Allan D. Wallis

Social Capital and Community Building: Part Two

Part One (NCR Vol. 87, No. 3) presented three perspectives on the idea of social capital: the points of view of academicians, advocates, and grantmakers. Part Two begins with a fourth perspective on social capital, that of practitioners working in communities. The article concludes by considering how empowerment evaluation can be used as a way of bringing these four perspectives together to advance formation of social capital in support of effective community building.

Leadership training to improve nurse retention

AIM This paper discusses findings from an evaluation of a training programme designed to promote collaborative, team-based approaches to improve nurse retention within health care organizations. BACKGROUND A year-long leadership training programme was designed and implemented to develop effective teams that could address retention challenges in a diverse set of organizations in Colorado ranging from public, private to non-profit. EVALUATION An evaluation, based on a combination of participant observation, group interviews, and the use of standardized tests measuring individual emotional intelligence and team dynamics was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the training programme. KEY ISSUES What role do the emotional intelligence of individual members and organizational culture play in team effectiveness? CONCLUSIONS Out of five teams participating in the training programme, two performed exceptionally well, one experienced moderate success and two encountered significant problems. Team dynamics were significantly affected by the emotional intelligence of key members holding supervisory positions and by the existing culture and structure of the participating organizations. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Team approaches to retention hold promise but require careful development and are most likely to work where organizations have a collaborative problem-solving environment.

Adoption of sun safe workplace practices by local governments.

CONTEXT Outdoor workers are especially susceptible to skin cancer--the most common, but also one of the most preventable, forms of cancer. Colorado, the location of the study, has the second highest rate of skin cancer deaths in the nation. OBJECTIVE Local government managers in Colorado-in municipalities, counties, and special districts-were surveyed to ascertain the extent to which they engage in formal (written) and informal practices to protect their outdoor workers against excessive exposure to sun. DESIGN The survey consisted of 51 questions assessing awareness of formal or informal practices for sun protection of outdoor workers. An index of practices--the studys dependent variable--was created that was composed or practices such as providing employees free or reduced-cost sunscreen, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, long-sleeved work shirts, long work pants, and temporary or permanent outdoor shade shelters. Proscriptive policies, such as restricting the use of broad brimmed hats, were subtracted from the index. Surveys were completed by 825 administrators representing 98 jurisdictions. Responses from administrators in the same jurisdiction were averaged. RESULTS More than 40% of responding jurisdictions indicated that they engaged in informal sun safety practices. Tests conducted to determine what variables might account for the adoption of these sun protection practices found that the degree to which a community could be regarded as cosmopolite and as having an individualistic political culture were significant predictors. Type of government was also significant. Although, higher community income was a significant predictor, neither local government budget nor size was significant. CONCLUSIONS The adoption of sun safe practices bears low costs with potentially high returns. Findings from this study suggest that awareness campaigns might most effectively target cosmopolite communities, but that the greatest impact might be achieved by targeting localite communities. Government size and budget do not appear to be constraints in the adoption of sun safe practices.

Factors Associated With Occupational Sun-Protection Policies in Local Government Organizations in Colorado

IMPORTANCE Skin cancer prevention remains a national priority. Reducing chronic UV radiation exposure for outdoor workers through sun-safety practices is an important step to help reduce the incidence of skin cancer. OBJECTIVE To determine the presence of occupational sun-safety policies at local government organizations in a single state. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Of 571 potentially eligible local government organizations of Colorado cities, counties, and special tax districts, we enrolled 98 in a randomized pretest-posttest controlled experiment starting August 15, 2010, that evaluated an intervention to promote the adoption of sun-safety policies. We used a policy-coding protocol to evaluate personal sun-protection practices, environmental and administrative controls, and policy directives for sun safety starting February 10, 2011. We report the baseline assessment of the occupational sun-protection policies of these organizations. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The presence of an occupational sun-safety policy. RESULTS Overall, 85 local government organizations (87%) had policies that required personal sun-protection practices, including the use of eyewear, hats, and protective clothing. However, of the 98 responding organizations, only 8 hat policies (8%), 10 eyewear policies (10%), and 7 clothing policies (7%) mentioned sun protection as the intent of the policy. Only cosmopoliteness, operationalized as proximity to an urban area, was associated with the presence of a sun-safety policy (odds ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.98-1.00]; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Outdoor workers are at increased risk for skin cancer because of long-term exposure to solar UV radiation. Although organizational policies have the potential to increase sun protection in occupational settings, occupational sun-safety policies were uncommon among local governments. Opportunities exist for dermatologists and other physicians to influence occupational sun-safety practices and policies, which are consistent with other safety procedures and could easily be integrated into existing workplace practices.

Results of a Randomized Trial on an Intervention Promoting Adoption of Occupational Sun Protection Policies

Purpose: To evaluate an intervention promoting adoption of occupational sun protection policies by employers in a randomized trial. Design: A randomized pretest–posttest controlled design with 2-year follow-up was conducted in 2010 to 2013. Setting: Local government organizations in Colorado who had outdoor workers in public works, public safety, and/or parks and recreation. Participants: Ninety-eight local government organizations (n = 51 municipalities, 10 counties, and 37 special districts). Intervention: Organizations were randomly assigned to receive a policy and education intervention comprised of personal contacts and theory-based training and materials or to an attention control group. Measures: Occupational policy documents were coded for sun safety content by a trained research assistant blind to condition. Analysis: Policy scores were analyzed with logistic and Poisson regression models using imputation. Results: At posttest, more organizations in the intervention group had a sun protection policy than in the control group (odds ratio [OR] = 4.91, P < .05; intent to treat: OR = 5.95, P < .05) and policies were more extensive (χ2 = 31.29, P < .01; intent to treat: χ2 =73.79, P < .01) and stronger (χ2 = 24.50, P < .01; intent to treat: χ2 = 51.95, P < .01). Policy adoption was higher when the number of contacts and trainings increased (P < .05). Conclusion: The intervention had a large effect on adoption of formal sun protection policies, perhaps because of its fit with legal requirements to maintain safe workplaces. Personal contacts with managers were influential on adoption of occupational policy even in this age of communication technology and social media.

The New England Life: Design Review in Boston

The design review process surrounding Phillip Johnson’s proposal for the New England Life Insurance Company’s new headquarters in Boston’s Back Bay marks a transition. Under the administration of Mayor Kevin White, citizen input in the design review process had been achieved through the ad hoc use of citizen advisory committees. The committee appointed for the New England Life project worked hard to win modifications of Johnson’s design. It felt that it had met community concerns only to find itself caught in the middle of intense criticism from neighborhood interests and the Boston Society of Architects.

The Unknown World of the Mobile Home

tions, with automakers creating a line of cars that addressed the upward-mobility aspirations of buyers. By the 1980s and 1990s, the emphasis was on an increasingly personalized market that respondedmore toquality, size, cost, and styling issues than to class expectations. The second pair of chapters examines the marketing of cars. Included are the evolution and structure of dealerships, branding philosophies, demographic segmentation strategies, and the use of the Internet to purchase cars. The final pair of chapters deals with the globalization of auto production and the extent to which automakers have tried to globalize buyer tastes. Rubenstein’s book is informative and enjoyable to read, and I enthusiastically recommend it. The book will appeal to casual readers as well as students of economic geography. It is the type of book that will be a good supplement to other readings in a geography class, or indeed, in a range of other disciplines. With this recommendation, however, comes a cautionary note about what the reader can and cannot expect from this book. First, it is a book that addresses theoretical issues, but it is not theoretical. For example, while Rubenstein writes about Fordism, lean production, flexible production, and related theoretical issues, he says little about the vast body of work produced on these issues and how that knowledge relates to his book. Second, while the bibliography is impressively long, it is heavy on newspaper articles, trade publications, and other journalistic sources (I did not undertake a formal survey, but my guess is that Automotive News may be cited more than any other source). Third, footnotes are included where required, but not always where helpful; on many occasions, I encountered numbers or statements in the text that prompted me to ask, ‘‘Where did these come from?’’ The most important observation is that Rubenstein’s book is not primarily about geography. The reader will find few geographical references in the bibliography. Maps are scarce—fewer than a half-dozen. Spatial analysis is largely incidental, if it exists at all. Regarding this last comment, I was disappointed when Rubenstein described changing urban-transport-mode preferences without discussing how these changes altered the structure of the city (see chapter 11). In fairness to the author, however, I doubt his intention was to write a book for an audience of geographers alone (although the actual intention is not made explicit). Indeed, Rubenstein’s 1992 book may have greater geographical appeal. Having said these things, this book is a good resource for geographers, and one I look forward to using in the future.