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Suzanne Grossman, Lisa Jane Erwin, Ana Martinez-Donate, Denise E. Agosto, Mark Winston, Nancy Epstein and Ann C. Klassen
Public libraries can help immigrants adjust to life in the USA, including maintaining health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to understand how immigrants use public…
Abstract
Purpose
Public libraries can help immigrants adjust to life in the USA, including maintaining health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to understand how immigrants use public libraries and how library staff provide health-related information and services for immigrant audiences.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used semistructured interviews with library staff (n = 9) and immigrant library patrons (n = 10), representing multiple first languages and countries of origin from two different library locations within a large public library system in a US mid-Atlantic city.
Findings
Staff reported offering many health-related programs and services, but only one of the 10 patron respondents had used them. Patrons more commonly used the library in ways indirectly related to health (e.g. learning English) than direct health-related services. Staff reported comfort interacting with immigrant patrons, but lacked consensus on navigating language barriers and determining community needs.
Research limitations/implications
This qualitative study provides insights from a specific geographic and cultural setting. It focused on immigrants using the library and may have excluded vulnerable populations of immigrants who encounter barriers to using the library. Future research and practice should focus on how public libraries can better meet the health information needs of immigrant populations, including navigating controversial social and political topics, as well as emerging health-related information during a pandemic.
Originality/value
Public health practitioners often overlook public libraries as community collaborators. This research identifies that while there is important and essential work happening in public libraries to improve immigrant health, more can be done, especially in collaboration with public health professionals.
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W. James Jacob, Huiyuan Ye, Shuo Wang, Xueshuang Wang, Xiufang Ma, Abdullah Bagci, Quan Gu and Julio Luis Méndez Vergara
In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education in North America from 1920s to the beginning of the…
Abstract
In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education in North America from 1920s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The authors document the significant role some of the most influential leaders played to help lay the foundation for comparative education societies in Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and the United States. Using historical comparative research technique, the authors examine the many interconnections of current and past leaders. The authors conclude with recommendations on how knowing the history can help strengthen comparative and international education development well into the future.
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Keeley J. Pratt, Angela L. Lamson, Suzanne Lazorick, Carmel Parker White, David N. Collier, Mark B. White and Melvin S. Swanson
This review paper seeks to conceptualise childhood obesity through clinical, operational, and financial procedures. It informs multiple disciplines about: the trajectory of…
Abstract
Purpose
This review paper seeks to conceptualise childhood obesity through clinical, operational, and financial procedures. It informs multiple disciplines about: the trajectory of paediatric obesity and current recommendations; the trends in the clinical, administrative/policy and financial worlds of paediatric obesity; and discusses commonly misunderstood collaborative terms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on analysis of national and international policy documents and research papers in the field.
Findings
Paediatric obesity treatment teams, programmes, and providers could all benefit from a document that bridges the disciplines of medicine, other professions, and financial management. A family centred, multidisciplinary approach is necessary at all stages of obesity treatment care and the three‐world model discussed is helpful in achieving this. The clinical, operational, and financial aspects of the service need to be integrated in a way that reduces the barriers to accessing services.
Originality/value
The paper combines perspectives from different service sectors: clinical, operational, and financial. To facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation, it offers common definitions of terms that often have different meanings for those involved.
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Audrey Taylor, Tamara Kowalczyk and Suzanne Klein
Spending constraints in state budgets have resulted in a need to evaluate the effects of alternative budgeting techniques. We study public school administrations, where…
Abstract
Spending constraints in state budgets have resulted in a need to evaluate the effects of alternative budgeting techniques. We study public school administrations, where improvements in budgetary processes could help align system goals with reduced levels of funding. A budgeting technique, called strategic budgeting (SB), emphasizing information symmetry and mutual monitoring, is investigated in a nonprofit setting by comparing it to a traditional budgeting (TB) method. The experiment finds that the effect of reduced spending previously discovered in a corporate setting are also evident in a not-for-profit setting. Results indicated an overall cost savings with SB of almost 25 percent. Public school administrators made spending decisions in a hypothetical three-year task and provided comments to justify their decisions. These comments along with anecdotal evidence from prior field research indicate that collaborative characteristics in a budget format may reduce unnecessary spending.
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Sally Hibbert and Suzanne Horne
Notes that changes in the charity environment mean that fundraisers need to increase income from donations. Argues that to move forward donor behavior research needs to look not…
Abstract
Notes that changes in the charity environment mean that fundraisers need to increase income from donations. Argues that to move forward donor behavior research needs to look not only at “why” people make donations but also at the process of “how” donations are made. Proposes that valuable lessons may be learnt through consideration of advances made in the field of consumer behavior where researchers have long focussed on decision‐making processes as a concept which is central to the understanding of how consumers behave. Suggests that taking account of the circumstances in which the consumer acts will give insight into donor behavior, which avoids losing sight of the reality of donation occasions.
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While public libraries are well-established as a place to borrow books and use reference materials, they are less recognized for the services and programs they offer to their…
Abstract
While public libraries are well-established as a place to borrow books and use reference materials, they are less recognized for the services and programs they offer to their local communities. These programs and services often directly or indirectly impact the health of patrons and the larger community.
While some public libraries offer programs that address patron health in collaboration with other health professionals, such as those at local universities, public health departments, and other health-related organizations, these collaborations are often informal, offered for an indefinite period of time, and rely on finite funding. While public health professionals and organizations are often overlooked in public library collaborations, they are a natural fit for collaboration.
As public libraries serve the needs of vital and often vulnerable members of our communities, it is important to build sustainable community partnerships when offering programs and services that impact patron health. This will not only identify organizations committed to improving the health of these populations and those that provide reliable resources; it will also streamline information and provide consistent information to identify safe and reliable resources on social media, the internet, and in the community.
This chapter serves as a reflective narrative which explores how public libraries and community organizations can collaborate, identifies anticipated challenges, and describes considerations and strategies for addressing these challenges. The ultimate goal is to identify how libraries can expand the depth and breadth of both library services and public health organizations to sustainably improve the health of the local community.
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As the means and harms of technology-facilitated violence have become more evident, some governments have taken steps to create or empower centralized bodies with statutory…
Abstract
As the means and harms of technology-facilitated violence have become more evident, some governments have taken steps to create or empower centralized bodies with statutory mandates as part of an effort to combat it. This chapter argues that these bodies have the potential to meaningfully further a survivor-centered approach to combatting technology-facilitated violence against women – one that places their experiences, rights, wishes, and needs at its core. It further argues that governments should consider integrating them into a broader holistic response to this conduct.
An overview is provided of the operations of New Zealand's Netsafe, the eSafety Commissioner in Australia, Nova Scotia's Cyberscan Unit, and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Manitoba. These types of centralized bodies have demonstrated an ability to advance survivor-centered approaches to technology-facilitated violence against women through direct involvement in resolving instances of violence, education, and research. However, these bodies are not a panacea. This chapter outlines critiques of their operations and the challenges they face in maximizing their effectiveness.
Notwithstanding these challenges and critiques, governments should consider creating such bodies or empowering existing bodies with a statutory mandate as one aspect of a broader response to combatting technology-facilitated violence against women. Some proposed best practices to maximize their effectiveness are identified.
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