Communities

Research conducted by: RAND Labor and Population; RAND Health; RAND Child Policy; RAND Gulf States Policy Institute

All Items (77)

RESEARCH BRIEF

Pittsburgh Community Perspectives on the Design of the New Environmental Center at Frick Park — Dec 5, 2011

Many Pittsburgh residents in the communities around Frick Park are interested in environmental issues and education, and some use the park. However, awareness of the park and its Environmental Center could be improved, and barriers to use addressed.

REPORT

Community Engagement as Input to the Design of the Environmental Center at Frick Park and Beyond — Nov 8, 2011

Researchers obtained community group and resident input into the design of the new environmental center building at Frick Park and acquired information about residents' attitudes toward and use of Frick Park more generally. The authors offer recommendations for the design of the new building, for the structuring and content of center programs, for improving access to the park and the center, and for successfully marketing park programs.

REPORT

Getting to Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth Programs and Communities — Aug 25, 2011

For communities and organizations working with youth, this manual offers a straightforward and adaptable plan for building community initiatives and youth programs that get results. Because youth programs and community initiatives are required by their funders to document outcomes, this 10-step process poses different accountability questions. Each step is accompanied with examples from Search Institute and Healthy Communities*Healthy…

REPORT

Priorities for Investments in Children and Families in Louisiana — Mar 1, 2010

The Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier selected education, health, and poverty as the focus for funding related to children and families. This framework helps the Foundation prioritize investments by identifying the intersection of local needs, community assets, and national best practices.

REPORT

Exploring Family, Neighborhood and School Factors in Racial Achievement Gap — Feb 25, 2010

Examines the contribution of family, school, and neighborhood factors to the racial achievement gap in education.

RESEARCH BRIEF

Unique Framework Helps Louisiana Community Prioritize Its Investments in Children and Families — Feb 19, 2010

The Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier selected education, health, and poverty as the focus for funding related to children and families. The Foundation asked RAND to help further narrow the priorities, and this framework helps the Foundation prioritize investments by identifying the intersection of local needs, community assets, and evidence-based best practices.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Perceptions About Availability and Adequacy of Drinking Water in a Large California School District — Dec 31, 2009

This study of perceptions of drinking water in a California school district found that school staff and public health officials have a range of concerns about water quality and availability; as some schools move to replace sugary drinks in schools and develop policies to promote water consumption, they should explore ways of addressing these concerns.

COMMENTARY

Human Side of Katrina Recovery Still Needs Work — Oct 18, 2009

Four years after Hurricane Katrina, many people in the Gulf Coast region are still "just surviving," struggling with the economic devastation and the physical and psychological toll of these kinds of disasters, write Anita Chandra and Joie Acosta.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Technical Assistance as a Prevention Capacity-Building Tool: A Demonstration Using the Getting to Outcomes Framework — Sep 30, 2009

Demands on community-based prevention programs for performance accountability and positive outcomes are ever increasing in the face of constrained resources. Relatively little is known about how technical assistance (TA) should be structured to benefit community-based organizations and to lead to better outcomes. In this study, data from multiple sources were used to describe an effective TA model designed to improve the capacity of…

REPORT

Neighborhood Effects on Crime and Youth Violence: The Role of Business Improvement Districts in Los Angeles — Jan 27, 2009

Business improvement districts (BIDs) collect assessments and invest in local service provisions and activities, such as place promotion, street cleaning, and public safety. Such activities can help reduce crime and youth violence by increasing informal social control, reducing signs of disorder and blight, improving order maintenance, and enriching job opportunities. This report examines BIDs' impact on crime and youth violence in Los…

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Community Prevention Handbook on Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment: Evidence-Based Practices — Dec 31, 2008

Substance abuse is, and has always been, an indisputable fact of life. People -- especially young people -- abuse various legal and illegal substances for any number of reasons: to intensify feelings, to achieve deeper consciousness, to escape reality, to self-medicate.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Research in Community-Partnered, Participatory Research — Dec 31, 2008

The "research" of partnered research is about leveling the playing field, overcoming barriers by honoring diversity, committing to excellence in 2-way knowledge transfers, building capacity for healthy communities, and sharing lessons.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Using Community Arts Events to Enhance Collective Efficacy and Community Engagement to Address Depression in an African American Community — Dec 31, 2008

The authors used community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) to measure collective efficacy and its role as a precursor of community engagement to improve depression care in the African American community of South Los Angeles.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Community-based Participatory Research: Partnering with Communities for Effective and Sustainable Behavioral Health Interventions — Dec 31, 2008

The authors describe a community based participatory research (CBPR) effort to develop, pilot test, and conduct a randomized controlled trial of a school-based adolescent obesity prevention program.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Urgent Care Centers in the U.S.: Findings from a National Survey — Dec 31, 2008

Urgent care centers are open beyond typical office hours, and their scope of services is broader than that of many primary care offices. While these characteristics are similar to hospital emergency departments, such centers employ significant numbers of family physicians. The payer distribution is similar to that of primary care, and physicians' average salaries are comparable to those for family physicians overall.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

A Pilot of a Tripartite Prevention Program for Homeless Young Women in the Transition to Adulthood — Dec 31, 2008

The authors tested the Power of YOU with 31 homeless women (ages 18-25) in 7 focus groups. Results from this pilot suggest that The Power of YOU may hold promise in helping homeless young women in the transition to adulthood make healthier choices and plan for high-risk situations, and that the nonconfrontational, nonjudgmental approach of MI appeared appropriate for this population.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

New Recreational Facilities for the Young and the Old in Los Angeles: Policy and Programming Implications — Dec 31, 2008

It is assumed that higher quality recreation facilities promote physical activity and serve communities better. The authors tested this assumption by comparing changes in the use of an expanded and renovated skate park (a facility for skateboarding) and a modernized senior citizen's center to two similar facilities that were not refurbished.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Community Demographics and Access to Health Care Among U.S. Hispanics — Dec 31, 2008

For Mexican American immigrants, living in an area populated by relatively more Spanish speakers or more Hispanic immigrants is associated with better access to care. The associations are generally stronger for more recent immigrants compared with those who are better established. Among U.S.-born Mexican Americans who are uninsured, living in areas more heavily populated with Spanish-speaking immigrants is negatively associated with access…

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Family and Community Influences on Educational Outcomes Among Appalachian Youth — Dec 31, 2008

Examines the impact of community and family poverty and educational attainment on educational goals and attainment among rural white youth (n=200).

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Risk and Resilience in Latinos: A Community-Based Participatory Research Study — Dec 31, 2008

Latino young people living in a low-income housing complex identified self, family, and community as important facilitators of their success, although parents appeared to deemphasize community resources.

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