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This chapter is dedicated to the exploration of attitudes toward family planning within marginalized communities in Bangladesh. It begins by elucidating the concept of attitudes and underscoring their significance in the context of family planning. This chapter investigates the intricate relationship between attitudes and family planning decisions, revealing the diverse attitudes prevalent within these marginalized communities. It proposes targeted interventions aimed at breaking down attitudinal barriers that hinder effective family planning practices, with the goal of empowering these communities through a transformative process of attitude change. This comprehensive examination of attitudes toward family planning among marginalized populations contributes valuable insights to the fields of public health and social development.

Public libraries are great equalizers in a society that has become more divided between those who have plenty and those who can hardly survive. Anyone is welcome in a public library – there is no need to purchase anything or show identification to be there, and you can stay if you follow the rules and the doors are open. Public librarians use their skills and knowledge to help people find information to improve and enrich their lives. One way this happens is through community engagement. The more librarians become involved in their community, the better they can aid the community. This chapter explores how librarians can become more enmeshed within their communities, how libraries can transition from a traditional model of librarianship to a focus on meeting people where they are, both in terms of physical space and in overall skill, and how we can use technology to aid in these pursuits. The public library can be used as a bridge between the public and other services. Forward thinking ideas will help ensure the continued value that the public sees in libraries.

This chapter presents a preliminary model that frames public library workers as the foundations of how public libraries help build and support sustainable communities in the twenty-first century, particularly in the United States, specifically in rural America. For public libraries to continue to be key partners in sustaining their communities, and in supporting the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is essential that public library work be valued, visible, and sustained over time. The UN defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Four studies of public library work during the COVID-19 pandemic found that public library workers are facing challenges in both meeting their own needs and meeting the needs of their communities. That finding led to a consideration of what is needed to place public library work at the center of sustainable thinking. Sustaining library workers will strengthen the library as a community hub, and help those workers in turn sustain community relationships necessary for the work of the library. These, in turn, will contribute to more sustainable communities.

Purpose – A structured comparison, based on underlying social ecological constructs, provides the framework for this preliminary investigation of the commonalities and differences between three emerging approaches to health disparities: community-based participatory research (CBPR), community-focused health outreach (CFHO), and community health promotion programs (CHPP).

Methodology/approach – A conceptual review and preliminary analysis at the macrolevel of major community trends that focus on eliminating health disparity outcomes.

Findings – Each of the three community health approaches share similar purposes using community-focused collaborative efforts, but involve different change agents, levels of partnership, timeframes, social participation, and implementation methodologies.

Research limitations/implications – Additional in-depth literature reviews and meta-evaluations highlighting the contributions of each of the three approaches (CPBR, CFHO, and CHPP) are strongly recommended.

Practical implications – Interested community stakeholders can monitor results and impacts of each of the three approaches within their environments.

Originality/value of paper – Past reviews have concentrated on isolating individual contributing social causes of health disparities. This analysis introduces three emerging trends that currently function within community-based frameworks as potential mechanisms for helping the health disadvantaged.

The mental and physical health of those residing in Australian rural and remote communities is poorer compared to major cities. Physical health comorbidities contribute to almost 80% of premature mortality for people living with mental illness. Leisure time physical activity (LTPA) is a well-established intervention to improve physical and mental health. To address the physical and mental health of rural and remote communities through LTPA, the community’s level of readiness should be first determined. This study aims to use the community readiness model (CRM) to explore community readiness in a remote Australian community to address mental health through LTPA.

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted using the CRM on LTPA to address mental health. Quantitative outcomes scored the community’s stage of readiness for LTPA programmes to address mental health using the CRM categories of one (no awareness) to nine (high level of community ownership). Qualitative outcomes were thematically analysed, guided by Braun and Clark.

The community scored six (initiation) for community efforts and knowledge of LTPA programmes and seven (stabilisation) for leadership. The community’s attitude towards LTPA and resources for programmes scored four (pre-planning), and knowledge of LTPA scored three (vague awareness).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first Australian study to use CRM to examine community readiness to use LTPA to improve mental health in a remote community. The CRM was shown to be a useful tool to identify factors for intervention design that might optimise community empowerment in using LTPA to improve mental health at the community level.

The objective of this paper is to further the understanding of netnography as a research method for supply chain academics. Netnography is a method for gathering and gaining insight from industry-specific online communities. We prescribe that viewing netnography through the lens of the supply chain will permit researchers to explore, discover, understand, describe or report concepts or phenomena that have previously been studied via survey research or quantitative modeling.

To introduce netnography to supply chain research, we propose a framework to guide how netnography can be adopted and used. Definitions and directions are provided, highlighting some of the practices within netnographic research.

Netnography provides the researcher with another avenue to pursue answers to research questions, either alone or in conjunction with the dominant methods of survey research and quantitative modeling. It provides another tool in the researchers’ toolbox to engage practitioners in the field.

The development of netnography as a research method is associated with Robert Kozinets. He developed the method to study online communities in consumer behavior. We justify why this method can be applied to supply chain research, how to collect data and provide research examples of its use. This technique has room to grow as a supply chain research method.

This study aims to revisit the practice of multiculturalism within the co-existence of halal food products in non-Muslim communities in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

Data were collected through observations, interviews and documentation using a case study approach.

The important findings in the existing study indicate that social practice related to the acceptance and expression of non-Muslim communities towards halal products and certificates is integrated into the daily life of the people. It has contrasted with other regions in Indonesia where debates between cultural and structural aspects of halal product studies and certification prevail, often dominated by ego-sectoral interests and Islamic theology. Although Kupang’s predominantly non-Muslim population, the practice and model of halal products emerge with uniqueness within communal traditions and socio-cultural practices take precedence over structural factors.

The most significant contribution of this research lies in mutual understanding, interfaith dialogue and religiosity that have fused into social life, specially building social coexistence in halal products.

These findings contribute to policymakers to reformulate halal certification and products, which are not solely driven by the interests of the Muslim community.

This study presents a new synthetic theory about halal products, confirming a case study in Kupang where non-Muslim communities accepted halal products as a reflection of cultural and local customs. This acceptance has led to the development of a new identity without contradictions among business interests, ideologies, sectoral aspects, hygiene, health and structural state movements.