Further Inspection: Integrating Housing Code Enforcement and Social Services to Improve Community Health.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Robb K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8623912 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Actors of public interest today have to fear the adverse impact that stems from social media platforms. Any controversial behavior may promptly trigger temporal, but potentially devastating storms of emotional and aggressive outrage, so called online firestorms. Popular targets of online firestorms are companies, politicians, celebrities, media, academics and many more. This article introduces social norm theory to understand online aggression in a social-political online setting, challenging the popular assumption that online anonymity is one of the principle factors that promotes aggression. We underpin this social norm view by analyzing a major social media platform concerned with public affairs over a period of three years entailing 532,197 comments on 1,612 online petitions. Results show that in the context of online firestorms, non-anonymous individuals are more aggressive compared to anonymous individuals. This effect is reinforced if selective incentives are present and if aggressors are intrinsically motivated.
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Project description:Recent waves of immigration to Western nations have fueled a debate over the consequences of ethnic diversity for social cohesion. One prominent argument in this debate holds that diversity is detrimental to trust and cooperation because individuals in heterogeneous communities face difficulties in enforcing social norms across ethnic lines. We examine this proposition in a field experiment involving real-life interactions among residents of multiethnic German neighborhoods. We find significant ethnic asymmetries in the pattern of norm enforcement: Members of the majority "native" German population are more active in sanctioning norm violations, while ethnic minorities are more likely to find themselves the target of sanctions. We interpret these results in light of prevailing status inequalities between ethnic minorities and the native majority. We further calculate that, as a result of ethnic discrimination, social control is likely to rise in communities with moderate minority population shares.
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Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about whether digital competence is related to psychological wellbeing, with most previous research focusing on students and elderly people. There is also limited evidence on seasonal changes in psychological wellbeing, particularly in specific groups. Social housing residents are an underserved and under-researched population. The objectives of this study were to explore associations between digital competence (assessed by general technology self-efficacy) and psychological wellbeing (assessed by mental wellbeing and life satisfaction), and to explore seasonal effects, in social housing residents.MethodsA repeated survey design was used. The Happiness Pulse questionnaire with a bespoke digital module was sent via post or e-mail at four timepoints between July 2021 and July 2022 to 167 social housing residents in West Cornwall, England. There were 110 respondents in total; thirty completed all four questionnaires and 59 completed an autumn/winter and summer questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential methods including regression, repeated measures analysis of variance and panel analysis.ResultsSignificant positive associations were found between digital self-efficacy and mental wellbeing, and between digital self-efficacy and life satisfaction. However, there were no significant seasonal changes in psychological wellbeing.ConclusionsThe findings extend the existing literature beyond student and elderly populations and suggest that improving digital competence is a potential pathway to improving psychological wellbeing. Surveys with larger samples and qualitative studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms involved.
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Project description:Foodborne illness is prevented by inspection and surveillance conducted by health departments across America. Appropriate restaurant behavior is enforced and monitored via public health inspections. However, surveillance coverage provided by state and local health departments is insufficient in preventing the rising number of foodborne illness outbreaks. To address this need for improved surveillance coverage we conducted a supplementary form of public health surveillance using social media data: Yelp.com restaurant reviews in the city of San Francisco. Yelp is a social media site where users post reviews and rate restaurants they have personally visited. Presence of keywords related to health code regulations and foodborne illness symptoms, number of restaurant reviews, number of Yelp stars, and restaurant price range were included in a model predicting a restaurant's likelihood of health code violation measured by the assigned San Francisco public health code rating. For a list of major health code violations see (S1 Table). We built the predictive model using 71,360 Yelp reviews of restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. The predictive model was able to predict health code violations in 78% of the restaurants receiving serious citations in our pilot study of 440 restaurants. Training and validation data sets each pulled data from 220 restaurants in San Francisco. Keyword analysis of free text within Yelp not only improved detection of high-risk restaurants, but it also served to identify specific risk factors related to health code violation. To further validate our model we applied the model generated in our pilot study to Yelp data from 1,542 restaurants in San Francisco. The model achieved 91% sensitivity 74% specificity, area under the receiver operator curve of 98%, and positive predictive value of 29% (given a substandard health code rating prevalence of 10%). When our model was applied to restaurant reviews in New York City we achieved 74% sensitivity, 54% specificity, area under the receiver operator curve of 77%, and positive predictive value of 25% (given a prevalence of 12%). Model accuracy improved when reviews ranked highest by Yelp were utilized. Our results indicate that public health surveillance can be improved by using social media data to identify restaurants at high risk for health code violation. Additionally, using highly ranked Yelp reviews improves predictive power and limits the number of reviews needed to generate prediction. Use of this approach as an adjunct to current risk ranking of restaurants prior to inspection may enhance detection of those restaurants participating in high risk practices that may have gone previously undetected. This model represents a step forward in the integration of social media into meaningful public health interventions.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Nematode model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus are powerful systems for studying the evolution of gene function at a mechanistic level. However, the identification of P. pacificus orthologs of candidate genes known from C. elegans is complicated by the discrepancy in the quality of gene annotations, a common problem in nematode and invertebrate genomics. RESULTS:Here, we combine comparative genomic screens for suspicious gene models with community-based curation to further improve the quality of gene annotations in P. pacificus. We extend previous curations of one-to-one orthologs to larger gene families and also orphan genes. Cross-species comparisons of protein lengths, screens for atypical domain combinations and species-specific orphan genes resulted in 4311 candidate genes that were subject to community-based curation. Corrections for 2946 gene models were implemented in a new version of the P. pacificus gene annotations. The new set of gene annotations contains 28,896 genes and has a single copy ortholog completeness level of 97.6%. CONCLUSIONS:Our work demonstrates the effectiveness of comparative genomic screens to identify suspicious gene models and the scalability of community-based approaches to improve the quality of thousands of gene models. Similar community-based approaches can help to improve the quality of gene annotations in other invertebrate species, including parasitic nematodes.
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Project description:Social norms are an important element in explaining how humans achieve very high levels of cooperative activity. It is widely observed that, when norms can be enforced by peer punishment, groups are able to resolve social dilemmas in prosocial, cooperative ways. Here we show that punishment can also encourage participation in destructive behaviours that are harmful to group welfare, and that this phenomenon is mediated by a social norm. In a variation of a public goods game, in which the return to investment is negative for both group and individual, we find that the opportunity to punish led to higher levels of contribution, thereby harming collective payoffs. A second experiment confirmed that, independently of whether punishment is available, a majority of subjects regard the efficient behaviour of non-contribution as socially inappropriate. The results show that simply providing a punishment opportunity does not guarantee that punishment will be used for socially beneficial ends, because the social norms that influence punishment behaviour may themselves be destructive.Punishment by peers can enforce social norms, such as contributing to a public good. Here, Abbink and colleagues show that individuals will enforce norms even when contributions reduce the net benefit of the group, resulting in the maintenance of wasteful contributions.
| S-EPMC5607004 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Emerging evidence points towards a lower quality of life, fragile social relations and suboptimal health behavior and status of residents living in social housing areas characterized by ethnic diversity and socioeconomic deprivation. Community-based health promotion interventions developed in collaboration with the target group and adjusted to the local context can affect the acceptance of and engagement in such interventions. However, few studies have investigated the potential of community-based interventions in deprived social housing areas. This study explores residents' perspectives on engagement in a community-based health promotion intervention focusing on enhancing social relations. The study builds on qualitative methods including participant observations combined with pre- and post-intervention interviews with a selected group of residents (n = 9). Data were thematically analyzed with focuses on participation in an everyday life context, concepts of othering, and territorial stigmatization. Engagement in the intervention was motivated by the need to establish and enhance social relations, and to explore the world outside the housing area. However, barriers including cultural and language differences among residents, and competing contextual factors, challenged engagement. We conclude that participatory community-based interventions have a potential to enhance social relations in deprived social housing areas. However, adequate support and efforts to overcome the identified barriers are needed.
| S-EPMC7178143 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPatients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds often face difficulties in accessing health and social care services. This study explored the feasibility and acceptability of involving community health workers (CHWs) as bilingual community navigators (BCNs) in general practice setting, to help patients from CALD backgrounds access health and social care services in Australia.MethodsThis research was conducted in two general practices in Sydney where most patients are from specific CALD backgrounds (Chinese in one practice and Samoan in other). Three CHWs trained as BCNs were placed in these practices to help patients access health and social care service. A mixed-method design was followed to explore the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention including analysis of a record of services provided by BCNs and post-intervention qualitative interviews with patients, practice staff and BCNs exploring the feasibility and acceptability of the BCNs' role. The record was analyzed using descriptive statistics and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.ResultsBCNs served a total of 95 patients, providing help with referral to other services (52.6%), information about appointments (46.3%), local resources (12.6%) or available social benefits (23.2%). Most patients received one service from BCNs with the average duration of appointments being half an hour. Overall, BCNs fitted in well within the practices and patients as well as staff of participating practices accepted them well. Their role was facilitated by patients' felt need for and acceptance of BCNs' services, recruitment of BCNs from the patient community, as well as BCNs' training and motivation for their role. Major barriers for patients to access BCNs' services included lack of awareness of the BCNs' roles among some patients and practice staff, unavailability of information about local culture specific services, and inadequate time and health system knowledge by BCNs. Limited funding support and the short timeframe of the project were major limitations of the project.ConclusionBCNs' placement in general practice was feasible and acceptable to patients and staff in these practices. This first step needs to be followed by accredited training, development of the workforce and establishing systems for supervision in order to sustain the program. Future research is needed on the extension of the intrevention to other practices and culture groups.
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Project description:Social housing for dairy calves has a range of benefits for social development, yet there is limited understanding of how social bonds form early in life. We characterized effects of early life social contact on the development of social preference for calves varying in familiarity. A total of 40 calves were tested in a social preference test at 4 weeks of age to assess the formation of social bonds and preference for their peers. Within an open-field social preference test, focal calves were presented with two stimulus calves, one 'more familiar' and one 'less familiar'. We found that pair-housed calves spent more time in close proximity with either stimulus calf and had a greater preference for their pen-mate, compared to another calf reared within visual contact. Individually housed calves exhibited no preference for calves reared within visual but not physical contact compared to calves that were completely unfamiliar. Of the calves that approached both stimulus calves, individually housed calves that approached the 'less familiar' calf first spent less time near the 'more familiar' calf, whereas behavior of pair-housed calves was not affected by the first calf approached. These results suggest that physical contact is necessary for the development of social bonds in young dairy calves, and early life social housing may support the development of normal social behavior in dairy cattle.
| S-EPMC8997003 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundUndetected depression is common in people with low vision and depression screening has been recommended. However, depression screening is a complex procedure for which low vision practitioners need training. This study examined the integration of routine depression screening, using two questions, and referral pathways into a national low vision service in Wales at 6 months following practitioner training, and identified key barriers to implementation.MethodsThis pre-post single group study employed a convergent mixed methods design to collect quantitative questionnaire and qualitative interview data on low vision practitioners' clinical practice and perceived barriers to implementing depression screening. Forty practitioners completed questionnaires pre-, immediately post- and 6 months post-training and nine engaged in interviews 6 months post-training. Ordinal questionnaire scores were Rasch-transformed into interval-level data before linear regression analyses were performed to determine the change in scores over time and the association between perceived barriers and clinical practice. Thematic Analysis was applied to the interviews and the narrative results merged with the questionnaire findings.ResultsBefore training, only one third of practitioners (n = 15) identified depression in low vision patients, increasing to over 90% (n = 37) at 6 months post-training, with a corresponding increase in those using validated depression screening questions from 10% (n = 4) to 80% (n = 32). Six months post-training, practitioners reported taking significantly more action in response to suspected depression (difference in means = 2.77, 95% CI 1.93 to 3.61, p < 0.001) and perceived less barriers to addressing depression (difference in means = - 0.95, 95% CI - 1.32 to - 0.59, p < 0.001). However, the screening questions were not used consistently. Some barriers to implementation remained, including perceived patient reluctance to discuss depression, time constraints and lack of confidence in addressing depression.ConclusionsThe introduction of depression screening service guidelines and training successfully increased the number of low vision practitioners identifying and addressing depression. However, standardized screening of all low vision attendees has not yet been achieved and several barriers remain. Healthcare services need to address these barriers when considering mental health screening, and further research could focus on the process from the patients' perspective, to determine the desire for and acceptability of screening.
| S-EPMC7448511 | biostudies-literature