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Results for “Community Networks”

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PubMed1982

Natural networks: help-giving and help-seeking in two rural communities.

A group of 213 respondents in rural communities were interviewed about their help-giving and help-seeking behaviors related to 11 problems of living. Respondents were asked whom they had talked to within their natural community networks, who was most helpful, and how effective they rated the helping. The results indicate that over 80% of the respondents saw themselves as active help-givers and receivers in exchanges with spouses, friends, relatives, and others. A wide range of helping activities were reported, led by attempts to understand another person's situation and feelings and just listening. Differences in help-giving and help-seeking were noted. Respondents indicated a general willingness to tackle problems, a preference for help from people within their networks, and that this type of help is effective.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Restoring the image of networks.

The struggles of some high-profile CHIN initiatives have damaged the reputation of community networks. But proponents believe that integrated delivery systems and the Internet will aid their cause in the long run.

Community Networks↗
PubMed1998

Surmounting health information network barriers: the greater Dayton area experience.

The greater Dayton area has begun building the nation's first advanced technology community network for sharing patient medical information among independent hospitals. Its success in doing so has resulted from the surmounting of numerous business and technical barriers. Others planning to develop such networks can learn from the Dayton experience.

Community Networks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Powerlessness, empowerment, and health: implications for health promotion programs.

PURPOSE AND SCOPE. This article reviews the health and social science research relevant to both the role of powerlessness as a risk factor for disease, and the role of empowerment as a health-enhancing strategy. The research literature surveyed includes studies that address these key concepts from the fields of social epidemiology, occupational health, stress research, social psychology, community psychology, social support and networks, community competence and community organizing. Definitions are provided to operationalize these sometimes loosely-applied terms. IMPORTANT FINDINGS. Powerlessness, or lack of control over destiny, emerges as a broad-based risk factor for disease. Empowerment, though more difficult to evaluate, can also be demonstrated as an important promoter of health. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS. Given the importance and currency of these concepts of powerlessness and empowerment, a model of empowerment education is proposed for health-promotion practitioners. Measurement of empowerment raises issues for researchers on how to test the multiple personal and community changes that may result from an empowering education intervention.

Health Behavior↗
PubMed1995

Cost justification of a community health information network: the ComputerLink for AD caregivers.

Recent studies examined the perceived benefits of the ComputerLink, a specialized computer network for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's Disease. The ComputerLink existed as a special service within a free, public access community health information network. The issue of "free", however, is debatable. Though usage costs were not incurred by the AD caregivers who used ComputerLink, there are direct and indirect costs associated with these and other community networks. This study will focus on costs incurred at the individual level, recognizing that organizations and society also bear community network costs. At this level, the primary cost savings occur with the caregiver. The biggest factor determining net economic benefits is the extent to which this technology intervention delays or prevents institutionalization. Results of this analysis suggest that community health networks do return economic and social benefits to their users.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed2005

Finding local community structure in networks.

Although the inference of global community structure in networks has recently become a topic of great interest in the physics community, all such algorithms require that the graph be completely known. Here, we define both a measure of local community structure and an algorithm that infers the hierarchy of communities that enclose a given vertex by exploring the graph one vertex at a time. This algorithm runs in time O(k2d) for general graphs when d is the mean degree and k is the number of vertices to be explored. For graphs where exploring a new vertex is time consuming, the running time is linear, O(k). We show that on computer-generated graphs the average behavior of this technique approximates that of algorithms that require global knowledge. As an application, we use this algorithm to extract meaningful local clustering information in the large recommender network of an online retailer.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Turning point: rethinking violence--evaluation of program efficacy in reducing adolescent violent crime recidivism.

BACKGROUND: The link between medicine and violence prevention is self-evident, yet the literature reveals few studies that scientifically document effective interventions. The Turning Point: Rethinking Violence (TPRV) program is a unique multiagency program developed to expose, educate, and remediate first-time violent offenders and their parents regarding the real-world consequences of violence. Four key components are integrated into a 6-week, court-ordered program (14 total contact hours): the Trauma Experience (tour, video, discussions), the Victim Impact Panel (presented by parent survivors), Group Process, and Community Networking (individualized mental health referral). We hypothesize that TPRV delivers lower outcomes regarding violence recidivism (VR) when compared with standard court sentencing options (100 hours of community service) for first-time violent offenders. METHODS: The study group subjects (n = 38) met inclusion criteria and were blindly and randomly sentenced to attend the TPRV program. The control group (n = 38) were pulled from a subject pool of first-time offenders who received standard sentencing options, met the same inclusion criteria with regard to age and types of offenses, and were matched by race to the study group. Both groups were studied for VR within the year after the first violent conviction, and comparison was performed by a (2 analysis of recidivism rates. RESULTS: Results reveal a statistically significant difference between the study group and the control group for VR (p <or= 0.05). The study group revealed a recidivism rate of 0.05 within the year after program completion, whereas the control group revealed a recidivism rate of 0.33. The lower recidivism rate also occurred with a shorter overall time investment (14 hours vs. 100 hours). CONCLUSION: The TPRV program decreases VR when compared with standard sentencing options. The broad-spectrum approach (real-world exposure, parental involvement, peer support, follow-up) appears successful in addressing recidivism, and could potentially reduce the epidemic in adolescent violence and the subsequent impact on trauma care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Traditional Tongan medicine and the role of traditional Tongan healers in New Zealand.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of traditional Tongan healers in New Zealand. Qualitative interviews were carried out with twenty nine healers who were contacted through community networks. Every healer was unique in the kinds of ailments they treated which included fakamahaki (spirit related illnesses), lavea (physical injuries), hangatamaki (a wide group of traditional illnesses) and mahaki (non specific symptoms). Healing was seen as an act of love and service for the community for which it was inappropriate to charge. Healing skills and powers were passed on within families through the use of special rituals. The nature and attitude of the healer was regarded as being very important; the efficacy of the healing was seen to be more a function of the healer than the treatment used. Referrals to other healers and general practitioners were common. The healers expressed concern about the lack of understanding of their role by the western health system. There is a need for an increased understanding of the cultural basis of all systems of health care.

Community Networks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Preventive effect of social support on mortality among elderly population: a longitudinal study].

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between social support and the mortality among a non-institutionalized population cohort age 60 or above residing in Barcelona studied throughout the 1996-1999 monitoring period for the purpose of analyzing the relationship between the social support and the mortality of this cohort. METHODS: In 1996, a telephone survey was conducted of 755 individuals (316 males and 439 females) who had been surveyed in the 1992 Barcelona health survey and who, were age 60 or above that year. The questionnaire included socio-demographic, morbility and health condition, social support and social network-related variables. The deaths during the 1996-1999 period were recorded. Logic regression was used for analyzing the social support-mortality relationship. RESULTS: The deaths for the period in question totaled 55 individuals (5.9% of the females and 9.2% of the males). Among the variables reflecting social support, for the males solely the situation of living with someone was found, in the bivariate analysis, to have a significant relationship to the mortality, which was higher for those males who lived with other family members, but not with their wives or female partner (OR = 3.7; IC 95% 1.4-9.6). Among the females, the existence of support from neighbors, the size of the family network, the number of contacts with the community network and the situation of living with someone else were related to the mortality in the bivariate analysis, although in the multivariate logic regression, solely the support of neighbors (OR = 3.6; IC: 1.1-11.1) was found to have a significant relationship. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent with prior studies revealing a relationship between the social support variables and the mortality. The relationship between the different social support variables and the possible prevention mechanisms should be taken up in future studies.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Using geographic information systems to design population-based interventions.

Geographic information systems (GIS) offer public health nurses a new technology to plan and implement interventions within communities. The present article gives a brief overview of GIS, describes a project designed to pilot-test the use of GIS for developing population-based interventions, and discusses lessons learned from the project that need to be applied to any future work. Using GIS to map the incidence and prevalence of disease, locate risk factors, and identify access to health care services is not difficult. Trying to move beyond that and use the technology to depict community networks and develop and implement population-based interventions is more problematic. The project identified specific questions that anyone involved in a planning or decision-making project in which GIS are used should ask.

Community Health Planning↗
PubMed2002

Building the San Francisco Beacons.

San Francisco's Beacon Initiative is designed to foster youth development on a large scale. Its intermediary, Community Network for Youth Development, used a theory of change process to forge consensus and create a road map to guide this large collaborative toward its long-term goals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Communitarianism and suicide prevention: proposals for the year 2000.

A review of anthropological, sociological, and psychological theories of suicidal behavior indicates that a disruption in social relationships and a breakdown in community networks increase the risk of suicide. Current suicide prevention tactics fail to address these problems, and suggestions are made for tactics that would focus on the underlying causes of suicide, tactics consistent with a communitarian philosophy and tactics that could guide us into the 21st century.

Community Networks↗
PubMed1993

[Social medicine within medical education--experience abroad].

The trend to classify ("teaching" of social medicine more within the framework of development of primary or community-based health care is described. The apparent inefficiency of theoretical (lecture-based) presentation of social medicine asks for more weight to combine such a course with practical experience in the field of community-based health care. The growing importance of associations like the NETWORK (Community Oriented Educational Institutions for the Health Sciences) and of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) is discussed.

Community Medicine↗