The Affects and Emotions in the Therapeutic Relationship

The research is based on a community intervention project—Living More With Knowledge: Health Literacy—with a qualitative and quantitative approach, with ethnographic aspects through participant observation by one of the researchers. At the end of the first year of the project, a qualitative study was carried out, with the application of a questionnaire survey to a sample of 143 participants from different groups aged between 50 and 90 years old. The questionnaire survey aimed to assess the participants perception of the activities developed. To the questions regarding the usefulness of the topics addressed for daily life, the acquisition of new knowledge, the way the topics are addressed, the relationship and interaction of health professionals with the participants (cognitive and emotional), 99% of the respondents considered it very good and good. All respondents expressed interest in continuing to participate in the activities. The number of participants doubled, as well as the request of institutions to collaborate in the project.

Collective violence and the culture of peace: researching the social psychology of memory and social reconciliation

This monograph aims to disseminate the results of various research studies carried out in the field of social and community psychology. The studies focus on efforts to build a culture of peace in post-conflict contexts and societies that have suffered collective and socio-political violence, with multiple and persistent human rights violations. Six studies on the psychosocial effects of transitional justice rituals from Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Basque country, Chile, and Ecuador compose this issue. This issue presents a series of results regarding the effects of reparation rituals and Truth Commissions, combining different methods and analysis strategies, including general population surveys, newspaper and social media content analysis, community intervention assessments and qualitative documentary analysis. Finally, two review books were included. First, a Peace Psychology Book that explores the implications and difficulties faced by societies that have experienced large-scale collective violence. Second, the problem of human rights violations and how to confront them, socio-political conflicts and the building of a culture of democracy and peace in Latin America are transversal axes of the chapters of this second book.

Bringing Lived Lives to Swift’s Asylum: a psychiatric hospital perspective

Background: Few “interventions” around suicide and stigma have reached into psychiatric institutions. Lived Lives is a science-arts approach to addressing suicide and stigma, informed by a psychobiographical and visual arts autopsy. The resulting artworks and mediated exhibition ( Lived Lives), has facilitated dialogue, response and public action around stigma-reduction, consistent with a community intervention. Recent evidence from Lived Lives moved us to consider how it may situate within a psychiatric hospital. Methods: Lived Lives manifested in St. Patrick’s University Hospital (Ireland’s oldest and largest psychiatric hospital) in November 2017. A mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate the exhibition as a potential intervention to address stigma around suicide, with quantitative and qualitative data collected via written questionnaire and oral data collected via video documentation. Bereavement support was available. A Clinician and an artist also provided independent evaluation. Results: 86 participants engaged with the exhibition, with 68 completing questionnaire data. Audiences included service users, policy makers, health professionals, senior hospital administrators and members of the public. 62% of participants who completed questionnaires were suicide-bereaved; 46% had experienced a mental health difficulty, and 35% had been suicidal in the past. 91% thought Lived Lives could be of benefit in the aftermath of a suicide death. Half of participants thought Lived Lives could help reduce suicidal feelings, whereas 88% thought it could benefit those with Mental Health difficulties. The emotional response was of a visceral nature, including fear, anger, sadness, disgust and anxiety. Conclusions: Lived Lives sits comfortably in discomfort, unafraid to call out the home-truths about stigma and its pervasive and pernicious impact, and with restoring identity at its core. Lived Lives can operate within a psychiatric hospital, as well as in community. The challenge is to move it forward for greater exposure and impacts in at-risk communities.

Are Community Coalitions a Better Mechanism to Advance Health Equity? A Narrative Review

Background/Objective: Despite increasing emphasis on health equity in policy, leadership, and program development, meaningful advancement in health equity remains a challenge. A comprehensive review of community health coalition efforts to improve health equity has not been conducted. In this narrative review, we examine what evidence exists that community health coalitions can advance health equity, and whether coalitions are a preferred approach to address health equity. Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed, English articles with no date restrictions. In total, 1256 records were screened, of which 1163 were excluded for duplicate publications, no coalition or coalition-based intervention, no relevant outcomes, no emphasis on health equity or disparities, not primary literature, or unavailable full text. The remaining 93 articles are presented as a table of interventions based on outcomes. Further, evaluations of coalition effectiveness with controls are reviewed. Results: Populations of interest were racial and ethnic minorities, women and girls, low socioeconomic status communities, rural and urban areas, older adults, and LGBTQ groups. The most commonly reported results were changes in health outcomes or behaviors and community or organizational policy. Few studies were randomized, double-blinded, or controlled trials. This is not unexpected given the difficult nature of evaluating community interventions. Very few studies evaluated the effectiveness of a coalition-based intervention as compared to organizational interventions. Conclusion, Impact, & Implications: Available literature suggests that health coalitions influence health outcomes, policies, and important social determinants of health in populations affected by health inequity. However, community intervention studies pose a unique challenge for high quality evaluation. While health coalitions have a positive influence on health equity, more research is needed to determine the advantages of health coalition interventions versus organizational interventions.

The Most Potent Unifying Force: Using Architecture to Reflect the Essence of Sport in the Post-Disaster Context

<p>Natural disasters have immense impacts on the physical environment but they also affect communities and individuals on a widespread mental level. Disasters disrupt personal and community identity, sense of belonging and connection to the physical built environment. On the 14th of November, 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the provincial New Zealand town of Kaikoura. The earthquake took the lives of 2 people and caused significant damage to buildings and homes, displacing many families and affecting many of the local businesses. Of significant impact was the damage to State Highway 1, that resulted in the roads in and out of Kaikoura being closed making travel to the north and south much more difficult and time consuming than before the event. For most of the community, their everyday rhythms and routines had been completely compromised as they adapted to their new post disaster environment. The characteristics of sport, both through participating and spectating, have the ability to address the negative impacts of disasters making it an effective tool for disaster recovery. Sport as a support mechanism allows victims of disasters, where for many, sport will be a regular everyday rhythm, to shift their focus of attention from the experiences of loss to finding elements of normalcy in their lifestyles and routines; experiencing familiar bodily functions and re-establishing community identity and personal belonging. Sport in provincial New Zealand is culturally intrinsic and the effects of it not being as available can negatively impact personal and community identity. Sport facilities are often the platform for which many community relationships and networks are created and it is not often that sport is disassociated from the venue it occurs in because of the shared memories and experiences that become embedded through its subconscious fabric. In response to discovering the role of sport as a tool for community resilience, a design led investigation will test how that role can be reflected through architecture. This will be in the form of a community centre that gravitates around sport in Kaikoura. Focussing on the unifying and supportive characteristics of community sport, ideas generated through a workshop in Kaikoura, rather than the traditional pragmatics and efficiency of sports facilities, this design proposal will aim to capture this role in an area recovering from a significant natural disaster. The small coastal town of Kaikoura was selected as the site for the design research as it continues its recovery from the earthquake. The area lost two of its primary sporting facilities; the community swimming pool and high school gym that was used by many community groups outside of the high school. The closures to State Highway 1 meant that the ability to participate in sport, especially for younger generations, was effectively cut off and that as a consequence the role that sport could play in their recovery was compromised, with invisible effects. The risk also exists that intergenerational sport in Kaikoura could die as a result. This research portfolio will conclude with a final design outcome that aims to reflect and facilitate the concepts generated through community intervention and refined through design, illustrating how the role of sport as a tool for resilience can be translated into architecture. The proposal works with the idea of creating a more resilient Kaikoura through a community sports centre in the town but also has the opportunity to serve as a future disaster centre and a community focal point and tourist destination.</p>

The Most Potent Unifying Force: Using Architecture to Reflect the Essence of Sport in the Post-Disaster Context

<p>Natural disasters have immense impacts on the physical environment but they also affect communities and individuals on a widespread mental level. Disasters disrupt personal and community identity, sense of belonging and connection to the physical built environment. On the 14th of November, 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the provincial New Zealand town of Kaikoura. The earthquake took the lives of 2 people and caused significant damage to buildings and homes, displacing many families and affecting many of the local businesses. Of significant impact was the damage to State Highway 1, that resulted in the roads in and out of Kaikoura being closed making travel to the north and south much more difficult and time consuming than before the event. For most of the community, their everyday rhythms and routines had been completely compromised as they adapted to their new post disaster environment. The characteristics of sport, both through participating and spectating, have the ability to address the negative impacts of disasters making it an effective tool for disaster recovery. Sport as a support mechanism allows victims of disasters, where for many, sport will be a regular everyday rhythm, to shift their focus of attention from the experiences of loss to finding elements of normalcy in their lifestyles and routines; experiencing familiar bodily functions and re-establishing community identity and personal belonging. Sport in provincial New Zealand is culturally intrinsic and the effects of it not being as available can negatively impact personal and community identity. Sport facilities are often the platform for which many community relationships and networks are created and it is not often that sport is disassociated from the venue it occurs in because of the shared memories and experiences that become embedded through its subconscious fabric. In response to discovering the role of sport as a tool for community resilience, a design led investigation will test how that role can be reflected through architecture. This will be in the form of a community centre that gravitates around sport in Kaikoura. Focussing on the unifying and supportive characteristics of community sport, ideas generated through a workshop in Kaikoura, rather than the traditional pragmatics and efficiency of sports facilities, this design proposal will aim to capture this role in an area recovering from a significant natural disaster. The small coastal town of Kaikoura was selected as the site for the design research as it continues its recovery from the earthquake. The area lost two of its primary sporting facilities; the community swimming pool and high school gym that was used by many community groups outside of the high school. The closures to State Highway 1 meant that the ability to participate in sport, especially for younger generations, was effectively cut off and that as a consequence the role that sport could play in their recovery was compromised, with invisible effects. The risk also exists that intergenerational sport in Kaikoura could die as a result. This research portfolio will conclude with a final design outcome that aims to reflect and facilitate the concepts generated through community intervention and refined through design, illustrating how the role of sport as a tool for resilience can be translated into architecture. The proposal works with the idea of creating a more resilient Kaikoura through a community sports centre in the town but also has the opportunity to serve as a future disaster centre and a community focal point and tourist destination.</p>

Community Intervention System: COVID-19 Control in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

The COVID-19 epidemic has caused giant influences on people’s life, and China’s communities play an important role in dealing with these major public health events (MPHEs). Community as the grassroots autonomous organization has various significant functions in intervening in MPHEs. The community intervention follows a system which directly influences the anti-epidemic effectiveness. To explore the mechanism, we devise a theoretical system for community intervention, mainly consisting of “organizational structure”, “functional performance” and “internal and external connections”. Questionnaire surveys, the chi-square test, the independent sample T-test, and principal component analysis are used to identify the characteristics of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s (Inner Mongolia) community intervention. Through the empirical research, it is verified that the community intervention in MPHEs is the combination of “the structural response of the organization”, “the performance of the community’s own function”, and “the establishment of internal and external connections”. The central Inner Mongolia delivers the best performance in community intervention compared to eastern Inner Mongolia and western Inner Mongolia. The urban communities commonly perform better than that in the agricultural and pastoral areas. The built system and findings could provide a guidance for future community to improve its intervention capability.