Best practices for online Canadian prenatal health promotion: A public health approach

Background

Prenatal health promotion provides information regarding pregnancy risks, protective behaviours and clinical and community resources. Typically, women obtain prenatal health information from health care providers, prenatal classes, peers/family, media and increasingly, Internet sites and mobile apps. Barriers to prenatal health promotion and related services include language, rural/remote location, citizenship and disability. Online public health platforms represent the capacity to reach underserved women and can be customised to address the needs of a heterogeneous population of pregnant women.

Risk Factors for Homelessness Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths: A Developmental Milestone Approach

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths are over-represented in the homeless population. To examine why some LGB youths become homeless, this report compares homeless and non-homeless LGB youths. Of the 156 LGB youths, 48% reported ever being homeless (i.e., running away or being evicted from home). Results indicate that sexual orientation awareness and the initiation of sexual behavior occurred earlier in homeless than in non-homeless LGB youths and predated the first homeless episode. Substance use was more frequent and first occurred at an earlier age in homeless as compared to non-homeless LGB youths; however, substance use occurred subsequent to first homelessness. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with homelessness; and, early sexual orientation development was related to homelessness among youths without a history of sexual abuse. Findings suggest that interventions should help youths cope with their unfolding sexual orientation and work to prevent or address the consequences of sexual abuse.     

Assessing state substance abuse prevention infrastructure through the lens of CSAP's Strategic Prevention Framework

Although the organizational structures and operating procedures of state substance abuse prevention systems vary substantially across states, there is scant empirical research regarding approaches for rigorous assessment of system attributes and which attributes are most conducive to overall effectiveness. As one component of the national cross-site evaluation of the SPF State Incentive Grant Program (SPF SIG), an instrument was developed to assess state substance abuse prevention system infrastructure in order to measure infrastructure change and examine the role of state infrastructure in achieving prevention-related outcomes. In this paper we describe the development of this instrument and summarize findings from its baseline administration. As expected, states and territories were found to vary substantially with respect seven key characteristics, or domains, of state prevention infrastructure. Across the six domains that were assessed using numeric ratings, states scored highest on data systems and lowest on strategic planning. Positive intercorrelations were observed among these domains, indicating that states with high capacity on one domain generally have relatively high capacity on other domains as well. The findings also suggest that state prevention infrastructure development is linked to both funding from state government and the presence of a state interagency coordinating body with decision-making authority. The methodology and baseline findings presented will be used to inform the ongoing national cross-site evaluation of the SPF SIG and may provide useful information to guide further research on state substance abuse prevention infrastructure.     

"It's your badge of inclusion": The Red Hat Society as a gendered subculture of aging

Although studies document the health-enhancing effects of social engagement, they reveal little about the underlying mechanisms operating within specific organizational contexts. Limited attention is given to the role of inequality - particularly age and gender - in shaping either the organizations to which we belong or their consequences for our well-being. We address this issue by examining the Red Hat Society, a social organization for middle-aged and older women. Interviews with members (n=52) illustrate how age and gender inequality interact to shape the organization, which can be viewed as a gendered subculture of aging. Drawing on this framework, we discuss four processes through which participation generates benefits for older women involved in age- and gender-segregated organizations: enhancing social networks, countering invisibility, creating positive frames for aging experiences, and promoting youthful identities.     

Patterns of Volunteer Activity in Professional Associations and Societies

Professional and occupational societies rely on volunteers for leadership, expertise, member recruitment, fundraising, legislative activity, and many other activities. Yet, volunteerism in the professions has received very little analytic attention. This study uses a large, international dataset produced by the American Society of Association Executives to examine patterns of volunteer activity in 23 professional associations and societies. A comparative analysis allows us to test widespread theories on the factors that predict volunteer activity in the particular context of professional life, where the motivations to volunteer may vary. Our findings suggest that some patterns of professional volunteer activity mirror what we can expect in a non-professional context (i.e., church or community volunteering), while other patterns are distinct. Our findings have particular relevance in understanding that a professional??s demographic characteristics and voluntary preferences are context-specific and must be accounted for in volunteer recruitment efforts.     

Infant Preference for Natural Texture Statistics is Modulated by Contrast Polarity

Adult observers are sensitive to statistical regularities present in natural images. Developmentally, research has shown that children do not show sensitivity to these natural regularities until approximately 8–10 years of age. This finding is surprising given that even infants gradually encode a range of high‐level statistical regularities of their visual environment in the first year of life, We suggest that infants may in fact exhibit sensitivity to natural image statistics under circumstances where images of complex, natural textures, such as a photograph of rocks, are used as experimental stimuli and natural appearance is substantially manipulated. We tested this hypothesis by examining how infants' visual preference for real versus computer‐generated synthetic textures was modulated by contrast negation, which produces an image similar to a photographic negative. We observed that older infants' (9‐months of age) preferential looking behavior in this task was affected by contrast polarity, suggesting that the infant visual system is sensitive to deviations from natural texture appearance, including (1) discrepancies in appearance that differentiate natural and synthetic textures from one another and (2) the disruption of contrast polarity following negation. We discuss our results in the context of adult texture processing and the “perceptual narrowing” of visual recognition during the first year of life.     

The Logic of A Co‐Operative Economy and Democracy 2.0: Recovering the Possibilities for Autonomy,Creativity, Solidarity,and Common Purpose

Over the past 30 years, the collectivist‐democratic form of organization has presented a growing alternative to the bureaucratic form, and it has proliferated, here and around the world. This form is manifest, for example, within micro‐credit groups, workers’ co‐operatives, nongovernmental organizations, advocacy groups, self‐help groups, community and municipal initiatives, social movement organizations, and in many nonprofit groups in general. It is most visible in the civil society sector, but demands for deeper participation are also evident in communities and cities, and the search for more involving and less bureaucratic structures has spread into many for‐profit firms as well. Building on research on this form of organization, this article develops a model of the decisional processes utilized in such organizations and contrasts these “Democracy 2.0” standards for decision making from the Democracy 1.0 (representative and formal) standards that previously prevailed. Drawing on a new generation of research on these sorts of organizations, this article and this special section discuss: (a) how consensus decisional processes are being made more efficient; (b) how such organizations are now able to scale to fairly large size while still retaining their local and participatory basis; (c) how such organizations are cultivating a more diverse membership and using such diversity to build more democratic forms of governance; (d) how such organizations are combatting ethnoracial and gender inequalities that prevail in the surrounding society; and (e) how emotions are getting infused into the public conversations within these organizations and communities.     

Speaking Out: Youth Led Research as a Methodology Used with Homeless Youth

Participatory action research is well documented with marginalized groups, but less is known about participatory action research with homeless youth. The use of youth led research as a methodology was examined among a population of homeless youth. Peer researchers (n = 10) reported on their experience utilizing youth led research methodology. Results indicate that youth led research is a promising methodology for use among homeless youth. Participants reported that the approach positively impacted the quality and quantity of data that could be collected from participants. Further, peer researchers reported individual benefits of feeling that participating in the project mattered, that people listened to them and that they had a voice.