Perceived Support and Sense of Social Belonging in Young Adults Who Have a Parent With a Mental Illness

This participatory action research explores the perceived social support of youth whose parents have a mental illness during their transition to adulthood. Social support is an important protection factor during this developmental period, but few studies have explored how these young adults perceive their social support. Nor has any study assessed whether participation in a group-based participatory action research project could improve these youth's sense of support.Purpose: (1) identify which aspects of social support these youth spontaneously address when talking about their experiences in Photovoice workshops; (2) explore how participants view these types of workshops as a good way to improve their sense of social support and belonging.Methodology: Ten young adults (nine women and one man) between the ages of 18 and 25 who have at least one parent with a mental illness participated in Photovoice meetings in 2019. These group meetings aimed to explore and share their experiences as young adults whose parents have a mental illness. The testimonies were combined with data obtained from the abbreviated version of the Social Provisions Scale and the Scale of Social Belonging.Results: The quantitative results suggest that participants consider their social support levels to be high, but their qualitative statements highlight low level or absence of parental support in terms of emotional, informative or instrumental levels. They see themselves as an important source of support for their parent and discuss the importance of having other supports figures (romantic partner, employer, friends, sibling, etc.). Conversely, they have difficulty asking for help for various reasons (including fear of stigma). They consider that their participation in this Photovoice project allowed them to feel heard, supported and to develop a sense of belonging to a group.Discussion: To conclude, clinical issues to be considered for psychosocial intervention with young adults of parents with a mental illness are discussed.

Evaluating the effectiveness of care coordination interventions designed and implemented through a participatory action research process: Lessons learned from a quasi-experimental study in public healthcare networks in Latin America

Background Despite increasing recommendations for health professionals to participate in intervention design and implementation to effect changes in clinical practice, little is known about this strategy’s effectiveness. This study analyses the effectiveness of interventions designed and implemented through participatory action research (PAR) processes in healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay to improve clinical coordination across care levels, and offers recommendations for future research. Methods The study was quasi-experimental. Two comparable networks, one intervention (IN) and one control (CN), were selected in each country. Baseline (2015) and evaluation (2017) surveys of a sample of primary and secondary care doctors (174 doctors/network/year) were conducted using the COORDENA® questionnaire. Most of the interventions chosen were based on joint meetings, promoting cross-level clinical agreement and communication for patient follow-up. Outcome variables were: a) intermediate: interactional and organizational factors; b) distal: experience of cross-level clinical information coordination, of clinical management coordination and general perception of coordination between levels. Poisson regression models were estimated. Results A statistically significant increase in some of the interactional factors (intermediate outcomes) -knowing each other personally and mutual trust- was observed in Brazil and Chile INs; and in some organizational factors -institutional support- in Colombia and Mexico. Compared to CNs in 2017, INs of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico showed significant differences in some factors. In distal outcomes, care consistency items improved in Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay INs; and patient follow-up improved in Chile and Mexico. General perception of clinical coordination increased in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico INs. Compared to CNs in 2017, only Brazil showed significant differences. Conclusions Although more research is needed, results show that PAR-based interventions improved some outcomes regarding clinical coordination at network level, with differences between countries. However, a PAR process is, by definition, slow and gradual, and longer implementation periods are needed to achieve greater penetration and quantifiable changes. The participatory and flexible nature of interventions developed through PAR processes poses methodological challenges (such as defining outcomes or allocating individuals to different groups in advance), and requires a comprehensive mixed-methods approach that simultaneously evaluates effectiveness and the implementation process to better understand its outcomes.

Theorising narratives of exile and belonging : the importance of Biography and Ethno-mimesis in “understanding” asylum

The article explores the use and importance of taking a biographical approach to conducting participatory action research (PAR) with asylum seekers and refugees in order to: better understand lived experiences of exile and belonging; contribute to the important field of Biographical Sociology; provide a safe space for stories to be told; and in turn for these stories to feed in to policy and praxis. The authors’ combined work on the asylum-migration nexus, the politics of representation and participatory action research methodology (PAR) as ethno-mimesisi argues for the use of biography to contribute to cultural politics at the level of theory, experience and praxis, and is constitutive of critical theory in praxis. PAR research undertaken with Bosnian refugees in the East Midlands and Afghan refugees in London will be the focus around which our analysis develops. We develop a case for theory building based upon lived experience using biographical materials, both narrative and visual, as critical theory in practice towards a vision of social justice that challenges the dominant knowledge/power axis embedded in current governance and media policy relating to forced migration. The dominant power/knowledge axis related to forced migration is embedded in current (New Labour) governance and re-presented in some media texts as identified below. New Labour governance is symbolised in the competing discourses of a) strong centralised control and b) more open systems, network and partnership based governance (Newman, 2003: 17-23; Clarke, 2004; Lewis, 2000). Open systems are made up of partnerships and networks – “joined up government”, “that transcends the vertical, departmental structures of government itself” (Newman, 2003: 20). to develop or foster a consensual style of governing. Progressive governance is defined by Newman (2003:15) as involving a significant shift from governance through hierarchy and competition to governance through networks and partnerships with an emphasis upon inclusion. Progressive governance involves the production of techniques and strategies of responsibilisation of citizens operationalised through the development of networks, alliances, and partnerships, with a strong focus upon active citizenship. Thus, spreading responsibility for social control to non state agencies and “communities” (Garland, 2001). In relation to forced migration/asylum discourses around the exclusion of the “other” (involving criminalisation, detention and deportation) and the maintenance and control of borders (developing ever more tighter controls on entry and asylum applications) exist in tension with discourses that speak of human rights, responsibilities and possibilities for multi-cultural citizenship especially in the community cohesion literature. There is a conflict at the heart of New Labour’s approach to asylum policy linked to the “alterity” of the asylum seeker that promulgates hegemonic ideologies and discourses around rights to belonging and citizenship, perceived access to resources (redistribution) and misrecognition fostering suspicion of the “stranger”. Alongside discourses of fairness and rights to enter and seek refuge, there exist regressive discourses that water down the vitally important actual and symbolic 1951 UN convention, and foster a split between “bogus” and “genuine” refugees, making it extremely hard to seek asylum in the UK.

Indigenous Trans-Systemic Research Approach

Indigenous trans-systemic approach is a lifelong unlearning and relearning process, with no endpoint. Indigenous peoples have long called for decolonizing minds so as to support self-determination, challenge colonial practices, and value Indigenous cultural identity and pride in being Indigenous peoples. Indigenous trans-systemic approach is also a political standpoint toward valuing and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and methodologies while weeding out colonizer biases or assumptions that have impacted Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being. Drawing from Indigenous Participatory Action Research (IPAR), I explained how I learned the meanings of trans-systematic knowledge from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-keepers.

The Trinomial Food-Heritage-Education for Climate Emergency as a Tool for Territorial Innovation in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico

This chapter is dedicated to the food-heritage-education for climate emergency trinomial (FoHECE). It disseminates a study in the Euroregion of Eixo Atlântico. This Euroregion (Galicia, Spain and Northern Portugal) has been a victim of climate change (CC) due to drought. The project consisted of a participatory-action-research (PAR) with a set of environmental education facilities (EEF) that promote the connection local heritage-global reality. The main objective of the study was to help re-signifying activities in education for climate emergency based on dietary styles. Thus, a pedagogical activity was created with each facility, according to the PAR methodology, to sub-themes of the diet-CC binomial (e.g,. types of food consumed, origin, type of production, presentation) and to food aspects of each EEF surrounding. In addition to the state-of-the-art review on FoHECE, results are discussed, and recommendations are suggested for future approaches and adaptations of this methodology to other contexts.

Research as Resistance

This chapter provides an overview of activist research and how it is used in various fields including anthropology, social movements, and education. It discusses the impetus for incorporating activism into theoretical frameworks and research methodologies and the distinct aspects of activist research. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is examined to identify how activist research can be situated into the methods and outcomes. Finally, a YPAR study is examined to illustrate how activist research can serve as a guided framework.

Disruptive Methodologies in Eco-Centers

This chapter delves into the use of sustainability audits as a disruptive methodology through participatory action research to analyze the starting situation of educational centers in environmental matters. The use of these methodologies is sought to involve the entire educational community in order to carry out an analysis as global as possible. In this way, the needs and consequent environmental priorities are detected for the subsequent elaboration and determination of the different action plans. The main principles of the sustainability audits, ecoschool programs, and eco-participatory processes are presented together with the analysis of common issues when performing the audits and the selection of real experiences in different educational centers where how the implication of the community, and especially students, in the sustainability audits contributes to the generation of participatory attitudes and behaviors which improve the commitment of the centers towards sustainability, spanning from early childhood to higher education.