We are very pleased to offer this Special Issue of the GJCPP for the 2011 SCRA Biennial Conference. All of the papers, presentations and materials in this Special Issue were peer reviewed, or contributed by special invitation of the conference organizers. This is a very rich issue, with video, narrated slide presentations, posters, and other materials from the conference. We also have several of the invited addresses from Award Winners. We hope that you will learn from all the materials presented. Please do not hesitate to contact the authors, or leave comments at the end of each submission.
Read more...Katherine P. Strater, Melissa Strompolis, Ryan P. Kilmer, & James R. Cook (UNC Charlotte)
This study sought to explore caregiver-reported needs of youth and families receiving services within a System of Care (SOC). Study findings were used by a local nonprofit organization to inform their advocacy efforts, and were incorporated into an enrollment process at a local mental health agency are part of a programmatic change pilot effort.
Read more...William D. Neigher, Ph.D. and Sharon Marie Hakim, M.A. (Atlantic Health System [NJ] and Wichita State University)
This presentation describes foundational initiatives to create a sustainable “healing culture” within a large, multi-hospital healthcare system, the Atlantic Health System [AHS] in northern New Jersey. We will describe our guiding principles, implementation process, barriers and facilitators, progress to date, and next steps.
Read more...Jean L. Hill, GiShawn A. Mance, Riana Elyse Anderson, & Emilie P. Smith
This paper addresses the role of ethnic identity in child development. We report on two school-based interventions with a focus on strengthening the ethnic identity of girls, one with a Hispanic population and one with an African American population. We discuss the implications of these non-significant findings, particularly given that the two interventions were conducted in minority-majority communities.
Read more...Patrizia Meringolo, & Moira Chiodini (Florence, Italy)
The research is part of a project promoted by the Municipality of Florence in order to planning a program of HIV prevention and promoting the access to free HIV test. The purpose of the research is to identify useful indications for community based interventions addressed to adult people. General practitioners may have a critical and important role, because of their trust relationship with their patients, and can be able to disseminate preventive practices.
Read more...F. Petrini, S. Vannucchi, A. Miraglia Raineri, & P. Meringol
This study is part of a more extensive project aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-help group participation in improving quality of life in mental disease. The study is taking place in the Tuscany Region, in Italy. Our objectives of study head us toward an in depth analysis of self-help phenomenon in Prato.
Read more...Lisette T. Jacobson, MPA, MA, PhD(c), & Charles A. Burdsal, PhD
The results of the Peer/Performance Relationship Study build on previous research findings demonstrating relational significance of peer influences to academic performance during adolescence. This study evaluated social support and negative interchanges in relation to self-reported grades in reading, mathematics, social studies, and science. A positive correlation was found between level of school interest and academic performance.
Read more...Heather Schmidt
A central challenge with participatory action research (PAR) pertains to discrepancies between principles and practice. What sounds simple in theory (e.g., establishing a respectful collaboration) is often much more complex in real community settings. The challenges, lessons learned, and successes of PAR were examined within the context of a large national research project that involved 8 First Nation communities and academics.
Read more...This section contains the posters from the 2011 SCRA Biennial Conference. Click on the "view all" link below to get the entire list of posters!
This section contains several very innovative paper presentations. One is in the form of a slide presentation that contains text to explain the slides. The others contain a narrated PowerPoint slide presentation about work within indigenous communities in Canada. Please be sure to review all the materials here. There are important implications for those of us doing community research.
Considerations in research with indigenous peoples include getting at culturally-based understanding based on indigenous participants’ ways of living and thinking, translating instruments and findings when concepts lack equivalence across languages, adapting measures in ways that are both culturally resonant and able to detect change resulting from intervention, and addressing lack of comparability or cultural measurement equivalence. This symposium will discuss these challenges and strategies for addressing them, drawing on examples from community based participatory research focused on addressing health disparities in rural Alaska Native communities.
Testimony: The Maria Guardado Story
This film is a plea for inclusion. In this revolutionary performance of demand, research, art, and contestation, testimony is legitimized as an indigenous research and action methodology for social transformation, as the emergency narrative that demands public space for solidarity and political action. All 3 videos are available on YouTube here.
This section contains the workshops from the 2011 SCRA Biennial Conference. Click on the "view all" link below to get the entire list of workshops!
This section of the Special Issue focuses on several special sessions from the 2011 SCRA Biennial Conference. These sessions included presentations from Award Winners, and from Invited Guests.
SCRA Mini-Grant Opportunity
Have a great idea for a community project and need some start-up funds? SCRA launched its mini-grant effort to help get your idea started! Watch the video and go to the SCRA web site for more info!
Drawings of Mental Health Recovery
Experiences of recovery from mental illness were explored through an innovative session. Drawings, interview excerpts, and poetry performances were utilized to understand consumer perspectives on recovery. This video (titled: "Drawings of Mental Health Recovery") is the first of 3 related videos.