scholarly journals Building Adaptive Capacity Through Civic Environmental Stewardship: Responding to COVID-19 Alongside Compounding and Concurrent Crises

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura F. Landau ◽  
Lindsay K. Campbell ◽  
Erika S. Svendsen ◽  
Michelle L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Civic Group

A growing body of community resilience literature emphasizes the importance of social resources in preparing for and responding to disturbances. In particular, scholars have noted that community based organizations and strong social networks positively contribute to adaptive capacity, or the ability to adjust and respond to change while enhancing the conditions necessary to withstand future events. While it is well established that strong civic engagement and social networks contribute to enhanced adaptive capacity in times of change, there is more to learn about how adaptive capacity at the civic group and network level is impacted temporally by multiple and compounding crises. Research has shown that the ability for communities to adapt and respond to crisis is closely tied to longer term recovery. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has overlapped and intersected with multiple additional climate crises as well as a reigniting of the ongoing American reckoning with racial injustice, the ability for communities to adapt and respond to compounding crises seems more crucial than ever. This paper uses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 34 civic environmental stewardship groups in New York City to explore their role in building adaptive capacity. In order to better understand how past crises have impacted stewardship groups' response to COVID-19, we focus on how groups have demonstrated flexibility and learning at an organizational scale. We look at two other crises, both acute (Superstorm Sandy, which hit the East Coast in 2012) and chronic (systemic racism) to identify instances of learning that lead to organizational transformation. We further aim to understand how group professionalization, measured by budget and staff size, and network connectivity impact their actions. By comparing the groups' experiences and responses to each event, we uncover strategies learned from past events (e.g., sharing contact lists, holding internal dialogues, leveraging new funding sources) that enable stewardship groups to respond to disaster in a way that builds their organizational adaptive capacity as well as contributes to the long-term resilience of their communities.

scholarly journals How Area Agencies on Aging Contribute to Social Connection for Older Adults in Rural America

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 616-616
Author(s):  
Claire Pendergrast
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
New York ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Social Service Organizations ◽  
Upstate New York ◽  
Rural Aging ◽  
Rural Older Adults

Abstract Social ecological models of health identify intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy-level contexts as social factors influencing individual and population health outcomes. However how institutions such as Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) shape rural older adults’ social networks and influence health is little explored. This research examines institutional influences of social networks for rural older adults, particularly the social connections resulting from their AAA services and programs. AAAs are local social service organizations that coordinate home- and community-based supports. Our 2020 case study of a rural AAA in upstate New York involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with AAA staff, volunteers and participants included key themes related to older adults’ social networks, social wellbeing, and physical and mental health. Our findings have both theoretical implications for rural community social structure as experienced by older adults, and practical implications to build AAA’s capacity to address social isolation for rural older adults. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Rural Aging Interest Group.

scholarly journals The Important Role of Environmental Stewardship Groups in Supporting Human Health and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Dacks ◽  
Heather McMillen ◽  
Pua Heimuli ◽  
Kimberly Kahaleua ◽  
Sanoe Burgess ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Health And Well Being

The human health and well-being benefits of nature are well-known. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the work of environmental stewardship groups, especially those that facilitate access to and/or provide opportunities to engage with nature. To understand the impacts of this disruption on stewardship groups and their volunteers in Hawai‘i, we: (i) conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 leaders of stewardship groups on O‘ahu; and (ii) surveyed 85 individuals who volunteer with stewardship groups across the state. We found that some groups were negatively impacted by COVID-19-related funding losses, volunteer activity cancellations, and thus a reduced workforce. We also found that some groups were able to secure new pandemic-specific funding sources and increase their online presence. Many groups were able to strengthen their connections to community through efforts to respond to COVID-19 driven needs of the community, for example meeting nutritional needs of families through food or crop plant distributions. When asked what they missed the most about volunteering with stewardship groups, over half of surveyed respondents identified the social benefits of volunteering, including feeling a sense of community. Over a third of respondents said they missed engaging with the land/place. Nearly a third indicated that a lack of engagement with these groups during the pandemic had negatively affected them psychologically. Our results highlight the significant yet underappreciated role that stewardship groups play in community and individual well-being, and how a large-scale crisis can lead to innovative adaptations with important implications for social resilience.

Resilience and Support Networks for University Students with Disabilities

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
María Leonila García Cedeño ◽  
Anicia Katherine Tarazona Meza ◽  
Robert Gonzalo Cedeño Mejía
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
University Students ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Pearson Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
Student Resilience

Resilience is a phenomenon that can be studied in catastrophic situations but also in everyday matters such as disability, this being an alternative way of working in the environment that requires the adaptation of the social networks that contain and support people with this condition. The research was conducted at the Technical University of Manabí applied to the population of students with disabilities. The paper presents an analysis of support networks and their relationship with student resilience. The results related to the application of the Saavedra-Villalta test are shown, which allowed to correlate the level of resilience of the sample studied with the support networks. An analysis linked to the interpretation of the Pearson correlation coefficient is presented. The result obtained is presented by applying semi-structured interviews to a sample of 48 disabled students.

“There Was No ‘That’s Not My Job’”: New York Area Agencies on Aging Approaches to Supporting Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482199102
Author(s):  
Claire Pendergrast
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
New York ◽  
New York State ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Contextual Influences ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Priority Needs

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many older adults’ traditional sources of formal and informal supports, increasing demand for Area Agency on Aging services (AAAs). This study examines strategies used by AAAs to support older adults’ health and well-being during COVID-19 and identifies contextual influences on AAA pandemic response activities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 20 AAAs in New York State. A combined inductive and deductive approach was used to code and thematically analyze the data. AAAs rapidly expanded capacity and dramatically modified program offerings, communications activities, and service delivery protocols to address emergent needs and minimize COVID-19 exposure risk for clients. AAAs’ trusted relationships with older adults and community partners improved their capacity to identify priority needs and coordinate appropriate supports. Policymakers should ensure that AAAs receive sustained financial and technical support to ensure critical community-based services are available for older adults throughout pandemic response and recovery.

The Mechanism of Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks on Innovative Startups’ Innovation Performance Considering the Moderating Effect of the Entrepreneurial Competence and Motivation

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junguang Gao ◽  
Yuan Cheng ◽  
Hui He ◽  
Fuzhen Gu
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network Theory ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Resource Based View ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Mechanism Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Internal Mechanism

Abstract Innovative startups can bring many benefits to society. Drawing on the social network theory (SNT) and resource-based view (RBV), with mix methods approach, this paper argues that as the primary path for startups acquiring external resources, social networks are beneficial to improving innovative startups’ innovation performance. Using a large amount of data from GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), this paper first runs correlation analysis and regression analysis to empirically analyze entrepreneurs’ social networks’ impact on China’s innovative startups’ innovation performance. The results show that both formal and informal social networks are positively correlated with innovative startups’ innovation performance. Then we consider the moderating effect of entrepreneurial competence and motivation. And the results show both entrepreneurial competence and motivation positively moderate the correlation above. Second, to explore the above correlation’s internal mechanism, we conduct semi-structured interviews with 14 entrepreneurs. Drawing on the resource management theory (RMT) and the process of cross-border knowledge search and assimilation, the mechanism model of entrepreneurs’ social networks on startups’ innovation performance is proposed through content analysis.

scholarly journals Associations between News Media Coverage of the 11 September Attacks and Depression in Employees of New York City Area Businesses

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Betty Pfefferbaum ◽  
Jayme M. Palka ◽  
Carol S. North
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
News Media ◽  
York City ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mass Trauma ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
General Populations ◽  
Disaster Trauma

Research has examined the association between contact with media coverage of mass trauma events and various psychological outcomes, including depression. Disaster-related depression research is complicated by the relatively high prevalence of the major depressive disorder in general populations even without trauma exposure. The extant research is inconclusive regarding associations between disaster media contact and depression outcomes, in part, because most studies have not distinguished diagnostic and symptomatic outcomes, differentiated postdisaster incidence from prevalence, or considered disaster trauma exposures. This study examined these associations in a volunteer sample of 254 employees of New York City businesses after the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks. Structured interviews and questionnaires were administered 35 months after the attacks. Poisson and logistic regression analyses revealed that post-9/11 news contact significantly predicted the number of postdisaster persistent/recurrent and incident depressive symptoms in the full sample and in the indirect and unexposed groups. The findings suggest that clinical and public health approaches should be particularly alert to potential adverse postdisaster depression outcomes related to media consumption in disaster trauma-unexposed or indirectly-exposed groups.

scholarly journals The role of economic, educational and social resources in supporting the use of digital health technologies by people with T2D: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Turnbull ◽  
Patricia J. Lucas ◽  
Alastair D. Hay ◽  
Christie Cabral
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Digital Skills ◽  
Care Support

Abstract Background Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a common chronic disease, with socially patterned incidence and severity. Digital self-care interventions have the potential to reduce health disparities, by providing personalised low-cost reusable resources that can increase access to health interventions. However, if under-served groups are unable to access or use digital technologies, Digital Health Technologies (DHTs) might make no difference, or worse, exacerbate health inequity. Study aims To gain insights into how and why people with T2D access and use DHTs and how experiences vary between individuals and social groups. Methods A purposive sample of people with experience of using a DHT to help them self-care for T2D were recruited through diabetes and community groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in person and over the phone. Data were analysed thematically. Results A diverse sample of 21 participants were interviewed. Health care practitioners were not viewed as a good source of information about DHTs that could support T2D. Instead participants relied on their digital skills and social networks to learn about what DHTs are available and helpful. The main barriers to accessing and using DHT described by the participants were availability of DHTs from the NHS, cost and technical proficiency. However, some participants described how they were able to draw on social resources such as their social networks and social status to overcome these barriers. Participants were motivated to use DHTs because they provided self-care support, a feeling of control over T2D, and personalised advice or feedback. The selection of technology was also guided by participants’ preferences and what they valued in relation to DHTs and self-care support, and these in turn were influenced by age and gender. Conclusion This research indicates that low levels of digital skills and high cost of digital health interventions can create barriers to the access and use of DHTs to support the self-care of T2D. However, social networks and social status can be leveraged to overcome some of these challenges. If digital interventions are to decrease rather than exacerbate health inequalities, these barriers and facilitators to access and use must be considered when DHTs are developed and implemented.

Bike Count Forecast Model with Multimodal Network Connectivity Measures

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110218
Author(s):  
Bingqing Liu ◽  
Divya Bade ◽  
Joseph Y. J. Chow
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Negative Binomial Regression ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Negative Binomial Regression Model ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Commute Time ◽  
Improve Model ◽  
Subway Stations

With the rise of cycling as a mode choice for commuting and short-distance delivery, as well as policy objectives encouraging this trend, bike count models are increasingly critical to transportation planning and investment. Studies have found that network connectivity plays a role in such models, but there remains a lack of measure for the connectivity of a link in a multimodal trip context. This study proposes a connectivity measure that captures the importance of a link in connecting the origins of cyclists and nearby subway stations, and incorporates it in a negative binomial regression model to forecast bike counts at links. Representative bike trips are generated with regard to bike-friendliness using the New York City transit trip planner and used to determine the deviation from the shortest path via the designated link. The measure is shown to improve model fitness with a significance level within 10%. Insights are also drawn for income levels, bike lanes, subway station availability, and average commute time of travelers.

Contrasting Perspectives Regarding Climate Risks and Adaptation Strategies in the New York Metropolitan Area after Superstorm Sandy

2014 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 1450005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Miller ◽  
Griffin Kidd ◽  
Franco Montalto ◽  
Patrick Gurian ◽  
Cortney Worrall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Superstorm Sandy ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
York Metropolitan Area

The purpose of this study was to examine stakeholder perceptions of climate change and local adaptation strategies in the New York City area. A side-by-side comparison of expert and resident opinions provided a clear picture of the region's climate change attitude in the year following Superstorm Sandy. Semi-structured interviews with regional environmental experts provided material for a structured survey, which was then distributed to 100 experts and 250 residents in coastal NY and northern NJ counties. In the survey both stakeholder groups were asked to choose the top three climate threats to the NYC region and rate adaptation and mitigation strategies on a 1–5 Likert scale regarding their ability to protect the region and their cost-effectiveness. Results show that experts and residents agree that sea level rise, coastal flooding and storm surge, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme events pose the greatest threats to NYC over the next 25 years. While both groups showed a preference for long-term planning over immediate action, experts and residents could not agree on which specific strategies would best serve the region. The aftermath of Superstorm Sandy had a strong impact on both the expert and resident opinions and efforts to monitor stakeholder opinions continue.

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