Health Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10323/2667

Browse

Browsing Health Sciences Faculty Scholarship by Author "Cheezum, Rebecca R."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Building Community Capacity to Advocate for Policy Change: An Outcome Evaluation of the Neighborhoods Working in Partnership Project in Detroit
    (2013-09) Cheezum, Rebecca R.; Coombe, Chris M.; Israel, Barbara A.; McGranaghan, Robert J.; Burris, Akosua N.; Grant-White, Sonya; Weigl, Ashley; Anderson, Michael
    This article presents results of the outcome evaluation of Neighborhoods Working in Partnership (NWP), a community-based participatory research project of the Detroit Community–Academic Urban Research Center, designed to enhance policy advocacy skills through training and support, thereby increasing community capacity, engagement, and empowerment of Detroit residents to change policies. Focus groups and conversational interviews were conducted with NWP participants. Results indicate that the workshop empowered participants and enhanced dimensions of community capacity. Participants reported engaging in policy advocacy activities and various policy successes. Participants identified challenges and facilitating factors to their policy campaigns. Recommendations for similar trainings are provided.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    “I wouldn’t look at it as stress”: Conceptualizations of Caregiver Stress among Low-Income Families of Children with Asthma
    (2013-02-24) Cheezum, Rebecca R.; Sampson, Natalie R.; Parker, Edith A.; Lewis, Toby C.; O’Toole, Ashley; Zuniga, Adriana; Patton, Jean; Robbins, Thomas G.; Keirns, Carla C.
    Low-income caregivers of children with asthma experience multiple stressors, likely worsening family health. As part of Community Action Against Asthma’s community-based participatory research partnership, researchers conducted 40 qualitative semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys with low-income caregivers of children with asthma in Detroit, Michigan. Participants described daily childhood asthma experiences and completed scales including the Peds Quality of Life Family Impact Module and Zarit Burden Caregiver Scale. Quantitative scale findings suggested participants are moderately stressed or affected by their child’s illness. While there was some accordance between qualitative and quantitative findings, qualitative findings additionally captured many relevant life stressors, seemingly overlooked or conflated in scale responses. Many participants described asthma as part of childrearing, rather than as a stressor or burden. Findings encourage improvement of clinical, psychometric assessments used to measure and address stressors that shape health for many families with children with asthma.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Life Course Perspective on Stress and Health Among Caregivers of Children With Asthma in Detroit
    (2013-01) Cheezum, Rebecca R.; Sampson, Natalie R.; Parker, Edith A.; Lewis, Toby C.; O’Toole, Ashley; Patton, Jean; Zuniga, Adriana; Robins, Thomas G.; Keirns, Carla C.
    Low-income caregivers raising children with asthma experience many obstacles to their own health, including stress. To understand and describe their daily experiences, researchers conducted 40 qualitative interviews supplemented with descriptive quantitative surveys in Detroit, Michigan, as part of a community-based participatory research partnership of Community Action Against Asthma. Prevalence of chronic illness is noticeably higher among participants than the general US population. Caregivers identified stress processes that may influence disproportionate health outcomes and risk-related behaviors over their lifetime. Applying a life course perspective, findings suggest that public health interventions should address family-level comorbidities, increase instrumental social support, and acknowledge practical coping mechanisms.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Nightwatch: Sleep disruption of caregivers of children with asthma in Detroit
    (2013-10) Cheezum, Rebecca R.; Parker, Edith A.; Sampson, Natalie R.; Lewis, Toby C.; O’Toole, Ashley; Patton, Jean; Robins, Thomas G.; Keirns, Carla C.
    Caregiving for ill loved ones can impact sleep quality and quantity. Insufficient sleep has been associated with worse physical and mental health outcomes, as well as an impact on work performance and ability to accomplish necessary tasks. While some research has looked at the sleep of caregivers of loved ones with chronic illness and found that they experience poorer sleep, little is known about the impact of caring for a child with asthma on the caregiver’s sleep and the ways in which their sleep may be affected. Community Action Against Asthma, a community-based participatory research partnership, conducted interviews with semi-structured and open-ended questions with 40 caregivers of children with asthma who live in Detroit. We found that caregivers regularly experience poor quality sleep due to sleeping lightly in order to listen for the child’s symptoms, waking multiple times to check on the child due to worry and providing care for him or her when he or she experiences symptoms in the middle of the night. Results of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale indicate that 12.5% of caregivers received a score of 16 or more, the score on the scale used to indicate likely presence of a sleep disorder, and 42.5% had a score of 10 or more, indicating excessive sleepiness. Sleep disturbance in caregivers is an under-recognized consequence of childhood asthma with implications for providers caring for children with asthma.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using PhotoVoice to understand health determinants of formerly-homeless individuals living in permanent housing in Detroit
    (2018-12-14) Cheezum, Rebecca R.; Rosso, Matthew T.; Niewolak, Nick; Cobb, Tia
    Housing First is an evidence-based approach to addressing chronic homelessness that provides permanent, low-barrier housing. Previous literature on the health of tenants of Housing First programs has primarily focused on mental health, substance use, and health care. Using the social-ecological model, we conducted a community-based participatory research (CBPR) PhotoVoice study to better understand what Housing First residents in Detroit identify as factors that impact their health. Seventeen participants were provided cameras and photography training and asked to take photos on the theme “What impacts your health and wellness?” Group sessions were held to discuss photos. Results were organized into four themes: (a) loss of jobs hurts people and communities; (b) blight, more than just abandoned buildings; (c) being pushed out by development; and (d) experiencing the “battlefield” versus feeling peaceful. The social-ecological model was used to indicate potential interventions indicated by study findings.