What do urban college students really think about health insurance? A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: To determine barriers and opportunities to health insurance enrollment among an undergraduate students at a large urban university. Participants: Participants were 31 college students enrolled in 4-year and community colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY), and six health services and insurance enrollment specialists who facilitate and assist in the health insurance enrollment process for CUNY students. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with students and in-depth interviews with key informants in May 2017. Results: The research revealed important insights into how students perceive and value insurance and yielded recommendations for the university to improve enrollment of its students. Conclusions: Many colleges can increase student enrollment in health insurance by informing and educating students about the process. Improving enrollment processes can increase insurance rates and improve student population health.     

Effects of Interaction Experiences and Undergraduate Coursework on Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Issues

College experiences can expand knowledge, decrease negative stereotypes, and increase acceptance toward diversity, especially regarding gay and lesbian issues. This study found that the more interaction undergraduate students have with gay and lesbian people on campus, the more accepting their attitudes are regarding (1) same-sex, consensual sex, (2) same-sex relations between adults is not unnatural, (3) vote for a gay presidential candidate, (4) friends with a feminine man, (5) friends with a masculine woman, (6) knowledge of GL issues important for future career, and (7) comfortable with GL roommate. Furthermore, the more undergraduate students are exposed to coursework addressing gay and lesbian issues, the more positive their attitudes are regarding the importance of knowledge of gay/lesbian issues for future career and comfort with a gay/lesbian roommate. Discussion explores possible long-term implications of systematic interaction experiences and coursework at all levels within the educational system to prevent negative attitude formation.     

Cycling’s Sensory Strategies: How Cyclists Mediate their Exposure to the Urban Environment

In this article, we focus on the many ways cyclists mediate their sensory exposure to the urban environment. Drawing on research in Hull, Hackney and Bristol during 2010 and 2011 for the Cycling Cultures research project, we describe a range of ‘sensory strategies’ enrolled by cyclists. Our research reveals how sensory strategies, such as using mobile audio devices, involve deliberate and finely tuned practices shaped by factors such as relaxation, motivation and location. This presents a contrast to media representations of the ‘iPod zombie cyclist’ who, plugged into a mobile audio device, lumbers insensitively and dangerously through the urban landscape. The article complicates the idea that sensory practices of listening and not-listening are two fixed and distinct ways of being in the urban environment. We suggest that considering the sensory strategies of cyclists opens up a new terrain for thinking about less easily represented, uncertain and fleeting intersections of mobility, place and the senses. Ultimately, we argue that an analysis of cycling’s sensory strategies might enrich our understanding of mobility cultures by operating to reconnect a range of mobile citizens with the broader messy and less easily controllable sensory landscape. This has implications both for understanding cycling as a sensory practice and for thinking about how the sensory dimensions of other mobile practices are shaped by practitioners.     

Effect of School Racial Composition on Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence Through Early Adulthood

We investigate the effect of high school racial composition, measured as percent of non-Hispanic white students, on trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence to early adulthood. We also explore whether the effect of school racial composition varies by respondent race/ethnicity and whether adult socioeconomic status mediates this relationship. We analyzed four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health using 3-level linear growth models. We restricted our sample to respondents enrolled in grades 9–12 in 1994/5 who were interviewed at a minimum in Waves I and IV. This resulted in 10,350 respondents enrolled in 80 high schools in 1994/5 (5,561 whites, 2,030 blacks, 1,834 Hispanics, 738 Asians, and 187 of other race). As the percentage of white students increased at the high school respondents attended in 1994/5, blacks reported more depressive symptoms. This effect did not vary by age. In comparison, Asian and Hispanic respondents who attended predominantly white high schools had lower levels of depressive symptoms than their counterparts who attended predominantly minority schools, but they also experienced a slower decline in depressive symptoms through early adulthood. Adult SES mediated the relationship between high school racial composition and depressive symptoms for black, but not for Asian or Hispanic respondents. Our results suggest that high school racial composition is associated with trajectories of depressive symptoms through early adulthood, but the effect differs by respondents’ race/ethnicity. Racial/ethnic disparities in depressive symptoms during early adulthood may have their origins in adolescence.     

What Affects the Quality of Economic Analysis for Life‐Saving Investments?‡

Economic analysis of life-saving investments in both the public and private sectors has the potential to dramatically improve longevity and the quality of life, but only if the analyses on which decisions are based are done well. In this article, we analyze a data set that provides information on the content and quality of journal articles that measure the cost-effectiveness of life-saving investments. Our study is the first to provide a detailed multivariate analysis of factors affecting objective measures of quality. We also explore whether a series of recommendations by an expert panel convened by the U.S. Public Health Service affect the way analyses of specific life-saving investments are done. Our results suggest that four factors are positively correlated with an index we construct to measure analytical quality: (1) having at least one author affiliated with a university, (2) publication in a journal that has experience in publishing these analyses, (3) if the life-saving investment is located in the United States, and (4) if the analysis considers a measure of social costs or benefits. Somewhat surprisingly, a study's funding source and whether it is affiliated with industry are not significantly correlated with the quality index. Finally, neither time nor the panel guidelines had an impact on the index.     

Young men's perspectives on family support and disclosure of same-sex attraction

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) face myriad challenges when deciding to disclose their sexual orientation to family members. Key to this decision is consideration of how disclosure may influence the support they receive from family. This paper explores a diverse sample of YMSM's (N = 43) perspectives on disclosure of their same-sex attractions to key family members and its impact on family support. Several stages/categories of disclosure are described and some YMSM seemed to continue to move between categories. Additionally, relationships after disclosure included negotiations between the expression of their sexual orientation and the maintenance of family support.     

African American Mothers’ Disciplinary Responses: Associations with Family Background Characteristics, Maternal Childrearing Attitudes, and Child Manageability

Eighty-nine African American mothers of preschoolers reported on their levels of family stress, attitudes about and use of specific disciplinary responses, and their expected outcomes for their children as a result of each type. Independently, teachers reported on the children’s manageability in the preschool classroom. Results indicated that mothers reported more negotiation than coercion. However, when mothers used coercion, they reportedly did so because they believed that it was the only way that they could get their children to behave, negotiation was negatively associated with maternal endorsement of traditional childrearing attitudes. On the other hand, mothers who experienced high levels of family stress tended to use privilege withdrawal as their disciplinary method of choice. Although family income was generally unrelated to the study variables, lower income and less educated mothers were less likely than other mothers to believe that spanking is associated with negative outcomes for children. Overall, these results support the idea that African American parents’ conceptions of discipline are influenced by individual family characteristics, such as stress, endorsement of traditional versus modern ideas of parenting, and expectations about their children’s responses to specific disciplinary techniques.     

Reviewing changes to the Child Disability Allowance: Giving parents a voice

Abstract

The Diabetes Clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children has been concerned at the impact of changes made in 1998 to eligibility for the Child Disability Allowance on families caring for a child with diabetes. A survey of those families was conducted to obtain their views on the changes. Results showed the number of families receiving Child Disability Allowance since the changes has significantly declined. Parents indicated the allowance should be automatic for children with insulin dependent diabetes as the disability is chronic, incurable, requires extra care and attention, and is a financial and emotional burden for families. Many felt the application process was unjust, incomplete and inadequate. The results formed part of a submission to the Department of Family and Community Services evaluation, giving parents a voice in this process. This project illustrates the capacity of social workers to attempt to impact on social policy within the context of their clinical practice.     

Envisioning upland futures: Stakeholder responses to scenarios for Europe's mountain landscapes

In a period of agricultural decline in the uplands of Europe, agriculture is ceasing to provide the primary rationale for the organisation, utilisation and functioning of rural space. Policy reform, market trends and changes to the way citizens and consumers think about the countryside all suggest a need for thinking strategically about the future development of these areas. However, without a broad involvement of stakeholders, land use conflicts, and social and cultural conflicts in general, may increase. Involving stakeholders in upland areas can be facilitated by using scenario technique and by discussing alternative futures in local stakeholder panels. In this paper we present four scenarios of land-use change for the year 2030, and their assessments by stakeholder panels in Scotland, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia and Greece. The aim of the paper is to explore the ways in which stakeholders in these locations advocate and assess these scenarios. We also explore how stakeholders in different countries weight the visual landscape impacts, the livelihood and biodiversity aspects of the scenarios in their assessment, and the reasons for their prioritising. The cross-country analysis shows that stakeholders across the study areas are united in their overall rejection of agricultural liberalisation, advocating a production-oriented, but multifunctional and environmentally-friendly agriculture that maintains landscapes and biodiversity.