Conducting a Hispanic Health Needs Assessment in rural Kansas: building the foundation for community action

Healthy People 2020 states ethnic health disparities are a priority for the US. Although considerable national statistics document ethnic-related health disparities, information specific to rural areas is scarce and does not provide direction for implementing chronic disease prevention programming. Therefore, the purpose of our project was to use the Hispanic Health Needs Assessment (HHNA), a tool designed by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (NAHH), in culturally diverse, rural Southwest Kansas. Our focus areas included: access to healthcare, heart disease, diabetes, overweight, nutrition, and physical activity. METHODS: The assessment followed six steps: (1) developing the assessment team, (2) data gathering using community member surveys, existing statistics and community leader interviews, (3) assembling the findings, (4) formulating recommendations for action at individual, institutional, community and policy levels, (5) sharing findings and program planning, and (6) sharing findings with NAHH. We identified several challenges collecting health related data in rural communities, but overall, the HHNA was a comprehensive and useful tool for guiding a community level health assessment. CONCLUSION: This process has provided our community partners with locally relevant statistics regarding the current status of health, health behaviors, and perceived community needs to inform resource allocation, program planning and applications for new funding initiatives.     

Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students: Further Validation of a Measure of Well-being

This paper reports a study designed to further validate a measure of quality of college life (QCL) of university students (Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, Rahtz, Soc Indic Res 80(2), 343–360, 2007). Two studies were conducted: a replication study and an extension study. The replication study involved surveys of 10 different college campuses in different countries. The results of the replication study provided additional nomological (predictive) validation support of the measure based on a theoretical model mapping out the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction with college life. With respect to the extension study, the focus was to further test the nomological validity of the QCL measure by arguing and empirically demonstrating that the consequence of QCL is life satisfaction. The extension study involved a survey of three college campuses in different countries. The results were also supportive of the nomological validity of the QCL measure.     

Indigenous worldviews in intercultural education: teachers’ construction of interculturalism in a bilingual Quechua–Spanish program

This paper examines teachers’ implementation of a bilingual intercultural education (BIE) program in Peru. This program is inspired by global policies that promote cultural pluralism and educational access to marginalized indigenous populations. Broadly addressed in policy in Andean countries, interculturalism in Peru has remained a core educational principle with a neglected pedagogy. The lack of preparation of BIE teachers in intercultural pedagogy has both forced and allowed them intuitively to make sense of interculturalism in practice. Based on an ethnographic study of BIE teachers, this paper discusses teachers’ interpretations of interculturalism and of indigenous culture. The study aims to inform educators and policy‐makers concerned with interculturalism about the challenges and possibilities of a pedagogy that affirms diversity and advocates quality education for all.

Este artículo examina la implementación del programa de educación bilingüe intercultural (EBI) en el Perú. EBI se inspira en políticas globales que promueven el pluralismo cultural y el acceso educativo de las poblaciones indígenas marginadas. Siendo parte de la pólitica nacional de distintos países andinos, la interculturalidad en el Perú se ha mantenido como principio educativo con una pedagogía negada. La falta de preparación profesional de los maestros en pedagogía intercultural ha forzado y a la vez permitido una interpretación intuitiva de EBI en la práctica. Basado en un estudio etnográfico de maestros EBI, este artículo analiza las interpretaciones de los maestros sobre interculturalidad y la cultural indígena. Este estudio intenta informar a educadores y políticos interesados en la interculturalidad, sobre los retos y las posibilidades de una pedagogía que afirma la diversidad y que promueve una educación de calidad para todos.     

The Roles of Instability and Housing in Low-Income Families’ Residential Mobility

Given the repercussions of residential mobility, increased understanding of correlates of mobility is important for efforts to support family well-being. Using survey data on low-income families from the Three City Study (N = 2393), multilevel mixed longitudinal analyses examined factors associated with family residential mobility across the domains of family instability, housing and neighborhood contexts, and family characteristics. Results revealed contributions of family instability and housing and neighborhood contexts to residential mobility, with a higher rate of residential moves associated with experiences of intimate partner violence, relationship transitions, and job transitions, as well as with living in private-market rentals, substandard housing, and disordered neighborhoods. However, owning a home and living in disadvantaged neighborhoods predicted a lower rate of residential moves.     

Suffering in Silence: Child Sexual Molestation and the Black Church: If God Don’t Help Me Who Can I Turn To?

The invasion by another of a child’s inner self causes greater damage to the soul than perhaps any other type of abuse. Each year an estimated 90,000 children are victims of child sexual abuse. Many social institutions that are designed to help in healthy child development have failed to protect children from sexual abuse. The Black church is a major institution within the African American community that provides a plethora of supports for the community. However, it has also come under recent scrutiny for its failure to protect its children from sexual predators from within. The authors of this article discuss the role of the Black church, give theories to explain child sexual molestation, and make recommendations to church leaders and others for prevention and intervention of this problem. Implications for churches, human service providers, and research are also discussed.     

Building Affordable Rental Housing for Seniors: Policy Insights From Canada

ABSTRACT

In the context of healthy aging, we explore newly constructed, unassisted affordable rental housing with respect to design, location, and the involvement of seniors in decision making. We do so from the perspectives of seniors and project sponsors. Overall, the themes that emerged from these two groups of participants diverge. Seniors spoke about the importance of shared space, design-related barriers to aging in place, and problems accessing transportation. They also expressed a range of views regarding participation in decision making, from conveying it was not necessary to requesting resident involvement. Project sponsors spoke about cost, feasibility, and, in certain cases, learning how to build housing; they also evinced disparate views about the nature of the housing they were providing and the importance of seniors' involvement. Recommendations include linking housing to health and social policy, implementing guidelines for sponsors related to design and location, and providing increased funding to offset new costs.