sankare ◽  
Keyonna M. King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Community Factors ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
South Los Angeles ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Healthy Community

<p><strong>Objective</strong>: To describe the design and rationale of the Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative (HCNI), a multicomponent<br />study to understand and document health risk and resources in a<br />low-income and minority community.</p><p><strong>Design</strong>: A community-partnered participatory research project.<br />Setting: A low-income, biethnic African American and Latino neighborhood in South Los Angeles.</p><p><strong>Participants</strong>: Adult community residents aged &gt;18 years.</p><p><strong>Main Outcome Measures</strong>: Household survey and clinical data collection; neighborhood characteristics; neighborhood observations; and community resources asset mapping.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>: We enrolled 206 participants (90% of those eligible), of whom 205 completed the household interview and examination,<br />and 199 provided laboratory samples. Among enrollees, 82 (40%) were aged &gt;50 years and participated in functional status<br />measurement. We completed neighborhood observations on 93 street segments; an average of 2.2 (SD=1.6) study participants<br />resided on each street segment observed. The community asset map identified 290 resources summarized in a Community Resource Guide given to all participants.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong>: The HCNI communityacademic partnership has built a framework to assess and document the individual, social, and community factors that may influence clinical and social outcomes in a community at high-risk for preventable chronic disease. Our project suggests that a community collaborative can use<br />culturally and scientifically sound strategies to identify community-centered health and social needs. Additional work is needed to<br />understand strategies for developing and implementing interventions to mitigate these disparities. <em>Ethn Dis</em>. 2016;26(1):123-132; doi:10.18865/ed.26.1.123</p>

scholarly journals Pathways Into and Out of Homelessness Among People with Severe Mental Illness in Rural Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Smartt ◽  
Kaleab Ketema ◽  
Souci Frissa ◽  
Bethlehem Tekola ◽  
Rahel Birhane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Community Intervention ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
Study Participants

Abstract Background: Little is known about the pathways followed into and out of homelessness among people with severe mental illness (SMI) living in rural, low-income country settings. Understanding these pathways is essential for the development of effective interventions to address homelessness and promote recovery. The aim of this study was to explore pathways into and out of homelessness in people with SMI in rural Ethiopia.Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 people with SMI who had experienced homelessness and 11 caregivers. Study participants were identified through a larger project implementing a multi-component district level plan to improve access to mental health care in primary care (PRIME). Thematic analysis was conducted using an inductive approach.Results: Study participants reported different patterns of homelessness, with some having experienced chronic and others an intermittent course. Periods of homelessness occurred when family resources were overwhelmed or not meeting the needs of the person with SMI. The most important pathways into homelessness were reported to result from family conflict and the worsening of mental ill health, interplaying with substance use in many cases. Participants also mentioned escape and/or wanting a change in environment, financial problems, and discrimination from the community as contributing to them leaving the home. Pathways out of homelessness included contact with (mental and physical) health care as a catalyst to the mobilization of other supports, family and community intervention, and self-initiated return.Conclusions: Homelessness in people with SMI in this rural setting reflected complex health and social needs that were not matched by adequate care and support. Interventions to prevent and tackle homelessness need to focus on increasing family support, and ensuring access to housing, mental health care and social support.

Leveraging Household Structure for Increasing Adult Physical Activity in a Low-Income, African American Community

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-590
Author(s):  
John A. Bernhart ◽  
Kelly R. Ylitalo ◽  
M. Renée Umstattd Meyer ◽  
Eva I. Doyle ◽  
Lindsay R. Wilkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Household Structure ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Metabolic Equivalent Of Task ◽  
Public Health Emergency Response ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Health Behavior Changes

Health behavior changes often require focusing on factors beyond the individual, particularly in low-income and underresourced areas. The purpose of this article was to assess associations between household structure and adult physical activity levels. Data were collected using Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response methodology to administer a household survey ( n = 100). Household structure was calculated from summing the number of adults (⩾18 years) and children (<18 years) reported living in the house. Physical activity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form. Adults living in households with two or more adults reported more MET (metabolic equivalent of task) minutes of physical activity per week than adults from households with only one adult. Adults living in households with two or more adults were twice as likely to meet aerobic guidelines for physical activity compared to adults living in households with only adult. Findings suggest the need for developing ecologic approaches in low-income communities to increase social support for physical activity in adults.

scholarly journals Medication Complexity among Disadvantaged African American Seniors in Los Angeles

Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Edward Adinkrah ◽  
Mohsen Bazargan ◽  
Cheryl Wisseh ◽  
Shervin Assari
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
African American ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Multiple Chronic Conditions ◽  
Health Maintenance ◽  
South Los Angeles ◽  
African American Older Adults

Background. Several publications highlight data concerning multiple chronic conditions and the medication regimen complexity (MRC) used in managing these conditions as well as MRCs’ association with polypharmacy and medication non-adherence. However, there is a paucity of literature that specifically details the correlates of MRC with multimorbidity, socioeconomic, physical and mental health factors in disadvantaged (medically underserved, low income) African American (AA) seniors. Aims. In a local sample in South Los Angeles, we investigated correlates of MRC in African American older adults with chronic disease(s). Methods. This was a community-based survey in South Los Angeles with 709 African American senior participants (55 years and older). Age, gender, continuity of care, educational attainment, multimorbidity, financial constraints, marital status, and MRC (outcome) were measured. Data were analyzed using linear regression. Results. Higher MRC correlated with female gender, a higher number of healthcare providers, hospitalization events and multimorbidity. However, there were no associations between MRC and age, level of education, financial constraint, living arrangements or health maintenance organization (HMO) membership. Conclusions. Disadvantaged African Americans, particularly female older adults with multimorbidity, who also have multiple healthcare providers and medications, use the most complex medication regimens. It is imperative that MRC is reduced particularly in African American older adults with multimorbidity.

Fighting Feelings

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey O. Sacha
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
South Los Angeles ◽  
Training Techniques ◽  
Men Of Color ◽  
Color Data ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article explores the mentorship of low-income young men of color by examining amateur boxing coaches and the training techniques that they use. Studying both the actions and the intentions of boxing coaches offers insights into the increasingly rare experience of adult male mentorship for low-income young men of color. Data for this article come from a 13-month ethnographic study of a South Los Angeles boxing gym and in-depth interviews with the gym’s boxing coaches. This article explores two aspects of the training process from the coach’s point of view: the creation and enforcement of rules to differentiate the boxing gym from “the street” and the use of “emotional regimens” in training. The coaches in this study acted as “old head” mentors for their fighters and used emotional regimens to encourage a particular form of masculinity with their amateur boxers that simultaneously embraced and forbade certain expressions of “street” masculinity.

scholarly journals Times Thirty: Access, Maintenance, and Justice

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderic N. Crooks
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Public High School ◽  
South Los Angeles ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Maintenance Work ◽  
Student Workers ◽  
Infrastructure Maintenance

Based on an ethnographic project in a public high school in a low-income neighborhood in South Los Angeles, this paper argues that access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) cannot be taken as helpful or empowering on its own terms; instead, concerns about justice must be accounted for by the local communities technology is meant to benefit. This paper juxtaposes the concept of technological access with recent work in feminist science and technology studies (STS) on infrastructure, maintenance, and ethics. In contrast to popular descriptions of ICTs as emancipatory and transformative, in the setting of an urban school, access produced extensive demands for attention, time, and information. This paper focuses on the labor of a group of student workers, Student Technology Leaders (STLs), and how they became responsible for the significant amount of repair and maintenance work involved in keeping hundreds of new computing devices available for use. An expanded process of accounting can more realistically frame issues of justice and its relationship to ICTs. I use a town hall meeting held with these students as an example of a processual vision of justice, one that encourages the beneficiaries of technological access to evaluate costs, benefits, and ethical concerns together.

A View of the Lexical–Grammatical Link in Young Latinos With Specific Language Impairment Using Language-Specific and Conceptual Measures

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1775-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía I. Méndez ◽  
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Vocabulary Skills ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
L1 And L2

Purpose This study investigated the nature of the association of lexical–grammatical abilities within and across languages in Latino dual language learners (DLLs) with specific language impairment (SLI) using language-specific and bilingual measures. Method Seventy-four Spanish/English–speaking preschoolers with SLI from preschools serving low-income households participated in the study. Participants had stronger skills in Spanish (first language [L1]) and were in the initial stages of learning English (second language [L2]). The children's lexical, semantic, and grammar abilities were assessed using normative and researcher-developed tools in English and Spanish. Hierarchical linear regressions of cross-sectional data were conducted using measures of sentence repetition tasks, language-specific vocabulary, and conceptual bilingual lexical and semantic abilities in Spanish and English. Results Results indicate that language-specific vocabulary abilities support the development of grammar in L1 and L2 in this population. L1 vocabulary also contributes to L2 grammar above and beyond the contribution of L2 vocabulary skills. However, the cross-linguistic association between vocabulary in L2 and grammar skills in the stronger or more proficient language (L1) is not observed. In addition, conceptual vocabulary significantly supported grammar in L2, whereas bilingual semantic skills supported L1 grammar. Conclusions Our findings reveal that the same language-specific vocabulary abilities drive grammar development in L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI. In the early stages of L2 acquisition, vocabulary skills in L1 also seem to contribute to grammar skills in L2 in this population. Thus, it is critical to support vocabulary development in both L1 and L2 in DLLs with SLI, particularly in the beginning stages of L2 acquisition. Clinical and educational implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Voices of Experience: What Do Low-Income Older Adults Tell Us About Mobility, Technology, and Social Participation?

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110125
Author(s):  
Haley B. Gallo ◽  
Lia W. Marshall ◽  
Lené Levy-Storms ◽  
Kathleen H. Wilber ◽  
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Senior Center ◽  
Perceived Safety

Mobility and technology can facilitate in-person and virtual social participation to help reduce social isolation, but issues exist regarding older adults’ access, feasibility, and motivation to use various forms of mobility and technology. This qualitative study explores how a diverse group of low-income, urban-living older adults use mobility and technology for social participation. We conducted six focus groups ( N = 48), two each in English, Spanish, and Korean at a Los Angeles senior center. Three major themes emerged from thematic analysis: using technology for mobility; links between mobility and social participation; and technology-mediated social participation. Cost, perceived safety, (dis)ability, and support from family and friends were related to mobility and technology use. This study demonstrates the range of mobility and technology uses among older adults and associated barriers. The findings can help establish a pre-COVID-19 baseline on how to make mobility and technology more accessible for older adults at risk of isolation.

scholarly journals Time, the deer, is in the wood: Chronotopic identities, trajectories of texts and community self-management

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Relevant Context ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThis paper opens with a problematisation of the notion of real-time in discourse analysis – dissected, as it is, as if time unfolded in a linear and regular procession at the speed of speech. To illustrate this point, the author combines Hasan’s concept of “relevant context” with Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope to provide an analysis of Sorley MacLean’s poem Hallaig, with its deep-rootedness in space and its dissolution of time. The remainder of the paper is dedicated to following the poem’s metamorphoses and trajectory as it intertwines with Bartlett’s own life and family history, creating a layered simultaneity of meanings orienting to multiple semio-historic centres. In this way the author (pers. comm.) “sets out to illustrate in theory, text analysis and (self-)history the trajectories taken by texts as they cross through time and space; their interconnectedness with social systems at different scales; and the manner in which they are revoiced in order to enhance their legitimacy before the diverse audiences they encounter on their migratory paths.” In this process, Bartlett relates his own story to the socioeconomic concerns of the Hebridean island where his father was raised, and to dialogues between local communities and national and external policy-makers – so echoing Denzin’s call (2014. Interpretive Autoethnography (2nd Edition). Los Angeles: Sage: vii) to “develop a methodology that allows us examine how the private troubles of individuals are connected to public issues and to public responses to these troubles”. Bartlett presents his data through a range of legitimation strategies and voicing techniques, creating transgressive texts that question received notions of identity, authorship, legitimacy and authenticity in academia, the portals of power, and the routines of daily life. The current Abstract is one such example. As with the author’s closing caveat on the potential dangers of self-revelation, offered, no doubt, as a flimsy justification for the extensive focus in the paper on his own life as a chronotope, I leave it for the individual reader to decide if Bartlett’s approach is ultimately ludic or simply ludicrous.

Policing gentrification or policing displacement? Testing the relationship between order maintenance policing and neighbourhood change in Los Angeles

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802199335
Author(s):  
Charles R. Collins ◽  
Forrest Stuart ◽  
Patrick Janulis
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Relative Displacement ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Order Maintenance ◽  
Neighbourhood Change ◽  
Number Of Citations

Urban scholars increasingly contend that local police departments play a central role in facilitating neighbourhood change. Recent critics warn that ‘order maintenance’ policing and other low-level law enforcement tactics are deployed in gentrifying areas to displace ‘disorderly’ populations. Despite influential qualitative case studies, there remains scant quantitative research testing this relationship, and few studies that evaluate the link between policing, displacement and gentrification. We address this lacuna, drawing on new citation data from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and employing a measure of neighbourhood change that focuses on the displacement of low-income residents. Examining policing patterns in 978 US Census tracts in Los Angeles over four years, our analysis reveals that tracts experiencing gentrification – defined as the simultaneous increase in non-poor residents and decrease in the number of people in poverty – experience a greater number of citations compared with other tract types. Similar patterns emerge in our analysis of citations that explicitly target homelessness and extreme poverty. In post-hoc analyses, we found that Census tracts characterised by a decrease in the number of people in poverty experienced greater numbers of total police citations and of citations targeting homeless individuals, compared with other tract types. These findings carry important theoretical implications for understanding the divergent manifestations of, and potential mechanisms driving, order maintenance policing. Methodologically, we contend that police citations provide a more precise measure of order maintenance policing compared with previous studies, and that classifying neighbourhoods in terms of relative displacement of residents in poverty provides much-needed interpretive clarity.

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