Civic engagement training at a school for youth with a history of dropping out.

Community psychologists have made significant contributions to the study of civic engagement, yet scarce studies have examined the impact of civic engagement training among youth with a history of dropping out. We describe an effort to promote civic education and action through a curriculum implemented at an alternative school that focuses on (a) developing awareness of the importance of engaging in social/political issues; (b) increasing civic participation; and (c) acquiring political advocacy and organizing experience. This evaluation of the civic engagement training summarizes the issues students reported in a public presentation as having had an impact in their lives; their historical, political, and social understanding of the issues; the ways in which they used a variety of social media to communicate information to different audiences; and their engagement in civic actions to impact their selected issues. Overall, students became more aware of their role as citizens and voters and wanted to share their experiences with their peers, friends, and families. The implications of promoting civic engagement among youth with a history of dropping out of school are discussed, as well as the challenges of the training implementation.

Supports and barriers that entrepreneurs with disabilities encounter when starting their businesses.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Entrepreneurship is increasingly emerging as a viable employment option for many people with disabilities. It provides opportunities to develop interests, skills, and passion for starting a business. We conducted multiple interviews with various stakeholders to identify the perceived supports and barriers that people with disabilities encounter in the process of pursuing entrepreneurship. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: Individual interviews included 20 entrepreneurs with disabilities, 6 service providers, and 5 school administrators. This qualitative study used a constructivist grounded theory approach to shape the process of data collection, analysis, and theory building. RESULTS: People with disabilities interested in pursuing entrepreneurship benefit from facilitators such as social support, mentoring, and access to space, equipment, and money. Personal qualities include their desire to be "my own boss," help others, earn money, creativity, persistence, and flexibility. On the other hand, they may face several systemic barriers, such as the lack of infrastructure to set up the business, discrimination, lack of formal support from Vocational Rehabilitation counselors or their school settings, and/or lack of money. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The systemic barriers can make it difficult for entrepreneurs to start and/or continue to operate their businesses. We discuss the implications of the findings for the development of entrepreneurship training for youth with disabilities and offer recommendations for future research and practice in the rehabilitation field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Roma Health Justice in a Deprived District in Spain.

Addressing health disparities and promoting health equity for Roma has been a challenge. The Roma are the largest disadvantaged ethnic minority population in Europe and have been the victims of deep social and economic injustices, institutional discrimination, and structural antigypsyism over many centuries. This has resulted in a much worse health status than their non-Roma counterparts. Current strategies based on ameliorative and top-down approaches to service delivery have resulted in paradoxical effects that solidify health disparities, since they do not effectively address the problems of vulnerable Roma groups. Following a health justice approach, we present a community-based participatory action research case study generated by a community and university partnership intended to address power imbalances and build collaboration among local stakeholders. This case study involved a group of health providers, Roma residents, researchers, Roma community organizations, and other stakeholders in the Poligono Sur, a neighborhood of Seville, Spain. The case study comprises four phases: (1) identifying Roma health assets, (2) empowering Roma community through sociopolitical awareness, (3) promoting alliances between Roma and community resources/institutions, and (4) building a common agenda for promoting Roma health justice. We highlighted best practices for developing processes to influence Roma health equity in local health policy agendas.

Assessing Students' Impressions of the Cultural Awareness of Pharmacy Faculty and Students.

Objective. To determine pharmacy students' impressions of their faculty's interactions with diverse student and patient populations. Methods. Three student focus groups were convened. Eighty-four page transcripts were coded, and emergent themes were identified by qualitative analysis. Results. Students defined diversity as multidimensional beyond traditional categories. Emergent themes were faculty awareness or lack of awareness of cultural diversity, disparate cultural perspectives and preferences within student groups, teaching/learning approaches to prepare students to be more culturally competent, and student group dynamics. First- and second-year students emphasized student-to-student interactions, while third- and fourth-year students emphasized a lack of preparation for the realities of contemporary practice based on instructional methods. Conclusion. Students perceived the majority of their pharmacy faculty to be culturally sensitive and aware, but microaggression and discrimination from faculty and student peers were experienced. Study implications can potentially improve curricular offerings, cultural awareness of faculty and students, and care to diverse patient populations.

Analysis of Time in Rehabilitation and Incidence of Successful Rehabilitation Within Individuals with Disabilities Receiving Occupational/Vocational Training.

Objective To investigate the incidence of successful rehabilitation, defined as 90 successive days in employment, within individuals with disabilities receiving occupational/vocational training (OVT) service. Method The follow-up records between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2012 of 5313 individuals aged 15-55 who obtained OVT in the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program of the State of Illinois were examined. Cox regression models were used to analyze the effect of study factors on VR outcomes. Results After controlling for the other factors, males (incidence ratio [IR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20), individuals with learning disability (IR 1.14, 95% CI 1.03-1.26), had existing employment (IR 1.40, 95% CI 1.26-1.56), and persons who were referred from educational institutions (IR 1.17, 95% CI 1.01-1.36) or community agencies (IR 1.30, 95% CI 1.14-1.48) appeared to have a relatively high incidence of successful rehabilitation. In contrast, those who lived in densely populated areas (IR ranged from 0.56 to 0.89), had physical disability (IR 0.77, 95% CI 0.68-0.88), had disability of most significant degree (IR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.93), and persons with Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance supports (IR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76-0.94), tended to have a lower incidence of rehabilitation than their counterparts. Conclusion The incidence of successful rehabilitation seems to be related to the demographic, disability, and pre-service characteristics, but not necessarily the provider factors.

Toward a successful vocational rehabilitation in adults with disabilities: Does residential arrangement matter?

The objective of this study was to assess whether successful vocational rehabilitation (that is, obtaining employment) among people with disabilities was affected by residential arrangement. Five groups of residential placement were considered: individuals living in a private residence, community or group residential, correctional and rehabilitation facilities, nursing home/mental health facilities, and homeless/shelter/other type of residential arrangement. The study involved a total of 46,570 vocational rehabilitation consumers aged 18 to 65 at referral in a Midwestern state. Statistical modeling was performed using quasibinomial logistic regression. It was found that compared to individuals living in private residences, those in correctional or rehabilitation facilities were at increased odds of successful rehabilitation, whereas those living in homeless/shelter/other residential arrangement and those living in nursing homes/mental health facilities were in significantly decreased odds of being rehabilitated. Individuals living in community or group residential, however, had no statistical difference in vocational rehabilitation outcomes compared to individuals living in private residences. The implications for rehabilitation research and practice are discussed.

Risk factors for failure to enter vocational rehabilitation services among individuals with disabilities.

PURPOSE: To investigate the risk factors for failure of individuals with disabilities to enter the vocational rehabilitation (VR) programme, including the cases where they had been formally accepted but were yet to receive any service. METHODS: We used prospective cohort data from a Midwestern US state, and analysed 126,251 and 94,517 individuals, respectively, for acceptance and admission into VR services. Statistical analysis was conducted using Poisson regression models with robust variance estimator. RESULTS: Individuals with blind/visual disability, had prior history of employment, and who received public support tended to have lower risks of non-acceptance and non-admission. Being non-White, at higher education, ever/currently married, and with physical/orthopaedic disability appeared to increase the risks of both outcomes. The adjusted relative risk of non-acceptance was 0.58 (95% confidence interval: 0.52, 0.64) if the individuals had 4 or more functional limitations as compared with those with fewer limitations. This factor was not significant for VR admission. CONCLUSION: Disability factors, demographic determinants, and certain miscellaneous characteristics were associated with the risks of non-acceptance and non-admission into VR. Implications for Rehabilitation Individuals with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than the population without disabilities, and they are thus more prone to adverse health effects of unemployment. Vocational rehabilitation (VR) is a proven intervention to improve employment outcomes among individuals with disabilities. Our study indicates that the complexity of the selection process for entering VR and various factors beyond disability may prevent individuals to benefit from the VR programme. Rehabilitation programme authorities need to monitor and simplify the selection process into VR services and, together with rehabilitation practitioners, promote a selection process that pays careful attention on the factors that are related to individual risk of failure for entering VR.

Vocational Rehabilitation of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities: A Propensity-Score Matched Study.

Objective To investigate the employment outcomes of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services for youth with disabilities in a targeted, enhanced, and contract-based secondary transition program as compared to the traditional VR transition services. Methods A population-based study was conducted on 4422 youth with physical, intellectual, learning, mental and hearing disabilities aged 14-21 at application and whose case was closed after receiving VR transition services in a Midwestern state. Selected youth were classified into either targeted secondary transition program (START) or non-START treatment group. The employment outcomes of the groups were compared using propensity-score matching procedures. Results 2211 youth with disabilities in each treatment group were successfully matched based on demographic characteristics, types of disabilities, existence of severe functional limitations, and year of referral. The overall rehabilitation rate was 57 % [95 % confidence interval (CI) 56-59 %], where the START group rate was 61 % (95 % CI 59-63 %) and the non-START group 53 % (95 % CI 51-55 %). The propensity-score matched odds ratio (OR) was 1.40 (95 % CI 1.24-1.58; p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that the odds of rehabilitation in youth with disabilities were consistently higher when they were in START as compared to non-START (OR ranged from 1.27 to 1.92 with p < 0.05 except for the Hispanic subgroup). Conclusion The results suggest that VR services in a targeted, enhanced, and contract-based secondary transition program are more effective in transitioning youth with disabilities to employment than the regular VR transition services.

On Becoming Scholars and Activists for Disability Rights.

In this paper, the authors discussed the nexus between the Americans with Disabilities Act and the founding of the field of Community Psychology. Contributions of the latter and future areas of research are reviewed here in three areas of importance to both fields: Community living and participation, employment, and transition from high school. Community psychology can make potential contributions to advancing research in these three areas. Implications for future research are discussed.

A Participatory Action Research Intervention in a Rural Community of Mexico Concerns Report Method

For several decades, community interventions have promoted community development with strategies involving capacity building, advocacy, social change, and empowerment. Although community interventions intend to ameliorate social and economic inequalities, there is still a need to evaluate the outcomes of Participatory Action Research (PAR). PAR approaches have demonstrated to be a helpful tool to address and identify community issues and strengths and lead community members into action. The PAR approach described in this case study of "Juanacatlan Renace" (Juanacatlan Reborn)-the Concerns Report Method (CRM)-provided a process for the community to come together and identify main issues, organize, and take actions. The findings suggest multiple activities and outcomes in areas like environmental contamination, social services, and education. Participatory methodologies like the Concerns report Method provided opportunities to community members to become engaged in pursing issues and address their own needs. The implications for community psychology research and practice are discussed.

A Participatory Action Research Method in a Rural Community of Mexico / Una investigación acción participativa en una comunidad rural de México

For several decades, community interventions have promoted community development with strategies involving capacity building, advocacy, social change, and empowerment. Although community interventions intend to ameliorate social and economic inequalities, there is still a need to evaluate the outcomes of Participatory Action Research (PAR). PAR approaches have demonstrated to be a helpful tool for addressing and identifying community issues and strengths, while leading community members into action. The PAR approach described in this case study of Ciudad Renace (Town Reborn)-the Concerns Report Method (CRM)-provided a process for the community to come together and identify main issues, organize, and take actions. The findings suggest multiple activities and outcomes in areas like environmental contamination, social services, and education. Participatory methodologies like the Concerns report Method provided opportunities for community members to become engaged in pursing issues and addressing their own needs. The implications for community psychology research and practice are discussed.

Por varias décadas, las intervenciones comunitarias han promovido el desarrollo comunitario con estrategias que implican creación de capacidades, promoción, cambio social y empoderamiento. Aunque las intervenciones comunitarias tienen la intención de mejorar las desigualdades sociales y económicas, todavía hay una necesidad de evaluar los resultados de la Investigación Acción Participativa (IAP). Los enfoques IAP han demostrado ser una herramienta útil para el direccionamiento y la identificación de problemas y fortalezas de la comunidad, al mismo tiempo que alientan a los miembros de la comunidad a la acción. El enfoque IAP descrito en este estudio de caso sobre la Ciudad Renace con el Concerns Report Method (CRM) provee de un proceso que permite a la comunidad llegar a identificar en conjunto, sus principales problemas, organizarse y tomar acciones. Los hallazgos sugieren múltiples actividades y resultados en áreas como la contaminación ambiental, los servicios sociales y la educación. Las metodologias participativas como el CRM brindan oportunidades a los miembros de la comunidad para que se involucren en la búsqueda de sus propios problemas y hacer frente a sus necesidades. Se discuten las implicancias para la investigación y la práctica de la psicología comunitaria.

An empowerment model of entrepreneurship for people with disabilities in the United States / Un modelo de "empowerment" para dar iniciativa emprendedora a personas con discapacidades en EE.UU

People with disabilities are greatly underrepresented in the workforce, often face discrimination by employers, and often are not effectively served by the U.S. Vocational Rehabilitation System whose primary purpose is to get individuals with disabilities employed. Additionally, many individuals with disabilities face discrimination and/or fear of becoming a liability by business owners. The Chicago Add Us In (AUI) Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, created an entrepreneurship program for people with disabilities in order to counteract these barriers, promote empowerment and facilitate economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. The model includes a course on how to write a business plan, one-on-one business mentoring, technical assistance, start-up business grants, and assistance from a business incubator. In addition to the core program components, there was an emphasis on creating systems change in the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) to ensure program sustainability. In-depth case studies are offered to illustrate the process of consumer empowerment and the impact of the entrepreneurship program on the lives of the entrepreneurs who have participated thus far

Las personas con discapacidades están muy poco representadas en la fuerza de trabajo, con frecuencia sufren discriminación por parte de los empleadores y raramente el Sistema de Rehabilitación Profesional de los EE.UU., que se ocupa sobre todo de conseguir trabajo a las personas con discapacidades, les atiende debidamente. Además, muchas de estas personas enfrentan discriminación o los empleadores piensan que son un riesgo para ellos. La "Iniciativa Añádenos" en Chicago, patrocinada por el Departamento de Trabajo de los EE.UU, Oficina de Política de Empleo para los Discapacitados, ha creado un programa de desarrollo de pequeñas empresas para personas con discapacidades que pueda contrarrestar estas barreras, fomentar el incremento de poder y facilitar la autosuficiencia de estas personas. El modelo incluye un curso sobre cómo desarrollar un plan de negocios, orientación [mentoring] comercial individual, asistencia técnica, ayudas financieras para abrir negocios y la asistencia de una "incubadora" de empresas. Además de los componen tes centrales del programa se trató de crear un cambio de sistema en la División de Servicios de Rehabilitación de Illinois para garantizar la sostenibilidad del programa. Se presentan estudios de casos que ilustran el proceso de incremento de poder de los consumidores y el impacto del programa de desarrollo empresarial en la vida de las personas que han participado hasta la fecha

Employment outcomes among African Americans and Whites with mental illness.

BACKGROUND: People with mental illness often experience major difficulties in finding and maintaining sustainable employment. African Americans with mental illness have additional challenges to secure a job, as reflected in their significantly lower employment rates compared to Whites. OBJECTIVE: To examine the factors that contribute to racial disparities in employment outcomes for African-American and White Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) consumers with mental illness. METHODS: This study used VR data from a Midwestern state that included 2,122 African American and 4,284 White participants who reported mental illness in their VR records. Logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: African Americans had significantly more closures after referral and were closed as non-rehabilitated more often than Whites. Logistic regressions indicated that African Americans are less likely to be employed compared to Whites. The regression also found differences by gender (females more likely to find jobs than males) and age (middle age consumers [36 to 50] were more likely to find jobs than younger consumers [18 to 35]). Case expenditures between $1,000 and $4,999 were significantly lower for African Americans. CONCLUSIONS: VR agencies need to remain vigilant of potential discrepancies in service delivery among consumers from various ethnic groups and work hard to assure as much equality as possible.

A case study of liberation among Latino immigrant families who have children with disabilities.

Latino immigrant families with children with disabilities experience multiple sources of oppression during their settlement process in the United States. Unfair social structures and dominant cultural values and norms and the way they influence the immigrants' personal life stories generate a cycle of oppression very difficult to break. This paper presents a case study of how a group of Latino parents carried out a process of liberation fueled by the generation of empowering community narratives (critical awareness leading to transformative action) that resulted from a community-university partnership. Participants initiated a process that led them to discover their own stories of oppression and create new stories; to deconstruct the dominant cultural narratives and modify existing ones; and to understand contexts for power sharing. This joint reflection and increased awareness propelled group members to take action by founding a grassroots organization to redress some of the injustices that were partly responsible for their oppression, thus generating shifts at the personal, relational, and collective levels. In light of the theory of liberation, we discuss the participants' development of critical awareness that led them to take action to address their unmet needs.

Cultural competence: development of a conceptual framework.

PURPOSE: To describe the development of a conceptual framework for cultural competence that could help and guide the training of rehabilitation practitioners, students and researchers. METHOD: A systematic review of the literature yielded 259 usable documents that were further reviewed by two independent readers to identify 32 publications that described cultural competence conceptual models. RESULTS: After eliminating redundancy, 18 unique cultural competence models were identified. A synthesis model was first developed which included four components. After an empirical validation of the model, a new model with only three components emerged. CONCLUSION: The empirically validated conceptual framework is a promising tool for training and evaluation of cultural competence.

Using the Internet to conduct research with culturally diverse populations: challenges and opportunities.

People from around the globe rely on the Internet for daily use in a variety of ways from downloading information and staying connected with friends and family to collecting data for research purposes. Although the authors have seen rapid growth in access to the Internet among multicultural populations, some groups are still far behind. In particular, those with most limited access include non-English-speakers and low-income and working-class individuals in general. This paper discusses the use of the Internet as a research tool with culturally diverse populations with a focus on two specific purposes: The Internet as a tool to collect information about participants (e.g., survey research, qualitative and descriptive research, and needs assessment); and the Internet as an intervention tool in itself (e.g., intervention research and participatory research). The authors will discuss issues and challenges of using the Internet as a research tool and provide recommendations for using the Internet with culturally diverse populations in a culturally competent manner.

Perspectives of vocational rehabilitation counselors on the factors related to employment outcomes of racial and ethnic minorities with disabilities.

This study identified effective strategies to promote employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities (consumers) from diverse cultural backgrounds. Twenty-one vocational rehabilitation counselors participated in semistructured interviews. Data revealed 5 major themes: (a) implementing an empowerment approach to case management; (b) establishing successful counseling relationships; (c) providing supports to help consumers adjust to or cope with their disability; (d) supporting consumers in obtaining and maintaining employment; and (e) assisting employers in understanding disability issues. These themes are applicable for the social work profession as well.

Disability, race/ethnicity and gender: themes of cultural oppression, acts of individual resistance.

Community psychologists have called for research on human diversity and interactions between individuals and society with a focus on oppression. This study examines learning disabilities as they co-occur with other sociopolitical minority statuses. We examined dominant cultural narratives of and individual responses to learning disability, race/ethnicity and gender identified by low-income men and women of color with learning disabilities. Our qualitative analysis identified cultural narratives that suggest that: (1a) individuals with learning disabilities are perceived as having an illegitimate impairment and being of lower intellectual ability and unworthy; (1b) having an invisible disability facilitates passing as nondisabled, thereby lessening disability discrimination from within racial/ethnic groups; (1c) having a learning disability detracts from positive gender expectations and exacerbates negative ones; and (1d) gender and racial/ethnic narratives are relevant for individuals with learning disabilities. Our analysis also identified two overarching individual acts of resistance used to thwart internalization of oppressive cultural narratives: (2a) removing self from oppressive environments and (2b) reframing dominant cultural narratives (including discounting the validity of negative messages, using negative narratives for motivation, and engaging in positive self-talk). We discuss findings in relation to extant research and theory and consider implications for research, theory, and practice.

The need for action when conducting intervention research: the multiple roles of community psychologists.

In choosing to implement empowering interventions with marginalized populations, community psychologists often have to merge research and action. We present three case stories that exemplify empowerment efforts in the context of a multi-year school intervention designed to develop the advocacy skills of ethnic minority students' with disabilities and promote attainment of transition-related goals. In the process of implementing the intervention, our research team had to instigate change, advocate, and/or mediate in multiple conflictual interactions between the various stakeholders in the schools. We faced both positive and negative consequences for our actions. We discuss the responsibilities of community psychologists in the process of empowering others and the implications for the practice of community research.