Interpersonal Influences in the Scale-up of Male Circumcision Services in a Traditionally Non-circumcising Community in Rural Western KenyaBy Drs. Alfredo F.X.O. Obure, Erick O. Nyambedha, & Boniface O. Oindo (University of Kisumu, and Maseno University, Kenya)
Peer Reviewed
Promoting male circumcision (MC) is now recognized as an additional, important strategy for the prevention of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men, and plans are underway to scale-up this intervention especially in non-circumcising communities, with generalized HIV pandemic. This qualitative study identifies and characterizes the role of social and interpersonal factors in the scale-up of MC services in a rural non-circumcising community in western Kenya. Planners of MC projects should harness the power of informal networks and social structures to enhance community engagement, motivate behaviour change and increase demand for MC services.
A Practical Framework for Navigating Ethical Challenges in Collaborative Community ResearchBy Drs. Joyce Hunter, David Lounsbury, Bruce Rapkin, & Robert H Remien (Columbia University, USA)
Peer Reviewed
To effectively mobilize community-based organizations (CBOs) and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in research, important ethical issues must be addressed. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) approach, providing a framework and a tool to be used for establishing effective community-research partnerships, was developed by the Community Collaboration Core (CCC) of the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies. Clarifying essential roles, responsibilities, and relationships, establishing trust and transparency in that process, can guide collaborators in planning the important steps for beginning and sustaining an ethical and successful research project.
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Pathways to Empowerment in Substance Abuse Prevention: Citizen Participation, Sense of Community, and Police Responsiveness in an Urban U.S. SettingBy N. Andrew Peterson, Paul W. Speer, Christina Hamme Peterson (USA)
Peer Reviewed
Community-based substance abuse prevention initiatives often rely on the empowerment of community residents. Few studies, however, have examined predictors of empowerment in substance abuse prevention contexts. This study tested a path model that included two environment-related variables (i.e., residents’ awareness of community substance abuse problems and perceived incivilities in their community), two variables representing residents’ perceptions of their community (i.e., sense of community and perceived police responsiveness to drug crime) and citizen participation as predictors of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment.
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The Mobile♥Care Health Project: Providing Dental Care in Rural Hawai'i CommunitiesBy Kaye Lundburg, Carol R. Ignacio, Cheryl M. Ramos (USA)
Peer Reviewed
This paper reports on the Mobile♥Care Health Project (MCHP), a project of the Office for Social Ministry (OSM) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu (referred to subsequently as “Diocese”), which aimed to increase access to dental care for the underserved on the Island of Hawai'i. This paper describes the history of the project, challenges encountered in its development, short and long term goals set and accomplished, and the community-based dental care programs that were established as a result of the MCHP initiative.
Read more...Have an idea for a interview of someone you admire and wish to share with others? Contact us! editor@gjcpp.org
Producer/Director/Editor - Sally Lundburg
Executive Producer - The Office of Social Ministry
Since it's creation in 2000, In the Spirit of Damien has raised immeasurable funds and awareness for Mobile Care, a dental clinic for the underserved that operates out of the two mobile vans on the island of Hawaii. Told through the stories of it's patients, this ten-minute documentary gives a voice to the critical need for dental care for the poor on the island of Hawaii.
Watch the videoBy Cathy Jordan (Editor, CES4Health.info; Associate Professor of Pediatrics; and Director, Children, Youth and Family Consortium, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN)
CES4Health.info, celebrating its first anniversary in November 2010, is an online mechanism for rigorous peer-reviewed publication and dissemination of innovative products of community-engaged scholarship (CES) that are in forms other than journal manuscripts. Broadening the reach of peer-reviewed, cutting-edge CES to diverse audiences that can then apply that knowledge or tool, is a critical link in improving community health.
by Rev. Odell Cleveland and Prof. Robert Wineburg
Reviewed by Christopher J. Corbett, MA
This book was an unexpected discovery. While attending the Annual Conference of ARNOVA (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action) this month (November, 2010), I was browsing a Publisher’s table and a book title caught my eye. Any author with the courage to adopt the title: Pracademics and Community Change has, in my mind, set him or herself up for very high expectations indeed.
In this issue, you will find several articles that feature aspects of community practice from across the globe. In addition to these regular features, you may notice that we made a few improvements to the Journal web site. We now have the ability to leave comments and have conversations about any of the materials shared through the Journal. You will find it placed at the end of each article, video, or tool.
Based on a work at www.gjcpp.org. 
