Volume 2, No. 3

Katherine P. Strater, Melissa Strompolis, Ryan P. Kilmer, James R. Cook

Self-reported Needs of Youth and Families: Informing System Change and Advocacy Efforts

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This study sought to explore caregiver-reported needs of youth and families receiving services within a System of Care (SOC). Data were collected to augment the in-depth, standardized interview protocols that are part of the National Evaluation of SOCs in order to identify gaps in the local delivery of services and supports to youth with severe emotional and/or behavioral disorders and their families. Primary caregivers of youth receiving services within the SOC were asked to report on the current need(s) of the youth and the current need(s) of the family. These open-ended responses were coded and examined for themes.  The most common needs of the youth were Services and Life Management, while the most common needs of the family were Services and Financial.  Focus groups conducted with youth and caregivers confirmed these themes.  Findings from this study shed light on the diverse needs of these families, indicate that families believe they are not receiving adequate supports and services, underscore that youth have distinct views, and highlight that providing a way for the typically disenfranchised youth and families to express their perspective is central to the functioning of SOCs.  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.

William D. Neigher, Sharon Marie Hakim

Creating a Sustainable “Healing Culture” Throughout a Healthcare System: Using Community Psychology Principles as a Guide

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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.

Jean L. Hill, GiShawn A. Mance, Riana Elyse Anderson, Emilie P. Smith

The Role of Ethnic Identity in Interventions to Promote Positive Adolescent Development

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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 also report on a study investigating whether parental ethnic identity plays a mediating role in African American parenting styles. The results of each study were non-significant in relation to their specific hypotheses regarding ethnic identity. We discuss the implications of these non-significant findings, particularly given that the two interventions were conducted in minority-majority communities.

Patrizia Meringolo, Moira Chiodini

The Role of Health Professionals in Community Based Programs

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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. Theoretical approaches come from studies about health attitudes, healthy behavior and perceived control on wellbeing (Albarracin, Kumkale, &Johnson,2004; Davis, Hughes, Sloan, Tang, & McMaster, 2009; Fishbein,2008), different interventions in health promotion (Boone & Lefkowitz, 2004; Fortenberry, Tu, Harezlak, Katz & Orr, 2002; Harper, Bangi, Contreras, Pedraza Tolliver & Vess, 2004), importance of professionals (Durantini, Albarracin, Mitchell, Earl, & Gillette, 2006; Fisher, Bryan, & Misovich, 2002), particularly general practitioners (Schreibman & Friedland, 2003). The purpose of the research is to identify useful indications for community based interventions addressed to adult people. Our aim is collecting information about professionals’ perception of citizens’ attitude and behavior in order to find strengths and weakness in health promotion activities carried out by public services. The qualitative study was aimed to investigate attitudes towards the primary and secondary prevention, and willingness and motivation to taking HIV test. Participants were physicians, psychologists and volunteers, involved in health services addressed both to the whole of population (e.g. professionals working in surgeries and in consulting rooms) and to HIV positive people. Instrument was a semi-structured interview for exploring professionals’ perception of patients’ attitudes towards this disease, risky behaviors, preventive behaviors and evaluation about health services practices. Findings show a positive evaluation of available health services and their cooperation in facing the problem, despite difficulties in involving all the professionals. Prevention follows well-established paths but is not able to reach all citizens. There is a need of a wider information, and prevention involving people as individuals and groups. 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.

F. Petrini, S. Vannucchi, A. Miraglia Raineri, P. Meringol

Self help groups in a city of Tuscany: Reconstruction of the second generation model of work for professionals and services

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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. In the first qualitative step of analysis researchers are interested in describing the specific features of the psychiatric self-help movement in Tuscany, comparing different realities, networks, kind of groups. Therefore, our aim is to collect exhaustive information to describe how self-help system work in different provinces at the present moment. The implementation of groups for psychiatric problems is quite young in Italy.  Because of a lack of specific regulation in the directives of the Italian health care system, every local service has implemented groups differently, sometimes enhancing, sometimes dismissing them. Prato, near Florence, is one of the more interesting context for the birth of psychiatric self-help movement in the region: public health services improved groups since early 90’s, it was one of the first self-help reality linked to services in the entire region. Now we are in a “second generation” of professionals, and the original meaning of groups seems to be transformed, sometimes misunderstood. Our objectives of study head us toward an in depth analysis of self-help phenomenon in Prato.

Lisette T. Jacobson, Charles A. Burdsal

Academic Performance in Middle School: Friendship Influences

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The results of the Peer/Performance Relationship Study build on previous research findings demonstrating relational significance of peer influences to academic performance during adolescence. Whereas family, teachers, and friends play a significant role in a student’s academic career, extant literature about the relational dynamics between peers and academic achievement remains scarce. This study evaluated social support and negative interchanges in relation to self-reported grades in reading, mathematics, social studies, and science. Additionally, students’ gender, race, and perception of a friend’s level of school interest were measured. The sample consisted of 321 participants in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade from three medium-sized suburban, public middle schools in the Midwest. Social support and negative interchanges were measured by scales of the Network of Relationships Inventory. Academic performance was measured as a grade point average of the scores for the four academic subjects. Results support the hypothesis that adolescents’ relationships with peers influence academic performance. Specifically, the study’s outcome demonstrates that social support was significantly and positively related to academic performance. Negative interchanges were not significantly related to academic performance. A positive correlation was found between level of school interest and academic performance. Furthermore, gender differences were found among social support, negative interchanges, and academic performance. There were no statistical differences for race. Altogether, these results are consistent with previous research findings and provide evidence for the importance of adolescent friendships and their impact on academic performance.

Heather Schmidt

Conducting Participatory Action Research with Canadian Indigenous Communities: A Methodological Reflection

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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. To engage in the process of reflective examination, two methodological approaches were utilized: (1) a qualitative interview study with 19 project members about their experiences within the project, and (2) a secondary qualitative analysis of the author’s own experiences and observations (as recorded in research journals). This paper summarizes some of the barriers to conducting PAR with Indigenous communities (i.e., themes of distrust/personal safety concerns, community readiness, waning motivation, financial stress, power differences, and differing norms/expectations) , as well as some of the lessons that were learned about how to overcome these challenges and cultivate strong, healthy research relationships.

Joseph E. Trimble, Inna D. Rivkin, Samuel Johnson, Ellen D. S. Lopez, Eliza Orr, Jim Allen, Carlotta Fok, David B. Henry

‘Taringenqegcallrat Cayarat Umyuat-llu': Indigenous Understandings in Community Based Participatory Research

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