Mexican-American Parents Using Critical Literacy to Address Climate Change

This chapter is an in-depth examination of a critical literacy project implemented by immigrant Mexican-American parent leaders that employed culturally relevant Latina/o and Native American children's literature to create dialogue and promote social action focused on environmental concerns. The Good Heart Chicana/o and Native Science after-school enrichment project was held weekly in elementary schools in the San Fernando Valley. Critical pedagogy served as the conceptual framework and informed the critical literacy strategies. Creative dialogue questions based on the children's literature promoted social action among children and families. Hands-on activities deepened the families' connection to environmental science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (E-STEAM) content and careers. Children's interest in science and nature increased. Parent leaders grew in their leadership and ability to address environmental issues in communities.

Parents Taking Action: Adapting a Peer-to-Peer Program for Parents Raising Black Children With Autism

We report on the adaptation and delivery of a peer-led, 14-session manualized program, Parents Taking Action, among parents raising Black children with autism in low-income neighborhoods. We engaged a community advisory group made up of parents and grandparents of Black children with autism, a Black self-advocate, clinicians, and other stakeholders to culturally adapt the intervention. Three Parent Leaders delivered the program to seven Black mothers of children with autism. We collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data on intervention implementation. Our study revealed key participation barriers and facilitators facing families of Black children with autism, particularly financial and other material burdens, which can inform efforts to better serve parents experiencing the effects of poverty and racism.

Development of a Culturally Specific Leadership Curriculum through Community-Based Participatory Research and Popular Education

Background: The purpose of this innovative capacity building pilot project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a nine-workshop curriculum, Rekki Lemnak [Thinking of] Parent Leadership, to prepare community and academic partners for community organizing within the Micronesian Islander community. The purpose of the partnership was to build team leadership and research capacity to lay a foundation for implementing a change in healthcare and school systems. Working collaboratively helped ensure access to shared leadership through the learning by doing approach, enabling a culturally responsive method to build a sustainable partnership. Approach: Community-based participatory research and Popular Education tenets and reflection were used as a guide in the development of the Rekki Lemnak [Thinking of] Parent Leadership curriculum. Nine workshops (two hours for eight workshops and three hours for one workshop) were held over a period of a year. Community and academic partners developed the learning objectives, capacity building topics, experiential activities, and an evaluation on the strengths and areas for improvement. The partnership consisted of seven Micronesian Islander parent leaders who are residents from the community at large, the Micronesian Islander Community organization including the Executive Director who is a community primary researcher and certified community health worker, and a Micronesian Islander-certified community health worker staff member, and the academic primary nurse researcher and another academic nurse researcher from Washington State University. A range from five to 10 partners with an average of eight attended the workshops, of which an average of five Micronesian Islander parent leaders attended the workshops. Community partners from the Micronesian Islander Community organization and the academic primary nurse researcher co-led four workshops. Community partners from the Micronesian Islander Community organization and MI parent leaders led two workshops respectively; academic nurse researcher partners led one workshop. Outcomes: We identified three main themes: initially shy and humble MI parent leaders who through their participation transformed to empowered voices, togetherness—coming from different Islands and academia, and the need for more outreach to Micronesian Islanders. Conclusions: Key elements of the Rekki Lemnak [Thinking of] Parent Leadership curriculum may be translatable to other community and academic partnerships. Culturally responsive research is more than a process in conducting a study. This requires an ongoing investment to establish and sustain authentic partnerships to conduct research with MI communities.

Community Intervention Self-Efficacy Scale for Parent Leaders (CONNECTED): Parents’ Empowerment to Prevent Adolescent Alcohol Use

Empowering parents by actively engaging them in environmental prevention strategies is a promising approach that only a few programs use. Evidence suggests that when families and the wider community are engaged, alcohol prevention is more efficient. However, due to the novelty of this approach, no specific assessment tools for measuring this type of engagement are available. The objective of this study is to design a parental empowerment measurement tool to evaluate parents’ self-efficacy when engaging in environmental and community actions and to analyze its psychometric properties. A total of 132 parents active in in-school parent associations from Spain (n = 77; 58.4%) and Portugal (n = 55; 41.7%) completed a pencil and paper battery of four questionnaires, including the developed scale COmmuNity iNtervention SElf-Efficacy SCale for ParenT LEaDers (CONNECTED). The scale showed a good reliability and good test-retest stability in a three-month period. The convergent validity with other well-established instruments that assess similar constructs was significant. A preliminary confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed an acceptable fit. Environmental prevention supported by families is a promising preventive strategy because the participation and involvement of families is an effective way to address some risks in adolescence; however, new assessment tools are needed in this field. The developed scale could be a first step to identify the areas of need in a community and to monitor the progress and evaluate the outcomes of the preventive interventions implemented.

Cultural Narratives of Micronesian Islander Parent Leaders: Maternal and Children's Health, the School System, and the Role of Culture

Background: In Oregon in the United States’ Pacific Northwest, Native Hawaiians/ Pacific Islanders including Micronesian Islanders (MI) substantially grew by 68%; however, research is sparse. This is often due to data aggregation as Asian and Pacific Islanders and community members’ reluctance and wariness to participate in research due to a history of unethical research in the Pacific. The MI community experienced miscarriages, stillbirths, and mental intellectual and developmental disabilities. Organizational MI community leaders expressed a need to explore the voices of MI parent leaders. The purpose of the qualitative descriptive pilot study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of Micronesian Islander parent leaders (MIPL) with maternal and children’s health, the school system, and the influence of culture. Methods: A trained MI community health worker recruited eight MIPL from an urban area of the Pacific northwest in the U.S. A group level assessment included illustrative storytelling and is a participant-driven qualitative method that guided data collection and analysis in real-time with MIPL. The discussions lasted for 90 minutes. MIPL shared stories by writing and drawing pictures onto the flip chart papers, transcribed main points, and analyzed the data with researchers. Researchers recorded field notes of the interactions. Researchers debriefed with MIPL to assure trustworthiness and credibility of the findings. Findings: MIPL are Compact of Free Association citizens. Their age ranged from 26 to 42 years, have lived in the U.S. an average of 12.63 years, and most reported having less than $15,000 total household income before taxes. Four main themes were identified: MI cultural identity, English language and MI culture disharmony, zero or delayed prenatal care, and uncertainty for the future of MI children who have disabilities or developmentally delayed as they progress through the school system. Conclusion: Health care providers including nurses and school officials need to have a culturally specific understanding of the MI community and must consider their needs, culture, and language barriers.

Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action Model: Mobilizing Community with Micronesian Islanders

Background: Despite mandates by the United States (U.S.) government to ensure the inclusion of women and minorities in federally funded research, communities of color continue to participate less frequently than non-Latinx Whites. There is limited research that examines maternal health outcomes and early childhood resources. Pacific Islanders (PI) have grown substantially in a county in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. (from 4,419 to 9,248, of which 52% are female). About 62.7% of PI women are not accessing prenatal care in the first trimester, and this is substantially higher than the national target of 22.1%. Researchers found that PI children are leaving school to take care of family obligations. The purpose of the educational innovative project, Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action model, was to respond to Micronesian Islanders (MI) parent leaders’ need to feel safe and to build a close kinship to encourage dialogue about difficult topics regarding access and utilization of early education systems and prenatal/perinatal health for community-driven model for action planning and solutions. Approach: Popular education tenets were used in the project to be culturally sensitive to the human experience. The MI community health worker outreached to MI parent leaders in an urban area in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Eight partners participated in this project: parent leaders from the MI community-at-large, community partners from the MI Community organization, and academic nurse researchers. Didactic dialogues lasted two hours per session for four. Topics included: collaborative agreements, MI parent leaders’ identified needs and existing resources regarding preschool and immunization, parent–child relationship (stress and trauma, adverse childhood experiences), and MI experience regarding prenatal care access and postpartum depression. Group discussion on reflection was used to evaluate utility. Outcomes: Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action model was foundational via mobilizing community with MI, trust and rapport building, and engaging in a safe and courageous space for dialogues for action planning and solutions as community and academic partners as stakeholders. Conclusion: Many previously unspoken issues such as abuse, language, and cultural beliefs including barriers were openly shared among all partners. Dynamic thoughts towards identifying needs for change and then planning steps toward creating positive change created an atmosphere of empowerment for change.

A liminal approach to parents in leadership positions in schools with students of high socioeconomic background in Israel

Purpose Parents’ collective involvement in their children’s education takes the form of holding leadership positions in schools. Employing the concept of liminality, which is used in anthropological and sociological approaches, the purpose of this paper is to explore the features of parent leadership in schools (PLS). Design/methodology/approach Interviews were conducted with 18 individuals: 11 chairpersons and 7 members of the parent leadership of 11 primary schools in Israel attended by students of high socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings Data analyses disclose PLS as a liminal framework, which constitutes both formal and informal dimensions, whether these be its in-school limited activities or out-of-school actions in introducing change and supporting the institutions. PLS’s functions are restricted by school principals, but simultaneously enhance school principals’ position. Practical implications The study’s findings carry implications for school collaboration with external entities. School principals need to support PLS and keep encouraging entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. There is a need for acknowledging the value of PLS’s contributions whereas policy makers must provide more guidelines and support to parent leaders. Originality/value The study focuses on exploring the position of collective parental involvement in schools. This issue is of significance in a time where parents gain more responsibility over their children’s education and schools support more collaborative relationships with external agencies. The study highlights the benefits of parents in leadership positions for school benefits and for school principals’ legitimacy, from the approach of liminality.

Rationale, Design and Methods of “Set the Rules”: A Tailored Peer-to-Peer Health Information Intervention

Ensuring equitable access to health information is one strategy to promote health equity for underserved communities, especially for low-income African Americans (AAs). Childcare centers are one viable site to deliver health information to address this disparity. This paper describes the methods used in a community-based participatory research project with a childcare facility that aimed to reduce environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among low-income AA children. Through collaboration and multiple data collection methods, partners identified communication strategies to overcome informational barriers. These initial findings indicated a peer-to-peer health information intervention, entitled “Set the Rules”, as the best strategy to increase awareness. The goal of the intervention was to build knowledge in reducing the harms of ETS exposure. Twelve community members were trained as parent leaders for the “Set the Rules” workshops and conducted workshops with parents. Even though there were barriers interfacing with all centers, parents that attended the workshop (n = 32) found the peer-to-peer intervention novel and quite helpful and will share the information learned with others. This intervention suggests that a childcare setting is a relevant space to increase access to health information to optimize child health outcomes. More research is necessary to determine if this intervention has salience in other childcare settings and across racial/ethnic groups.

Gabay Magulang: A Parent-Empowerment Program

Background and context: Gabay Magulang or Parent Guide is a collaboration between Kythe Foundation Inc. and selected medical students to provide support for and empower parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer. With the guide, parents would be better able to understand and care for their children. Aim: The program has two aims. First, it seeks to inform parents by providing relevant information on childhood cancer and its treatment. Second, the program hopes to develop and empower core Parent Leaders who will take the lead in educating and supporting other parents. Strategy/Tactics: Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with parents of children with cancer to better understand their needs and how best they can be supported. With the information gathered, a draft of the guide was written by the medical students and forwarded first to Kythe staff and then to pediatric hematologists/oncologists for editing. Four pediatric hematologists/oncologists edited the booklet before publishing. From the initial FGDs, a select group of core parents were invited to be Parent Leaders. Four training sessions on the use of the guide were conducted by Kythe. After the training, the Parent Leaders led learning sessions with parents of newly diagnosed children. Program/Policy process: Two programs are run every year with four months for each program. Monthly learning sessions are conducted in the four months by the Parent Leaders using Gabay Magulang (Parent Guide). In these four sessions, Kythe staff are present to provide support and a pediatric oncology fellow or consultant is on hand to either discuss a specific topic or provide answers to questions that arise. Outcomes: There are now four Parent Leaders who actively help in educating and empowering parents of newly diagnosed patients. More of the latter set of parents have expressed an increase in awareness and information of pediatric cancer. Likewise, they have become more involved in their children´s journey and treatment process. A new batch of Parent Leaders are now being chosen. What was learned: Empowering parents to be active partners and advocates in the holistic healing of their children undergoing treatment of cancer is essential. The Gabay Magulang program has published a parent guide, trained Parent Leaders to lead learning sessions and has provided parents with opportunities for better understanding of their children's illness and treatment and answered questions through sessions with a pediatric oncology fellow or consultant.