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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Predicting and observing responses of algal communities to photosystem II-herbicide exposure using pollution-induced community tolerance and species-sensitivity distributions.

Various test strategies are in use in ecotoxicology to assess the potential risks of toxicants on aquatic communities. The species-sensitivity distribution concept (SSD) works by arranging single-species laboratory test data in a cumulative frequency distribution. The pollution-induced community tolerance concept (PICT) uses observable community responses by measuring increases in community tolerance caused by the replacement of sensitive species after exposure. The aim of this study was to compare these two concepts in assessing the effects of three herbicides. Atrazine, prometryn, and isoproturon were found to increase community tolerance by a factor up to six. Atrazine increased community tolerance only at higher test concentrations (0.125 mg L(-1)). Species-sensitivity distributions correspond well to community responses: The median effective concentrations (EC50s) of untreated periphyton communities tested covered 55 to 65% of affected species represented in the SSD. The sensitivities of tolerant algal communities shifted to the right end of the SSDs. In the microcosm experiments, higher test concentrations affected biomass, species numbers, and community structure. Community tolerance could not be induced any further, suggesting that these concentrations represent a maximum of functional redundancy of a functional group. At higher concentrations, even the least-sensitive species are affected. These results can be interpreted as a confirmation of the SSD concept by observed algal community responses, when applied to photosystem II (PSII)-inhibiting herbicides.

Atrazine↗
PubMed2006

Community heritability measures the evolutionary consequences of indirect genetic effects on community structure.

The evolutionary analysis of community organization is considered a major frontier in biology. Nevertheless, current explanations for community structure exclude the effects of genes and selection at levels above the individual. Here, we demonstrate a genetic basis for community structure, arising from the fitness consequences of genetic interactions among species (i.e., interspecific indirect genetic effects or IIGEs). Using simulated and natural communities of arthropods inhabiting North American cottonwoods (Populus), we show that when species comprising ecological communities are summarized using a multivariate statistical method, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), the resulting univariate scores can be analyzed using standard techniques for estimating the heritability of quantitative traits. Our estimates of the broad-sense heritability of arthropod communities on known genotypes of cottonwood trees in common gardens explained 56-63% of the total variation in community phenotype. To justify and help interpret our empirical approach, we modeled synthetic communities in which the number, intensity, and fitness consequences of the genetic interactions among species comprising the community were explicitly known. Results from the model suggest that our empirical estimates of broad-sense community heritability arise from heritable variation in a host tree trait and the fitness consequences of IGEs that extend from tree trait to arthropods. When arthropod traits are heritable, interspecific IGEs cause species interactions to change, and community evolution occurs. Our results have implications for establishing the genetic foundations of communities and ecosystems.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Community self-help houses as a form of community social support].

Two forms of community-based social support were introduced by the Polish Mental Health Act--community specialist social help services and community self-help houses--for seriously mentally ill and severely mentally retarded persons. According to the art. 8 community social support should be organized by social help agencies in consultation with psychiatric facilities. Data obtained from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy indicated that from 21th of January 1995 (when the Mental Health Act was put in force) until 30th of June 1997 social help agencies and non-governmental organizations sponsored by social help agencies have set up 134 community self-help houses with 4103 places. In the middle of last year nearly 3500 persons were using these houses. Most of the houses were located in the following districts: Gdańsk (20), Gorzów (16), Płock (12), Warszawa (8 for 164 persons). Vast majority of them served as day rehabilitation houses, while only a few provided sheltered housing as well. Tentative evaluation of functioning of these houses shows that: operational definition of community self-help house given in the target network of nursing homes and community self-help houses should be modified to include statutory purposes of community social support provided in art.8, selection of the persons using community self-help houses should follow the legal requirement of the Mental Health Act (art. 8), separated rehabilitation programs for mentally ill (psychotic) and mentally retarded persons need to be provided, participation of psychiatric facilities in the organization of the community self-help houses should be increased, functioning of the community self-help houses ought to be supervised by specialists, staff of the community self-help houses need to be systematically trained.

Group Homes↗
PubMed1996

Community development: theoretical and practical issues for community health nursing in Canada.

Despite the importance currently given to community development as an increasingly significant role for community nurses, there is little analysis of the role in the nursing literature. This paper provides background information on the historical origins of community development work through an extensive review of the literature. As well, four models of community development are synthesised from literature in sociology, social psychology, education and political science. These include economic development models, education models both formal and informal, confrontational models, and empowerment models. Each is discussed, and the relevance for community health nursing practice is critiqued. Finally, issues which may arise when community health nurses attempt to practice within a community development model are discussed. Issues are examined related to the structures of organizations in which nurses work, characteristics of nurses themselves, and the communities which nurses serve. The argument is advanced that despite the pitfalls and problems, this new role shows promise as an important mechanism for community health nurses to promote the community's health. However, much additional work will be needed to test out models for community development in actual practice. Evaluation of the role will also be important to determine the degree to which it can be implemented and the resultant health outcomes for the population.

Canada↗
PubMed1998

Community representatives: representing the "community"?

This paper takes as its starting point the apparent disjunction between the assumptions of the self-evidence of the meaning of community in major international declarations and strategies which promote community participation and the observation that meanings of "community" are a subject of extensive debate in literatures of social analysis and to some extent health. Given that the word's meaning is not agreed, those working to promote "community participation" in health are forced to adjudicate on competing meanings in order to operationalise the notion. This raises questions about how this is done and what are the implications of particular choices for what may be achieved by the participating "community". This paper presents the findings of an empirical study which examined the manner in which ideas of "community" are operationalised by people engaged in encouraging community participation in health promotion in the context of the selection of members for health for all steering groups in healthy cities projects in the United Kingdom. It argues that the demands of the role of the "community representative" are such that particular interpretations of "community" achieve ascendance. The paper explores the consequences of the interpretation of "community" as part of the "voluntary sector" and argues that this may compromise one of the stated desired outcomes of community participation i.e. extending democracy in health decision-making.

Community Participation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Community readiness: the journey to community healing.

Community readiness is a research-based theory that provides a basic understanding of the intervention process in communities. This theory allows us to accurately describe the developmental level of a community relative to a specific issue or problem. In order to move the community toward implementing and maintaining efforts that are effective and sustainable, community mobilization must be based on involvement of multiple systems and utilization of within-community resources and strengths. Successful local prevention and intervention efforts must be conceived from models that are community-specific, culturally relevant, and consistent with the level of readiness of the community to implement an intervention. The community readiness model is an innovative method for assessing the level of readiness of a community to develop and implement prevention programming. It can be used as both a research tool to assess distribution of levels of readiness across a group of communities or as a tool to guide prevention efforts at the individual level. This tool has proven useful in addressing a gamut of problems ranging from health and nutritional issues to environmental and social issues. The model identifies specific characteristics related to different levels of problem awareness and readiness for change.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2001

Building effective community-academic partnerships to improve health: a qualitative study of perspectives from communities.

PURPOSE: To identify, through a qualitative study, community perspectives on the critical factors that facilitate the development, effectiveness, and sustainability of community-academic partnerships. METHOD: Between June 1998 and April 1999, 25 semistructured interviews were conducted with community members who represented eight partnerships at five academic health centers. Content analysis and open coding were performed on the data, and patterns of ideas and concepts were categorized. RESULTS: After review of the data, responses from three partnerships were excluded. Nine major themes that community respondents thought strongly influenced the effectiveness of community-academic partnerships emerged from respondents from the remaining five partnerships: (1) creation and nurturing of trust; (2) respect for a community's knowledge; (3) community-defined and prioritized needs and goals; (4) mutual division of roles and responsibilities; (5) continuous flexibility, compromise, and feedback; (6) strengthening of community capacity; (7) joint and equitable allocation of resources; (8) sustainability and community ownership; and (9) insufficient funding periods. CONCLUSION: The themes that emerged from this study of the perceptions and experiences of the community partners in community-academic partnerships can be critical to further developing and evolving these partnerships.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Community health pharmacists' situation in the framework of the Spanish State. Analysis of their functions and competence in the matter of food hygiene in the Community of Valencia].

BACKGROUND: We intend to show the Community Health pharmacists's situation in the different Autonomous Communities of the State, independently from their health. With regard to the Community of Valencia, we propose to integrate the Community Health pharmacists in the health structures of Health Areas, so that they can better fulfil their duties: specially Food Hygiene. METHODS: The information provided by the Health Services of each Autonomous Community has been used. Data from the Community of Valencia come from the Public Health General Direction and from Valencia Health Service of Generalidad Valenciana. Official criteria of periodical inspection in order to study needs have been put into practice. Data process has been computerized. RESULTS: Two kinds of Autonomous Communities have been identified depending on wether they have carried out or not the reorganization and/or the reassignment of duties of Community Health pharmacists. The distribution of Community Health pharmacists in the Autonomous Community of Valencia is shown in its health map, as well as the needs of surveillance for industries and food establishments within a pharmaceutic scope. CONCLUSIONS: The necessity of adapting the figure of the Community Health pharmacist to the Health General Law appears evident, particularly to health structures in the Areas; as well as the convenience of not making the chemist's shop possession compatible with the rest of duties assigned to this pharmacist's Body.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2000

Controlling onchocerciasis by community-directed, ivermectin-treatment programmes in Uganda: why do some communities succeed and others fail?

In Uganda, human onchocerciasis is controlled by annual, mass, community-directed, ivermectin-treatment programmes (CDITP) in all endemic communities where the prevalence of the disease is > or = 30%. This is a practical, long-term and cost-effective strategy. In some communities, this system succeeds in providing treatment at the desired level of coverage (i.e. 90% of the annual treatment objective, which is itself equivalent to all those individuals eligible to take ivermectin). Other communities, however, fail to reach this target. The aim of the present study was to determine the factors that were significantly associated with success or failure in achieving this target. The data analysed were answers to a questionnaire completed by 10 household heads randomly selected from each of 64 randomly selected endemic communities (of which 36 succeeded and 28 failed to reach their coverage target) in the four districts of Kabale, Moyo, Nebbi and Rukungiri. Among the programme-related factors investigated, success was associated, at a statistical level of significance (P < or = 0.05), with involvement of community members in: (1) decisions about the execution of the programme; (2) attendance at health-education sessions; (3) selection of the community-based distributors (CDB); and (4) rewarding CBD in kind. In general, the involvement of community members in the planning and execution of a CDITP (and the resultant sense of pride in community ownership) was more likely to produce successful results than when external health workers or even community leaders or local councils took responsibility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A community participatory oral health promotion program in an inner-city Latino community.

OBJECTIVES: This paper reports the planning, implementation, process evaluation, and refinement of an oral health community participatory project in Mount Pleasant, an inner-city Latino neighborhood of Washington, DC. The main goal was to explore the feasibility of implementing such a project. METHODS: The PRECEDE-PROCEED model was used to guide the planning and process evaluation of this project, in conjunction with community organizational methods. A steering committee, which met periodically, was formed to assist in program planning, implementation, and evaluation. The needs assessment of the community identified extensive dental health problems among children and deficiencies in their parents' oral health knowledge, opinions, and practices. In response, culturally appropriate health education and promotion activities were planned and implemented in collaboration with local community organizations, volunteers, and local practitioners. Process evaluation was used to provide feedback into the refinement of the community approach, which included record keeping and an inventory approach to activities completed and resources used. The overall impact and usefulness of this program were assessed informally using an anonymous open-ended questionnaire directed to members of the steering committee, and an outreach survey using a convenience sample at a local Latino health fair. RESULTS: The implementation of such a community participatory approach was feasible and useful for building upon existing local resources and addressing oral health concerns in a community not reached by traditional dental care and health promotion initiatives. Individuals in this community showed a substantial interest in oral health matters and participated in a variety of oral health prevention activities. The community approach adhered to community-based research principles.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2005

The meaning of community involvement in health: the perspective of primary health care communities.

The goal of this study was to establish the understanding and appreciation of the essence of PHC principles in the two Primary Health Care (PHC) communities. The PHC communities in this study referred to the people who were involved in the operation of the phenomenon, that is health professionals working in the health care centers and the communities served by these health care centers. It was hoped that the study would enhance the understanding of the importance of community involvement in health (CIH) in health care delivery, for both community members and health professionals. A case study method was used to conduct the study. Two community health centers in the Ethekwini health district, in Kwa Zulu Natal, were studied. One health center was urban based, the other was rural based. A sample of 31 participants participated in the study. The sample comprised of 8 registered nurses, 2 enrolled nurses, 13 community members and 8 community health workers. Data was collected using individual interviews and focus groups, and was guided by the case study protocol. The findings of the study revealed that in both communities, participants had different, albeit complementary, understanding of the term 'Community Involvement in Health' (CIH). Essentially, for these participants, CIH meant collaboration, co-operation and involvement in decision-making.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Seeing Community Benefit broadly. Everybody wins when hospitals collaborate with others to serve their communities.

Community benefit is an opportunity for hospitals and health systems to affirm their community-focused missions and to ensure implementation of those missions in their organizations. There are four key themes of community benefit: community health improvement, underserved populations and unmet needs, collaboration outside the hospital, and coordination and strategic management inside the hospital. Together, these constitute a broader perspective, one in which community benefit is of strategic value to both the community and the hospital, and serves as a departure point for some of the hospital's most fruitful contributions to health and well-being. The community benefit function can be organized and managed to achieve specific priorities with measurable objectives, just like any other hospital activity. There are innumerable examples of creative and successful models for community benefit programs that incorporate the principles of community health improvement, unmet needs, collaboration externally, and strategic management internally. These are models that hospital leaders should create and pursue, because they demonstrate the value of a broad view of community benefit that fully realizes the potential of hospitals' charitable purpose.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2006

The application of the herbicide bromoxynil to a model soil-derived bacterial community: impact on degradation and community structure.

AIMS: Bromoxynil degradation by soil micro-organisms has been shown to be co-oxidative in character. In this study, we investigate both the impact of the application of increasing bromoxynil concentrations on soil-derived bacterial communities and how these changes are reflected in the degradation of the compound. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that the addition of bromoxynil to a soil-derived bacterial community, and the availability of a readily utilizable carbon source would have an impact on bromoxynil degradation, and that would be reflected in the bacteria present in the soil community. METHODS AND RESULTS: Degradation of bromoxynil was observed in soil-derived communities containing 15 mg l(-1), but not 50 mg l(-1) of the compound, unless glucose was added. This suggests that the addition of carbon stimulates co-oxidative bromoxynil degradation by the members of the bacterial community. Measurable changes in the bacterial community indicated that the addition of bromoxynil led to deterministic selection on the bacterial population, i.e. the communities observed arise through the selection of specific micro-organisms that are best adapted to the conditions in the soil. The addition of bromoxynil was also shown to have a negative impact on the presence of alpha and gamma-proteobacteria in the soil community. CONCLUSION: Bromoxynil degradation is significantly inhibited in bacterial soil communities in the absence of readily accessible carbon. The application of bromoxynil appears to exert deterministic selection on the bacterial community. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study highlights the effects of increasing bromoxynil concentrations on a model bacterial population derived from soil. Soil communities show qualitative and quantitative differences to bromoxynil application depending on the availability of organic carbon. These findings might have implications for the persistence of bromoxynil in agricultural soils.

Bacteria↗
PubMed2001

Living with support in a home in the community: predictors of behavioral development and household and community activity.

The purpose of this article was to review studies of behavioral development and household and community activity among adults with mental retardation living in community residential services and to distill knowledge about the factors that influence outcome. Research points to behavioral development occurring across the full spectrum of disability but influenced by mental retardation syndrome and the acquisition of pivotal skills. However, engagement in household and community activities has been found to be strongly related to individual adaptive behavior. People with more severe mental retardation are vulnerable to leading lives characterized by underoccupation and lack of community involvement. Moving from institutional to community-based residential services may be accompanied by significant increases in adaptive behavior, but a plateau effect on subsequent development has also been reported. There is substantial evidence to suggest that key aspects of effective teaching technology may be absent in community-based residential environments. Community settings support greater engagement in household and community activities than institutions. Ordinary housing stock and normative architecture and standards of material enrichment are to be preferred. The use of normative housing constrains group living to relatively small scale, but there is little evidence that smaller size within this range is to be preferred to larger size. There is little evidence to suggest that higher staff-to-resident ratios lead to uniformly better outcomes, but staff orientation, working methods, and performance are important influences. Little is known about what precise characteristics of community location give rise to greater community integration. MRDD Research Reviews 7:75-83, 2001.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Ethnographically informed community evaluation: a framework and approach for evaluating community-based initiatives.

OBJECTIVES: This paper describes ethnographically informed community evaluation (EICE), a framework for evaluating complex community-based interventions, and illustrates its use in the evaluation of Baltimore City Healthy Start, a federally funded infant mortality prevention project. EICE, which is influenced by cultural anthropology and assets-based community assessment, supports continuous program improvement, resident involvement, and measurement of community-level change. This approach takes into account both individual and contextual levels of analysis. METHODS: The evaluation coupled a participatory approach with qualitative and survey research methods to study community context and how it might contribute to infant mortality and influence program implementation, and to assess community change resulting from the program. Data collection included focus groups, key informant interviews, surveys, neighborhood mapping, journaling, and a study of community problem-solving. RESULTS: The evaluation provided program-related feedback to staff, contributed to a collective understanding of the local context, validated and augmented outcome findings, and imparted skills and a sense of empowerment to the neighborhood. Results reveal a community burdened by crime and social problems, yet showing great diversity in physical and social conditions when examined at the census block group level. Nevertheless, these social and physical hazards in the community are more salient than any specific health issue such as infant mortality. CONCLUSIONS: EICE is a powerful evaluation approach able to respond to the complexities of community-based maternal and child health initiatives designed to institute changes across multiple domains. EICE may be used, in whole or in part, as a supplement to traditional designs.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed1999

Practical skills and valued community outcomes: the next step in community-based education.

OBJECTIVES: Community-based medical education (CBE) has clear value. However, there are aspects of CBE where improvement is possible. First, communities do not generally receive valued outcomes in exchange for participation in the CBE process. Secondly, students are usually not trained to influence health in the community using methods that are realistic in busy clinical practice. DESIGN: A CBE rotation was designed to address these problems. Rotation activities were structured to facilitate development of a health programme desired by the community while giving students practical skills for later use. Working with community residents and health staff, sequential groups of students carried out, in turn, problem analysis, resource identification, planning and implementation activities aimed at establishing a community tuberculosis (TB) control programme. SETTING: The University of Natal in Durban, South Africa. SUBJECTS: Final-year medical students. RESULTS: At the end of the academic year, the TB control programme was approximately 60% in place, and 90% of TB patients cared for by the students were completing treatment. Overall, students rated the experience good for learning about health care in community settings and about methods for community health programme development. Student ratings were significantly higher for those groups whose activities brought them into greater contact with community residents. The 'real-time' nature of planning the sequential student groups' work created logistical problems and, as an isolated activity, the rotation had little impact on student attitudes toward community-based careers. CONCLUSIONS: Expanding the goals for CBE is both feasible and important. Further work should focus on refining designs for this next step in CBE.

Community Health Planning↗
PubMed1994

Influencing community leaders toward the promotion of prenatal care at the community level.

The threefold goal of this quasi-experimental study was to have an impact on knowledge, beliefs and intentions of community leaders related to promoting prenatal care for low-income women. Using a twenty-one community leaders from a selected urban community in Wisconsin participated in an educational intervention that used a pre- and post-test design. The primary goal of the intervention (based on change theory) was to increase community leaders' motivation and decrease their resistance to promoting prenatal care for low-income women in their communities. Various media were used to illustrate and emphasize important prenatal concepts. Community leaders were also given information on the status of maternal and infant statistics and health practices in their communities. This intervention significantly increased community leaders' general knowledge related to prenatal issues; positive beliefs toward the promotion of prenatal care; and intent to engage in activities to promote prenatal care for low-income women. This study reveals that community health nurses can function effectively as agents of change with community leaders.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2000

Finding the "community" in community-level HIV/AIDS interventions: formative research with young African American men who have sex with men.

Data from 76 qualitative interviews with 18- to 29-year-old African American men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chicago and Atlanta were examined to identify perceptions of "community" and components of a community-level HIV/AIDS intervention. Many men reported feeling marginal to African American and gay White communities because of perceived homophobia and racism. Those who reported feeling part of gay African American communities characterized communities in terms of settings, social structures, and functions, including social support, socialization, and mobility. Despite these positive functions, divisions among groups of MSM, lack of settings for nonsexual interaction with other MSM, lack of leadership, and negative attitudes toward homosexuality may make it difficult for men to participate in activities to alter community contexts that influence behavior. Rather, changing norms, increasing social support, and community building should be part of initial community-level interventions. Community building might identify leaders, create new settings, and create opportunities for dialogue between MSM and African American community groups to address negative perceptions of homosexuality.

Adolescent↗