Posters (Asynchronous Session)
Native American Health Disparities, Pandemics, and Pestilence: Historical and Current Impact View Digital Media
Poster Session Kathleen Davis
Indigenous people have fought since colonization for the right to live their lives in an ecological, natural fashion that was inherent in their culture. Unfortunately, this longing to preserve the life of their ancestors and the realities of colonization has resulted in loss of culture, poverty, chronic health conditions and disparities, and has subjected indigenous populations to foreign diseases introduced by colonists and/or the larger society including the small pox epidemic with meso-American and Native American populations to the COVID19 pandemic of modern times and its impact on Native American populations. Historically, native populations have been left to fend with the diseases on their own. This pattern was repeated during the slow response to helping the indigenous during the current pandemic. This poster presents these disparities along with resiliency factors that have helped indigenous populations survive.
Transferring Knowledge into Action: Examining the Impact of a Rural Indian Adolescent Girls Intervention at the Individual, Familial, and Community Level View Digital Media
Poster Session Griffin Barriss
This Community-Based Participatory Research study in Jamkhed, India engaged community members as research partners, collaboratively identifying important community issues. The long-term impact and application of knowledge and skills among Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) Adolescent Girls Program (AGP) graduates was of interest. Prior to conducting semi-structured interviews, the Elon University-CRHP Research Team conducted focus groups and pilot interviews to determine appropriate questions and effective phrasing. CRHP’s Research Team conducted 26 interviews with AGP graduates aged 23-33, originally from 9 CRHP Project Villages, identified by convenience sampling. Participants currently live in 14 villages and three cities. Interviews were translated into English and sent to Elon University for data analysis. AGP graduates demonstrated strong agency, with 100% indicating “some involvement,” 76.9% reporting over 50% involvement, and 57.7% indicating over 75% involvement in household and marital decisions. Many used AGP lessons to reject dowry, pursue higher education, start small businesses, and educate family and community members to improve health. Graduates expressed intentions to raise their children better than their mothers (9), with gender equality (6), and independence (6). 65.4% of graduates encouraged their children to finish school and 100% planned to enroll them in AGPs. 54% joined Women’s Self-Help Groups, some in leadership roles, and some starting SHGs in their new communities. Findings reveal AGP graduates’ applied knowledge and skills at individual, family, and community levels, demonstrating the long-term impact of AGPs on community participation, quality of life, and sustained community development.
Social Media and Internet Apps: How Their Usage is Associated with Levels of Optimism and Determination View Digital Media
Poster Session Jennifer Pearce-Morris
Social media use has increased among all age groups across the last decade. Some prior research states that frequent social media use can be associated with poorer mental health. However, many scholars suggest that greater attention is needed on social media’s effects on different types of mental health. Also, more research is needed on the unique ways that social media affects people from different age groups because the way social media is used often differs depending on one’s stage of life. To address these gaps, this project examines the following research questions: How is frequent use of social media and internet apps associated with optimism and determination? Does age moderate the relationships between these variables? And, third, is usage of the most common social media sites for one’s age group associated with optimism and determination? Data come from the 2016 wave of the General Social Survey (N=2,867). Preliminary results from OLS regression suggest that using social media and internet apps more than occasionally is associated with better optimism and determination, even when controlling for current happiness. For those in the age groups of 26 to 33, 50 to 65, and 66+, using the social media sites most common for one’s age group is also associated with better optimism. These results have important implications given the growing proportion of young adults who use social media for dating, job searching, and socializing, and for the growing proportion of middle-aged and older adults using social media for health-related care, entertainment, and maintaining connections.
Best Practices Among NGOs Working Towards Gender Based Violence Prevention in Guatemala View Digital Media
Poster Session Hannah Taverna
According to the United Nations (2020), Guatemala remains a country with one of the highest rates of violence against women and femicide (9.7 in 100,000), a term used when referring to gender-motivated homicide (Ogrodnik & Borzutzky, 2011). Despite international and domestic legal frameworks and policies implemented in an effort by the Guatemalan government to reduce the prevalence of gender-based violence, barriers to implementation has caused roadblocks to reducing the prevalence of violence against women, among many other complex factors (Advocates for Human Rights, 2017). This transdisciplinary research study examined current best practices and challenges in addressing gender-based violence prevention in Guatemala. Individual in-depth interviews with 12 individuals employed at non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on gender-based violence in Guatemala were conducted. Qualitative data was analyzed using coding, sorting, local integration, and inclusive integration. Existing theory and literature from various applicable disciplines were referred to while analyzing and interpreting the data. Findings indicate significant financial need for NGOs working towards gender-based violence prevention, particularly during an increase in gender based violence in both rural and urban areas during the global pandemic.
Dismantling the Tennis Industry in the U.S.: Designing a New, Inclusive System – the “Pluriversal Tennis” View Digital Media
Poster Session Anna Monhartova
This case study uses the sport of tennis as an example of industry lacking diversity and inclusion due to its historical inaccessibility - by design and intent - and lack of affordability for most low-income communities in the United States. As a result, it has been historically seen as an elitist, ‘white privilege’ sport. For example, high participation costs and various structural factors of this non-traditional sport prevent under-resourced children from joining programs that more affluent children can enjoy. Most solutions to address this issue ‘patch’ the surface problems but do not change the overall system. As the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges across many aspects of our lives, it has also created an opportunity to rethink the existing structures and institutions that have historically produced a system of oppression for many. It is an opportunity to create better, more inclusive systems that work for everyone, including the most under-represented populations. This study researches and employs a set of tools to dismantle the system of tennis industry and re-assembles it into a more diverse, inclusive universe of tennis – the “Pluriversal Tennis”. It presents a conceptual model that can guide design of practical, system-changing solutions. It includes a visual diagram - “The Map of Tennis Pluriverse”. The idea of dismantling it is to go beyond conventional research methods (such as cost-benefit analysis) and employ other tools, including action research, critical design, reflexivity, and ultimately leading to a more pluralistic way of knowing.
