Perceptions of participants and staff of implementing a physical activity program in rural primary care

Addressing the lack of physical activity (PA) in rural adults is vital because of the role it plays in the risk for many chronic diseases. The purpose of the study was to explore the feasibility of conducting a 12-week intervention utilizing a Fitbit to increase PA behavior in inactive rural adults recruited from a primary care clinic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with study participants (n=10) and a focus group was held with nurses (n=7) from the primary care clinic. Data were analyzed using the process of immersion/crystallization. Participants and nurses both felt the program had a positive impact on PA and that the program was needed in the community. Study participants most often reported their favorite part of the study was being able to track their activity as well as the goal setting. However, study participants reported barriers to continued participation in PA related to a lack of time and ability to be active in cold weather. Further, nursing staff reported barriers in regard to a lack of resources (staffing and money) These barriers need to be examined further and addressed in order to implement a sustainable PA program that can be maintained through a primary care clinic.     

The importance of systems thinking,context, and inclusion when studying the feasibility of expanding the FoodShare (SNAP) outreach program to rural communities of Northern Wisconsin

Evaluators often neglect to question whether a program has been appropriately designed for a new context prior to a feasibility study’s commencement. In this paper, we document the results of a case study that closely examined context when determining the feasibility of implementing a FoodShare outreach program in rural northern Wisconsin. Using community-based participatory mixed methods, we examine how stakeholder engagement led to both study refinement and a more comprehensive understanding of community food security based on contextual factors and systems thinking. Lessons learned when conducting feasibility studies from this perspective are provided to improve evaluation practice.     

Assessing emotional and social health using photographs: An innovative research method for rural studies and its applicability in a care-farming program for youth

A framework for assessing photographs for the emotional and social health of young people (SHAPE) is described and tested, within the context of a rural program. Two independent raters assessed the photographs of participants. To assess inter-rater reliability, Cohen’ K and Kendall’s W were calculated. The two reviewers’ assessments of photographs were in agreement. The assessment of emotional/behavioural display showed 82% agreement. Agreement between reviewers’ judgements of proxemics (W = .866), interaction (W = .722), engagement (W = .932) and overall impression (W = .804) were all significant (p < .005). The method yielded results indicating that participants found gardening immediately engaging but their approach to equines exhibited a change from fascination to confidence during the program. The visual-diary method is a useful and sensitive method for research: where resources are limited; to complement traditional measures; for use with people who lack appropriate verbal communication or literacy skills to complete questionnaires; young children; other underrepresented groups.     

Educational gradient of health in rural China

The aim of this paper is to examine whether and how rural residents’ educational attainment is associated with their self-rated health in China. Taking advantage of the National Exercise Facility Survey that was collected between December 2015 and March 2016, we find that educational attainment has a significant and positive correlation with self-rated health, net of the effects of age, gender, and geographical region. This correlation is mediated by factors such as perceived importance of exercise and healthy lifestyle. Relatively, people’s cognitive knowledge about health-related information and material resource access fail to play a significant mediating role. The findings highlight the non-material and non-cognitive attributes of educational attainment in shaping the gradient of health in the rural setting of China. Interventions that expand formal education to the mass and optimize teaching contents may offer an effective means to balance the health gradient.     

The politics of leisure and labor mobilities: discourses of tourism and transnational migration in Central Java,Indonesia

This article presents narratives and tropes of transnational tourism from a less considered perspective: rural migrant-origin villagers of Central Java. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Cilacap and Yogyakarta, I analyze how and why some former temporary labor migrants depict their typically harsh experiences in terms of tourism and leisure. Addressing the tendency in current research to approach labor migration and tourism as mutually exclusive or unrelated class categories and experiences, I consider the ways in which former migrants and non-migrant villagers evaluate or identify labor migration in terms of gender, class, religious, and ethno-national subjectivities associated with ‘tourist’ and/or ‘migrant’ categories. Popular and commercial imaginations of leisure travel and tourism importantly shape the subjectivities and positionalities of precarious labor migrants. Foregrounding the relations between tourism and labor migration reveals the multi-scalar ways in which associated discourses and infrastructures of both mutually shape and constitute global socio-economic inequalities.     

Confidentiality,power relations and evaluation of potential harm in the study of the personal and organizational networks of travel agents in Moscow

Network research in organizational contexts faces ethical challenges related to revealing the identity of participants, managing power relations, and managing the interests and potential harms of the different stakeholders. In this article, we review the ethical issues associated with the investigation of the personal and organizational networks of travel agents in Moscow. In our case study, we interviewed 32 tourism agents from Moscow and its region, obtaining information on 45 people with whom they have regular relation as part of their work; and relational data, with a 2-mode matrix, on 15 organizations with which the agency could be linked in the Russian-Andalusian tourism market. Our results highlight the utility of presenting the information of personal networks in an aggregate manner. It also demonstrates the value of cultural adaptation strategies and adjustment to the characteristics of the community. Moreover, the central role of power relations in organizations, within a cultural context with a greater distance to authority was also found.     

人类学仪式理论视角下文化产业“神圣游程”体验模式

文化产业是对现代性的"好恶交织"。消费者在日常生活与文化产业之间进行"逃离—回归"的往返循环,相应地产生"世俗—神圣—世俗"的转换体验。该过程可表示为文化产业的"神圣游程"体验模式,由分离、阈限、聚合三个阶段构成。该模式与旅游"神圣游程"体验模式在异质性体验和人际互动方面存在明显区别,但本质上同为"体验差异"的现代性生存哲学的体现。     

农村义务教育阶段培育和践行社会主义核心价值观研究

农村义务教育在我国义务教育体系中占有重要地位,特别是对于拥有9亿多农村人口的我国来说,农村义务教育关系到每一个农村家庭子女的成长和成才,关系到农村经济振兴战略,更关系到国家和民族的未来。对农村义务教育阶段培育和践行社会主义核心价值观的必要性以及在这一过程中存在的困境进行深入研究,并据此提出相关的应对策略,能够使农村义务教育在社会主义核心价值观的指引下持续、快速、全面、健康地发展。     

乡村振兴战略下的乡村文化产业研究

党的十九大报告中,首次提出"实施乡村振兴战略",坚持农业农村优先发展。这为新时代农业农村发展指明了方向、明确了重点。乡村振兴需要迎合人们回归热土的意愿,要发展更离不开好的政策来扶持。现阶段,乡村基础设施落后,生态资源遭到破坏,人才流失严重,这些问题严重阻碍了乡村振兴的道路。文化产业是新兴的产业,其前景广阔,受到社会各界的高度关注。乡村振兴战略和乡村文化产业相结合是新时代发展的必然结果。乡村文化产业依托区域和民族地区的文化资源,将文化遗产保护、文化传承、产业开发和创业就业融为一体,将美丽乡村、风俗文化、历史文化等特色资源有效的整合在一起,增加乡村发展动力,与乡村振兴战略高度契合,是乡村实现振兴的重要途径之一。     

民族旅游场域中新乡贤的成长路径与社区角色研究

乡村旅游发展推动了乡村社会关系的转变,创造了新乡贤培育的时代舞台。民族旅游场域培育出了多元化的乡贤结构,其中新乡贤可分为本土乡民类的"守土"乡贤、"返土"乡贤,以及旅游移民类的"外来"乡贤和"外籍"乡贤。尽管旅游新乡贤群体内部异质性较高,但持有不同经济、社会和文化资本的个体都实现了向综合精英型乡贤的多级跳跃及角色转换。新乡贤在民族旅游社区中扮演着文化传承者、创业示范者、社区融合者和文化传播者等多重角色。同时,多元社区角色间存在着一定的共性:对传统文化的保护与利用是旅游新乡贤的基本实践;经济能人是他们的成长基底;文化代理人的公益性与经济能人的代表性打开了新乡贤与政府沟通交流的渠道,承袭了传统社会"国家-士绅-民众"中的中介角色,践行了新时代背景下"双轨制"的乡村治理道路。